text
stringlengths 44
950k
| meta
dict |
|---|---|
Android 4.2 shows up in Engadget's server logs - dbh937
http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/10/android-4-2-shows-up-in-our-server-logs-shocks-no-one/
======
DHowett
In short, "Google is working on Android 4.2 and have not been sitting on their
collective thumbs for the past few months."
There's news like this every time some company is working on new versions of
their smartphone operating systems. Consequently, that means there is always
news like this, making it _no longer news_.
------
rhizome
So, even the cutting edge of Googlers have bad taste in tech journalism.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Ask HN: What should I include and exclude on my resume - subless
I graduate next month with my B.A. degree in Computer Information Systems but I cannot determine what I should include and or exclude from my resume because I have zero experience besides my school work and I don't have an online portfolio of anykind.<p>I don't want to include past job history because it's in no relation to my degree but, I still should have a resume to email out.<p>Any advice?
======
gus_massa
It depends a lot on where are you going to send your resume. In soma places
they prefer a short 1 or 2 page resume. In other places you must include
everything, even the public dance at the end of the year in kindergarten.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Should we fear space aliens? - apphacker
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/04/27/tarter.space.life.fears/index.html
======
btilly
If they haven't shown up already, they are unlikely to any time soon.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox>
------
dmfdmf
no.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
85th level Orc Rogue wins election - CrankyBear
http://www.zdnet.com/85th-level-orc-rogue-wins-election-7000007225/
======
Ntrails
Doesn't this really raise the question of Forum Postings being public domain,
and specifically blizzard removing anonymity for their forums? It seems less
based around her gaming than her comments (weak though that particular line of
attack was).
I mean, I love to post - but if I was aiming to be a politician I'd be
desperately hoping that some of the drivvel I've spouted over the years was
unattributable to me personally. I mean, my fascination with Goatse might not
go down well with the electorate at large...
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
A Chinese company now manufactures stainless steel tip cases for ballpoint pens - lunchladydoris
https://qz.com/881960/the-humble-ballpoint-pen-has-become-a-new-symbol-of-chinas-innovation-economy/
======
rfdub
I don't really think "innovation" can be defined as replicating manufacturing
processes developed 100 years ago. This is simply playing catch up in terms of
manufacturing processes and quality control.
~~~
blackguardx
There is also the material science of the rolling ball itself. I assume it has
similar constraints to high quality bearings.
~~~
nom
Good point. But if they can't manufacture ballpoint pens, how can they make
bearings? Maybe it's due to their small size?
~~~
ohazi
This article is talking about the tip _casing_ , not the actual ball.
~~~
blackguardx
I took that to mean the ball and the housing around it. The casing would
function similarly to a bearing race and the ball to well, a bearing ball.
------
myrandomcomment
So what this is saying is that the government of China gives money to fund the
development of very specific industries which in reality could count as a
subsidy under WTO rules. Yet, they want free access to our markets, but close
off theirs? Something seems wrong with this.
------
omarforgotpwd
It sounds to me like the time and energy it took to develop this pen tip could
have been better spent elsewhere. Rather than highlighting Chinese innovation,
for me this highlights an overly politicized Chinese economy that puts
independence from foreigners over efficiency and specialization. I guess you
could possible say the same thing about the US these days though.
------
panzer_wyrm
The west biggest mistake - thinking that you could outsource the bottom layers
of the value pyramid and there won't be local layers forming on top of them.
And when china achieve scale on something with good quality - game over man,
game over.
~~~
lacampbell
_And when china achieve scale on something with good quality - game over man,
game over._
Why do you think that will happen? The chinese labour force is rapidly
shrinking, lower end manufacturing is starting to move south, and they've just
figured out ball point pens. I don't see a bright future for them at all.
~~~
nopinsight
The expertise and supply chains for mass scale manufacturing are in China.
There are many products that can't be economically manufactured almost
anywhere else. They graduate many high quality engineers and researchers and
they spend a huge sum on R&D annually (more than many developed nations
with/without PPP adjustment). They are addressing labor shortage with robots.
China's R&D budget is 2nd in the world (only behind the US and ahead of the
EU) when PPP adjusted:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_researc...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_research_and_development_spending?wprov=sfla1)
"In the five-year plan it announced last year, the national government said
China would boost its annual production of industrial robots to 100,000 by
2020.
At the current rate, the country is on track to exceed that target, assuming
the numbers from the statistics bureau can be trusted—not a given in China
(the bureau did not respond to questions Quartz sent by email). Meanwhile,
over 3,000 industrial robot makers have surfaced in the country in the past
five years, according to the China Robot Industry Alliance, a trade group.
China is already the world’s largest producer of industrial robots, supplying
about 27% of the global market since 2015, according to the International
Federation of Robotics (IFR). It’s also the largest buyer of robots. According
to the IFR and Bernstein Research, China’s factories spent over $3 billion
acquiring industrial robots in 2015."
[https://qz.com/922742/china-is-rapidly-making-robots-that-
wi...](https://qz.com/922742/china-is-rapidly-making-robots-that-will-one-day-
manufacture-everything-you-buy/)
~~~
myrandomcomment
There are some companies that are moving out of China because of large
increase of cost of manufacturing and a decline in the quality of the talent.
A startup I was at started in San Jose for prototypes, China for production
for a few years then moved to Penang, Malaysia. It was a very high tech
product with a large supply chain.
Also, there have been a few stories in the past year on HN discussing the
quality of engineers that the Chinese education system is turning out.
The contract manufactures in China like Flextronics and Jabil have locations
outside of China now and are expanding them. Heck from this map - Jabil has
more outside of China:
[http://www.jabil.com/locations/](http://www.jabil.com/locations/)
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Do you have proper vox.io etiquette? - tomazstolfa
http://blog.vox.io/post/35844563724/do-you-have-proper-vox-io-etiquette
======
StavrosK
The obvious vox.io promotion ruins this post for me. If it said "IM" rather
than "vox.io" everywhere, I'd send it to a few "rude" friends, but now it
feels like it's specific to vox.io.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Ask HN: how to estimate users per server - Sean_Hayes
I know this is highly dependent on a lot of factors, but is there any rough estimate for how many servers you need for x amount of users? I'm trying to estimate my future costs.<p>I'm using an Nginx front end server, Apache with mod_wsgi for serving my Django app, and PostgreSQL. It's all hosted on Rackspace Cloud using the latest Ubuntu.
======
swombat
In order to get a useful answer, you're going to have to provide a better idea
of what kind of app you're talking about.
To use a couple of extreme examples, if your app provides key-cracking
services, and each user wants to crack 1 key per day, and each key takes about
a server-day to crack, you'll need (duh) at least 1 server per user.
On the other hand, if your app is basically a blog, a single (beefy) server
should be able to quite easily serve millions of readers a month with the
right caching in place.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
In the Human Brain, Size Really Isn’t Everything - wrongc0ntinent
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/26/science/in-the-human-brain-size-really-isnt-everything.html
======
joe_the_user
One interesting aspect is that it assumes the animal brain is great for some
things but less good for logic-based flexibility. One might argue that human
intelligence is animal intelligence "virtualized" by language and
consciousness.
The idea is appealing but I have no idea if its true.
------
Sniffnoy
The title seems a bit odd, seeing as the hypothesis described seems to be
describing a way that expanding brains _can_ (or did) lead to higher
intelligence. No, it isn't "just scale everything up", but it still has size
as a major controlling factor.
~~~
Zigurd
There is good evidence that size is most things if not everything. We have big
brains, hence we have more intelligence than chimps. We cook our food, so we
don't spend all day feeding our big brains.
~~~
ballard
Brain size is correlated to intelligence in humans by 0.35.
Cooking food is an adaptive behavior that reduces disease and alters
nutrition. It was the gradual exploitation of nature for the domestication of
monocultural, industrial agriculture with supply chain processing that makes
for most food modern people eat including "convenience" foods. This division
of labor, whether organic farmer or pseudo-family megafarm, is what renders
individual hunter-gathering a waste of time. From this over-abundance of
calories and protein, it could support more robust bodies and larger brains,
but it's a moot point considering obesity and the inevitability of the
technological singularity.
------
ot
Regarding brain size, there is a very nice TED talk:
[http://www.ted.com/talks/suzana_herculano_houzel_what_is_so_...](http://www.ted.com/talks/suzana_herculano_houzel_what_is_so_special_about_the_human_brain.html)
The speaker argues that while there are animals with brains bigger than ours,
their neuron density is lower; overall, humans have the highest number of
neurons. She goes on by noting that the energy that the brain consumes depends
only on the number of neurons, not the size, thus making humans the species
that has the most energy-hungry brain. This leads to some interesting theories
on how the evolution of our brain is related to our nutrition habits, which I
found quite mindblowing.
------
kahoon
A way to test this hypothesis: elephants and certain whales have bigger brains
than us. By the article's reasoning we should find mechanisms in these
animals' brain which prevents neurons from "untethering".
~~~
bl
I like your gist of putting the hypothesis to test, but there are serious
practical factors that would prevent your proposed experiments. Small- and
medium-sized mammals (e.g., rodents and primates, respectively) are somewhat
convenient for experimenting in that they can be housed/fed humanely and fit
into an fMRI machine whose aperture is ~0.5 meters in diameter. I do not see
how one could reasonably do the same for elephants and whales.
But let's do a thought experiment and see if we can reasonably dispense with
the need for experiment itself. The article (via the researchers' statements)
zoomed past a detail: cortical surface area is much more indicative of neural
processing capability than gross brain volume. In many contexts, a
neuroscientist might use "brain size" as shorthand for cortical surface area.
Also consider that more "advanced" mammals tend to have more convoluted
cortexes, thus larger cortical surface areas. So it's quite possible for a
large mammal's (whale's or elephant's) brain to be volumetrically larger than
a human's, but to have relatively smaller surface area because it is less
convoluted.
In the event that we could actually accomplish such a comparative study as you
propose, we'd probably find that "tethering" does not monotonically increase
with surface area. Then we'd determine that the authors' hypothesis is overly
simplified.
------
muloka
For those of you comparing animal brains to human brains and how it relates to
consciousness and intelligence take a look at the "Cambridge Declaration on
Consciousness." (signed on July 7, 2012)
------
retr0h
... it's just how you use it
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Interview with Chris Lattner [audio] - xenadu02
http://atp.fm/episodes/205
======
favorited
Just for fun, check out these 2 carpentry projects he did for his family:
[https://twitter.com/clattner_llvm/status/736237407016607744](https://twitter.com/clattner_llvm/status/736237407016607744)
[https://twitter.com/clattner_llvm/status/818499400313909249](https://twitter.com/clattner_llvm/status/818499400313909249)
How he had time to work a director-level job at , develop a new programming
language, oversee/participate in the OSS work for LLVM/Clang/Swift, and build
things like these I'll never know.
~~~
rcarmo
I would bet on relentless compartmentalisation, i.e., making sure he kept on
going and took advantage of the different contexts to get a breather/clear his
mind for the others.
But he does mention the house took months to build, and handcrafts are a great
hobby...
~~~
arcticbull
To some extent Apple's secrecy makes it easier to compartmentalize. You're
literally forbidden by work from talking to people outside the company
including friends and family. Now assuming you don't take that to mean 'always
be at work', it's not all bad. That was my experience there.
~~~
sdegutis
> _" You're literally forbidden by work from talking to people outside the
> company including friends and family."_
Wait, what? This is the first I've heard of Apple forbidding you from _talking
to anyone else_. Unless you mean specifically about the project, and not just
_ever and about anything_?
~~~
mattnewton
He means about work.
------
Zezima
This was an awesome episode with great questions from everyone (John, Casey,
Marco).
Massive respect for Lattner and his long, multi-year, persistence to making
amazing world-changing software and actually caring about open source.
One of the best ATP episodes in years!
~~~
mitchty
Agreed, I especially loved Chris putting John to the mat on GC vs ARC. Also,
you can't argue Chris isn't technical.
Now I wish there was a podcast where language implementors could talk about
all of this stuff.
I just don't get the yellow car bit at all.
~~~
nickm12
> Also, you can't argue Chris isn't technical.
Is this a typo? As a programmer, I wish I was as technical as Chris Lattner's
used kleenex.
~~~
mitchty
Not a typo. You'd have to go back and listen to the prior podcast. But for
reference, the discussion was basically (I'm paraphrasing):
- Chris is leaving because Apple is doomed
- Chris couldn't get into the rumored Apple car division
- Chris was being forced into a more VP/management role
- etc...
When it sounds more to me that he just likes making new things that solve hard
problems. And I imagine Apple is in a good spot and he just wanted a change of
pace. 11 Years at one company is a pretty good run.
------
jmduke
I would _love_ to see Swift become a reasonable alternative for server-side
development and, in general, non-Apple development.
I have my misgivings with the iOS/macOS development stack (chief among them
being Xcode), but Swift is probably the language I enjoy writing in most. It's
powerful and expressive and pleasant.
I'm happy to know that even with Chris leaving, the pieces are set in motion
for the language's expansion to other contexts.
~~~
santaclaus
> I have my misgivings with the iOS/macOS development stack
Clang is pretty amazing. The world before and after Clang are very different
places, so I'd say Apple has had a really positive impact here.
------
newsat13
Oooh shots taken at Rust (~56:00). He claims rust doesn't have much adoption
and swift caters better to application programmers. Wonder what the rust
community thinks about it.
~~~
diimdeep
Also later he mentions that, Swift might add `borrow checking` but not at the
core of type system and required to be used like in Rust, but as extra
optional feature, that way Swift is still easy to get started with, but for
more advanced programmers for example in kernel development is will be
convenient addition.
~~~
tejinderss
I wish rust could have taken a similar approach. I want to do rust development
for general purposes as opposed to writing kernels and browser engines in it.
I think swift or go are better targeted for these purposes, I wish swift scene
on linux becomes viable in the next version.
~~~
jnbiche
> I wish rust could have taken a similar approach.
Then use Swift. Other than the approach to memory, Swift is extremely similar
to Rust.
> I wish swift scene on linux becomes viable in the next version.
Swift 3.0 is totally viable on Linux. And Swift package manager works great,
although it's not quite as nice as Cargo (yet!). I've been very impressed with
Swift on Linux, but I've yet to use it for production (although there are lots
of folks who are). There are some _very_ nice web frameworks for Linux in
Swift. I'd say that for web, Swift on Linux is more advanced than Rust. Take a
look at Perfect, Zewo, Kitura, etc. They've even got lots of
authentication/authorization plugins, which last I checked no Rust framework
had.
~~~
binarycrusader
Swift's ties to Grand Central Dispatch for concurrency are wholly unfortunate
though. I would have far preferred to see a native language take on that
instead of porting GCD to every platform.
~~~
favorited
There will be a Swift-specific concurrency story, it's just a lower-priority
since GCD is available to fill in the gap for now.
Here's an overview of how theoretical language features could enable library
implementations of coroutines+channels, async/await, or actors:
[https://github.com/apple/swift/blob/master/docs/proposals/Co...](https://github.com/apple/swift/blob/master/docs/proposals/Concurrency.rst)
------
peterclary
The discussion about ARC vs GC would be very interesting. Is there a
transcript anywhere for the hearing impaired?
~~~
jen729w
I thought this might help, but it doesn't give actual transcripts, just the
ability to search keywords.
[http://podsearch.david-smith.org](http://podsearch.david-smith.org)
Which bit are you interested in? If it's a <~10 minute section, I'll
transcribe it for you over the weekend. Contact details are in my bio.
Edit: duh, Patient0 notes it below and it's one of the chapters of the
podcast! Drop me an email so I have your address; I'll also post it online
somewhere and drop a link here.
~~~
dronedronedrone
side note, _davidsmith has a blog post about why its a search rather than a
transcript-- basically the text to speech library he is using produced abysmal
results for transcription, but was good enough for search.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Show HN: Weekly Google Analytics Summary - jdutoit
https://metricmailer.com
======
thanesh
Are you going to collect our info? What is your privacy policy?
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Logitech MX Master 3 vs. 2S Teardown - Rondom
https://blog.bolt.io/logitech-mx-master-3-vs-2s/
======
lilyball
I love the Logitech hardware quality but I really wish they'd work on their
software quality.
I'm using a G502 at work right now with Logitech Gaming Software and the two
completely baffling decisions they made with that software on macOS:
1\. It has to be running. If I launch it for configuration and hit ⌘Q it stops
working and my mouse reverts to the default. I have to remember to close the
window instead, which leaves it in the menubar.
2\. I can't unmap buttons and have them act as generic HID mouse buttons. I
can map buttons to mouse 1, 2, and 3, but I can't go past that. I can map
buttons to various special functions, but it would be a hell of a lot more
flexible if I could just have mouse 4 and mouse 5 mapped. For example, I can
map the "sniper" button to Mission Control, but I can't change its behavior
with keyboard modifiers, whereas if it was just Mouse 5 I could use the system
configuration to map that to Mission Control and then use keyboard modifiers
to change its behavior.
~~~
whalesalad
Logitech software is a dumpster fire. For a while there it would start and go
to 170-190% CPU and just burn until it was killed.
I share your experience and frustration.
~~~
baroffoos
I'm so glad linux usually contains reverse engineered drivers that are open
source so everything just works out of the box with logitech.
~~~
OJFord
It really is quite incredible the unrewarded, often thankless (except that
which we're doing now) effort that must go into that.
I had an issue recently with missing drivers for a network card (my fault, I
deleted the kernel modules, it had been and now is again working), and it just
made me think exactly what you're saying, how glad I am that someone's
provided this.
------
deanclatworthy
For those interested, Logitech recently resurrected [1] their most famous
mouse. The MX518. At least I was able to now buy it from retailers in Europe
:) I love it. Could never get used to the more bulk Logitech mice such as the
one in OP.
[1] [https://www.techpowerup.com/review/logitech-g-
mx518/](https://www.techpowerup.com/review/logitech-g-mx518/)
~~~
rofo1
For MX518 lovers, I've got a strong recommendation for G400s. The shape is
almost the same and it's amazing how durable it is. The cable issue is still
there, just like in MX518, and eventually (I am guessing) that's the reason
I'll have to switch to something else.
I've been using both of them for years and years. Amazing.
~~~
InvaderFizz
I prefer the G400s over the MX518 as I like the more grippy shell.
You can get cable replacement kits for the MX518/G400/G400s for $9 from eBay
that includes new feet and a USB cable. So I'm really not worried about
longevity.
P.S. You should take the mouse apart and clean it probably at least once per
year. I cleaned my MX518 after about 5 years when the scroll stopped working
consistently. I was shocked how much hair was on the inside, blocking the
scroll sensor.
~~~
ThatPlayer
Yep. I just bought a new USB cable for mine myself, and switched to a spare I
had.
I find I need to clean my scroll wheel maybe twice a year. It gets more stuck
with gunk over time, and it becomes harder and harder to scroll.
------
uwuhn
My mouse progression since 2005 has been MX518 - G400S - G903. I used the G502
for a few days when it first came out, and couldn't stand it because it just
felt...weird with my grip. It also made my hand hurt.
I'm completely locked into Logitech since I just can't function without a
free-scrolling scroll wheel, and they apparently have it patented. I tried
some of their other newer mice without free-scrolling, and not having it is
just a complete dealbreaker.
I'm very happy with the G903 so far. The worst part was definitely the price.
I'm tempted to get the new MX518, but I feel like the G903 is strictly better
for my usage right now.
~~~
huangc10
I 100% agree with you. Since using the MX Revolution in the late 2000s, I
couldn't go back to anything. For me, MX Revolution - G500 - G500 (literally 2
for almost 8 years) - and just this year, the MX Master 2S. Long live the free
scroll.
~~~
friendlybus
I love the MX Master 2S except for the input lag. I don't know why there is no
way to disable that.
------
cmer
I've been using the 2S for a while and just bought the MX 3 because I needed
an extra mouse.
They managed to improve an already near-perfect mouse. I just love the 3.
Probably not worth ditching your 2S for, but nonetheless, a superb upgrade. I
always felt the thumb buttons were awkward on the 2S and that has been
rectified. The magnetic wheel is also really nice to use.
~~~
nwah1
Yes, the thumb buttons seem much better. USB-C is an upgrade.
Only thing that is missing is a wireless charging. Some competitors use Qi
charging or a special mousepad, so there's never a need to plug it in.
In 2010, Logitech released a solar-powered keyboard called the K750. Now that
batteries and PV cells are improving, and low energy wireless technology is
improving, I bet this would be less terrible.
Also in 2010, RCA invented an "Airenergy" device that could harvest ambient
wifi signals for use as a power source.
I imagine some combination of the above technologies could eliminate cables
from peripherals entirely.
~~~
jandrese
The power density on WiFi is minuscule. FCC Regulations mean you can transmit
at a max of 300mW only, and the power you receive is affected by the Inverse
Square Law on top of that, so total delivered power to your device is
fractions of a mW unless your wireless router is right next to the router.
Even then the entire process tends to be rather inefficient on top of that so
the math probably doesn't work out.
The Qi mousepad makes a lot more sense.
~~~
hinkley
> FCC Regulations mean you can transmit at a max of 300mW only
Is that new? When I was originally playing with dd-wrt I was under the
impression that 100 was the limit, discovered my AP was defaulting to
something like 70mW, and would allow you to go higher.
~~~
jandrese
You might be right. My memory is from several years ago when I was working
with some possibly dubious long range outdoor radios.
~~~
hinkley
The funny thing is that they don't seem to care about the directionality of
the signal. You fire 120mW in a sphere and they have opinions. Narrow 100mW
down to a (double) cone or a disc? No problemo.
Makes no goddamned sense to me.
------
bloopernova
I just wish that MX Master 3 had a couple of extra buttons by the thumb.
My 3 thumb buttons on my Logitech G500 are mapped to: Page Up, Page Down, and
Back. Clicking and holding the Page Up button can rapidly take me back to the
top of a page without moving my right hand to hit the home key on my keyboard.
It's pretty useful, in my opinion, to be able to roughly and quickly scroll
with Page Up/Down, then fine tune with the scroll wheel.
Looks like with the MX 3, I'd lose the back button though, because I really
don't like the "gesture button" they've added.
Is the thumb-wheel on the MX 3 "clickable"?
~~~
TheSoftwareGuy
Thumb buttons are hugely under-rated in my opinion. Its the sole reason I
bought my G600.
~~~
hinkley
I used to play a melee character in a game, and I had the buttons mapped to
autorun, stop autorun, and back up. I never had to move my hands to follow a
target, which greatly improved my uptime.
I think on the later mouse, with only two buttons, I retrained myself to use
'back up' to stop autorun, but it was important to me that I could mash the
first button to start running and not have to worry about how many times I hit
it.
Like OP said, for other apps I had it mapped to page-up/-down and back button
and it made it a lot easier to focus on the code or documentation I was
reading, instead of on navigating.
------
emsy
Regarding Logitech Mice, I have the Anywhere MX and the Anywhere MX 2S here. I
rarely used the old AMX but still, I got a defective left button switch after
about 5 years in which I used it probably less than 500 hours total. Changing
the switch is needlessly cumbersome, you have to remove rubber pads and
battery stickers (which can't really be removed without destroying them). But
the AMX feels solid and the on/off switch also functions as a protector for
the laser. You can also store the USB receiver between the batteries.
The AMX 2S is an absolute downgrade: Much cheaper build quality, no more
protection for the laser, no user removable battery. The old AMX came with a
leather pouch for transportation, the AMX 2S doesn't. On top of that, the
Bluetooth connection of the AMX 2S is terrible. I have frequent minute long
disconnects from my MBP at 20cm distance. Sometimes it won't connect at all.
And the battery doesn't last as long as the rechargeable batteries I put in my
AMX 1.
~~~
zymhan
The MX anywhere is not meant to compete with the MX/MX2S/MX3. The "Anywhere"
is a portable mouse, hence the laser cover. The MX 2S and 3 are meant to be
left on a desk.
~~~
emsy
No, I'm talking about Anywhere MX and Anywhere MX2, I lazily omitted the
Anywhere in my comment. Sorry for the confusion, I edited the original
comment.
~~~
zymhan
Ah okay, no worries
------
clutch89
The scroll wheel in the Master 3 is totally broken. It doesn’t register
scrolls properly. Within 10 seconds I noticed the issue. Same issue across
multiple devices and OS’s too. Others have noticed too, like here:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/MouseReview/comments/d6yo5j/anyone_...](https://www.reddit.com/r/MouseReview/comments/d6yo5j/anyone_else_having_mx_master_3_scroll_issues/?utm_source=amp&utm_medium=&utm_content=post_body)
I returned mine and got a G604, which is a work of art, and you can load
settings into on-board memory so you can delete the Logitech software after
doing that.
~~~
9935c101ab17a66
Wow the G604 is a really good looking mouse as far as PC mice go.
------
stuart78
I use the Anywhere MX 2, which is quite good, and would love to try the Master
3, but I mouse left-handed. Would love to see more support from Logitech for
this mode, even if it came at a premium.
~~~
FranOntanaya
I wish the rubber grips didn't fail so easily on them, they are the first
thing to fall apart for me.
------
rkagerer
I'm really curious about the silkscreened ruler. Can anyone solve the mystery?
[https://blog.bolt.io/wp-
content/uploads/2019/10/DSC02786-102...](https://blog.bolt.io/wp-
content/uploads/2019/10/DSC02786-1024x683.jpg)
[https://blog.bolt.io/wp-
content/uploads/2019/10/DSC02791.jpg](https://blog.bolt.io/wp-
content/uploads/2019/10/DSC02791.jpg)
~~~
fmj
It's placed over the antenna for the Bluetooth LE chip. I'm assuming it's
related to antenna tuning/calibration.
~~~
GuB-42
That the ruler is related to the antenna tuning is the initial guess of the
author too, but he is unsure.
But come to think of it, why is the PCB silk-screened in the first place? I
don't think such a cheap board will ever get serviced by the manufacturer, and
slikscreening is cheap but not free.
My guess is that it is "just in case". If something goes wrong, the silkscreen
is there so that things can be fixed by an assembly line worker. And they
identified incorrect antenna dimensions as a potential problem and left a
ruler there. Turned out everything worked fine and the ruler wasn't necessary.
~~~
VectorLock
Virtually every board is going to need some kind of marking, so if you're
doing a silk screen anyways it almost free to add more stuff to that silk
screen.
------
css
Does the 3rd version fix the polling issues these mice have over Bluetooth?
Using the receiver works fine, but over Bluetooth it feels very laggy and
jerky to use. They don't offer a USB-C receiver yet.
Here is what it looks like to draw a circle using each protocol:
[https://imgur.com/a/RP2oLcn](https://imgur.com/a/RP2oLcn)
~~~
beanaroo
Which operating system are you using?
There was a regression in the Linux kernel regarding polling rate negotiation
that was fixed not too long ago
[https://i.imgur.com/q7NSMfR.png](https://i.imgur.com/q7NSMfR.png)
------
2bitencryption
Do they make high-quality mice like these for left-handed people?
I'm always jealous by this type of mouse, while I'm stuck using my cheap sad
ambidextrous Microsoft mouse.
~~~
Rebelgecko
Their ambi mice are decent. I use a G300S at work, and I think they have some
fancier mice that are also ambi while having features like wireless charging
and the toggle for smooth/ratcheted scrolling.
The only company I know of that makes an _actually_ left handed mouse is
Razer. Decent hardware, but if you're on a Mac their drivers are even worse
than Logitech's. There's nothing worse than having your mouse stop working
because the internet is down.
~~~
jmiserez
Evoluent sells a left-handed variant of their popular vertical mouse. Doesn't
have smooth scrolling though.
------
saltcod
Great mice but I’m surprised no one has mentioned weight. The master 3 is
141g! That’s a brick!
I’ve been hunting for a mouse with this kind of scroll wheel that was less
than 90g or so forever. 141g would kill my arm in a few hours.
~~~
verinus
Me too. I sold my MX Master as I felt it much too heavy to use...
------
dlevine
I use an MX Anywhere 2 at work and an MX Anywhere at home. I love both of them
(so much that I soldered in new microswitches when the original buttons on the
MX Anywhere wore out).
I have never tried an MX Master. I have been curious, but I don't need the
second scroll wheel.
I think the software is somewhat convoluted. My actual preference is that Mac
OS would support all of the functionality natively. I think it's stupid that
we need to use extra programs to get the keyboard/mouse to do what we want.
~~~
solnyshok
I have had one defective switch on AMX. But nothing like that on 2 AMX 2S that
I bought more than a year ago (one for office, one for home). I think they
improved something with AMX S2 switches.
------
open-paren
I'm glad they changed the scroll wheel–it was arguably the worst part of the
first one. I have had one for a few years, and the mechanical part that
determines whether the wheel is free spinning or ratcheting has a tendency to
slip over time, making the ratchet less effective until it is all gone. The
mouse needs to be opened up every few months to poke the part back down. This
is not an uncommon problem and I'm glad the mechanism has been changed.
------
mclightning
I see that Logitech ramped up their advertising investment again. I looked up
the mouse and it shows up on all popular youtube channels with crazy titles.
I remember same thing from the original Performance MX. Everybody said it was
a great mouse. I got it, it was terrible. It didn't work on most surfaces. It
didn't hold battery long.
Long story short, I will hold off until it stands the test of time for a bit.
------
optimiz3
Hope they bring the new tech over to the G502 (basically a wired version of
the Performance MX suitable for work and gaming).
~~~
pitaj
As someone who uses both, G502 has a very different form factor and feel in
the hand.
------
lmilcin
I no longer care about Logitech mouses after I had THREE premium mouses, in
succession, to die to the same problem for me personally and additionally one
mouse for a person that I recommended it to. All had exactly the same problem
-- double clicks registered when clicking left mouse button.
For a premium brand I find it completely unacceptable. Even though it is
possible to fix the problem ([https://www.instructables.com/id/Repair-mouse-
with-double-cl...](https://www.instructables.com/id/Repair-mouse-with-double-
click-problem/)), I gave up on Logitech mouses completely.
~~~
mng2
I had to replace the switches in my G100s after a few years, first the scroll
wheel button and then the left click. Definitely an unacceptable level of
longevity.
------
Navarr
I hope they bring some of the newer improvements and more of the MX Master
features to the MX Vertical.
I've found that I really appreciate the different ergonomics of a vertical
mouse, but I do miss my side wheel and unlocking scroll
~~~
sigzero
I really love the MX vertical mouse. The scroll wheel is the only current
bummer for me as well.
------
spectramax
Logitech has top quality hardware, but their software is degrading rapidly.
Why does Logitech need to update the mouse software every so often? Installing
fresh Windows 10 on a new computer, a popup automatically appears on the
bottom-right to download and install Logitech software - _without_ installing
anything. This is built-in ads for Windows essentially. Also, Logitech wants
us to connect to the internet to create a profile. It nags you constantly.
We need software engineers to push back on these things that are pushed on to
them by marketing execs.
------
jesusthatsgreat
I have an M510 and I love it but it needs to be taken apart and cleaned every
year or so. It accumulates an insane amount of crap inside it which if left
unchecked will eventually lead you to think there's a software issue or
wireless interference as your pages scroll up and down randomly by themselves.
Most people probably just replace mice once they start acting up because they
either don't want to bother cleaning it or else don't realise it can be taken
apart and cleaned easily which fixes 99% of mice issues.
------
LeSaucy
Also worthy to note that Logitech has decent macOS support.
~~~
digb
The MX Master 2 or whatever has been absolute trash for me on my work mac.
There's the standard issue with macs and third party mice where the "inertia"
or whatever of the mouse feels off, but more than that there has to be some
sort of interference because the thing just floats and jitters constantly.
Completely unusable, I gave it away to one of our finance guys.
------
bboygravity
Does anybody know of any MX Master 3 modding forums or other resources?
The firmware and electronics in these things are fine, but these mice are one
size fits none. In my case: way too small. I probably need one that's 2 times
the size + preferably vertical.
I was thinking of doing a mod where I convert an MX Master 3 to a much larger
MX vertical type thing. Shouldn't be too hard, but if I can think of this
someone probably already did it. Right?
~~~
ghostbrainalpha
Search for modding here. There is a lot of really interesting stuff.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/MouseReview/](https://www.reddit.com/r/MouseReview/)
------
utopcell
I am a long-time user of the MX series, having used the master 1 and 2 and
multiple anywheres 1 and 2 for years, mainly for their free-scrolling wheels.
I was surprised when Microsoft upstaged them with their precision mouse line,
which has a "patented magnetic scrolling". It seems to me that Logitech is
just playing catch-up with the "MagSpeed" wheels on the master 3.
------
post_break
I have an MX master and now own two triathlons. I love them because one AA
battery lasts months, it's bluetooth or can use the receiver which the mouse
can store inside of it, and it supports three devices. All for $25. I pair it
to my iPad and use it or at work for 8 hours straight. Definitely check it out
since it's basically a baby MX master without the thumb scroll.
------
bonestamp2
I love this article and while reading it I realized that I wish I could scroll
down exactly one "page" with my mouse so I mapped the MX Master side
back/forward buttons to space/shift+space so now it's really nice to read long
articles like this using the button to scroll down one page instead of the
mousewheel.
Also nice for HN comment threads. :)
------
zmix
Could anyone, with industry ties, forward these threads, in which people are
fed up with the vendor supplied support software / drivers, each time they
come up (and the _do_ come up), to the appropriate decision makers?
Thank you!
------
brailsafe
Really wish the MX master 3 had a USB-C receiver. Bluetooth just doesn't cut
it sometimes
~~~
hughes
What BT issues have you had?
~~~
LeoNatan25
It’s slower, much more prone to noise, a lot of disconnects, etc. the dongle
just works.
There are other software bugs on macOS, such as smooth scrolling and inverted
scroll not working sometimes on Bluetooth.
~~~
robotmay
Interestingly the Logitech WiFi receiver for these mice can cause audio issues
on some wireless headphones. I briefly had a pair of Sennheisser headphones
and it picked up an interesting tick every few seconds. Though, to be honest,
I think that's more likely poor design from headphone makers.
------
polyterative
I liked the 2s engineering and design but it's excessive weight and
embarrassingly low pooling rate made me return it.
Picked up a 502SE which is perfectly addressing these issues with better
button feel and tracking.
No wireless tho, and the wheel kinda sucks
------
sudhirkhanger
As a coder while coding, how much mouse do you guys use? I try to minimize it
as much as possible. And it seems like it is easier to hit touchpad than to
grab an external mouse which is places 6-12 in away from center of the
keyboard.
~~~
evan_
I’ve used the apple magic trackpads since they came out. As you say, it’s so
much faster to just reach up and engage the touchpad surface, rather than to
locate, grasp, and move a mouse. Third party software (BetterTouchTool) opens
up virtually unlimited gestures. I’m never going back.
------
TheSpiceIsLife
I can't get excited about regular mice any more.
I bought a Razer Naga and mapped some buttons to [enter] and [backspace], plus
others.
Having a few keyboard keys on the mouse blows everything else mouse-like out
of the water, in my opinion.
------
euph0ria
Is there any equivalent high quality preferred-choice-by-many keyboard?
~~~
kcolford
Das Keyboard is the way to go my friend. They're absolutely lovely to type on.
Although any other mechanical keyboard is probably acceptable...
~~~
pathartl
Yeah I love the latest Das Model S Ultimate. The aluminum plate and the
keycaps feel very premium. The newer one's at work and I have an older gen at
home and I much prefer the newer.
------
krtkush
I have been using the original MX Master for about 4 years now and the mouse
has been a dream. Absolutely great build quality and perfect ergonomics (for a
right handed person).
------
eecc
Great rats, but my tendons could enjoy them more if the device was larger. I
don’t get why, once in the 100€ range, there’s no SMLXL bucketing
------
wolfgke
Does Logitech meanwhile again excellent cables mice? I would love to get one
of these superb Logitech mice in a cabled version.
~~~
baroffoos
Their gaming mice have cabled versions which are really nice.
------
akvadrako
I couldn't stand the 2S because the clicks were so loud.
Can anyone comment on if this has been fixed with the 3?
------
Unklejoe
Look at that beautiful replaceable battery :)
~~~
wlesieutre
My Logitech G700s has a AA NiMH battery in an easily replaceable door, no need
to open the mouse.
The battery still charges over USB if you have the mouse wired, and switches
to wireless when that's unplugged.
I like it a lot, if you run the battery down you can just pop a new one in and
put the dead one in the charger. But I assume the one they're using here gives
them higher capacity, so it's a trade-off.
~~~
TheGuyWhoCodes
I don't think it's just the capacity but the power efficiency. G700s has a
really low run time, something like a week per charge as a heavy user. The MX
2S can go about 2 months between chargers and the 3 should have an even better
run time.
~~~
wlesieutre
Hasn't been an issue for me, the cord lives on my desk and I just plug it
overnight every couple of days. If I forget, grab a charged AA and swap it
out.
------
yCloser
have the mx3, so far all good. but.
I use linux... yes it works as a standard 5 mouse buttons, but there is no
software for gestures or thumb scroll. Windows has those. Linux will probably
never have anything like that
(thumb gesture-button seems to trigger KeyPress Meta+TAB, binding it seems
not-so-easy)
------
gfiorav
I've mostly transitioned out of using mice. I guess I'm lucky my workflow
allows for that
------
firemelt
I hate it lacks the side scroll and they move it to thumb side scroll
------
ses1984
I want unlock able scroll on the mx ergo.
------
ReptileMan
Congratulations guys... 10 years later you rediscovered mx revolution -
probably your best mice ever.
------
tryptophan
Downside of such complicated mice with fancy circuit boards is that you can
have issues like my s2 had, where the thumb button got stuck. This somehow
caused a software lock, rendering the rest of the mouse unoperational; a nice
90$ paperweight. I don't mistreat my electronics either, it was not dropped or
anything like that. This sort of stuff should not happen on such an expensive
mouse. Coincidentally it happened 2 months after the warranty expired.
~~~
dimfeld
I had the same thing happen recently, and came across this Youtube video
detailing a fix:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFaLyoSQQo0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFaLyoSQQo0).
Essentially, you open up the mouse and loosen the internal screws on the thumb
button a little bit, which moves the board away from the rubber over the
button and relieves whatever pressure is keeping it pressed. You need a
screwdriver with a T5 Torx bit to open up some of the screws, but overall the
procedure is pretty easy and my mouse has been working great ever since.
~~~
scrollaway
I read the parent's comment, messed with the thumb button, and had the exact
same thing happen.
Now I read your comment, slid a screwdriver under the thumb rubber (didn't
bother opening the mouse) and that unfucked it.
Man…
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Ask HN: What are your go-to checklists? - KennyFromIT
People use checklists all the time. What are some examples of checklists that you find extremely helpful/useful?
======
muzani
I've tried to checklist my life for years after reading The Checklist
Manifesto. I later learned that the best checklists are not in the form of
checklists.
Development checklists are often in the form of templates. E.g.
[https://html5boilerplate.com/](https://html5boilerplate.com/)
Life checklists are in the form of routines and rituals. For example, brush
teeth, shower, put on clothes, comb hair every morning. These should actually
be sorted out and optimized. I have a basket for "smart casual" clothes, a
basket for simply "casual" clothes, a place to dump dirty clothes, and things
like toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo go into the exact same location every
day. Instead of boxes you tick off, you optimize a route. I'd recommend doing
one for all the major things in life - shopping for food, locking up the
office, laundry, taking care of the cats, exercise, and so on. If you tend to
forget something, label things. Like sometimes the comb is not enough reminder
to comb my hair, so I put capital letter "COMB" at eye level.
I teach classes too. I used to keep a checklist of what to teach, but it's
easier to have PowerPoint slides instead. This is obvious to most people, but
took me months to figure out.
For my checklist apps I keep only two lists: Things to do ASAP ("today") and
things to do later/backlog. This is the technique Marc Andreessen recommends.
~~~
mickelsen
This! I call this following a "sequence" of tasks, and whenever I get
distracted -which happens a lot as I have ADHD-, the phrase "follow the
sequence" pops up in my head (sometimes also using alarms on the phone), then
I do whatever task/ritual I usually do at that time of the day. I have this
list in the Notes app, so whenever I'm lost or overwhelmed on what to do next,
I just check the phone. It works to clear my anxiety too.
------
henrikeh
I made [http://pcbchecklist.com](http://pcbchecklist.com)
For electronics there are a lot of small things which should be considered in
each design. The must-haves are covered by standards and regulation, but there
are many many other considerations which makes life easier or catches errors:
checklists are an obvious choice.
So to make it easy for myself I bought
[http://pcbchecklist.com](http://pcbchecklist.com)
It is mostly focused on being comprehensive, but every now and then I have
some free time to expand on it.
~~~
ChrisGammell
Love it! Glad you listed the various sources as well. I had been looking for
something similar a few years back when I was writing about this topic, but it
was pretty scattered. Seems like a good idea to have it all in one place (esp
with the community contribution possible)
~~~
henrikeh
Thanks. The idea started since my co-workers each had their own private lists
and it sure worked, but I figured that it would be much easier if I could just
go to one website and have one solid list.
A bit challenge, I think, is that the current list is overwhelmingly big and
it would really benefit from being more digestible/navigable. But there is
only so much time in the world...
------
fernandokokocha
In personal life, I find checklist useful to:
* not forget small tasks that if piled up, eventually become too big or annoying to tackle (daily budget update, email zero-inbox, browser bookmarks cleanup). I group such repeating tasks in daily routines (morning routine, evening routine) or periodical reviews (weekly, monthly etc.)
* keep up the habits (flossing, weighing myself)
* keep up with events rare enough to forget some pieces of it (weedings - tie a tie, give the shirt to the laundry)
Similarly, in software development. I've realized recently that things get
less cluttered if you have a process (a checklist, basically) with steps to
cover in particular activities.
Examples:
* work shutdown routine (put a work log to Jira, reply all remaining emails, git push everything).
* Definition of Done (DoD): code delivered, tests written, docs updated, etc. That is useful if you (or your team) want up-to-date README but keep forgetting to update it.
* topics to cover on project kick-off, here's mine if anyone's interested: [http://bartoszkrajka.com/2018/12/28/kick-off-dev-related-top...](http://bartoszkrajka.com/2018/12/28/kick-off-dev-related-topics-to-cover/)
------
inceptivecss
Much like @muzani below, I've tried to apply checklists at much as possible
after reading The Checklist Manifesto. It's a solid book with actionable
advice and examples.
For business, I have multiple SOPs, which are all effectively checklists:
* My daily marketing routine, with what to do and links directly to where I need to go.
* Monthly invoicing procedures.
* How to perform my roadmapping service (send this, update that, schedule this, etc.)
* Every README I write for dev projects will include a checklist of deployment procedures and how to update critical things.
I'll also occasionally write down a physical "ToDo" list, which ends up being
a checklist that I just go down. This is more for reducing executive function
in the mornings, and making sure I don't forget anything.
For my personal life, I don't operate off of a specific checklist day to day.
Instead, I have an alarm app with absolutely everything I need to do each day,
and when it needs to be done. I also rely on my Google Calendar for reminders.
Ultimately, knowing what to do is important, but knowing _when_ to do it is
also important.
------
wingerlang
I wrote up a checklist for the release procedure of the app I work on at my
company. I cannot stress how much it made my life easier.
There were a few (too many) manual steps, like updating websites XYZ with
release notes, and using this checklist made it all so much simpler to keep
track of what I had done / need to do. I also added direct links, removing
much friction.
Other than that I don't really use checklists.
------
DanBC
I use this in my suicide prevention work.
10 ways to improve safety:
[https://sites.manchester.ac.uk/ncish/](https://sites.manchester.ac.uk/ncish/)
[https://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=40697](https://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=40697)
------
perilunar
Wallet, keys, card, coins, hanky, phone, glasses. (my version of "spectacles
testicles wallet and watch")
~~~
lfx
Not a native English speaker here, what is hanky?
~~~
hcho
Handkerchief
------
justaguyhere
I am also interested in the same. Also, any suggestions for good checklist
apps?
~~~
muzani
Rule of thumb IMO is as simple as possible.
GTasks works fine for me for Android. They upgraded it but I still prefer the
older one.
For web, I use plaintext or a plugin for Sublime Text (PlainTasks).
Asana was awesome at one point, but they added too many features and it became
cumbersome.
Workflowy is good too but doesn't click with me for some reason.
~~~
davidhehehe
Would love to hear more of your thoughts on WorkFlowy. I’m a current user but
there are some things that are just subconsciously bothering me yet I can’t
find better alternatives.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Arizona Nuclear Missile Bunker for $400k - void_nill
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/16/old-nuclear-bunker-for-sale-arizona-desert-includes-original-equipment
======
masonic
If it wasn't for the damn NIMBY zoning, we could replace it with 20 smaller
market-rate silos and 10 low-income subsidized silos.
------
mark_l_watson
That really looks interesting, with 12 acres of desert property, but even
assuming that there are no toxic chemicals in the bunker, it would cost a lot
of money to fix up as a nice residence.
Some people with a lot of money like to have a comfortable bunker. Assuming
that it was not used for survivalists purposes, adding a clear dome to let in
daylight, and lots of room for workshops, hobby trains, etc. I live in Arizona
(central mountains) and I am familiar with the general area around Tucson
where I think this is located.
That for posting this - fun link, and I enjoyed the 3D tour.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
How to Simulate Language Immersion - _chu
https://medium.com/@mmeditations/the-cookie-effect-how-to-learn-languages-faster-with-simulated-immersion-45ac4a3a477d#.qj7zx4dyq
======
lupin_sansei
Browser extensions that can translate the selected text into English are nice
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/google-
transl...](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/google-translator-
for-firefox/) as you can attempt to read a foreign language website and only
get translations for words you don't know.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
The first intuitive programming language for quantum computers - agnesobel
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200615115820.htm
======
DennisP
Here's a page linking the actual language and related resources:
[https://www.quantaneo.com/Release-of-Silq-A-High-level-
Quant...](https://www.quantaneo.com/Release-of-Silq-A-High-level-Quantum-
Language_a546.html)
~~~
ivan_ah
Thx. Much better link than the "newswire" link.
They also have a very nice "docs" site:
[https://silq.ethz.ch/overview](https://silq.ethz.ch/overview)
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Show HN: TrellUp, automated Trello Board reports - jmadsen
http://trellup.com/
======
jmadsen
Hi - TrellUp's creator here.
Big fan of Trello & use it as my primary Project Management tool. What I
didn't like about it was the notifications & the fact that clients have to
have an account as well, and then want to get into your boards and start
rearranging things.
Sometimes that's handy, but sometimes I prefer they just get a weekly report
of what's going on. So I created TrellUp so I don't have to spend my Friday
afternoons writing and sending out something the computer is perfectly capable
of.
Please let me know your thoughts - we're still in our infancy & open to ideas
on how to improve.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
How a Programmer Can Discover an Asteroid - typpo
http://www.ianww.com/blog/2013/08/05/how-a-programmer-can-discover-an-asteroid/
======
3JPLW
Interesting. Here's the link to the Asterank Discover page:
[http://asterank.com/discover](http://asterank.com/discover)
I've gone through a handful or two of images now. Although he says "The app
occasionally serves control images to get a sense of whose responses are
trustworthy," I have yet to see anything move. It'd be nice to have a higher
number of catch trials with a game-like interface. _" Congrats, you found the
moving dot! This is asteroid xxxx"_ or: _" Oops, you missed it, try again"_
or: _" Hey, this is a new one! We'll check on it and get back to you."_
I think that'd help train and reward those who look through all these images.
_Edit: after a few dozen, I think I found one. But I don 't know if it was a
catch trial or not._
~~~
ics
Agreed. The lack of feedback is slightly troubling when you think you see one,
as is the inability to reposition or remove a dot. Still, it's quite a bit of
fun.
------
mutagen
This seems like a good time to point out the Zooniverse project
([https://www.zooniverse.org/](https://www.zooniverse.org/)) which is using
similar crowdsourcing techniques in the browser to do all kinds of things from
cataloging galaxies to entering data from ships logs to extend our view of
earth's climate.
------
johansch
The 3d view, [http://www.asterank.com/3d](http://www.asterank.com/3d) is
_very_ snazzy.
------
obituary_latte
Quite difficult (but very cool).
The way that the brightness (if that's the right term) varies between frames
made it hard for me to distinguish between movement and adjacent objects
appearing and disappearing. I wonder if there would be a way to normalize the
brightness based on the brightest of the frames (i.e. the frame with the most
objects visible) to make it easier to detect actual movement as opposed to
what looks like movement due to stop-motion-like hiding and revealing of
adjacent objects.
------
3327
Hey great project I always wanted to set set aside time for similar projects,
mainly going over through the troves of data available from the Kepler that is
publicly available. I might start a a project and put it on github but as you
all know such things are incredibly time consuming, yet are possible with a
small and dedicated team.
If anyone would like to collaborate on such a project in a dedicated and
professional manner I would love to chat.
I have 2 friends onboard (google and MS search engineers) who will put in time
too given proper dedication.
------
sharemywin
I wonder if you feed a few of screenshots of the video into a Reduced Boltzman
Machine if you could get it to come up with what it thinks an astroid looks
like. seems like it would be perfect for this kind of thing.
------
barcode2
mmm a "zoo" project yeah, crowdsourcing science like this is actually pretty
popular. They use it for determining galaxy types and finding planets...
unfortunately it's often highly biased once you get to the realm of Machine
Learning failure, you end up in a regime of false signals that can easily
fudge amateurs
like galaxies, crowdsourcing science found that that most (like a significant
portion of most) galaxies spin clockwise or something, but it should be purely
random. This was a big blow to the galaxy-zoo project from like 8 years ago.
crowdsourcing science is hugely powerful, but I don't think it should be
tackled or implemented by amateurs really... crowdsourcing should really be in
the form of spare CPU cycles like BOINC projects...
Although. Asteroid detection does basically operate on the algorithm this guy
proposes. emphasis on _basically_ there are literally thousands of types of
variable objects that can flicker out and thousands which can flicker in. and
a pure random background which gives strong positive signal on an
instantaneous timescale. what he's doing is basically 1960s tech with a
million grad students.
I also want to blow a load on this guy's burger for this fucking statement: "A
year ago, I set aside my doubts and started to innovate in the space industry
as a complete outsider." Give this fuck 3 hours at CfA and see how confident
he is of innovating anything. The real people (CSCI People) changing
astrophysics are the deep machine learning guys, the data structure guys and
the mapping algorithm guys. not the bloggers.
------
danso
This is a worthy idea and a lovely example of programming (particularly web
development) tackling interesting problems outside of your domain...I think
there's huge potential for programmers who, arrogantly or not, attempt to
tackle industries and fields as outsiders.
However, I don't understand why the OP believes asteroids too small to be seen
through computer-vision algorithms would be noticed by human eyes? I'd think
computer processing would be much better (and configurable) at detecting the
smallest cases and, at the same time, be better (with some additional
tweaking) at reducing false positives. I'd be interested in seeing whatever
data/edge cases the OP found that led him to go this crowd-sourcing route.
(OTOH, bringing people in to help find asteroids is a great way to bring
attention to the project...but hopefully he's doing a lot of pre-
filtering/processing of the images to serve up just the most likely candidate
sequences for humans to go over...and if so, what's the threshhold he's set
for the pre-processing)
~~~
typpo
Computer algos do a good job at asteroid id'ing - they discover a few every
day - but most experts I've spoken with (including people running large sky
surveys like PanSTARRS and CSS) agree that crowdsourcing is an approach worth
trying. I've updated my post with a few of the reasons why, which generally
relate to the unreliable quality of sky survey images.
From personal experience, the algorithms and data used by sky surveys are not
readily available to the public. This inhibits innovation. Without a PhD,
there is little opportunity for me to build on state of the art and improve
them directly. I agree that with the images I've collected, there may be some
interesting algorithm/ML opportunities. Part of the reason why I started with
crowdsourcing is to get a decent training set.
I appreciate the feedback!
~~~
danso
Thanks for the reply and update! Also, I just realized you have a link to the
source repo, which would answer a few of my questions. If there are certain
conditions in which false positives arise frequently from image analysis,
perhaps a refinement of the parameters (if photo_taken_during_hazy_night && by
satellite_in_position(x,y)_relative_to_viewport, then increase
fuzziness_factor) might also cut the noise. From my layman's perspective, the
problem seems to be "easy" because of the relative simpleness of the shapes
(whitish dots on a dark area) and expected movement patterns...And so the fact
that _it isn 't_ means that there's other problems (data quality) or a major
flaw in (my) assumptions...which is even _more_ interesting.
Conversely, it'd be interesting to set up a measurement-framework to test
which conditions are users most likely to report false positives.
Anyway, these are all details that may also have been overlooked by those in
the field and that even if they realized it, they don't have a strategy (or
see the need) to perform such meta-analysis. Another way that an outsider can
bring freshness to a field.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Kevin Rose making new friends in Portland, Oregon - my_name_is
http://www.oregonlive.com/front-porch/index.ssf/2014/06/google_executive_kevin_rose_pl.html
======
davidw
One of the really cool things to see here in Italy is how good they are at
completely tearing out the guts of a house and redoing it. They'll strip it
down to the bricks and then re-add everything they tore out. It's interesting
to observe, and nice too, to see something get fixed up rather than just
bulldozed and rebuilt as happens with so much stuff in the United States.
That said, I know jack about what's actually involved technically, and I bet
old wood houses (as are common in Oregon) are a lot harder to do that with
than old brick homes.
~~~
jmhobbs
Been there, late 1800's farmhouse. Patching or replacing plaster walls is
messy and inconvenient, but the concept is pretty similar. We've not changed
room layout though, so not sure how that goes. Shouldn't be much different
unless you have a load bearing wall to move.
------
dang
This title is so egregiously editorialized, and the post so borderline to
begin with, that we're going to bury it rather than edit the title.
Submitters: it's against the rules to do this with titles on HN. Please don't.
------
aresant
Can you begin to imagine how much Kevin Rose hates that article "How this kid
made $60 million in 18 months."?
Which of course was utter bullshit and based on Digg's valuation being $300m+
The Oregon Live's thesis seems to be that this guy is so rich that he just
doesn't give a damn.
But the reality appears to be they bought a $1.3m home, had maybe planned on a
$300 - 400k remodel.
But instead likely got a $1m+ price tag to completely refurbish, and
stabilize, a landmark building.
When price-per-square foot for new construction for something very nice might
be $200 x 3,500 sq feet = $700,000
Not defending him, but I get it.
------
webmaven
Looks like he agreed to sell after all:
[http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/index.ss...](http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/index.ssf/2014/06/steve_duin_breaking_-
_google_e.html)
------
my_name_is
Kevin Rose has every right to do this, but the events leading up to it left a
bad taste in the mouths of his future neighbors. I don't know why anyone would
want to create and move into a hostile environment.
~~~
VonGuard
Or why you'd want to tear down such a nice house? Aren't there open lots in
Portland?
~~~
ewzimm
In the article, it says he intended to renovate, but it turned out to cost
millions and was more efficient to rebuild.
~~~
VonGuard
Doh, missed that part.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Can economics be accessible again to ordinary Americans? - huihuiilly
https://bostonreview.net/class-inequality/samuel-bowles-joshua-cohen-everyday-economists
======
conorg
Very cool - UMass Amherst is home to some rad peeps
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
10:10 Do robots trade on tweet data? - coldcold
https://twitter.com/dave_lampton/status/436201101637865472
Retweet me NOW to find out @dave_lampton !
======
mathattack
While that tweet may be market manipulation, it's worth noting that Tweets
about Anne Hathaway have been shown to move Berkshire Hathaway stock. [1] This
is in part due to Berkshire's relative illiquidity.
[1]
[http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/03/does-a...](http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/03/does-
anne-hathaway-news-drive-berkshire-hathaways-stock/72661/)
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
The case for a 7.8” iPad - quarterto
http://castirony.com/post/26466421254/the-case-for-a-7-8-ipad
======
arn
For visual reference, we made a printable PDF for a 7.85" iPad that shows it
in actual size: [http://www.macrumors.com/2011/12/23/this-is-
what-a-7-85-inch...](http://www.macrumors.com/2011/12/23/this-is-
what-a-7-85-inch-ipad-looks-and-feels-like/)
Or you can view this page on your current iPad:
<http://cdn.macrumors.com/downloads/ipadmini/>
The UI seems fine. As mentioned in the article, elements are no smaller than
an iPhone.
~~~
mmobile
More good links for a visual reference:
Compared to the iPad 3: [http://versusio.com/en/apple-ipad-mini-64gb-wifi-
cellular-vs...](http://versusio.com/en/apple-ipad-mini-64gb-wifi-cellular-vs-
apple-ipad-3-64gb-wifi-cellular)
Compared to the Nexus 7: [http://versusio.com/en/apple-ipad-mini-64gb-wifi-
cellular-vs...](http://versusio.com/en/apple-ipad-mini-64gb-wifi-cellular-vs-
google-nexus-7)
To see the 7.85" in real size click in the top right corner.
~~~
smashing
I think the iPad 3* has 2048-by-1536-pixel resolution. Your site claims it has
a 1024-by-768-pixel resolution. Why?
* <https://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/>
------
ajaimk
4(iPod touch and iPhone), 7.85, 9.7 = Apple trying to do to tablets what they
did for MP3 players.
Dominate every possible price range with a slightly more expensive and greatly
superior product. Dominate the supply chain and maximize profits. People are
willing to pay the $100 premium is Apple makes a better product (No, I don't
want a iOS vs. Android discussion here).
I'd say, the 7.85" is coming out soon. Also, the PPI argument has been out
through DaringFireball for months now. This isn't a recent find.
~~~
pvidler
Is it likely to be a $100 premium? The iPad 3 is $499 and the iPad 2 is $399,
so I'd expect what amounts to a mini iPad 2 to be maybe $299... So based on
that I assume you are comparing it to the new google tablet, except that this
is being sold at cost -- I don't think we'll be seeing too many android
tablets of comparable quality at that price.
~~~
protomyth
If they do release a iPad mini, I would expect Apple to quit making the iPad
2. I also would expect the $299 price point, but would not be surprised if the
went $249 or $199.
------
hrktb
The gist of this discussion is that a little arbitrary shrinking of UI
elements won't be a big deal, because the guidelines advocated for a few more
pixels on the ipad than on the iphone.
It feels like lazy logic, and until now Apple has never forced user apps at a
lower physical size that targeted by the developper, at least on the iOS
front. Good quality iphone and ipad apps are expected to be pixel perfect and
thoroughly designed for the target device, and Apple pushed with all it's
weight in this direction. It would be strange for apple to just say from now
on "screw the physical size, who cares about interface details, they'll just
learn to click better"
~~~
sjmulder
The point is that UI elements on the iPad are now slightly bigger than on the
iPhone because of the lower DPI (ignoring the retina screen). Pixel-wise, UI
elements are the same size between the iPad and the iPhone.
Shrinking the iPad to 7.85" would give it the same density as the iPhone and
UI elements would be the same size.
~~~
hrktb
> _UI elements would be the same size_
I understand your point, UI elements would be the same size as if they were
rendered on the iphone. And that's not the same size as they were intended in
the first place, if the app targeted the ipad.
------
nchlswu
I don't see Apple being one to release the tablet just to compete. The 7"
would eat into 10" sales and a new formfactor only adds another resolution
that devs have to account for (unless the original iPad's resolution is
effectively retina at a 7" size?).
When it comes to portability, would 7" be that much more portable? I know
people can put these in their pockets, but it's hardly practical.
Ultimately, it doesn't quite make sense to me at this moment. In the event
that Apple does release a 7" one day, I really think there'd have to be a
drastic repositioning of the 10" or the 7" would serve some special niche
purpose
~~~
arn
Part of the point of the article is that it would not really add another
resolution that devs would have to account for.
A 7.85" iPad could have the exact same resolution as a non-retina 9.7" iPad
and still have the same pixel density as the iPhone. This would result in UI
elements that would be no smaller than normal for the iPhone, making it
relatively easy for existing iPad apps to run with no modification.
~~~
telcodud
Can you walk us through the math you did to arrive at the following
conclusion?
_A 7.85" iPad could have the exact same resolution as a non-retina 9.7" iPad
and still have the same pixel density as the iPhone._
~~~
arn
So the trick is that Apple tells App devs that the minimal tappable UI element
at 44x44 points.
\- The original iPhone had a PPI of 163PPI
\- The original iPad had a PPI of 132PPI
The 44x44 point recommendation was the same for the iPhone and iPad. So the
minimal tappable element on the iPad happened to be physically bigger even
though it was the same # of points.
A 7.85" iPad happens to have a PPI of 163PPI. (same as original iPhone)
So that means any UI element designed with a minimum of 44x44 points will
still be as tappable on a 7.85" iPad as it was on the iPhone. If you see the
PDF/actual-size file I linked in another comment, you'll see the UI elements
on a 7.85" iPad are no smaller than elements on an iPhone.
actual math here: [http://www.appadvice.com/appnn/2012/03/apple-
has-163-reasons...](http://www.appadvice.com/appnn/2012/03/apple-
has-163-reasons-to-release-fabled-ipad-mini)
------
ezy
Given that the iphone is quite portable and a 4.5" model is all but assured,
I'm not sure I see the point of having a 7" tablet. The issue with the 10" is
that it's not quite as portable as some people would like -- but the 7" seems
to fragment the product line a little too much given that you already have the
ipod touch.
On the other hand, the one way I _could_ see this working is if they reshuffle
categories such that the lower resolution iPads _and_ the iPod touch fade away
to be replaced by the 7" wifi model. That would make some sense.
EDIT: Ooops, 4", not 4.5"
~~~
quarterto
_a 4.5" model is all but assured_
Citation? All the evidence I've seen points to a 4" model.
[http://www.cultofmac.com/177233/yet-another-4-inch-
iphone-5-...](http://www.cultofmac.com/177233/yet-another-4-inch-
iphone-5-display-surfaces-with-in-cell-touch-technology/)
~~~
achompas
Right. In addition, the '7" iPad' is rumored to actually have a 7.85" screen,
so that Apple would now have a 4" phone, an ~8" tablet, and a ~10" tablet. I'd
say those devices are easily distinguished from one another.
~~~
bwilliams18
If they came out with an 8" I'd want the 10" to bump up to 12" I think it
would still be manageable, you'd have 4 inch differentiation among each
product.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Companies rarely die from moving too fast... - michaelpinto
http://parislemon.com/post/10396714293/the-birth-of-qwikster
======
CurtHagenlocher
I think Siegler is missing the forest for the trees. The real question is not
whether Microsoft should have dumped "legacy Windows"; in many respects, for
ARM-based mobile devices, it actually has. The more interesting issues are
around two industry-wide trends -- the increasing commodification of software,
and the re-verticalization of software and hardware -- and whether the Windows
business model itself might be in danger of obsolescence.
Also worth noting: for Windows Phone 7, Microsoft did actually ditch backwards
compatibility in favor of "the new thing". And despite generally favorable
reviews, it's not exactly burning up the sales charts.
~~~
technoslut
It was easy for MS to ditch compatibility for Windows Mobile. It never was as
dominant as the PC share so they could afford to start with a clean slate.
In terms of ARM tablets, I assume that the only reason to have desktop mode is
so it can run Office, however limited the features may be since it would take
much too long to make it Metro/touch-friendly. MS isn't completely cutting the
cord like Hastings is doing.
------
iaskwhy
I love reading MG Siegler, Gruber and company but all this talk about how
Microsoft should emulate Apple's strategy leaves me sad. We should be pushing
for innovation, not copycats. Microsoft is trying to pull something hard but
they might actually make it work, why do they need to just copy Apple's
strategy just because it has been working for Apple? I have said this many
times before but there's not only one way to achieve success.
------
iamclovin
I happened to tweet this quote this morning and a friend of mine made a valid
point:
"though there's a difference between spinning your wheels fast, and actually
moving _forward_."
<https://twitter.com/choonkeat/status/115660699530825728>
------
ctdonath
While perhaps "rarely", some do.
Netflix is moving too fast in response to their subscription splitting.
"Quikster" (sp?) looks like an overreaction to a brief, albeit significant,
customer irritation. Rebranding the core product (it's long-term fame is for
DVD rental, not streaming, even if the latter is the main goal) confuses
people. "Hey, where did Netflix disc rentals go? Guess I gotta go to
Blockbuster again..." I don't see this ending well.
~~~
saturdaysaint
The kind of moderately tech-savvy person that's Netflix's main customer is
going to completely abandon physical media in the next year or two. Since
getting Apple TV (i.e. iTunes movies plus Netflix) I'm no more willing to wait
two days for a disc to arrive than I am willing to wait for a search result.
Movie watching is often social, and more and more people are accustomed to
having an immediate say in the movie they watch in social situations (probably
thanks to Netflix successfully integrating into every TV/game console/set-top
box).
So the downside to abandoning physical media is limited (they'll still own
what's left of the rental delivery business) and the upside of staying in the
lead of an increasingly competitive industry by focusing on on-demand video is
huge.
------
viscanti
Premature scaling and optimization are the top killers of startups. A better
title might be "well established companies rarely die from moving too fast".
Those companies have a larger safety net and can afford to take more risks,
because those risks are small to them. The same risks can (and likely will)
kill a startup.
------
signalsignal
Companies rarely recover from moving in too many directions at once. People
forget that a company isn't something magical. It is just a name on a piece of
paper.
------
contextfree
They may not have died, but I think Microsoft suffered from moving too fast in
the mid-late 90s: the antitrust trial, security and reliability problems.
------
Hisoka
I'm a 1-man company and moving too fast has destroyed my social life and will
to live.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
The Go runtime scheduler's way of dealing with system calls - todotask
https://utcc.utoronto.ca/~cks/space/blog/programming/GoSchedulerAndSyscalls
======
protomyth
[https://marc.info/?l=openbsd-
cvs&m=157500930922882&w=2](https://marc.info/?l=openbsd-
cvs&m=157500930922882&w=2)
_For dynamic binaries, we continue to to permit the main program exec segment
because "go" (and potentially a few other applications) have embedded system
calls in the main program. Hopefully at least go gets fixed soon._
_We declare the concept of embedded syscalls a bad idea for numerous reasons,
as we notice the ecosystem has many of static-syscall-in-base-binary which are
dynamically linked against libraries which in turn use libc, which contains
another set of syscall stubs. We 've been concerned about adding even one
additional syscall entry point... but go's approach tends to double the entry-
point attack surface._
[https://marc.info/?l=openbsd-
tech&m=157488907117170&w=2](https://marc.info/?l=openbsd-
tech&m=157488907117170&w=2)
[edit for convenience of readers - read the above linked thread - I just
grabbed the go part]
_Unfortunately our current go build model hasn 't followed solaris/macos
approach yet of calling libc stubs, and uses the inappropriate "embed system
calls directly" method, so for now we'll need to authorize the main program
text as well. A comment in exec_elf.c explains this._
_If go is adapted to call library-based system call stubs on OpenBSD as well,
this problem will go away. There may be other environments creating raw system
calls. I guess we 'll need to find them as time goes by, and hope in time we
can repair those also._
[/edit]
~~~
Reelin
Related (AFAIU):
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21653119](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21653119)
> We've been concerned about adding even one additional syscall entry point
I don't understand the need for such a severe "only libc syscalls ever"
approach.
What would be the security concern with allowing syscalls only from
preauthorized (ie msyscall(2)) regions, making initial region authorization
opt-in (instead of opt-out), allowing the program to call msyscall(2) itself,
and rejecting any statically linked (ie non-ASLR'd) regions for authorization?
~~~
masklinn
> I don't understand the need for such a severe "only libc syscalls ever"
> approach.
There's nothing severe about it. Most systems are exactly that: _systems_ of
which the kernel is only one part, syscalls are rarely if ever intended to be
called directly nilly-willy.
The issue is that unlike windows unices have never _enforced_ this.
~~~
amscanne
Sorry, that generalization doesn’t hold water.
It makes sense for systems where libc is tightly coupled and coversioned with
the kernel, e.g. BSDs, but Linux always relied on third-party C libraries and
supported static binaries, etc.
You could argue that BSD made the mistake of intending to have a Windows-style
C library compat guarantee but not enforcing it, but that was not in scope for
Linux. The philosophy has always been syscall-level compat (and there are lots
of famous threads with Linus re-enforcing this to others who would presume
that things should be “fixed in user space”).
So it’s hardly reasonable to generalize based on some BSD concerns; Linux is
WAI and represents the most common Unix-like system people use today by far.
There’s a pretty good argument that this level of compat, while the source of
some problems, has also made other things much easier: consider container
images that are bundled with their own system libraries. (You could certainly
invent schemes to inject these libraries, but dealing with link and library
level compatibility seems even more complex to deal with than system call-
level compatibility.)
~~~
pcwalton
Darwin/macOS has the same rules as Windows and the BSDs--syscalls are private
API--and it's extremely popular due to iOS. Linux is in fact the odd one out
here.
~~~
giovannibajo1
There is a difference though: libSystem on Darwin is a very thin wrapper over
the kernel syscalls; on the contrary, libc is a library that was designed for
C, then standardized in POSIX, and has several layer of abstraction over
kernel syscalls including many bad defaults that are universally recognized as
wrong today (eg: libc’s created file descriptors will all inherit by default).
~~~
cesarb
> (eg: libc’s created file descriptors will all inherit by default)
Isn't that the _kernel_ default? Even if you use system calls directly, file
descriptors still inherit by default.
~~~
loeg
Yeah, libc's syscall wrappers just do what you tell them. If you don't pass
O_CLOEXEC to the kernel syscalls, you get the inherit behavior. Libc's syscall
wrappers don't change this in any way.
To the extent that Go's default for file descriptors today is !inherit (I'm
unfamiliar, but if so, it's a good choice), the Go runtime must already add
O_CLOEXEC to bare syscalls. There's no reason to believe it incapable of
adding the flag to libc syscalls instead.
~~~
giovannibajo1
You can't do that atomically with libc. There's a short window in which the
file descriptor will potentially be inherited, if another thread forks.
~~~
jlokier
That's incorrect.
You are thinking of the older way, where fcntl(fd, F_SETFD, FD_CLOEXEC) must
be used after open(), leaving a short window in which the file descriptor may
be inherited.
The newer way passes the O_CLOEXEC to open() and there is no fcntl() call.
This is atomic with respect to inheritability: The kernel returns a non-
inheritable file descriptor to libc, and libc returns it to the application.
Other syscalls that return a file descriptor have similar flags, so they are
atomic too.
These flags and behaviours are exactly the same, whether done by calling
through libc as most programs do, or direct kernel syscalls bypassing libc, as
Go and a few other programs do.
------
jnwatson
This scheduler is probably the most salient feature of Go, but is only
indirectly described in the language specification.
Perhaps it is just me, but it seems all this user space rigamarole to map bits
of execution onto cores points to an overall architecture “smell”. This should
be performed and enabled by the OS.
You can see the seams between the OS and the go runtime tear a little whenever
a library acquires an ownership lock where the thread id is recorded. In Go,
computation moves freely between threads, so that lock doesn’t work (at least
without special instructions to the runtime to lock that goroutine to a
thread).
The whole POSIX threading model seems broken in this context.
~~~
gok
POSIX threading is not broken, the Go scheduler just does a bunch of goofy
things that aren't really supported. Moving stacks between threads breaks all
kinds of things. A more idiomatic approach would be for the compiler to emit
properly resumable functions, like most async/await implementations do.
~~~
mitchty
The go runtime moves stacks between threads?
Oof that’s horrible, any pointers to the logic behind it? I’m curious the
rationale.
~~~
duelingjello
I think to keep Go code directly callable from C, they have to follow the
platform's C calling conventions which means the same stack layout. So for
cooperative concurrency on a single thread to work, each Goroutine needs its
very own stack. On Intel, that means saving stack pointers RSP and RBP (16
bytes) for each. Also, each will need memory allocated for its stack for the
stack pointers to point to... another 8-16 bytes (pointer and length).
~~~
echlebek
The gc compiler, used by the vast majority of Go developers, does not use the
C calling convention.
[https://golang.org/doc/faq#Do_Go_programs_link_with_Cpp_prog...](https://golang.org/doc/faq#Do_Go_programs_link_with_Cpp_programs)
------
derefr
I would love to see a compare-and-contrast between the Golang scheduler and
the Erlang scheduler, in the way they handle network-IO-heavy workloads. Maybe
throw in the JVM scheduler, too (though its JIT would likely complicate
things.)
------
tyingq
Makes me somewhat curious how go deals with a hung NFS mount ("hard mount"). I
suspect everything would stop, where a normal OS thread wouldn't hang if it
weren't interacting with NFS.
~~~
siebenmann
This should work fine. The goroutine making the system call that touches the
NFS mount will consume an OS thread (an 'M' in Go terminology), but it will
release its hold on other resources. Go uses as many OS threads as necessary
to cope with running user code and doing OS system calls and so on (and starts
new ones on demand).
If you had lots of goroutines do lots of things that stalled on hung NFS
mounts, you would build up a lot of OS threads (all sitting in system calls)
and might run into limits there. But that's inevitable in any synchronous
system call that can stall.
(I'm the author of the linked-to article.)
------
amluto
A side effect of this scheme is that a long sequence of slow-but-not-that-slow
syscalls becomes _extremely_ slow because the Go scheduler gets invoked each
time.
------
pythux
Nice read! I am not very familiar with this field of research but, could
runtimes of other languages (say, Node.js or Python) benefit from such
optimizations? What about libraries like libuv, I guess they must be fairly
fine-tuned already? Or is this something that is specific to Go and would be
hard in other contexts?
~~~
kevingadd
Go is one of the only languages that does syscalls itself (mostly because it's
extremely high-risk and low-payoff), so some of its syscall-related techniques
are not easily adapted to other runtimes.
~~~
pcwalton
Note that even Go only does syscalls itself on Linux. On macOS and Windows it
calls into libSystem and kernel32.dll respectively, as the syscall interface
is not stable on those platforms.
~~~
masklinn
> Note that even Go only does syscalls itself on Linux.
AFAIK Go does syscalls itself on any platform but Windows and macOS, this
includes all BSDs. And even for macOS despite that having never been
officially supported it took multiple breakages a few years back.
The first thread here mentions the issues that causes for openbsd.
------
duelingjello
1\. Does OS thread M get pinned to run only on a particular processor P? (It
seems like "yes" when default.)
2\. If M blocks in a syscall too long in the optimistic case:
2.a. is M unpinned from P but continues to block until the syscall returns?
2.b. is another thread from the pool used or new thread created, and pinned to
P so that P can be used for other work? (I think this depends on configuration
if there are fewer, same or more threads than processors.)
2.c. is there an upper limit on outstanding blocked syscall worker threads or
will it simply be the last task any extra created threads beyond the normal
limit would ever process?
~~~
siebenmann
An OS thread M can run on any available P. While there are some caches
associated with each P, Ps are fundamentally there to insure that only so many
CPUs worth of Go user code is ever running at once, so the important thing is
that an M that wants to run user Go code has _some_ P, not a particular P. Ms
claim and release Ps as they go in and out of running Go user code, but I
believe they don't release and then re-acquire a P as they switch between
goroutines.
(I believe the actual implementation treats Ms as a sort of secondary thing.
For instance, I think that the local list of runnable goroutines is attached
to the P, not to the M. At one level, the M is just a context for running
things on Ps.)
In the optimistic case when the system call blocks for too long, the M is
unpinned from the P it was using and continues to sit in the system call (the
Go runtime doesn't attempt to interrupt the system call itself). If there is
another runnable goroutine and there are no free M's, the Go scheduler will
create another M to run the goroutine on the now-free P. I think that the
runtime directly allocates the free P to the newly created M rather than
letting the new M try to contend with other things for the P, but I'm not
sure.
I don't think there's any limit on the number of Ms (OS threads) that the Go
runtime will create, but I haven't checked the code carefully. Idle Ms are
reclaimed under some circumstances.
(I'm the author of the linked-to article.)
------
jancsika
> For example, on modern systems the 'system call' to get the current time may
> not even enter the kernel (see vdso(7) on Linux).
Is there a way to check from the running process whether that is the case or
not?
~~~
wyldfire
Check whether it happened to do that for a given call or a portable way to
predict whether it will?
dump_vdso [1] will write the vdso to stdout, you can use binutils like objdump
or nm to list the symbols present.
[1]
[https://kernel.googlesource.com/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/lut...](https://kernel.googlesource.com/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/luto/misc-
tests/+/5655bd41ffedc002af69e3a8d1b0a168c22f2549/dump-vdso.c)
~~~
monocasa
And if you wanted the same information at runtime, the base address of the
VDSO is passed in as an auxv, and then passing that address into libelf would
get you everything.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
QEMU Advent Calendar: A surprise disk image each day until Christmas - stefanha
https://qemu-advent-calendar.org/
======
stefanha
QEMU Advent Calendar is back again this year with a surprise disk image each
day until Christmas.
It features disk images of interest to hackers or to show off features from
the many emulated hardware platforms that QEMU supports.
Happy holidays! And if you have a bootable image you'd like to contribute,
check out the calendar website to get in touch.
------
LeonM
Today's image (netboot.xys) isn't even an image, it's just a shell script. It
is both awesome and scary at the same time.
It boots an image straight from an unsecure http URL, and allows you to boot
various BSDs and Linux flavours straight from the internet.
~~~
theantonym
Hi, owner of [https://netboot.xyz](https://netboot.xyz) here. netboot.xyz has
https support, with http support still being in place for those that don't
have https support compiled into iPXE as it's not compiled by default. I'd
recommend checking out the site directly if this is something that interests
you. All of the source code running the site is on github as well and we're
always open to contributions. We also always try to retrieve the installer
kernels directly from the OS supported mirrors when possible so that they are
pulled from trusted sources.
~~~
LeonM
Hi, thanks for the work! I believe I first discovered netboot.xyz on a show
HN. I have set up the DHCP in my lab to serve netboot.xyz, so I can experiment
with different OS'es without much hassle. It has been great so far.
~~~
m-p-3
I even used it successfully on a VPS which had a limited about of OSes
available. Awesome project!
------
rwmj
The source for F-Bird the boot sector game (day 1) is here:
[https://github.com/nanochess/fbird](https://github.com/nanochess/fbird) and
it's an incredible bit of engineering. 3 unused bytes too :-)
------
kashyapc
This year also marks the 15th anniversary of QEMU.
------
m-p-3
netboot.xyz is such an awesome project. I added it to most of my USB boot
disks as a grub entry (on my SystemRescueCD USB thumbdrive, etc), so I'm
almost never stuck when I need to deploy an OS on the go.
------
kashyapc
There are still a couple of open slots, so feel free to send ideas (or even
better -- prepared images) to the contact e-mail address mentioned on the
website.
------
sigjuice
Hoping for some cool non-x86 and non-Linux systems.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Robots from Gurgaon-based GreyOrange - williswee
https://www.techinasia.com/greyorange-robots-marching-into-warehouses
======
payne92
If they want to come to the US at some point, Kiva's patent portfolio will be
a big hurdle to clear: [http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-
Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=H...](http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-
Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-
adv.htm&r=0&p=1&f=S&l=50&Query=in%2F%28mountz%29+and+an%2Fkiva&d=PTXT)
------
rebootthesystem
I thought Amazon had the concept of picking-up shelves and moving them about
locked-up due to Kiva patents. Is that not true?
~~~
Super_Jambo
Ah the free market at work.
Are these patents enforceable in India? Seems like the US patent system might
really hinder US tech development outside of Amazon here.
~~~
pkaye
Generally you have to get a patent on a country basis though there are some
treaties that make it easier to do in a bunch of countries (perhaps EU?)
------
senthilnayagam
patents can be bypassed needs R&D money and good patent lawyers.
alternatively, if it can be argued as essential patent for warehousing
industry, compulsory licensing or royalty can be negotiated.
but both would take couple of years. lets wait and watch this space an see how
it plays out
------
0xbear
I wonder what Bezos and Kiva/Amazon Robotics think about all this. :-)
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Source code availability for the W3C Markup Validator - vog
http://validator.w3.org/source/
======
vog
I was really surprised when I finally figured out that all I had to do was:
(on my Debian system)
aptitude install w3c-markup-validator
and opening <http://localhost/w3c-validator/> in the browser.
Unfortunately, HTML5 is not supported out of the box. However, this might be
added as described in: [http://blog.simplytestable.com/installing-
the-w3c-html-valid...](http://blog.simplytestable.com/installing-the-w3c-html-
validator-with-html5-support-on-ubuntu/)
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Slashdot founder Rob Malda on why there won’t be another Hacker News - Libertatea
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/08/07/slashdot-founder-rob-malda-on-why-there-wont-be-another-hacker-news/?tid=rssfeed
======
mgkimsal
"I don’t think it’s going to work that way any more. I think that the power
has decentralized. Successful people on Twitter basically can fulfill a lot of
that same role. You can follow Tim O’Reilly and Robert Scoble and Tim Lee and
you can get a pretty good summary of what’s happening around the universe."
But then, I have to know to follow those people. And I get a load of crap from
them about their lives and networks that I don't want. Somehow having to
'click through' 30 links on HN is too much work, but constantly keeping up
with the latest hot people on twitter _isn 't_ too much work? Makes no sense.
Aggregators have served a purpose, and will continue to, for a long time.
~~~
D9u
I dislike being limited to only 140 characters when trying to convey my
thoughts and ideas, so I've never really been a fan of Twitter or tweeting...
(as this comment illustrates)
~~~
_delirium
That's my problem with HN as an information source as well. Just an
80-character headline isn't much space to convey information, unless it's
extremely simple information. A headline _plus_ a short blurb, like on
Metafilter or Slashdot, at least gives a slightly more coherent explanation of
what this article is about and why the submitter thought it was interesting,
and mitigates the tendency towards only promoting stuff that can catch
people's eye in 80 characters.
On HN you can sometimes get that by clicking through to the comments first,
but it's kind of a frustrating way to browse links. Some subreddits on reddit
have moved back to the Slashdot style by only allowing "text" submissions
rather than "link" submissions; unlike HN's text submissions those can also
contain clickable links, so the effect is to require people to write a little
along with the link, instead of just submitting a link.
~~~
sker
It's worse than that. Since you can't editorialize titles and some authors
like to give their articles poetic, meaningless names like "A butterfly in the
sky," when the actual article talks about a security exploit in Bitcoin, coded
in Go and released by Wikileaks.
I often find myself ignoring interesting articles on HN only to go read them
later on reddit with a much more descriptive, editorialized headline.
~~~
slacka
I prefer the headlines here over Reddit’s. What worries me is the quality of
the comments. The community and their insightful comments are what keeps me
coming back.
Lately I've seen an increase in memes and trollish comments from new IDs. I
worry that if HN doesn't move to limited account signup period or invite only,
it will end up another Slashdot.
------
mikeurbanski
There are days when I wish that Hacker News was divorced from Y Combinator.
I don't care about karma, "hellbans" seem like a mean waste of a person's
time, and the thought of HN as a rolling job interview for "the cool kids
table" actively discourages me from participating.
Sure, the "interview" aspect helps them find people who are skillful self-
promoters/developers, but honestly, as a user, wouldn't you prefer to keep the
self-promotion to a minimum?
When I see my 18th front page "HN: Flavor of the Day - Me Too" or "Lorem
Snowden" post, I start to long for the days of pre-Twitter F/OSS "Planets".
Planets where dev, ux, design, and business people came together to talk about
what makes technology, projects, and people tick. I learned more about how to
treat people and run a project from early to mid-2000 era
[http://planet.gnome.org/](http://planet.gnome.org/) than anywhere else.
There will be another HN, but it'll most likely have a very limited scope and
come from a place of genuine enthusiasm.
~~~
daturkel
Wow I just took the time to look up hellban [0] because I always just assumed
it's synonymous with permaban. For those too lazy to click the link, it's a
ban where you're not informed that you're banned and the content you post is
displayed only for you and no one else. That's actually a pretty shitty
moderation tactic mainly because it doesn't teach the poster why they made a
mistake and it does just waste their time when they could be getting back to
being a better user.
Additionally, in the <year time that I've been reading and minimally
contributing to HN, I've definitely been disappointed with a trend towards
politicization that a lot of people have noted. I'm much happier seeing
everyone's static site generators on github than everyone's opinion on Snowden
or some other political issue that's related enough to tech to get posted. It
strikes me as mission creep for HN to start getting so political. My favorite
thing to see on the frontpage is a github repo, not a medium/svbtle article
where someone spends two paragraphs telling an anecdote and then one paragraph
jumping to a massive generalized conclusion based on that one experience
and/or "Lorem Snowden" as you put it. /rant
[0]:
[http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hellban](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hellban)
~~~
DanBC
Hellbans aren't meant to teach people what mistake they made. Downvotes and
comments are supposed to do that.
That's why it's a shame that downvoting is so disapproved of among a group of
HN users, and it's a shame that people "drive-by downvote".
Hell banning is meant to save time of everyone in the community, and it does a
pretty good job of that. There's much less meta commentary about whether
banning a user is or isn't fair; and there's less to and fro about what should
be a bannable offence. The algorithms do all that stuff.
I agree about the political stuff.
~~~
jjindev
I dislike the idea of hellbans just because it is invisible to the non-banned
community, and they are unaware of how they are being "shaped." I think I've
seen it happen on a "maker" blog where the comment wasn't really negative, but
just not positive enough. In that case the moderator was trying to maintain a
"very positive" environment. Pernicious.
~~~
mattmanser
You can turn on show dead and see the hellbanned comments. Most of the time
it's justified. The only occasions I've ever made the effort to contact
someone and tell them they're hellbanned was after the girls in tech fiasco 6
months back, I thought the comment that banned him was just a bit stupid &
misunderstood. And the rest of his comments really good.
So there are some of us keeping and eye on the 'shaping' and you can too if
you want.
There's actually some amazing comments by a crazy guy who's written an OS
dedicated to god, it's pretty insane and yet incredibly impressive at the same
time.
~~~
jjindev
That's very good that "show dead" shows hellbanned, and all I could ask for.
And it's not like I was worried about HN specifically, more the ability of
smaller, more focused sites to self-AstroTurf by omission.
------
muraiki
I read Slashdot for many years. Slashdot introduced me to the open source
movement and shaped my conception of civil liberties greatly. I remember what
the place was like on 9/11: when CNN's servers couldn't keep up, I kept going
to Slashdot (and then IRC, something I didn't know much about). Slashdot was a
great source of news about geek culture. I liked that it was that it was
curated by editors, because as a teenager I had no idea where to find out
about the sorts of things they talked about.
However, what led me to leave Slashdot wasn't any sort of Eternal September
like effect. Yes, there were many troll comments there, but there's also lots
of options to adjust moderation types to suit one's particular interests.
Rather, what I found was that the editors themselves seemed to stop caring.
Article summaries would be blatantly incorrect or have distorting
editorializing in them. If the whole point of the Slashdot style of reporting
was to present a small number of quality stories each day, how could I trust
the site when what the editors presented was inaccurate?
When I came to HN I was surprised to discover that articles simply have a
title and URL. Sometimes there's editorializing in the titles, but in general
its pretty good. But I can understand what Malda is saying when he expresses
his frustration in wading through the front pages of HN. I don't know if the
solution is to implement topics of some sort or not, but the user volume on
this site is picking up enough that I think some sort of organization beyond a
single ranking algorithm is required. It might also lead some interesting
stories that never make it onto the front page to reach an audience. This
problem of course isn't unique to HN... whether its Slashdot or Twitter or
Facebook, getting the signal to noise ratio to an appropriate level is a
really hard problem.
That being said, in my short time here I have learned a tremendous amount --
albeit much of which lies in my bookmarks!
~~~
joonix
Your reference to Slashdot on 9/11 gave me a bout of nostalgia for all the
time I spent on that site as a teenager, and led me to checkout archive.org's
Slashdot capture from that date. For some reason it doesn't exist, the closest
I can get is 9/14.
"Net taps without warrants"[1] was on the front page (already). Very
interesting to look back and see the commentary and the way this was received
12 years ago(!) in light of all the NSA/Snowden stuff that's been going on
lately.
Some highlights:
"Do we really have any reason to believe that the government is trying to
create a giant evil spy machine to watch their own people as opposed to the
terrorists? I tend to be more or less trusting of the government, but that's
just me."
"This bill is quite limited in its scope, allowing only 48 hours to tap
without approval and only for immediate threats to "National Security." Many
civil liberties are restricted during threats to "National Security." Ever
heard of martial law and curfews?"
"Anything that is truely our __rights __in a constitutional sense will be
protected by the supreme court.
The congress will push, the courts will push back, and life wil lgo on as it
has in the US.
I get the feeling a significant cross section of slashdot just likes to run
around hystericly like the sky is falling."
"What's so hard about getting a warrant? [..] Or maybe you keep federal
courthouses staffed with at least one judge with a security clearance 24x7, if
its so important. "
[1]
[http://web.archive.org/web/20010914224344/http://slashdot.or...](http://web.archive.org/web/20010914224344/http://slashdot.org/yro/01/09/14/211241.shtml)
~~~
nsxwolf
Original 9/11 thread:
[http://slashdot.org/story/01/09/11/1314258/world-trade-
tower...](http://slashdot.org/story/01/09/11/1314258/world-trade-towers-and-
pentagon-attacked)
The subject of one of the very top comments reminds me of why I've never cared
for the Slashdot community: "We had it coming..."
~~~
vacri
What's worse is those people who characterise an entire community by one
poster's comment, which isn't particularly mirrored in the rest of the thread.
------
cperciva
Funny that he says he wants a Hacker News digest with the top 10 stories each
day... my Hacker News Daily is precisely that.
~~~
swanson
Yeah, googling for "top 10 stories from hacker news" returns
[http://www.daemonology.net/hn-daily/](http://www.daemonology.net/hn-daily/)
as the first result.
Maybe he will see this thread and sign up :)
~~~
kylelibra
Is there some way to get this in a daily email?
~~~
gabemart
It would be trivial to set it up as an RSS-to-email campaign in Mailchimp, but
I wouldn't want to without the permission of the site owner.
~~~
cperciva
Go for it. Let me know when it's set up and I'll add a link to the site.
------
sillysaurus
One idea for jumpstarting a new HN-type site is to spider HNSearch, gathering
the first 100,000 stories ever submitted to HN, along with comments. Then set
up your site so that your frontpage is a doppelganger of HN's frontpage circa
2007. I.e. today your frontpage should look how the HN frontpage looked on
August 7th, 2007.
That way there's (a) the appearance of activity, (b) a constant stream of
interesting content on the frontpage, and (c) interesting discussion in the
comments. Before long, new real users would start to participate, e.g. by
replying to doppleganger comments. At that point, it's inevitable that the new
site would start to get traction as long as those new users keep coming back,
which they should because the frontpage is interesting.
This could only work if someone had the balls to actually deploy the
currently-released Arc 3.1 version of Hacker News, though, rather than rolling
their own version in Rails. There's nothing inherently wrong with trying to
clone HN's featureset, but it's interesting to note that not a single one of
the HN knockoffs successfully cloned HN's entire featureset. Most of them were
a halfway implementation.
Anyway. Just a fun idea.
EDIT: I just stumbled across a dump of HN from April 24, 2008:
[http://rapidshare.com/files/3129266675/ycombinator-
news-2008...](http://rapidshare.com/files/3129266675/ycombinator-
news-2008-04-24.zip)
It contains a snapshot of the first 172,575 items (submissions/comments) and a
snapshot of the profiles of the first 6,519 users.
Have fun! Maybe someone can use the data to put together a cool visualization
or something.
EDIT2: Just to be clear, this idea is firmly tongue-in-cheek.
EDIT3: Statistics time! According to that snapshot, when HN was 558 days old
there were 38,693 submissions and 133,882 comments. The snapshot claims there
were only 6,519 users. That would be an average of 20 comments per user and
5.9 submissions per user.
~~~
dylangs1030
1\. None of the HN knockoffs can really clone Hacker News because, for one
thing, it's missing everything in the original HN's code. pg mentions that
there's a missing "secret sauce" that ties it all together. That, and you
really need to have some sort of heavy involvement in the community before you
try to start it, so you'll need someone of pg-level importance to start it.
Specializations could be started by very knowledgable HN users _in their
field_ but very general implementations would need an all around "ideologue."
EDIT: I don't know if you're already aware of this, I'm just explaining
because the way you wrote it appears as though you may think the Arc code is
packaged with a full implementation of HN.
2\. I don't think this would be allowed via the HN Search API...that's a lot
of content.
3\. This _is_ a cool idea, but how would you get people to participate and add
content to what is essentially a ghost, rather than just come back here, where
there's news? I also don't think it solves the problem HN is currently facing.
It merely puts a bandaid on it until we get back up to 2013 level volume.
~~~
OGC
The secret sauce is that HN is the news aggregator of a successful start up
combinator. The secret sauce is popularity.
~~~
krapp
The secret sauce is green.
------
incision
_> "Twitter basically can fulfill a lot of that same role. You can follow Tim
O’Reilly and Robert Scoble and Tim Lee and you can get a pretty good summary
of what’s happening around the universe."_
I tried to start using Twitter that way maybe 5 years ago and found that there
was just too much noise - jokes, tales of breakfast and banter that I just
don't care to see.
I actually feel like it's the right kind of model though. Aggregating content
streams from people of similar interests. It's the filtering that's lacking
for me.
Every time I think about following someone on a social site I want for the
ability to follow only a specific category of their content and possibly re-
share it in the same focused fashion.
G+, Flipboard and likely a host of others have done things toward this
direction, but I have yet to see anything gel for me.
Ideally, I see all of this categorization and recommendation happening
automatically. If a service could recommend news or articles to me and
categorize those I specify with the same accuracy I perceive from Netflix with
movies, or even the new Gmail inbox I'd be pretty happy.
~~~
mrweasel
I really don't see Twitter providing any value to my life. The structure and
concept doesn't fit my way of discovering and consuming news at all. In my
mind, Twitter is essentially useless. I don't care about people, I don't wish
to be follow anyone, I care about single idea, news and insights.
I would not like a filter in terms of what Google or Netflix imposes on me
either. If I only got the news that some filter thought I would like I would
miss out on ever discovering anything new. Filters only serves to keep you in
your own little bubble, never letting anything controversial enter your life.
I like Hacker News, Slashdot and to some extend Reddit. Most of the stuff on
each site is of little interest, but now I know it exists. There's a bunch of
stuff that I've been introduced to, which initially did't appeal to me, but
later on proved useful. Filters and recommendation engines needs to die, they
are harmful because they limit our exposure to new ideas. Twitter should go
the same way, you follow the people you agree with or the people you want to
hate, never the people who make you stop and rethink your own opinions.
~~~
incision
I think you've misconstrued my point as I'm generally in agreement with you.
------
minimaxir
_I don’t think it’s going to work that way any more. I think that the power
has decentralized. Successful people on Twitter basically can fulfill a lot of
that same role. You can follow Tim O’Reilly and Robert Scoble and Tim Lee and
you can get a pretty good summary of what’s happening around the universe._
Odd argument, considering that the content on Hacker News is more about
products than the people making the products. And I can say with confidence
that I've never seen Scoble linked to _anywhere_ on HN.
~~~
Zimahl
Agreed. HN is what it is, it's not an all-encompassing tech news aggregator
like Slashdot was. HN is fairly focused with a few outside stories that creep
in here and there.
I know everyone likes to run the 'back in my day' line every now and then so I
might as well. Slashdot is crap now. _Back in my day_ things were fairly
relevant and, while there was a slight lag, if the story was interesting it
made it to Slashdot quickly. Now stories might not show up for not just hours,
but days! By then it's been discussed elsewhere to death so you only read the
Slashdot comments for snark and not insight. The technology section of Google
News is better than Slashdot (sans comments).
Also, the design of Slashdot is so 2003 it hurts. They let the look and feel
get too long in the tooth and people abandoned it for better sites.
~~~
Shivetya
Slashdot died the day it got political and worse when such became entrenched.
By political I mean election oriented material to the point that crossover
polluted seemingly unrelated stories.
Hence why during a discussion here about politics I stated I would prefer a
"hide" flag next to the "flag" link that I could use to remove stories from my
view under the notion that maybe someone wants to get into that stuff here.
~~~
prawn
I think what killed Slashdot was the devolution of commenting to karma-racing
with predictable "funny" responses. So-called obligatory "That's no moon..."
jokes and so on.
The absence of that was certainly what I found so refreshing when I first
discovered Hacker News.
------
dmunoz
> If I could just find someone who made a Hacker News digest, with the 10 best
> items from Hacker News, that would be a really good Slashdot.
There is hckrnews [0]. You can filter by top 10, top 20, top 50%, homepage and
all. I usually start by going through the top 10 and progress outwards if I'm
looking for additional posts.
[0] [http://hckrnews.com/](http://hckrnews.com/)
~~~
Flenser
Or there's
[https://news.ycombinator.com/over?points=100](https://news.ycombinator.com/over?points=100)
although it's a poor substitue for hckrnews it's better than the home page if
you can't access hckrnews because "The category of Hacking has been blocked by
your System Administrator".
~~~
Flenser
Why the downvotes? I didn't know about that url till someone else posted it.
------
pessimizer
I find it interesting that the "tech-related topics" that Malda is "most
obsessed with right now" are Bitcoin, Manning, and Snowden/NSA - the ones that
the proclaimers of a decline of quality of HN complain about the most.
------
diminoten
Has anyone tried a site like this except with additional exclusivity? Can't
vote unless logged in, can't log in unless invited? Or can't vote unless
'approved', or something similar?
Would it work better? It seems like the problem is that you get too many
political submissions and polemic comments which get the votes but aren't
"hacker news" in the sense of what that used to mean.
I've been here apparently 4.2 years (no idea how), and the only thing I really
notice that's different is the marked uptick in political discussions as well
as the more confrontational nature of commenters. Is that bad? I dunno.
~~~
minimaxir
It has been tried. Exclusivity could arguably make things _worse_ , since it
leads to elitism and doesn't necessarily ensure the quality of content is
better.
~~~
TheCraiggers
I suppose that depends on what you're looking for. For example, for quite a
few years my friends and I had an invite-only forum where we hung out, posted
interesting links, etc. All told, about 30 of us at the peak. It was great,
while it lasted.
A group of like-minded individuals could, and have many times, do something
similar. Besides the problems you listed, you also have the one we eventually
ran into: stuff gets stale after awhile. You have very few new members coming
in, and various rifts appear in your community where people butted heads.
I'd also like to add that while as a community we do tend to be on the elitist
side, we also tend to have a strong "info should be free" side, which may
conflict with closed societies like this.
I think to really succeed here, we need to keep it public, but also keep the
people who have already proven to be distasteful out. That was easier back in
the day when people only had one email address if they were extremely lucky.
Far harder today without requiring some sort of personally identifiable
information, not to mention some way of validating it.
~~~
shazow
> while it lasted.
What happened to it? Why did it die?
I've had a similar forum many years ago but haven't been able to replicate the
experience since.
~~~
TheCraiggers
I believe the biggest reason for it dying was that a schism appeared in our
community. A few people had a public argument, sides were taken, words were
spoken, feelings were hurt, etc. We had some people leave, and despite some
attempts here or there, we had no new members to fill the gaps.
Another possibility is this place was created back before sites like Facebook,
twitter, etc. Once social media came to prominence, some of us started
communicating via other methods and we didn't check the forum as much as we
used to. When your userbase is that small, it doesn't take much of a
disruption to kill it.
------
Zimahl
I think his logic toward Twitter is very flawed. Sure, you can get the bulk of
your interesting news there from specific feeds, but where's the discussion?
People use Reddit, HN, Slashdot, Fark, etc., because they could have
conversations about each item.
People want to discuss how a story makes them feel and how it affects them.
People need access to random people, that's why this doesn't work as well on
social sites like Facebook. Finally, it needs to be at least psuedo-anonymous
so people can explore their thoughts without real-life repercussions.
~~~
justincormack
There is discussion in twitter but not if you follow Scoble you need to follow
people who interact and roughly follow and are followed by similar numbers of
people. Its a very social medium if done right...
~~~
Zimahl
Not to say Twitter isn't a fine medium but I personally don't think a real
discussion can be had 140 characters at a time. It's a severe limit that just
doesn't work (wrt discussions).
------
jgon
I enjoyed reading Cmdr Taco's thoughts on the future of "news" (interpret that
broadly) and it made do some reflecting on what I think the future will be.
The biggest thing that jumped out at me was that signal vs. noise is the most
important criteria for a service to be used, but what a lot of analyses miss
is that you have to interpret something before you can decide if it is a
signal or not, and that interpretation is by definition individual. I think
this is what happens a lot of the time when people complain about a site
becoming "too big", idealizing the past when the "riff-raff" hadn't gotten in.
But I think this is mistaken for the same reason that generational rants about
the fecklessness of the youth are mistaken, ie Occam's razor says that we are
probably not all Nietzschean superman vs newcomer's being idiots, but instead
we are probably more or less equal. What is happening instead is that as a
larger group comes to a site, a larger number of interests and opinions come
as well. And what I interpret as noise, what those people interpret as signal.
By this I mean that if a large number of art enthusiasts joined HN and started
posting a bunch of articles on art history, I would probably not be interested
as my interests lie mostly in the tech arena. Let's further posit that these
art enthusiasts are pretty competent in their field and so 90% of what they
post is "worthwhile" in some vague broad sense. This influx might actually
increase the _overall_ signal to noise content on HN, while for me it would
appear as though HN is getting swamped with crap. This is why people talk
about trying to keep things exclusive or invite-only, we are trying to keep
the broader perspectives involved aligned with our own, so as to not get
swamped by noise from perspectives with no overlap to our own.
And this I think is the root of a bunch of the complaints about politics being
posted to HN. While I may shrug off art history posts, politics is another
word for how we organize ourselves to live together and as such as is much
more personal and much more important. And so people's personal reactions to
politics they disagree with, and by extension political stories they disagree
with, is much more aggressive. So even a small amount of political discourse
that you disagree with can seem intolerable.
So what is the solution? Well if I had that, I would be rich, but I do have a
few ideas. The first is that reddit is trying to solve the signal
interpretation issue with subreddits, wherein people can manually opt in to
streams of article that they believe will be signals to them, while blocking
out all streams that they will personally interpret as noise. But this still
relies on manual intervention as well as discovery, along with user moderation
to maintain the signal. And why do we still do things manually when we have
computers!? :)
So one area that I think is really overlooked is that right now every site
interprets "down/up votes" and flagging as me speaking about what I think is
useful for the community. But this is just my interpretation and so aren't I
really expressing my own preferences here? Why aren't sites taking my history
of voting/flagging and running some machine learning on the the contents of
the stories associated with that history to try to tease out patterns in what
I appear to approve and disapprove of?
For myself personally I wouldn't care if I ever read another article on
coffescript or libertarian politics. But if I downvote those things here on HN
I am making a judgement on what I think is best for the rest of the community,
and who am I to make that choice? Why can't the HN front-page see that I'm
logged, look at my voting history, and just remove those stories from my view
of the front page? Ta da, automatic subreddits. I think a lot of work could be
done in interpreting my actions in voting/downvoting on a much more personal
level, rather that looking at them in a democratic fashion.
Of course, the big unanswered question with the above is how do we avoid the
echo-chamber effect, and what about that rare story on coffeescript I might
actually want to see? But for now, I think the above would be a good first
step, with some sort of bail-out possible if I want to "broaden" my
perspective. And anyway, aren't we all trying to create an echo-chamber anyway
by coming to HN (aka hacker focused stories)? So what could it hurt to make
things a bit more personalized for myself?
~~~
DanielRibeiro
The personalization, although helpfull to filter out noise, can have some
unwanted side-effects, as described on the _Beware online "filter bubbles"_[1]
Note that there are already tools that provide some personalization for Hacker
News[2]
[1]
[http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bu...](http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles.html)
[2] [https://github.com/fractastical/Hacker-News-
Filter](https://github.com/fractastical/Hacker-News-Filter)
~~~
susi22
Actually the personalization is a great idea. But you'd have to not just apply
filters but develop a complex recommendation system based on what you
upvoted/read in the past. I.e. no more global front page for everybody but an
individual one for each person.
But doing this requires quite some work (Machine learning etc.)
~~~
nileshtrivedi
or simply have something like sub-reddits.
~~~
fantnn
some sub-reddits are by nature very focused and high noise/signal ratio
(/r/netsec is a good example of this), while something like /r/funny will have
multiple posts that won't appeal to everyone. Definitely something that can be
done better.
------
arh68
_> The policy parts, I don’t feel like I have a say in that. I don’t have a
voice there. I know what I want to see happen. But I don’t feel like I have a
say or a voice so I choose to be interested in the technology and think about
where that’s going to take us next._
It just burns to hear Rob Malda say this. I wince at the thought. I've heard
the words before, in the back of my head: solutionism, powerlessness, voter
apathy. I have no good ideas to solve this or even reverse it: no way forward,
no 'edge'.
I'm starting to think these news sites live and die like phoenixes. Emotional
baggage accumulates, pushing "issues" to the surface, clouding understanding.
"Thought-provoking" is the kind of post I like to read, but only when it
provokes curiosity, not frustration.
I wonder what would happen to the HN userbase if the entire site goes dark for
a whole month. I'd come back. I hope the "issues" disappear and we can all
start conversing with clear minds once again.
------
duaneb
People want too much from this site: startup news, code, politics, self help,
tech gossip. This was fine with fewer users because all this could coexist on
the front page, but now a lot of quality content just flies under the radar in
lieu of linkbait stories. Unfortunately this is the way the internet works.
------
david_shaw
A lot of Malda's thesis seems subjective; a more interesting statement was
just a brief mention at the top of the article:
_> Then, after taking a year off, [Malda] joined WaPo Labs, a technology
incubator owned by the Washington Post Company, the parent company of the
Washington Post. (WaPo Labs is not among the companies being purchased by Jeff
Bezos.)_
I wonder why that is? I don't want to derail the discussion, but I had assumed
(incorrectly) that Bezos was acquiring the full Washington Post collective. It
strikes me as odd that he would neglect one of the elements that made WaPo, in
my mind, somewhat unique.
I'll try to stay away from speculation, but I can't help but wonder if some of
Bezos's other labs might be integrated into WaPo's technology portfolio? Is
that possible, when the purchase was unaffiliated with Amazon?
~~~
_delirium
He didn't buy the actual company, only some of the newspapers: the _Post_
itself, and a number of local papers. The Washington Post Co. itself will
remain independent, but will have to change its name, and will retain Kaplan,
WaPo Labs, _Slate_ , about 10 local TV stations, SocialCode, and some other
things.
~~~
snowwrestler
But what is the point of WaPo Labs without the WaPo? Are they going to rebrand
to some sort of general-purpose tech startup or incubator?
Or are they going to keep doing innovation for WaPo, only now on a contractual
basis? (Creating recurring revenue for the public company.)
~~~
_delirium
I dug a bit and found that some kind of cross-licensing deal is included: WaPo
Labs gets a 5-year content license, in return for 10% of any profits. However
it sounds like they're planning to move towards doing more general tech-for-
media stuff rather than WaPo-tied stuff.
Source: 2nd-to-last question from [http://www.niemanlab.org/2013/08/don-
graham-on-the-sale-of-t...](http://www.niemanlab.org/2013/08/don-graham-on-
the-sale-of-the-washington-post-jeff-bezos-and-the-pace-of-newsroom-
innovation/)
------
dylangs1030
Slightly misleading, only a paragraph or two were really about Hacker News in
particular. More about why there won't be another "x", of which Hacker News is
one iteration.
I'm glad Malda spoke to the issue of volume. A lot of users on Hacker News
(with varying levels of prominence, seniority and notability) have noted the
issues arising with volume.
The NSA scandal was the most recent example of this. Political discourse on
Hacker News is almost cancerous it's so bad. there is widespread
misinformation and a quick glance at the "New" page shows that the guidelines
are frequently not even regarded for submissions.
I think Malda is on point with his view of Hacker News being at critical mass
right now.
------
fotbr
Strangely enough, "new version of blahblahblah" is much more interesting to me
than anything "tech culture" ever will be.
------
InclinedPlane
I think Malda is circling in the wrong waters. He's following and rubbing
shoulders with the folks with money and influence, but the interesting stuff
is all being done by a bunch of other people who are spending their time
actually doing stuff. Frankly, I don't think Robert Scoble has even the
slightest fragment of a fucking clue as to what the tech landscape is going to
look like in 2023 or who is going to be a big part of it. Just because they
have money, a legacy, and a reputation doesn't mean they are relevant. I think
that might apply to Malda as well as anyone else.
~~~
AsymetricCom
Anyone who frequented slashdot can see this. What a preposterous idea that
there won't be another Slashdot/digg/HN. Its like saying there won't be
another printing press.
------
joshuak
Personally I like the fact that HN has a lot of verity. I can read it like a
newspaper just like I used to do with /. and get exposed to a lot of things I
wouldn't know to look for. I can search if I want to focus on something
specific. So I don't agree with the premise that there _should_ be another HN.
Two things that I hated about /. was the summery, which usually confusingly
buried the link and was generally not helpful. And the fact that you can't
vote and comment in the same article, which means that you trend away from
having expert comments that are highly rated.
_If you are an expert you can write an informative comment, but then you can
't help vote up other expert comments, if you only vote your expert opinion
goes unheard. HN doesn't have this problem._
I think the reason HN works is mostly simply the name, and not breaking it as
above. It captures the idea of "Why" in the golden circle sense.[0] You could
easily do this with news sites focused on other general (but engaging)
categories, and I think that is already true, we are just more interested in
the hacker type of news so may not notice.
[0]:
[http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspi...](http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html)
------
D9u
_One thing I learned is don’t spend your entire life playing predictive
defense against attacks that will never happen. Real people are very clever.
If they choose to attack you they’ll attack you in ways you can’t predict._
I wish our government would heed this advice...
I also liked how Rob said that his CMS was an evolved system and not designed.
This has been my experience as well, because I can't think of _everything_ and
am better suited to incremental design.
------
jfb
I wonder about the idea that Twitter will fill the role of something like
Slashdot/HN/&c. At my Peak Twitter, I followed a couple hundred people, but
the stream is so full of noise that the work of picking out the signal began
to drown out any possible benefit. Retweets, for instance, I see as 99.99%
noise. The ads are annoying, but ads are annoying everywhere.
~~~
markkat
[http://hubski.com](http://hubski.com) is in many ways a mashup between HN and
Twitter. I created it from the HN source code. Building feeds built from
following people and tags keeps noise down. People are pretty careful about
what they share (retweets). I know Rob has an inactive account, so he is
vaguely aware of it. He agreed to let me bend his ear about it (I lived nearby
him), but left for the WaPo almost immediately after.
~~~
bluecalm
One thing about tags which I think is worth a try is to make them up/down-
votable. It's one thing to say: "this is interesting" and it's another to say
"this is on topic". Current sites based on tags doesn't allow for much user
input in the latter area.
I dream of a day when I can customize youtube to not display anything video
game related (when searching for highlights from sport events and stuff).
Everything tagged as "sport events" and in fact being video game footage would
be downvoted to death and users posting this wrongly tagged stuff flagged as
spammers so there would be incenvite for them to tag things properly.
~~~
markkat
Our approach is that the author can choose up to two tags, and the community
(excluding newbies) can add a third. The most suggested community tag is the
current tag.
------
duck
_If I could just find someone who made a Hacker News digest, with the 10 best
items from Hacker News, that would be a really good Slashdot._
Someone needs to tell Rob, I created a digest just over three years ago -
[http://hackernewsletter.com](http://hackernewsletter.com)
------
TheCraiggers
It kinda sounds like he's suggesting a massive, public, social media platform
where the 'good stuff' naturally bubbles up to the top. 'Good stuff', in this
case, being what you're interested in and nothing else.
And while that would indeed be awesome, it's also pretty obviously a pipe
dream. Maybe some breakthrough with AI would help with that, but until then I
don't think we have the technology to do that.
So, for now humans are in control, and as we all know, the public is filled
with marketers, trolls, and other forms of bagbiters that tend to ruin such
things when they get big enough. Hakuna matata, I guess.
~~~
omarchowdhury
You're a marketer too, you're marketing your opinion.
~~~
TheCraiggers
>You're a marketer too, you're marketing your opinion.
I do not think that word means what you think it means.
I'm not marketing anything because I'm not selling anything for money or
goods.
------
VLM
In the same article he wonders how there can be eternal growth (the graph up
and to the right quote) while limiting the discussion topics to a very small
number, but doesn't see the inherent conflict in the demands.
This is a failure to identify audience. A desire for identical "fundamentalist
clones". Maybe you just don't get those in a tech audience.
He made it very clear he's not interested in a coffeescript release. Obviously
some subculture is... And thats not necessarily a problem.
~~~
binarybits
This probably didn't come through well in the transcript, but his point was
that other people (e.g. Slashdot's corporate overlords) wanted the graph to go
up and to the right, while Malda wanted to focus on catering to a focused tech
audience. He's pointing out the conflict, not ignoring it.
------
MattRogish
"If I could just find someone who made a Hacker News digest, with the 10 best
items from Hacker News, that would be a really good Slashdot."
I think the Launch Ticker is probably the closest thing to that. They cover
much of the same ground as HN. Of course, you don't get the comments, but that
could be a positive to some people.
[http://launch.co/](http://launch.co/)
------
SkyMarshal
_> If I could just find someone who made a Hacker News digest, with the 10
best items from Hacker News, that would be a really good Slashdot._
Ahem: [http://www.hackernewsletter.com/](http://www.hackernewsletter.com/)
Only problem is the lag in receiving it, if you care a great deal about
participating in the comments.
------
tareqak
The TL;DR answer seems to be: because there isn't a good way to get the wisdom
of the crowds without the crowds (yet).
------
yapsody
Really great interview. Its good to know thoughts of Slashdot founder. I think
hacker news is perfect the way it is.
------
initself
For me, the glory days of Slashdot were when I consumed the daily text based
email digest.
------
D9u
Any successor will, by necessity, be named something else, so... Yeah, I
agree, there can never be another "Hacker News."
------
iblaine
He seems convinced that /. was the last great success in tech news and there
will never be another to replace it.
IMHO it failed for 2 reasons, too many political articles & social news is
better than news aggregators. In the end most articles were about Microsoft &
SCO being evil. Plus the rise of social news (twitter, reddit) have killed the
need for news aggregators like slashdot & digg...slashdot was awesome, it
unfortunately didn't evolve.
[edit] Forgot to add the /. comment system. It has too many features. Even
today it's hard/annoying to use.
~~~
pohl
_He seems convinced that /. was the last great success in tech news and there
will never be another to replace it._
What makes you think so? Why would someone convinced of such things say the
following:
"Hacker News is awesome. It is probably my number one RSS feed right now."
-Rob Malda
(Taken from TFA.)
~~~
iblaine
Read the entire article. In it he praises hackernews then says it needs to
filter to top 10 items, as slashdot did. He says twitter is fundamentally
broken. He says reddit is too big.
~~~
donjigweed
HN just needs a buffer/digest, so you only see posts that spend some time on
the front page.
[http://eplenum.com/news?days=.1](http://eplenum.com/news?days=.1) posts that
have been on the front page in the last 2.5 hours
[http://eplenum.com/news?days=1](http://eplenum.com/news?days=1) posts that
have been on the front page in the last day
....
[http://eplenum.com/news?q=slashdot&sort=lastUpdate,desc](http://eplenum.com/news?q=slashdot&sort=lastUpdate,desc)
------
phusion
I talked to Rob at a LinuxWorld several years ago. I got there kind of late
and he was answering questions to a medium sized group of socially awkward
computer nerds. No one wanted to get on the mic and ask a question for a
Slashdot T-Shirt, so, being the extrovert that I am, stepped up to the plate.
I had recently read an interview with Rob online where someone asked him about
Digg and Reddit and the popularity of user chosen content. His answers seemed
like the question really got under his skin, so I figured I'd fuck with him in
public.
I got on the mic and asked him what he thought about the trend of user
submitted content. He immediately snapped at me that someone had already asked
a similar question and called me a noob. He rambled on about quality vs
quantity and all that, my eyes glazed over and I waited to get my free
T-Shirt. I still have it! That experience more or less cemented my opinion of
'ol Robbie. Just thought I'd mention this story..
~~~
dkuntz2
See, but even in your own words, you seem like more of an ass than he does.
You didn't even listen to his answer after he said someone else asked the same
question. Hell, your entire goal was to just annoy him. I think he probably
figured as much and decided he didn't want to play your game.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Apple Turns on iPhone Tracking in iOS6 - yenoham
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/10/apple_turns_on.html
======
SeoxyS
As somebody who actually has first hand knowledge of this issue (I wrote and
designed the tracking for a major iOS ad network), I can say that this is an
incredibly misleading article.
Here's what's _actually_ going on:
\- Apple has deprecated the UDID. We're still allowed to use it for a while,
but in the long term it's going away.
\- Apple has created a new identifier (the IFA), specifically for the use case
of advertising. This identifier uniquely identifies a device across apps, but
beyond that provides no information about the device or its user.
\- This ID comes with strings. There's an option in Preferences to "Limit Ad
Tracking." The terms and conditions specify that when this option is enabled,
we still get access to the ID, but we are only allowed to use it for some
specific purposes like conversion tracking (eg. making cost-per-action
campaigns possible), and fraud detection (eg. preventing fake clicks). We are
not allowed to use it to create profiles, or to improve our ad targeting
algorithm. We are absolutely not allowed to divulge the information to third
parties.
Without this, advertising wouldn't be possible. Some may think that that'd be
for the best (myself included), but that's an entirely different argument, and
you'd have to realize that the market would be very different (No
free/freemium apps, and everything would be more expensive). You can't have
your cake and eat it too.
I expected better from Schneier.
~~~
revelation
Thanks for giving us the information on "what's actually going on". But that
makes it seem worse, even when you apparently can't see it from working in the
field.
Apple continues to give apps access to the UDID; the recent leaks were
apparently not as stark a reminder as some people thought.
The "Limit Ad Tracking" option seems wholly useless; another "X-Do-Not-Track".
In this case, the user even expresses the wish to _not be tracked_ , and Apple
just continues to provide the data while telling the apps you checked a
meaningless box. Apple is in no position to control what app developers do
with the data after the fact; the only possible way here is to not disclose
that data at all.
(Also, Google does just fine without a globally unique "advertising number".
It can do so because people get actual value for the advertisements, and the
advertisements are targeted. Apple is just providing this trove of data on the
cheap to every hinterland app developer. Thats a huge mistake.)
~~~
ralfd
If Apple wouldn't provide an ID then developers would code their own device
identifiers. This here is crossplatform for iOS and Android:
<https://github.com/ylechelle/OpenUDID/blob/master/README.md>
Or just read the MAC address: [http://stackoverflow.com/questions/677530/how-
can-i-programm...](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/677530/how-can-i-
programmatically-get-the-mac-address-of-an-iphone)
> Google does just fine without a globally unique "advertising number". It can
> do so because people get actual value for the advertisements, and the
> advertisements are targeted.
I don't understand, can you elaborate? How can advertisements be targeted
without tracking?
~~~
jonknee
> I don't understand, can you elaborate? How can advertisements be targeted
> without tracking?
Keywords is how Google does it. Try using Google in Incognito mode (or
whatever your browser of choice calls it) and note the relevant ads. Obviously
this does not work as well in all apps, but to say you can't do targeted
advertising without tracking is not true.
------
flxmglrb
From the bottom of the article:
> EDITED TO ADD (10/15): Apple has provided a way to opt out of the targeted
> ads and also to disable the location information being sent.
Ok, why is that "edited to add"? Seriously. The page he links to on apple.com
says it was last modified more than a month prior. Why did Schneier post his
article, get some hits, and only then add this little tidbit which basically
turns the whole thing into a non-story? Couldn't he have researched it all up
front before posting the story? The page on apple.com is the _very first hit_
for "iAd opt out" on Google. It's just beyond lazy to have posted this story
without having done that search first.
I realize Schneier is a bit of a sacred cow in most tech circles, but this
seriously just smacks of sensationalism:
"OMG Company X does something horrible!"
* wait for pageviews to roll in *
"EDIT: Eh, not really. Shoulda Googled first."
Come on. Really.
~~~
delinka
Schneier does this often enough that I kind of expect it. He's not a
journalist- that's not an excuse for him to lack research before writing, but
it does mean I take a different quantity/flavor of salt with his writings.
When it comes to general advice, he's spot on. When it comes to commenting on
actual implementations, he does miss details. Hell, it's not like he's Chuck
Norris.
------
betageek
Just to be clear, Apple used to allow the use of the UDID for tacking which
was directly tied to your device and non-deletable.
They now use an anonymous, temporary, random ID that can be turned off.
How is this not an improvement?
~~~
wmf
Wasn't there a period of time where UDID tracking was banned and the IFA had
not yet been introduced? Some people were probably hoping that situation was
permanent.
~~~
untog
The UDID was deprecated, but not actually banned, I believe. So, part of the
transition process to using the IFA.
------
TimGebhardt
From high horse: Well one more reason Android is better than iOS.
Coming down from high horse: Oh crap, my phone's software is programmed by an
advertising company...
Conclusion: My life is being bought and sold out of my control.
~~~
vetinari
While you are on your high horse: go to Settings | Location access and note
the description below Wi-Fi & mobile network location item. Also note the
checkbox on the right.
I remember that the system asked about it first time it needed location (and
every time you turn this option on). The downside is that Google Now does not
work without it.
------
ralfd
4 weeks ago:
> "Apple adds new "Limit Ad Tracking" feature to iOS 6"
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4545602>
3 weeks ago:
> "Google implements Apple's Ad Identifier for mobile tracking choice"
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4581781>
Both hacker news submissions have zero comments. Why is it that a month ago no
one cared, but now everyone is grabbing his tin-foil hat?
Also I am pretty sure at least some of the more extensive iOS 6 reviews have
mentioned the new "limit Ad tracking" feature. And aren't we presumed to be
developers who uses this stuff? I did know that Apple had a replacement for
the UDID.
PS: On Schneiers blog one commentator claims that he/she was notified of the
Ad tracking by a prompt in the iOS update. Sadly I have no updateable iOS 5
device here to examine that. But I think this was only an info for the new
privacy pane, wasn't it?
~~~
ralfd
Addendum:
It is explained (from the developers point of view) in the WWDC 2012 session
"Privacy Support in iOS and OS X".
<https://developer.apple.com/videos/wwdc/2012/?id=710>
The old UDID is splitted into three new API:
1\. Application ID, which scope is the app and lifetime is till uninstallation
of this app.
2\. Vendor ID: scope is developer and lifetime is till uninstallation of all
developer's apps.
3\. Advertising ID (identifierForAdvertising or IFA): scope is the device and
a new ID is created by "Erase all contents/settings" and it is not restored
across devices (practically lifetime is lifetime of the device). This means
when you start to use a new iPad it will have its own Advertising ID and not
use that of your old iPhone, because the ID is not tied to your Apple ID
account, but tied to a device.
It is noteworthy that after Apple banned the usage of the UDID some developers
and ad networks started bypassing Apples privacy rules and made their own open
source ID replacement:
<https://github.com/ylechelle/OpenUDID/blob/master/README.md>
But I don't know if this will be permitted in the future or you have to use
Apples provided ID system (I would assume the latter).
~~~
Terretta
Thanks for this succinct info.
------
jeffclark
You can turn it off by visiting <http://oo.apple.com> on your phone.
~~~
dabei
That only turn off tracking for iAd, which is one of hundreds of ad networks.
------
glasshead969
FWIW, The learn more link in Settings-> General -> About -> Advertising says
"iOS 6 introduces the Advertising Identifier, a non-permanent, non-personal,
device identifier, that apps will use to give you more control over
advertisers’ ability to use tracking methods. If you choose to limit ad
tracking, apps are not permitted to use the Advertising Identifier to serve
you targeted ads. In the future all apps will be required to use the
Advertising Identifier. However, until then you may still receive targeted
ads."
~~~
Cbasedlifeform
Should have been under the "Privacy" setting -- if they really cared.
~~~
glasshead969
I think the location information and other stuff applies to everything app can
do, which is in Privacy tab. I think this option is disable the identifier
itself.
------
0wza
"For the last few months, iPhone users have enjoyed an unusual environment..."
Am I the only one who finds that humourous? An "unusual" environment? What
exactly is "normal" about tracking people's movements in the name of
convincing advertisers to pay you?
This briefly enjoyed environment should not be unusual. It is the one we've
lived in for hundreds of years. It should be the norm. iAd should be _opt-in_
not opt-out. There are no valid arguments to the contrary that are not
motivated out of just a tad bit too much greed, the unhealthy kind.
(Why do I say the greed is excessive and unhealthy? Because Apple has already
sold a highly marked up device composed of cheap electronics and booked that
revenue. But this is apparently not enough. The casualty of this greed is the
consumer's basic notions of privacy. That price is arguably far too high for
anyone to pay to any company in return for "helpful suggestions" of products
and services they _might_ want, based on seller guesswork. Apple made a
fortune selling iPods. They didn't need to track users' listening preferences
to do it. There are limits to what is reasonable.)
------
ljoshua
It's always a quandary--I will most likely be seeing ads, so would I rather
that they are targeted to me and possibly even helpful, or do I want to
tighten down as much as possible all possible data dumps of me?
I'm still trying to figure out when I want to turn off these sorts of things,
versus when I'd rather keep them on.
~~~
LaGrange
Actually, even if I end up with ads when I wasn't at least sort-of looking for
them (say, opening Yellow Books, doing a search), then I'd rather if they're
not targeted — the less information they have the worse they are at hacking my
brain.
------
richcollins
_For the last few months, iPhone users have enjoyed an unusual environment in
which advertisers have been largely unable to track and target them in any
meaningful way._
This is completely false. It hasn't changed at all in any meaningful way.
------
rooster117
Advertisers do not need to rely on the UDID(which is still widely used) to
track you since all that matters is they have a unique key they can associate
with the hardware. The MAC address does the same thing and there are a handful
of other options that are close enough for what they care about.
------
ashbrahma
Apple actually messed up the IDFA for users that update from iOS 5 to 6 (over
wifi). All these users are assigned an IDFA number of 0000000. Users that are
on the new iPhone 5 or updated from iOS 5 to 6 via a network connection have a
valid IDFA number.
------
nirajd
Are you kidding me? Regardless of privacy, this is incredibly useful. I would
love having even the slightest amount relevance with the iAds popping up on my
iAds.
------
scubaguy
From Apple's press release [http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2011/04/27Apple-Q-
A-on-Locat...](http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2011/04/27Apple-Q-A-on-
Location-Data.html)
1. Why is Apple tracking the location of my iPhone?
Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone.
Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so.
~~~
wmf
Scheier's not talking about location.
------
glasshead969
update to the linked article... "EDITED TO ADD (10/15): Apple has provided a
way to opt out of the targeted ads and also to disable the location
information being sent."
------
thechut
Another case of how Apple doesn't care about its customers. They offer the
opt-out option but turn the service on by default and don't notify anyone.
Good thing (for Apple) most of their customers have had too much koolaid to
care.
~~~
headShrinker
What a ridiculous comment. Take your trolling comments somewhere else. Nearly
every company is guilty of reusing collected data and almost always without
telling customers.
~~~
suyash
It's not a ridiculous comment. Do you work at Apple? What's wrong with him
expressing his opinion. I feel the same way and belive we can have a
discussion about what's right and what's wrong. I agree that most companies
just automatically subscribe you in when they create new feature and they make
it users responsibility to opt out but I hate it as much as most of us. At
least they (including Apple) should be responsible of informing users if they
decide to keep us opted in automatically. Tracking is not a joke, people are
very concerned about it.
~~~
jamesaguilar
It is counterfactual to say that Apple does not care about its customers. It
does way too much for them to make that statement anything but ridiculous.
That said, it's also possible to recognize cases where their behavior _might_
not be in the customers' best interests. Whether you think this is one of
those cases probably depends on how much harm you think tracking does to the
average consumer. Personally, I'm completely satisfied with their opt-out
approach. People who care can opt out. The vast majority of people who don't*
can receive more relevant advertisement. But I can accept that other people
have different value functions where this approach would be considered less
benign.
*And before someone quotes a survey where people claim to care, my personal view is that actions speak louder than words on this point. If you really care, you'd be taking steps to make yourself aware of what is happening on your phone and responding accordingly.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Entrepreneurs are cocky jerks - SeattleSeeley
http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2011/11/03/surviving-startups-justin-seeley-entrepreneurs-jerks/#more-3851
======
j45
I like talking with doers. I like sharing with doers. I like learning from
doers.
Helping people want to become doers is where I find some of this friction
happens. How that comes across can be another point of hurt feelings.
There's a big difference between thinking less about yourself and thinking
less of yourself.
There's a big difference between having a quiet confidence in what you do and
just doing it, vs having to strut around like a rockstar CEO.
I'm not cocky, or a jerk. I'm not a doormat or a pushover either. I know my
shit. I'm just focussed on goals. I constantly read, learn and try. I also
know what I don't know and dont' hesitate for a second to say so. I don't
believe in faking it until I make it.
I believe in keeping kindness and goodness fashionable and am not opposed to
making people cry if they continually make other people cry and can't think
beyond themselves.
Either way if you're truly busy doing things and improving, you're busy not
celebrating yourself.
Entrepreneurs/Startups are like the new Rockband, everyone wants to be one
including the self-promoting posers who often don't have a track record. Ideas
are cheap for entrepreneurs, execution is the limited resource.
Those who have succeeded in small ways know to shut up because listening is
always an opportunity to learn and get better, and sharing is an opportunity.
When you come across people who talk more than they do, it's not selfish to
say I will give everything I can, but knowing what I get back might be limited
to help take something off my plate, I have to go take care of my sh*t because
no one else will.
------
SeattleSeeley
I know it's a controversial opinion, and I have gotten a lot of criticism, but
I'm curious if people agree? I can't imagine what it would be like to be a
founder with a "demanding relationship."
What about married founders. Isn't it very important to have an understanding
wife?
~~~
paulitex
I am in a long term relationship with a girl I plan to marry. For the first
year-ish of my startup it was a slow ramp up to the hours/comittment talked
about in these articles. I used to read these articles and feel like I was
doing something wrong, or was going to fail, because I did have a healthy life
and relationship.
But when we started having real customers and real investors and real
competitors.... excuse the pun, shit got real. I've become a classic startup
'cocky jerk' - and I love it. I'm losing my hair faster than otherwise, but
I've never felt so alive.
My gf takes the long term perspective. Luckily she started grad school around
the same time my work ramped up, so we're both busy. She also knows I have a
few years window to really do this (we're 28, want kids in early 30s) so I've
got to give it my all. Make the time together really really great when you get
a moment, and take a long term perspective. She knows, success or not, when
I'm 40 family will be priority #1 and understands I've got a once in a
lifetime opportunity for a short window of years.
It works for us, for now. She has 1.5 years left of grad school. But I admit I
am super lucky to have found her. :)
~~~
SeattleSeeley
Exactly. I'm a little jealous of your situation to be honest. I have tried to
do both at once, but it's like I'm cheating on the girl with work! Thinking
about it at all times, leaving to go back to work, etc.
When I had a "normal job" dating was easier.
------
Hyena
This needs a citation.
The writer is probably leaning on his own extended circle of acquaintances
which is likely to be, like him, young and male. This group is fairly cocky
and entrepreneurs from this group could be expected, at a minimum, to be as
cocky. Secondly, cocky jerks stick out more in our minds, we are less likely
to remember entrepreneurs who were pleasant people.
While this doesn't run counter the title, the implication is that cocked
jerkiness is a virtue for entrepreneurship. I somewhat doubt this and suspect
that your average entrepreneur is _less_ a cocky jerk than their reference
group. (Unless, I guess, the RG's unusually deferent.)
------
kingsidharth
Jason Friend and DHH wouldn't agree to this post.
------
maxklein
Yes, the ones who haven't succeeded yet.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Turkish government revokes ham radio licenses - lightlyused
http://yaesuft817.com/wp/turkey-gouvernement-revokes-19201-ham-radio-licenses/
======
Relys
This is going to end poorly... False flag or not, the coup has given Erdogan
an excuse to flush out and exterminate all who oppose him. Anyone want to take
bets how long until NATO will revoke Turkey's membership?
~~~
twblalock
Unfortunately, the people of Turkey were going to be screwed no matter how the
coup went. If it had succeeded, they would have got a military dictatorship.
Now they get a different kind of dictatorship instead. Erdogan was slowly
evolving into a dictator before the coup, and now he's accelerating that
process.
I wonder if the best outcome for democracy in Turkey would have been a
attempted coup which resulted in Erdogan's death before it failed. I don't
know of any Turkish politicians who would have been able to build a
dictatorship as successfully as Erdogan.
~~~
marcoperaza
I'd rather live under a liberal, pro-Western, secular military junta, than an
illiberal democracy ruled by Islamists who are destroying liberties, hollowing
out civil society, and turning the country into a Sunni version of Iran under
the Ayatollahs.
Fareed Zakaria has a great book, _The Future of Freedom_ , where he discusses,
among other things, the perils of illiberal democracy. The bit that really
stuck in my head is his argument that the impartial judge is a more important
institution than the ballot box.
Man has lived under undemocratic regimes for almost all of recorded history.
It is the human condition. It is more important to defend civilization and
order against barbarism and chaos, than it is to ensure that the majority
rules. Liberal values and constitutional government preceded true democracy by
hundreds of years in the West. Why do we expect otherwise anywhere else?
~~~
abrookewood
I agree with you, but I can't help but feel that this position isn't
defensible. Don't they have the democratic right to move to a more religious
society if the majority want it?
~~~
forgottenpass
That is "tyranny of the majority", and is one of the well-known failure modes
of democracy.
------
allendoerfer
What's the point of being a dictator? I sometimes think of really cool stuff
one should do and think: "Well you would have to be a dictator to do that.".
Maybe I am indoctrinated in Western propaganda but off the top of my had I
cannot come up with a cause that is worthwhile enough to pursue if you
consider the negative consequences of a dictatorship.
Maybe AI, space stuff or immortality - essentially the same thing. First of
all I think these are overrated. The fun thing about these is the thought that
"holy fuck we will actually do it!!". When it is there it will be like
commercial aviation.
And even if you truly want to accomplish them by all means, the best strategy
I can come up with is a) get the best of the best and b) throw all your money
at them. If you perform a Gleichschaltung it will definitely harm your ability
to throw money. So my dictatorship would consist mostly of cost cutting,
economic incentives, educational reforms, reducing administration costs -
essentially what every government claims to try anyway.
~~~
bad_alloc
1) Power feels awesome. You'll use your power to get more power because it
feels so good to see those you hate having to bow to you.
2) Educated people are dangerous as they will almost certainly doubt the
legitimacy of your rule and more importantly have the ability to plot against
you. Hence they must go.
I applaud your thinking, as it is empathic towards your hypothetical subjects
:) However people like Erodogan do not think at such a level. Assume a
primitive (but not dumb) egocentric world view in dictators. If they had
empathy, they wouldn't have been able to fight to get to where they are now.
~~~
allendoerfer
Power is certainly nice, but I don't need others to know that I am powerful. I
find many situations are much more amusing if you do not share them with
others but just acknowledge them for yourself. I think there is a purity and
elaborateness to it if you don't live of the reactions of others, even if it
is just situational humour or in the case of power "knowing that you could". I
like it, because if you are not naturally very introverted, it takes some
self-discipline.
Exercising and amassing power in contrast seems like a more primitive approach
to me. The true upper class does not have to show off. The true stars do not
have to fish for attention. The true powerful do not need to be a dictator?
~~~
abrookewood
You should watch the TV show Narcos [0], which is about Pablo Escobar and
Columbia. He has all the money and power that he could ever need, but still
tries to amass more & more. It's intoxicating viewing and provides some
insight into the mind of people who feel the need to rule absolutely. [0]
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2707408/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2707408/)
------
jondubois
And to think that Turkey was considered for EU membership - That's definitely
off the table now. It's a testament as to how quickly Turkey has declined.
Even without EU membership, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of Turkish people
will try to relocate to Europe and elsewhere. This would be a massive brain
and capital drain for Turkey - Especially given that this is a country which
was considered safe and progressive not so long ago...
~~~
Amezarak
That may be bad for both Turkey and the countries they flee to. Turkey was/is
a democracy. The people of Turkey created the current political environment.
If they go elsewhere, they will be influencing politics beyond Turkey, maybe
in similar ways.
~~~
beyti
There is a distinct separation between the people who made the country as it
is now and the people who couldn't prevent them. As for your concern; the
lacking prevention of the now felt almost-dictatorship is a strong evidence of
the lack of politics involvement of the group which is against this kind of
Turkey now.
So your concern is right, if the people who made this country this way gets to
flee; it's not if the people who couldn't stop this country be this way gets
to flee.
~~~
killedbydeath
Not necessarily. For example, Erdogan is currently more popular among Turks in
Germany than in Turkey, 60% vs 50%[[http://www.dw.com/en/i-stand-behind-
erdogan-an-afternoon-in-...](http://www.dw.com/en/i-stand-behind-erdogan-an-
afternoon-in-colognes-turkish-center/a-19413325)].
------
lightlyused
Not sure what is going on. Dx cluster shows Turkish ham activity. sh/dx ta
14076.0 TA4SO 20-Jul-2016 2142Z <EA3OH> 14019.9 TA3D 20-Jul-2016 2101Z <W7SW>
14072.0 TA7DX 20-Jul-2016 2038Z CQ...PSK31 <JA3SWL> 10143.7 TA1CM 20-Jul-2016
1951Z <EW4R> 14016.0 TA3D 20-Jul-2016 1949Z tnx QSO <RT9AT> 10143.7 TA1CM
20-Jul-2016 1949Z cq rtty <SV3EXU> 14016.0 TA3D 20-Jul-2016 1946Z Tnx for QSO
<DL3CQ> 14016.0 TA3D 20-Jul-2016 1938Z <JL1BDI> 14016.0 TA3D 20-Jul-2016 1937Z
TNX <IZ7XZJ> 14016.0 TA3D 20-Jul-2016 1934Z <DF1LON>
~~~
qwertyuiop924
They apparently didn't take away all of the licenses.
------
niftich
If you broadcast amateur radio, is it possible to 'hide' from enforcement?
Are there mechanisms that an enforcement authority can use to find your
physical location?
Is it possible to ostensibly rebroadcast a government-approved channel, but
with additional stenography or mixing to embed information?
~~~
w8rbt
Near Vertical Incident Skywave (NVIS) HF transmissions are very difficult
(likely impossible) to track from the ground. They go almost straight up. Hams
call them cloud burners. However, they are limited to 200 - 400 mile radius.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_vertical_incidence_skywav...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_vertical_incidence_skywave)
You'd need a dipole (14 AWG wire) about 5 meters above the ground or an 80
meter loop about 10 meters up. If setup right, the antenna would be difficult
to detect as well.
Edit: I'm a Ham. I build wire antennas as a hobby. It's fun.
~~~
jdietrich
Earth-Moon-Earth or exotic digital modes are also a possibility. EME is
impossible to triangulate if you're using a suitably directional antenna. A
creative interpretation of the Shannon-Hartley theorem allows for
communication below the noise floor using low symbol rates and wide bandwidth.
LF and below is difficult to triangulate because of the huge wavelengths, but
a workable antenna would be rather conspicuous. You might also get lucky with
meteor scatter or sporadic E.
------
gpvos
Archive: [http://archive.is/Iutbr](http://archive.is/Iutbr)
------
vvanders
That doesn't really bode well for Turkey.
FWIW the US did the same during WW1 and WW2 albeit under different
circumstances.
~~~
ProfDigory
US did what during WW1 and WW2? Did the US revoke amateur radio licenses?
~~~
nkurz
I guess one could quibble about the difference between "revoke" and "suspend",
but yes, they did at least for WW2.
_On December 8, 1941, the FCC issued Order Number 87, which read in part:_
"Whereas a state of War exists between the United States and the Imperial
Japanese government, and the withdrawal from private use of all amateur
frequencies is required for the purpose of National Defense; IT IS ORDERED,
that except as may hereafter be specifically authorized by the Commission, no
person shall engage in any amateur radio operation...and all frequencies
heretofore allocated to amateur radio stations under Part 12 of the Rules and
Regulations ARE HEREBY WITHDRAWN. All amateur licensees are hereby notified
that the Commission has ordered the immediate suspension of all amateur radio
operation in the continental U.S., its territories and possessions."
[http://www.vpnavy01.com/websites/ke3w/history.html#24](http://www.vpnavy01.com/websites/ke3w/history.html#24)
------
batuhanicoz
Interesting. I can't seem the find the official press release for this. RTÜK
web site doesn't seem to list anything, quoted TRAC organization web site is
the same.
Am I missing something?
~~~
jlgaddis
There's an update at the bottom of the article saying that this information
was incorrect/wrong.
------
gravypod
With the hobby already on it's last legs it's sad to see even 1 person loose
their license. That's even without taking in consideration the political and
social ramifications of these actions.
With an extra exam and a bit of time learning CW I can get news directly from
people who live in countries around the world. Now that just isn't possible in
some countries.
------
throwaway7767
Looks like the article has been updated to indicate that this is false
information (see the red text at the bottom):
"We’re happy to confirm that this news has been disproved we apologise for the
false information given but apparently local hams from Istanbul city were
interdicted from transmitting until yesterday"
------
rtrsqrrl
They didn't revoke any ham license: [http://www.dx-world.net/ham-radio-in-
turkey/](http://www.dx-world.net/ham-radio-in-turkey/) At least not yet.
------
vonnik
Can we correct the headline to say "Turkish government"?
------
melchebo
There a Turkish ham radio operators replying on the blog that they know of
nothing of this kind. Maybe this "news" was made up?
------
jlgaddis
N.B.: Update at bottom of article saying this information was wrong.
------
jrockway
Interesting. I wonder if they will be allowed to remain in the ITU.
------
DashRattlesnake
Is he going to start revoking driver's licenses next? I doubt anyone could
stage a successful coup if they're forced to use the bus.
~~~
sciurus
Speaking of travel, he's banned all academics from traveling abroad. Also ont
he topic of education, he's ordered the closing of more than 600 schools, the
resignation of more than 1,500 university deans, and revoked the licenses of
21,000 teachers.
[http://nyti.ms/29SUzis](http://nyti.ms/29SUzis)
[http://nyti.ms/29VJihy](http://nyti.ms/29VJihy)
~~~
drinchev
I also read somewhere about book stores being smashed, because of selling
books against Erdogan. Can't find the source, because I'm on my phone.
------
secfirstmd
Can anyone tell me why this article got flagged on HN????
~~~
pinewurst
This is relevant for HN as it involves the attempted crackdown on individuals
using technology to communicate. Especially when it involves a channel that
doesn't go through a government gatekeeper.
~~~
dang
That argument is tenuous, because the thread inevitably turned into just
another generic political thread about Turkey.
~~~
pinewurst
Sadly yes but it hadn't I think when I originally posted...
------
crb002
I think it's time for the U.S. to erect an Armenian Genocide monument in D.C.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Genocide](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Genocide)
~~~
peterwwillis
The U.S. still doesn't even recognize it officially as being genocide, so, no,
it's probably not time yet.
We're pretty much deaf, dumb and blind when it comes to genocide. We generally
allow governments to kill their own people, and often other people, as long as
they're brown. When they're white, we draw the line at them killing other
people. Sometimes.
[https://clg.portalxm.com/library/keytext.cfm?keytext_id=52](https://clg.portalxm.com/library/keytext.cfm?keytext_id=52)
[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ghosts/themes/...](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ghosts/themes/response.html)
[https://www.ushmm.org/confront-genocide/speakers-and-
events/...](https://www.ushmm.org/confront-genocide/speakers-and-events/all-
speakers-and-events/genocide-prevention-morality-and-the-national-
interest/american-responses-to-genocide-and-mass-violence-in-the-past-
transcript)
[http://www.internationaljusticeproject.com/american-
response...](http://www.internationaljusticeproject.com/american-response-to-
darfur/)
[http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2001/09/bystande...](http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2001/09/bystanders-
to-genocide/304571/)
[http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestoryamericas/2012...](http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestoryamericas/2012/11/201211295425270859.html)
[http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/27/opinion/congo-war-ignored-
vava...](http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/27/opinion/congo-war-ignored-vava-tampa/)
------
mtgx
From almost a democracy to world's second North Korea, virtually overnight.
Impressive. But I also think this will backfire badly for Erdogan.
~~~
hafreni
I agree... This is just a temporary thing for sure. NATO isn't too happy with
the outcome of this, so I presume that something is going to come of that.
~~~
vkou
Like what? They will give lip service to political freedom, but won't kick out
their most important member. Erdogan can carry out a holocaust, and NATO would
prefer it over seeing him on team Russia.
~~~
hafreni
I don't think jumping to the conclusion that Erdogan could carry out a
holocaust and come out unscathed by NATO is a logical assertion. At some
point, another nation will intervene, because Turkey is a fairly major portion
of infrastructure in the world. I'm not an expert, or even amazing with
politics, so I could be completely wrong, but I accept that. (To each their
own opinion, right?)
------
Lagged2Death
Amateur radio operators are organized. They are an international auxiliary
communication system. They are an information channel that is largely outside
the control of governments. They are _a human network_.
I _simply can 't imagine_ what relevance that would have to the HN crowd.
------
pinewurst
Why has this been flagged?
~~~
dang
Users flag stories that they think don't belong on HN.
------
utku_karatas2
I am flagging down all Turkey related threads these days. I don't see how
political debates about the failed coup is a subject to be discussed on HN.
~~~
wmf
There's _potentially_ an interesting discussion to be had here about the
technical and political effects of ham radio during disruptions in "official"
centralized communications systems, e.g. during a coup or counter-coup
crackdown. But of course we're just getting a "Turkey politics 101" thread
instead.
~~~
utku_karatas2
That's exactly why I've been flagging. The discussions are almost identical
with some conspiracy theories, how Turkey is going backwards and how much
Erdogan sucks. This is just r/WorldNews level stuff right there.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Wells Fargo passwords are not case sensitive - praneshp
https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/66n4li/i_just_discovered_that_wells_fargo_account_login/
======
praneshp
OP Here, I just tested this, the passwords aren't case sensitive, and
google[0] and HN[1] says this was known in 2012..
The HN discussion is a little more dismissive of case sensitivity, so I'm
wondering if I should be so worried anyway.
[0][https://www.google.com/search?q=wells+fargo+password+not+cas...](https://www.google.com/search?q=wells+fargo+password+not+case-
sensitive&oq=wells+farg)
[1]:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4285954](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4285954)
------
sidcool
Unbelievable. There have to be laws for security.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Ask HN: Is this a good time to invest? - throwawayt856
======
icedchai
It is impossible to time the market, so it doesn't really make sense to answer
this in absolute terms. Is it a better time to invest than last month? Yes.
Than last year? Yes. Could it be even better to invest next quarter? Possibly.
But this is a unique situation and the markets are forward looking, so it is
difficult to say.
The safest thing to do is average into it. Say you have a target to invest
$2K/month under "normal" conditions. On a really bad month, maybe make it $4K.
If conditions worsen next month, increase your investment even more.
Eventually you might not be able to stand it...
------
chewz
From technical perspective wait until markets retest the bottom. They will.
There would be a lot of distressed assets after it is over. Lots of
opportunities, so conserve cash.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Southwest Airlines Offering In-Flight iMessaging for $2 Per Day - jkupferman
http://www.macrumors.com/2013/12/11/southwest-airlines-offering-in-flight-imessaging-for-2-per-day/
======
lukeqsee
1. Pay $2.
2. SSH/DNS/whatever tunnel out through iMessage port.
3. Gloat? Profit?
Seriously, we probably all thought it. Just don't. It'll make life really
rough for all of our fellow iPhone addicts who will end up having to pay $8
again. (Also, you'd be breaking contract, but I imagine that doesn't matter
nearly as much to you, now does it?)
~~~
superuser2
The filter could be smart enough to allow traffic on that port _only to
Apple_.
------
sureshv
Flew out and into SJC yesterday on SW and all day wifi was $8 (covered both
trips). With roundtrip fair costing anywhere from $200-$300, I'd rather pay
for wifi than send some texts to iOS only users for $2. Sounds kind of lame.
------
reinhardt
Misread it as in-flight _massaging_ for $2/day.. Oh well.
------
kalleboo
No net neutrality in the air at least...
------
Zombieball
Perhaps I am missing something as I have not been following the issue very
closely.
Didn't the FAA recently announce that use of mobile devices during flight, or
gate-to-gate, is now allowed?
What is the incentive to pay $2 to send iMessages vs. simply turning on your
data connection & sending iMessage as you would regularly?
Is the issue that Southwest Airlines has not opted into the new FAA
regulations? Is cellular coverage poor during most flights (I admittedly
haven't tried using my cellphone during flights)?
~~~
smackfu
It's not poor, it just doesn't work. The recent talk about allowing in-flight
cell phone use was in relation to the airlines installing an in-plane
microcell of some sort for your phone to connect though.
~~~
baddox
Except for the calls that made it through from United 93, or was it at lower
altitude at the time?
~~~
encoderer
Certainly it was below the 30k' cruising altitude. And over a heavily
populated area. And voice connections are easier to get than data in my
experience doing, uhh, "research" of this sort.
------
knodi
Fuck you airlines!! You charge us more for tickets, you take away services and
now you're nickel and dimeing us.
~~~
AH4oFVbPT4f8
It won't be much longer until the airlines say, fly NY->LA for only $1500
including all fees such as being able to board the plane, bring a carry on,
check a bag, get in flight meal, free wifi, etc etc.
Once we all fed up with nickel and dimeing they'll go back to flat rate to
"save us money" only to then go back to al la carte.
------
MichaelGG
I wonder how hard it is to pretend to be an iOS device and use iMessage as a
tunnel. Probably not worth it at all.
~~~
nwh
Emulating iMessage is an awful job that only a select few seem to have
managed. The protocol is confused and complicated, the binaries are heavily
obfuscated, and Apple's servers ban quickly and with little warning. Even
those that have succeeded don't seem to have emulated it correctly.
~~~
jacalata
Yea, but that's if you want to emulate iMessage to the Apple servers in order
to send actual iMessages. I think the OP was asking about emulating it to the
airplane firewall in order to tunnel through, which could be a lot easier and
more useful.
~~~
evan_
It's unlikely that they're inspecting the packets at a level deep enough to
tell what they actually are. More likely that they're just letting you access
certain servers for $2.
------
nwh
[http://code.kryo.se/iodine/](http://code.kryo.se/iodine/)
------
zinssmeister
We can argue about the price point, but charging a la carte is a great idea.
~~~
jimktrains2
Missing an /s tag? Perhaps they, or your home ISP should charge access to
hacker news?
~~~
RKearney
They're not "charging" you to use different services. They're taking their
$8/day WiFi access charge, and reducing it by 75% if all you need it for is to
send iMessages.
What you just said makes it seem like you think Southwest is charging people
$2 on top of their $8 fee to use WiFi, which they are most certainly not
doing.
~~~
superuser2
Easy: Make sure "economy" internet includes enough to cover most people's
needs, most of the time. Price and market "full-service" internet like a
luxury so most users will select the "economy" plan.
Sell inclusion in the economy plan's whitelist for a private, negotiable fee
(measured in millions). Sell exclusivity per category (not outright, but by
offering reasonable fees to only the highest bidder). Big players don't have
to worry about competition, so their R&D costs are lower and their stocks are
safer (and more attractive) investments. ISPs win, large internet companies
win, small-government and pro-business voters win, the market wins. Large
companies which are in themselves platforms (Google, Amazon, Apple) become the
_only_ option to reach consumers, so they can take as large of a percentage as
they want. Consumers lose.
This is _precisely_ the nightmare scenario motivating internet neutrality
protections.
------
knodi
Free god damn wifi, its fucking 2013 and tickets cost like $300!!
~~~
encoderer
I believe there is some technical merit here. Bandwidth to an airplane is
limited and charging a small fee keeps it from being inundated.
When it's free -- like when Google sponsors it at Christmas -- it's not usable
it's so slow.
------
Kiro
I thought most airlines had free wi-fi nowadays.
~~~
Scriptor
Free? All the airlines I've been on had wifi but usually charged for it.
~~~
Kiro
Never seen anyone charge for it. Are you in the US?
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
The problem with calling technologies dead too soon. - Macha
http://blog.webicity.info/2010/05/01/the-problem-with-tech-is-dead-hysteria/
======
9oliYQjP
I know people that still use really old computers. If you're trying to sell
something to them, they aren't your market. If you think they care that your
website looks like absolute crap on their computer, they don't really care.
These aren't people that generally look at computing as anything more than
something they grudgingly were forced to do. They know their computer is old
and expect things not to work on them. It fits into their perception of
computers being useless anyway.
~~~
ams6110
Yeah my parents were like that. The only things they did on the internet were
pay bills and check their email (using Outlook web access, which not only
works in IE6, it works a lot better than in Firefox).
~~~
arethuza
I think that says more about OWA than it does about Firefox.
------
swombat
What proportion of computers sold in the last year ran Windows 98?
Ok, the market for selling Win98 computers is dead, then, we agree?
So what remains is the leftovers of the people who already bought those
computers. But no one will buy a new one.
So, going back to the iPad... people who are saying something like the iPad
will kill, say, the personal computer industry (like Charles Stross) aren't
arguing that everyone's PCs will suddenly vanish in a puff of smoke. No one
would be stupid enough to argue that.
What they're arguing is that the iPad and devices like it will transform the
landscape of devices sold. Right now, probably 0.01% of computer-like devices
are "tablet computers" and 99.99% are "PCs" (i.e. netbooks, desktops,
macbooks, etc). What people who predict the "death" of those computers are
predicting is a reversal of that _sales_ situation - i.e. a not-so-distant
future where 99+% of "computers" sold are tablets, and only a negligible
percentage are traditional computers.
Sure, there'll still be people using Win98 even then, but who cares? Anyone
who spends any money on computer-like equipment will have moved on to spending
their money on something else (both hardware and software).
------
MarkPilgrim
I'd like to use my current computer for 20 years:
<http://mark.pilgrim.usesthis.com/> Only 17.5 years to go!
------
RyanMcGreal
It depends on what you mean by "dead". [1]
[1] <http://www.paulgraham.com/cliffsnotes.html>
------
techiferous
I like to urge on the death of IE6. For my paid work I often don't have the
luxury of ignoring IE6. But for my side projects, I often specifically check
for IE6 users and offer them some kind of "go away" page. My thinking is that
I want to make the IE6 Internet the "boring" Internet. If everyone's
interesting side projects didn't support IE6, then after a while the general
public will catch on that their IE6 browser is crippling them. Meanwhile, the
enterprise IE6 users aren't affected because they are at work and wouldn't
(shouldn't?) be visiting silly side project websites anyway. ;)
Here's what alphabetclock.com looks like when you view it in IE6:
<http://imgur.com/J7809.png>
I helped my wife launch a dessert baking blog at chocochichi.com. Here's what
that looks like in IE6:
<http://imgur.com/py8rn.png>
~~~
wwortiz
If you are going to do this please add a link to something to educate a user
on how to upgrade and why as just pictures like yours come off confrontational
and would probably leave casual computer users (who are the ones that can
actually upgrade their browser) confused and probably irritated.
~~~
techiferous
Good point. Can you suggest a web site that properly explains the issues with
IE6 and how to upgrade in language that's appropriate for users who may not
even know what a browser is? I bet there are some pages out there already like
that.
~~~
Macha
This one is quite helpful: <http://browsehappy.com/>
~~~
techiferous
Thanks. I'm using that at the moment, but I'm going to keep looking. The site
doesn't get to the point fast enough and it doesn't suggest Google Chrome.
------
DeusExMachina
A little side note. The author says:
_The best online image editor I could find, still doesn’t achieve feature
parity with Paint.NET, which it is obviously inspired by._
I think that the aviary.com suite is well past that point.
~~~
Macha
I'll have to look into that one. I never heard of it before.
------
tonystubblebine
If your job is to build new technology products, is there a difference between
a technology being dead and the users of those technologies not adopting any
new technology? I don't think so. Saying Windows 98 is dead is just short hand
for saying users of Windows 98 are never going to be my customers so I don't
need to build a Win98 compliant desktop version of my product.
------
jasim
Its not just about IE6. I've users who would have used DOS 6.22 and an old POS
software happily. However they were forced to upgrade since they needed to use
Thumb drives, DVD Writers (for Backup) and USB printers. If it were not for
these hardware requirements, they would have happily used DOS. [updating the
app through net? A lot of users have very simple requirements that once done
are done for a long time.]
The average Joe upgrades their software only when they miss out very essential
things. If they are still able to Facebook, check mails and watch movies,
they're probably okay with whatever old OS they've. They really don't care
about 64 bit computing or the latest Service Packs unless it has something
very directly related with daily use.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Education publisher Pearson to phase out print textbooks - JohnHammersley
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48998789
======
jccalhoun
As a professor, I am not surprised about this. Publishers are pushing their
online platforms hard. A few years ago Cengage came and gave a whole dog and
pony show (with free lunch to ensure as many of us as possible showed up) with
all these "statistics" about how great and effective their online learning
platform was compared to paper books. Most of their "statistics" were things
like "students like them more than paper books" or "students feel like they
learn more" rather than any actual proof that these things are actually better
for students.
Of course what they didn't say is that online DRMed platforms give them 100%
of the profits instead of losing money to used books or giving the bookstore a
cut and they danced around the fact that students loose access to the material
after a year so even if they wanted to use the material later on they couldn't
(they can just buy a new code!).
Thankfully, our department didn't take the bait and instead worked on creating
our own OER [https://www.oercommons.org/hubs/open-
textbooks](https://www.oercommons.org/hubs/open-textbooks) but too many
educators are falling for it. My hope is that Pearson's move will spur more
faculty members to use and create more OER.
~~~
cannonedhamster
Cengage was terrible to use as a student but it wasn't the worst. Trying to
cite the resources from the courseware is impossible as you manually have to
type it out removing any benefit and making it literally less useful than a
physical book especially if you only have a single screen. The worst online
platform I've used it took me a week to figure out the terrible UI to actually
use the textbook part, you had to go into the text section, know exactly the
section you were going to and then browse the pictures of the physical
textbook. Questions for homework build only be accessed through a submenu of
this section. Every 10 minutes you'd be prompted to take a break, ruining your
concentration, and every hour you'd be signed out. It was a nightmare. I much
prefer the books.
------
Tomte
Reality tries hard to validate RMS' wild predictions...
[https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-
read.en.html](https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.en.html)
~~~
donquichotte
Written in 1997. My picture of RMS is slowly changing from religious zealot to
apocalyptic prophet.
------
ncw96
Many textbook publishers, including Pearson, have already begun strongly
encouraging professors to use additional online components from the publisher
for things like homework assignments.
Even if you buy the textbook used, you still have to purchase an online access
code from the publisher (often for $100+ for the semester).
The textbook publishers have been working on crushing the textbook resale
market for years, and this seems to be the final nail in the coffin.
~~~
danaos
Instructor resources have always been distributed separately afaik. If you're
a student you can access free digital content from their website[1].
Am I missing something?
[1] [https://media.pearsoncmg.com/bc/abp/engineering-
resources](https://media.pearsoncmg.com/bc/abp/engineering-resources)
~~~
abdullahkhalids
Students are often required to solve self-checking homework problems online,
and they can only do that with the access code.
------
noodlesUK
Just saying, I didn’t use a single textbook throughout my entire CS degree
here. All of the course materials were available freely on our Moodle instance
or through our library. Most of the course materials were produced by the
lecturers, and where they had written a proper textbook, they just sent us the
PDFs.
~~~
cf141q5325
No idea why this is downvoted, same thing here.
Ripping off students through overpriced mandatory textbooks is not a worldwide
phenomena. Through CS Bachelor and Master I too have never had to buy a
coursebook. The few books that were needed for extremely standardized courses
like math 1-3 were available in sufficient numbers in the library.
It takes two to force students to spend so much on books, a publisher can
price their books anyway they like if there isnt a university forcing their
students to use them. That for profit universities dont have a problem with
that is not surprising.
~~~
reallydontask
> Through CS Bachelor and Master I too have never had to buy a coursebook.
It is entirely possible that your experience might be relevant for CS, I don't
know I did a Physics degree, but there are a lot more degrees out there than
CS or Physics, for which your experience might not be representative, in other
words: There probably are degrees out there that do require the textbooks or
if not actual requirement, it makes the learning experience better.
------
achow
Against the rising trend?
The Rise in Popularity of Printed Books Continues
[http://theprintingreport.com/2018/05/03/the-rise-in-
populari...](http://theprintingreport.com/2018/05/03/the-rise-in-popularity-
of-printed-books-continues/)
~~~
jjeaff
People do like paper textbooks a lot. But the used textbook market is as
efficient as ever and publishers want more revenue. They don't make any money
when you buy a used textbook and it's expensive to scramble the chapters and
end of chapter questions and reprint every other season. Plus, you have to pay
all the sales people to convince the clueless professors that they should
upgrade to the new edition each year.
Perfect example of rent seeking.
------
II2II
This sounds like a raw deal for students.
I kept all of the textbooks relating to my major for several years. They were
good reference materials while completing the degree and were useful as
supplementary resources. By the time the second year of undergraduate studies
rolled around, the faculty started assigning textbooks that were intended to
serve as introductory material to graduate studies. By the time the final year
of undergraduate studies rolled around, at least half of the assigned books
were intended to build professional libraries.
From an educational and professional perspective, this drive towards rented
textbooks is doing a disservice to students. It is treating education as
disposable while forcing students to pay even more to build a library that
will serve them well in their career.
~~~
jjeaff
The percentage of college students and grads who ever reference their old
textbooks even once has go to be vanishingly tiny. With the exception of
perhaps a few highly technical programs.
------
TazeTSchnitzel
This means in two decades we won't have any record of what was in these
textbooks, right? :/
~~~
your-nanny
interesting point. I suppose in LOC tho.
------
tshanmu
This is evil on so many levels - no ownership - you only rent!
~~~
reallydontask
You see this is because the new generations expect to rent ....
What a lot of horse manure
In theory this model makes sense for a lot of textbooks, in practice I suspect
the price difference between buying and renting for a year won't be that big
at all.
I would imagine that majority of books would be rented for a year, academic
year anyway
~~~
johnday
> You see this is because the new generations expect to rent ....
Nope. We just can't afford _not_ to rent.
~~~
ethbro
When owners of capital collude to remove owning as an option, they become sole
arbiters of pricing.
So "afford" becomes a bit odd when someone simply expands their profit margins
as much as the market will bear.
~~~
cannonedhamster
Expands their profits beyond what the market would bear were it not for lock
in, lack of competition, and no consumer choice in the way they consume. They
only choice you have is not to go to school.
------
your-nanny
For someone who still has many many textbooks sitting in their shelf many
years after graduating, I find this very sad.
~~~
cannonedhamster
Same here. I buy a lot of textbooks for fun reading myself on topics like
economics, physics, and math where the books don't really change much or where
the reading is better in book form.
------
cf141q5325
Great example of how to encourage piracy.
------
Aardwolf
Not sure how it's today but 15 years ago at the university I went to,
professors all made their own course books (sometimes in real textbook form,
sometimes simply the bunch of slides they'd show during class, sometimes even
just copied handwritten notes).
These were printed and bound (apparently some decades before that the binding
had to be done by the students) at some local shop and we bought them as
students for something between 7 to 25 or so euros each.
There were a few courses that recommended a particular actual real
professionally printed book in addition but those were quite rare in fact, and
usually an optional recommendation
This worked quite well by the way, we had a lot of material to study
------
Finnucane
My personal experience with Pearson is somewhat limited--I temped for them as
a copyeditor for about a year so about ten years ago--but this is not
surprising. Even then they were already building the online material and
pursuing draconian cost-cutting measures (my gig ended when the whole
copyediting department got laid off). So if half their revenues are coming
from digital now, that means the print books--which are very expensive--are
less profitable. So not printing, warehousing, or shipping them saves a lot of
money. Plus the staff needed to manage that.
------
IntegralCalcs
I think making textbooks more accessible to students will be a huge positive
movement for education, especially in countries such as the states where
education is already a multi billion dollar industry.
~~~
HomeDeLaPot
Yep, and phasing out print textbooks is only accomplishing the opposite.
------
cududa
Aka we don’t want you reselling them/ buying used books
------
oyebenny
Sweet, now we can go and pay $200 for a digital copy of a book instead of a
$250 copy of a physical book. lol
~~~
jjeaff
More like $200 for an online copy vs $50 or less in the common occurrence that
used print textbooks are available. Or even older editions for $10 or less.
------
gourou
If Pearson is down, does the exam get cancelled?
~~~
ASalazarMX
The money a class pays for their access codes could finance a couple of years
of DDoS instead.
Edit: Not really. Seems like a common DDoS attack costs about $20 per hour,
and an access code costs about $100 USD. Each student could buy about 5 hours
of DDoS.
~~~
hakfoo
You don't need to black out the platform for years.
If you covered one or two critical weeks (say the weeks just before and during
final exams and midterms), per semester, you're looking at 672 hours of
downtime or less. Even a large availability loss-- say, down 50% of the time
in peak hours-- would be enough to make the program look risky and fragile.
A 50-student lecture could finance that.
------
wastedhours
Hopefully it'll open access to more people and be less wasteful. I'm not a
hugely analogue person, but have to admit, I much prefer non-fiction and text
books in physical form over e-resources - for some reason it just goes in
easier from the printed page for me.
~~~
vikramkr
I dont see how this does anything other than restrict access. They're killing
the used book market.
~~~
wastedhours
I've always heard Pearson has been reasonable on the global education front,
so might expect more buy-one-give-one style offers to emerge in the future
(although perhaps naive on my part there).
~~~
cf141q5325
Where did you hear that? Their push to get Professors using their pay walled
online services as mandatory coursework looks like quite the opposite.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Where the Bodies Are Buried - laurex
https://www.texasobserver.org/where-the-bodies-are-buried/
======
mnm1
People don't want to acknowledge such events because they are not simply
artifacts of the past. Racism and racist violence is going on right now.
Slavery is happening to millions of people in our prisons right now. People
don't want to be reminded of our ugly, despicable history and they especially
don't want to be reminded of our ugly, despicable present. That would make it
harder to continue doing these ugly, despicable things. The people doing these
things and supporting these things do not want to stop. Ever. This is the
heritage that the South (and the country in general) wants to preserve when
they preserve Confederate monuments, a heritage of hate and violence that
continues to this day. More importantly they want to preserve the ability to
continue these atrocities in the present and future. Unlike Germany after the
nazis, Confederate Americans after the civil war did not see their actions,
and later the actions of their ancestors, as the despicable, horrific events
they were. They were just sad they lost the war. That's still the case with
enough of the South now that we have these monuments. If they could bring back
slavery, (outside of prisons where it has been preserved) now, I have no doubt
that would. By vote or by force.
~~~
arcticbull
You're right but it's also much more nuanced than you're making it out to be.
Let me start by saying I don't like confederate statues or flags, because,
well, they were objectively fighting to preserve slavery -- that's what the
whole war was about -- and celebrating that isn't something I think we should
do. The problem is it's personal for so many people who had family on the
wrong side of history. Nobody wants to feel ashamed of their ancestors and
this creates a difficult animosity and almost serves to re-create the hatreds
that started the war in the first place. The pain of removing statues is that
the people on the wrong side of the war would have to admit their ancestors
were bad people, and ask themselves the difficult questions of what that means
about them. There's a reason Truth and Reconciliation Commissions are used
after atrocities: you can either have blame, or have truth, but not both.
Truth is more important if you want something not to happen again. That's
hard, of course. [0]
Regarding slavery in the US, yeah, prison farms are slavery. The constitution
permits slavery explicitly as a punishment for crimes. That's not something I
agree with either but that's just straight-up facts. When you use prison labor
for private company benefit that's beyond the pail and the US gets criticism
for this behavior regularly from the UN ILO. There's no better way to undercut
the wages of hard-working Americans than forcing people to work for free. [1]
Where you run off the rails the the idea that people want slavery back. Nobody
wants that. The establishment has much more nuanced and effective ways of
keeping themselves well-off. IMO they've probably always been after the ends,
not the means.
[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_and_Reconciliation_Commi...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_and_Reconciliation_Commission_\(South_Africa\))
[1] [https://www.ilo.org/global/standards/subjects-covered-by-
int...](https://www.ilo.org/global/standards/subjects-covered-by-
international-labour-standards/forced-labour/lang--en/index.htm)
~~~
NotSammyHagar
I'm also from the south and my family probably owned slaves. It is something
we should talk about and acknowledge. I am sure I knew people when I lived
there who would be angry at "making trouble by talking about that time". But
we need to do that, own up that our ancestors did that.
Even if one's ancestors believed in it, it does not mean that you can't have
different views and see the wrongness of historical actions. And of course
there is plenty of racism around today.
------
cjohnson318
Thank you for posting this. I grew up in the area and I'd never heard about
this.
------
muramira
Thank you so much for posting this.
------
bediger4000
This is an interesting, if hard to read, article.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Forest kindergarten - EL_Loco
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_kindergarten
======
nkrisc
There's one near where I used to live in Chicago. They use a local Forest
preserve. Strangely there is a contigent of neighbors who continually try to
get the whole thing shutdown because they don't think young kids should be
outside like that all the time. They try to complain and say they leave
garbage or are noisy or other invented complaints. From what I understand,
what they're _really_ upset about is that they can't let their dogs run around
off the leash with little kids around all the time.
~~~
dmix
Those small groups with a bit of power like NIMBY activists are the worst. You
see it on Facebook groups for buildings too, they range from over-protective
types who are scared of the city/outside to fully invented hypothetical
problems any time something is "different" happens.
I've always wondered what these people get out of it.
~~~
Sharlin
In their own narrative, of course, they're just good people trying to protect
children/live their live in peace/etc.
~~~
TomMarius
Yeah but freedom is about tolerating what you don't like because it's none of
your concern. I don't understand how the "land of the free" could favour a
small group so much. It's unthinkable in my post-socialist country.
~~~
Sharlin
"Land of the free" is propaganda, plain and simple.
~~~
dang
Maybe so, but please don't post unsubstantive comments to HN.
------
Pfhreak
We've got our daughter in a similar preschool. She spends 2-3 hours during
school days outside in a semi-structured environment. (Ie, there are adults
and rules, but the kids are free to negotiate their own games, social
interactions, and play.)
It's been astounding how well balanced and social all the kids are from that
school. I supposed it's anecdata (I only know ~10-15 kids), but there's a lot
more awareness and empathy than I've seen from other kids in the 3-5 year old
range. Observationally, there is a little less skills development in
reading/coloring within the lines.
As a parent, it feels impossible to know the right thing to do for your kids.
You have to emphasize _something_ in their education, at the expense of
something else. Choosing a school that values the outdoors, empathy, and
social development as the basis for teaching seems to complement our tech
savvy home life. I hope it works out.
~~~
toast0
> As a parent, it feels impossible to know the right thing to do for your
> kids.
Being adequate is enough. Chose something that doesn't seem clearly harmful,
pay attention for signs of harm, pay attention for signs that it's a bad fit
and make a change if it is. Really all you _need_ from preschool is
socialization, and some exposure to germ warfare.
What I hoped for my child to get was familiarity and positive associations
with the school concept. In my mind, it's more helpful if young people enjoy
school and feel it is a place where they can do things well than if they have
a lot more academic skills early and have developed a dislike of school.
~~~
barry-cotter
> What I hoped for my child to get was familiarity and positive associations
> with the school concept.
Why? Any Prussian model school will inure them to ranking, tedium, busywork,
being ranked and doing things that seem pointless because an authority figure
said to as well as another, whether they begin education in a child centred
school or not. It’s not like most metro areas even have a child centred
school, whether Sudbury, Montessori, Waldorf or other. They’ll learn what
school is actually like on exposure to it and develop associations with it
based on that whether they went to a child centred school for a brief period
or not. The long run effects of beginning schooling in a humane system will
fade and the only long run effects will be a few better years in childhood.
I suppose that’s enough justification by itself.
~~~
TomMarius
Why do you call them Prussian? It's Austro-Hungarian (Maria Theresia)
invention. Prussian schools were straight up military.
------
jmkd
Both my kids went through a version of this system in Copenhagen.
2 weeks in the forest (by bus each day) then 2 weeks in the kindergarten. This
meant the kindergarten building could support double its capacity as only half
the kids were there at one time.
Main takeaway for me was how resilient they became to cold, playing, eating
and resting outdoors all day during winter, with far more ailments acquired
during the indoor fortnights than those spent outdoors.
------
eob
There are several preschools like this in the Bay Area. My son has been going
to one for three years in the Presidio. They show up rain or shine (but seek
shelter in high wind or forest fire smoke).
It’s been an absolutely wonderful experience.
------
fit2rule
Both of my kids have attended Waldkindergarten as a standard cultural action
here in Austria, and it has been extremely successful in their case -
motivating them each to be engaged in nature in their environment, wherever we
go. I quite often will find either one of them in our own garden, poking at
something interesting, whittling a new stick, caring for a creature they found
somewhere. Whereas their peers who did not attend seem, these days, to only
have attention for their mobile phones.
I strongly encourage every parent in the Western world to get your kids
engaged in the natural environment, whatever it takes. City-dwellers seriously
need contact with nature, especially kids.
I truly believe a kind of highly damaging neurosis occurs when people don't
hug trees.
------
alkonaut
This is very common in Sweden. Weather isn’t an issue even in winter. Even in
”normal” kindergarten, my kids took their afternoon naps outside in -10C.
------
skybrian
I wonder if this would also result in fewer children being nearsighted?
[https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-urge-children-to-
pla...](https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-urge-children-to-play-outside-
for-their-eyesight)
------
lopespm
It is an interesting concept to have these borderless, less limited
kindergartens. Another example is a Tokyo kindergarten which was architected
to provide more freedom to children, and let them play and experiment as they
wish[1]
[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5jwEyDaR-0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5jwEyDaR-0)
------
checkyoursudo
Waldkindergarten was great for my boy. My younger girl isn't quite old enough
for it yet where we live, but I am sure it will be good for her as well.
My boy was outside, no matter the weather, every school day for about 3 hours,
and then inside for about 45 minutes.
Large motor skill and plenty of loose- or un-structured play with many other
kids seems to be a really great way for young humans to develop. They went on
hikes, exploring everywhere, looking for scat, and all kinds of activities
during their outside time every day.
If you have the opportunity to let your kid do this or something like it, then
I highly recommend it.
~~~
rubidium
As a parent of three 3 and under, and interested in this, can you share some
of the practicals?
-what if it’s cold (40f) and rainy? Do they still go out? What do you dress your kid in?
-what about fights with sticks?
-what about all the stuff in the woods that may or may not be edible (eg mushrooms)?
Just interested as these are some of the “how would that part work?” That come
to mind for me.
~~~
Doxin
> what about fights with sticks?
As an anecdote, I went to a school with a decided lack of sticks. Fights were
had by throwing building blocks instead. Kids will do stupid things, and
sticks aren't inherently more dangerous than building blocks.
~~~
rubidium
Right but in a classroom the teacher intervenes. In a “free play” outdoors how
are the rules defined and enforced?
~~~
em-bee
outdoors the kids are still supervised and the teachers can intervene if
necessary
~~~
checkyoursudo
Yes, exactly. My son's outdoor classroom (as the free play area is called)
still has a boundary and adult supervision. Sometimes the teacher or
naturalist is leading some activity, and sometime they give the kids something
new to investigate and then get out of the way. But they can always intervene,
if needed. It's really not often needed.
------
dfee
In San Diego, there is a camp called Outpost Summer Camp that is exactly this.
This has also made me post-Montessori. I’ve left the faith, but we’ve found
the forest.
~~~
em-bee
can you elaborate on post-montessori please? how does that look like to you?
~~~
dfee
I loved the idea of Montessori, and it’s an issue I raised in open discussion
at one of the school’s group chats.
Basically, in principle it’s great. Children drive themselves and follow what
they’re passionate about (with a teacher’s encouragement). If they’ve got a
tendency for math, for example, the teacher helps them develop their own
intuitions and keeps those pathways open for them.
In practice, my son believed there was a limit on his abilities to develop
because children under 4 years and zero days weren’t allowed to begin learning
numbers (or those stations weren’t available to him). You see, it’s still
cohort based learning, where cohort is based on age not ability.
So he knew numbers from home, but believed at school he was incapable. It was
a strange sort of cognitive dissonance where he could only “count to twenty”
as reinforced by his classmates, because he wasn’t old enough to do the number
station. And yet, he didn’t realize that meant he wasn’t able to say the
numbers greater than 20 - but often times he’d go from 1-200, etc.
Math wasn’t the only topic where this happened unfortunately.
This was at one of the few fully certified Montessori programs in San Diego.
I believe that it was a better program than a median program, but I’m not sure
if it’s because his peers came from families who could afford to spend time
with their children, or if the program itself was better than median.
However, it’s a different model that definitely did not address my root
concern - assisting a child to advance at their own pace (faster or slower).
Which just means that my expectations were mismanaged.
Overall, I think the forest kindergarten concept is more rewarding for my kid,
and he’s at least happy going to and coming home from school. That’s an oft
overlooked part of schooling: ensuring your child isn’t miserable - and
there’s quite a bit of misery at Montessori, due to the focus on quiet,
individual work.
~~~
barry-cotter
> I believe that it was a better program than a median program, but I’m not
> sure if it’s because his peers came from families who could afford to spend
> time with their children, or if the program itself was better than median.
Doesn’t matter which is true. Early educational interventions fade out
universally and we have nothing that effects adult intelligence or
conscientiousness which explain pretty much all variation in educational
attainment, partly through their effect on SES.
> “Heckman curve” update: The data don’t seem to support the claim that human
> capital investments are most effective when targeted at younger ages.
[https://statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2019/04/06/heckman-
cu...](https://statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2019/04/06/heckman-curve-update-
data-dont-seem-support-claim-human-capital-investments-effective-targeted-
younger-ages)
> The Heckman Curve describes the rate of return to public investments in
> human capital for the disadvantaged as rapidly diminishing with age.
> Investments early in the life course are characterised as providing
> significantly higher rates of return compared to investments targeted at
> young people and adults. This paper uses the Washington State Institute for
> Public Policy dataset of program benefit cost ratios to assess if there is a
> Heckman Curve relationship between program rates of return and recipient
> age. The data does not support the claim that social policy programs
> targeted early in the life course have the largest returns, or that the
> benefits of adult programs are less than the cost of intervention.
~~~
EL_Loco
What do you mean by 'fade out universally'?
~~~
em-bee
i think it means that the effects get lesser and lesser. that is, having a
child go to an exceptional kindergarten may show the childs improvements in
elementary school, but by the time they are in highschool that child is no
different than a child that went to an average kindergarten.
i don't know if that is true.
i believe there are some things that really make a long term difference,
however these things are more likely coming from the parents themselves and
less from the schools they go to.
------
johnhenry
Kingergartens or Kindergartens?
~~~
dang
Typo fixed. Thanks.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Show HN: MercuryPuzzle - Explore your skills - Mindphreaker
https://mercurypuzzle.com
======
Mindphreaker
With MercuryPuzzle you can self-evaluate your skills and strengths and receive
interesting job offers from companies you choose.
Today we launched into open bet and are thankful for every comment and
feedback!
------
xmpir
nice idea
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
The Force Behind Bitcoin’s Meteoric Rise: Millions of Asian Investors - uptown
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-force-behind-bitcoins-meteoric-rise-millions-of-asian-investors-1513074750
======
bertil
That Bitcoin allows investors to go around their country regulation on
investments makes a lot more sense than a sudden interest in cryptography from
uninformed neighbours.
Interestingly, it also means that they will hold on to it for the long term or
until it is regulated closely enough that they can’t hope to convert the coins
later -- and there is always the hope form investors that their countries will
understand or that they will emigrate. This would make me bullish, in spite of
recent seemingly unreasonable price increases.
------
nickgrosvenor
No no, you guys, this time it's different, get it now before it's too
late...Everyone else is getting rich from this, don't miss out.
------
narrator
The underwater part of the Bitcoin iceberg is people all over the world who
deal with terrible local financial services and regularly devalued currencies.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are pure magic to them. We are not talking
about the extremely poor or the destitute. The big beneficiaries are those who
are in the upper middle class, such as small business owners in these
countries. They previously had no way to protect themselves from the regular
financial disasters and constant local currency devaluation.
~~~
randomsearch
This argument is undermined by the volatility of bitcoin.
~~~
narrator
Have you looked at an Argentina peso chart? Anything is better than that
garbage. People who had dollar based accounts in Argentina lost 70% of their
net worth overnight in 2002 when the government forcibly converted their
accounts to pesos, so that doesn't work either.
~~~
randomsearch
Saying “here is an example of a currency that is also volatile” does not make
bitcoin any less volatile.
------
k-ian
paywall... does anyone here actually pay for wsj? how much is it?
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Ask HN: Negotiating inflation-adjusted salary? - cottonseed
Has anyone negotiated an automatic periodic inflation adjustment to their salary? How was the idea received? What, if anything, did you have to give up to get it?
======
erehweb
Where are you located? With inflation very low in U.S. and Europe, I wouldn't
see point of that.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Apple iPad explained for Geeks - digamber_kamat
http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/archives/192799.asp
======
david927
User are frustrated with the complexity of computers, but they don't want it
solved with simplicity. They want the rich feature set, but with the
complexity managed. Big difference.
~~~
digamber_kamat
If I permit myself to indulge in a little bit of criticism I would say that
your comments however articulate they are, when we consider the semantics it
simply does not make any sense.
~~~
david927
Thanks. (But you speak like the caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland.) Ok,
here's an analogy:
When the car was young, to start it you had to crank in the front while
someone else was pulling at the clutch, and to steer it you used reigns.
What did people want? A modified version of the car which was simple to start
and operate, or a bicycle?
People want a simplified presentation of feature-rich objects, not simple
objects.
~~~
digamber_kamat
If you do not take it as an offense Sir, it would be certainly helpful to you
if you can add a new word to your vocabulary which I believe is already rich
due to your extensive reading (since you have mentioned Alice in Wonderland).
That word is "Sarcasm". Reading P.G. Wodehouse too might be a of help.
Some one also told me that women are better jet riders because it doesnt have
a reverse gear.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Ask HN: Spouse not on the same page - trapperkeeper
Curious if anyone can share some experience with marriage. I married someone who isn't as intellectual as me. She was generally supportive of my tech interests and career ambitions when we were courting. At the time she had a job (though she had massive student loans). A few years into our marriage, my wife occupies (shall I say demands) a lot more time than before. She doesn't work anymore either (suffered job loss so is going through a bit of emotional stress - so essentially a couch potato - unlikely she will find a job at her previous position). We are in our mid-30s. Wife wants to turn homemaker, and have kids. I'm without any kind of support network. I make decent money in tech (120K+) so should be able to support a family. But feel overwhelmed. I thought my mid-30s was going to be my last chance to do something entrepreneurial. If we have a kid and just my income, that dream is gone. Any one else go through something similar?
======
akg_67
I hate to write this but you come across self-absorbed. I would have hated to
be married to someone like you - "isn't as intellectual as me", "demands a lot
more time", "emotional stress", "couch potato", "unlikely will find a job",
"wants to turn homemaker ..". Just the number of negative expressions you used
for your wife is staggering in a short little paragraph.
It appears that you see her as liability rather than asset. First, change your
outlook toward your wife. If you can't value her properly, you are not going
to value anyone else either. Startups require lot of sacrifices not only from
you but also from others involved. Spouse and family do the most sacrifices to
achieve entrepreneurial dream of a family member. Putting them down is not
going to get you far. Learn to respect what others bring to the table.
I will suggest you forget about being "entrepreneurial" and focus on salvaging
one project "Your wife, your marriage, and your relationship". Once you
recognize the positive qualities of your spouse then talk about growing the
family or becoming entrepreneurial.
_ed: Apologies for being rough in my response. The OP just touched a raw
nerve._
~~~
MrQuincle
This response is a bit "rough", but I had more or less the same impression. I
don't think this question was about being an entrepreneur and how to do this
if you have a family.
The question is about what kind of girl you'd like to have instead of your
wife. Or at least, that's how it comes across...
------
tptacek
You need a marriage counselor, not advice from HN. You should also know that
your 30s are not "your last chance to do something entrepreneurial". If you
believe tech's ageist memes, I've got bad news for you: you're 10 years past
what vocal tech morons think your prime was.
~~~
oneiroscopist
Of course, we do not know the author's exact situation, but this is the
impression I got as well from the posting: he is unhappy with the status quo.
Blaming the author for being "self absorbed" is counter productive, it always
takes two people to make the marriage work, and the wife is just as
responsible. Marriage counseling seems a very good option.
------
dirktheman
I don't want to go all Dr. Phil on you, but you have to sort a couple of
things out with each other. Your wife isn't going to have kids, you both are.
Before anything, make sure you get on the same page about having children. The
responsibility is bigger than anything entrepeneurial you'll ever do, but so
are the rewards. I'm like you, mid-30's, no succesful startup just yet, but I
have two children. They're my no. 1 priority and inspiration. They don't stand
in the way of working on my startup, although they delay the work somewhat,
but I don't mind that.
Having kids is awesome if you're (plural!) ready for it. It also doesn't mean
giving up on your dream. I work 4 days a week, I take care of the kids 1 day a
week and the weekends, and work on my startup while commuting and on some
evenings. It's perfect like this.
Whatever you decide, good luck. Shoot me an email if you ever want to chat
about parenthood and startups!
------
te_platt
Sure, I'm in my mid 40's, married, bunch of kids, full time job. I've been
involved with (failed) startups and side projects. I've also made a few things
I'm proud of even if not hugely successful. Having a family definitely brings
more pressure and time constraints but also a lot of benefits. It's not the
end of life if you don't make it big in your 30's.
------
joeclark77
This is not your last chance to so something entrepreneurial, but it is
getting close to her last chance to start a family. (And quite frankly, for
every year you continue to delay having kids, the physical stress of raising
them is going to get that much more difficult. Much easier to handle a toddler
at 30 than it would be at 35 or 40.) Your wife's desire to have children is
not a hobby or an affectation, it's the human condition. Do what's best for
your wife and children, and you'll be rewarded many times over.
As a bonus, you will quickly develop the ability to survive on far fewer hours
of sleep per day. That'll come in handy when you're starting new ventures in
the future...
------
oneiroscopist
I think it's really up to you. If you do not feel comfortable being a sole
provider for a stay-at-home-mom and a kid, do not do it. There is no point in
doing something you feel forced into, nor will it bring peace into marriage.
Resolve your marriage problems before jumping into irreversible decisions.
~~~
tarikh
Second!
------
brandon272
In order for your marriage to work it is likely that you will need both make
compromises to create a life that you both can be satisfied with. You'll only
get this through a lot of open communication with your wife.
I am really troubled by the fact that the first thing you mention about her is
that she isn't "as intellectual" as you are, not to mention the other negative
things you said about her in your post. I think those are all things that you
need to pretty quickly determine whether or not they are a big deal to you. If
they are, then this marriage is in for a rocky future.
Also, please don't have kids to try and fix your marriage. Get your troubles
reasonably sorted out before you even think of bringing children into that
environment.
------
partisan
Hey there,
I'm in pretty much the same spot except that my wife and I had multiple
children last year (yes at the same time). A few pieces of advice:
\- Having children will test your marriage like nothing before. If you are not
happy now, consider that you are going to be even less happy in the future.
The children will bring you boundless joy, but don't expect that to make your
marriage better. Just my experience there.
\- Now that I am able to get some sleep again, I find that the quality of my
ideas has improved. I have a lot less time to work on them, but the dream is
not gone. I also found a job that allows me to work from home and provides a
good pay with equity.
\- Your salary will suddenly feel like it is not enough. But it is. Consider
what your parents raised you on and what sacrifices they may have made. My mom
raised three of us while learning english and going to college. It wasn't
easy. She made a quarter of your salary after getting a degree.
\- It is overwhelming, but like any test, you will find out who you are in the
process, for better or for worse.
My wife has gone through that couch potato phase. I think that you have to get
her to find something that will break the depression she is possibly going
through. Help her to become motivated.
You are not alone.
------
cpt1138
I'm in my mid 40's married, two kids, one in college. I am working a day job
and a doing my own startup. I try to stay fit and stay away from sick people.
Wife works but makes 1/3 what I make so it's going to be a hard transition if
I decide to go full time startup, but its there. Don't worry about it, just do
it.
------
scotty79
My advice is to get a job at corporation that pays twice or more than your
current income. Just keep asking for this much and sooner or later someone
will agree. When you'll see piles of money, more than you ever dreamt of
needing, flowing in for doing easier things than you do today you'll stress
much less about percieved inefficiencies of your wife and life. I was in
similar situation to yours and used to sob on my birthdays and other yearly
occasions. It all ended once I began to earn absurd amounts of money (for my
standards). It really helps to earn more than you need to see how useless
money is to shed of the fear of not getting rich disguised as ambition.
~~~
oneiroscopist
What a great advice - if you are feeling financially insecure, and feel like
you have no support network - just get a job at $240K +. Why doesn't everyone
just do that?
~~~
scotty79
I'm not sure about exact numbers, but when you are 30 something and ask for a
lot of money people are thinking you are worth it and the only question for
them is whether can they afford you or not. And suprisingly some answer "yes"
to that question.
------
chrismaeda
If I had to choose between having kids and starting a company, I'd choose the
kids with no regrets. Startup life is overrated.
------
rwallace
Honestly, it's a myth that being an entrepreneur is the exclusive domain of
the young. People in their sixties have successfully founded companies. Never
let anyone tell you you're too old.
Having children, on the other hand... it would be great if the same were true
there, but unfortunately biology dictates otherwise; this really might be your
last chance for that. Besides it seems like this is also the time when your
wife needs a break from the office grind. Maybe she'd feel like getting back
to that in later years when children are grown up.
So to be honest, it sounds to me like she's right, this is the best time to
have children, and think about the startup game at a later date.
~~~
kohanz
To add to that, I don't think that having children precludes entrepreneurship
or taking risks. There are plenty of counter-examples.
While kids are indeed an added financial responsibility (though when they're
young, they don't require much), they can also help turn you into a more
disciplined worker who makes more efficient use of the free time that they do
have.
I recommend listening to the Bootstrapped with Kids podcast [0] for a window
into this world.
[0]
[http://www.bootstrappedwithkids.com/](http://www.bootstrappedwithkids.com/)
------
Terretta
Having kids doesn't prevent you from being an entrepreneur. Many of my startup
founder friends jumped in despite toddlers. And you've got time--nothing will
stop you from self funding a startup at age 60.
By contrast, biological clock can stop her from having kids in about 3-5
years. She's likely wired to ramp up focus on wanting this. Shut up and make
babies.
------
sandGorgon
someone who built India's largest private pharmacy network - Guardian Pharmacy
- once told me that the key to a _sustained startup marathon_ is to make sure
that your lifestyle does not worsen by more than 30%. So if you used to eat
out three times a week, you should be able to eat out twice.
this holds true at any point in your life - whether you are a 20 year old
doing a ramen startup or a 30 year old with kids. If you have the financial
nest egg to be able to maintain a lifestyle at 70% of your original, you
should do fine. Now, the way to achieve it is harder - this means that even
when you are earning, you are proactively saving a lot ... which means not
buying that latest gadget that your coworkers are buying.
This is very, very hard.
In short - dont worry... if you can save.
------
sheepmullet
Two important issues to keep in mind:
A) Wife is going through a _lot_ of stress as she has been let go and if she
wants to work again is going to have to accept a significant demotion.
B) Wife is in her mid-30s and is rapidly approaching an age where she needs to
have kids (if she wants them).
------
junto
Actually, I would advise you to get on and have the children earlier. Do you
want to be an old Dad, straining to keep up with your kids?
I now have two children. I kind of wish I had had them earlier. When you are
younger you have way more energy.
------
logn
Your chance to be an entrepreneur has a lot more years left in it than her
chance to have kids. In her mid 30s, it's her final years to ever have them
(with good odds to have them be healthy at least).
------
JoeAltmaier
I've raised a family of 3 kids, and never had anything but entrepreneurial
jobs. Even started a couple. Choose the kind where you get paid. Simple as
that.
------
readme
/r/firstworldproblems
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Engineering Student Builds Real Transforming Robot Car - vaksel
http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/engineering-student-builds-real-transforming-robot-car
======
dkokelley
Very cool, but I never saw it actually walking. It rolled and scooted, but no
walking.
~~~
vaksel
this one walks:
[http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-
gadget/wr-07-a-real-...](http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-
gadget/wr-07-a-real-transformer)
------
TrevorJ
I like his solution for steering the robot as well. It appears to have a wheel
or roller stationed on it's chest laterally so when the front wheels lift of
the ground he can rotate the 'bot around the rear axle.
------
keltecp11
Sell to Tyco Toys... I want one.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Only 10% of Americans spend $1000 on a smartphone - myu701
https://9to5google.com/2019/12/12/smartphone-1000/
======
myu701
I'm not surprised at this.
$450 used to get you a device running current Android, current SoC, 1080p
screen, headphone jack, removable battery, SD card slot, and IR blaster.
([https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_note_3-5665.php](https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_note_3-5665.php))
You just about cannot get that today at any price point. Remove the IR
blaster, headphone jack, and removable battery and you start to see what is on
offer at the 'flagship level' for more than double the price.
~~~
Jamwinner
This is why I have not upgraded yet, although it would be effectively free to
me through my (rather expensive) plan. Is there anything semi-current full-
featured phone?
Somebody, anybody, take my money. I am asking for the same thing as you made
10 years ago with a newer baseband chip and some more ram. Its not $@!/?@
complicated.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Dropbox Versus The World - kajham
http://www.fastcompany.com/3042436/tech-forecast/dropbox-versus-the-world
======
arikrak
I only started the article, but it's too over-the-top to continue. I wonder
how you get media to write about your startup like that?
> Dropbox has the distinction of being the only cloud service—and perhaps the
> only startup—ever to compete simultaneously against Apple ($748 billion
> market cap), Google ($369 billion), Microsoft ($357 billion), Amazon ($173
> billion), and Tencent ($160 billion).
> Unlike his amply financed competitors, which were all founded during the
> desktop computing era, Houston has been embedded in the cloud for eight
> years, ever since launching Dropbox in 2007.
> No one yet dominates the new global network, but Dropbox just may be the
> most adroit cloud company in the world, the one that has solved more
> problems for its users than any other.
~~~
shanemhansen
It's called native advertising and unfortunately it's what publications are
betting on to survive in an era of ad blockers.
~~~
Angostura
So you're saying that Dropbox paid Fastcompany to run this piece?
~~~
shanemhansen
I'm not saying Dropbox paid Fastcompany to run this piece. I was responding
to: "I wonder how you get media to write about your startup like that?".
Native advertising is a thing, one I wasn't aware of until recently.
------
pronoiac
> Dropbox has the distinction of being the only cloud service--and perhaps the
> only startup--ever to compete simultaneously against Apple, Google,
> Microsoft, Amazon, and Tencent.
If you're wondering who Tencent is, you're not alone:
[http://www.thestreet.com/story/13095109/1/how-tencent-
up-140...](http://www.thestreet.com/story/13095109/1/how-tencent-
up-14000-since-its-ipo-is-still-a-relatively-unknown-chinese-internet-
giant.html)
They sold games on feature phones, then smartphones, then made WeChat, which
is IM, I think, and massive in China. They also have a payment service, and
the short version is, they're a competitor to Alibaba.
~~~
jsnk
Tencent also is the majority interest of Riot Games. Riot Games is the creator
of League of Legends which is probably the biggest selling game right now.
~~~
adventured
Candy Crush likely still owns the distinction of the biggest game when it
comes to on-going revenue generation. King Digital did $2.2 billion in sales
last year ($586m last quarter), almost entirely on Candy Crush. Estimates put
League of Legends at the $1 billion ballpark for 2014 (up from $624m in 2013).
------
notsrg
"Your whole computing environment ought to follow you around," explains
Houston. "Your financial records, your health information, your music playlist
. . . anything that’s ‘mine.’
I really hope no one is storing their financial records and health information
on Dropbox...
~~~
rconti
Of course they are. When I was buying a house, it was a nonstop game of
scanning and shuffling financial data everywhere. Office scanner, office
email, office computer, cloud storage provider, personal email... and because
of cloud storage provider, all other linked machines in my house, .. not to
mention the email accounts of the bankers...
You can try to get away from it, if you like. But then you're just wasting
your time, faxing the same amount of data over immensely slow connections to
your bank, who's just going to digitize it anyway and put it god knows
where....
And anyone who has done this knows it's ALL time sensitive, and you have other
responsibilities in life, so the most convenient/fastest method is the only
real way of getting it done.
~~~
api
Special case of a general principle: user experience trumps everything. it
trumps freedom, security, privacy, openness, cost, flexibility, ...
------
yalogin
Glad I am not the only one thinking that its almost a paid advertisement for
Dropbox. It looks particularly suspicious given the Amazon unlimited storage
announcement.
------
kijin
> _From the start, Dropbox was almost magically simple: Install Dropbox’s
> folder on your desktop, and by simply dragging files into it you could
> suddenly access them from anywhere._
That was simple in 2007, but this kind of synching model (also used by Google
Drive and Microsoft OneDrive) doesn't feel simple anymore to me. Most
applications still save files in other locations by default. Having to save
them in your Dropbox, or having to move them to your Dropbox afterward, turns
out to be a massive friction.
If the goal is that "Your whole computing environment ought to follow you
around", you need to remove that friction. I know at least one person who lost
access to some important files when she needed them because she forgot to drop
them off in the right box.
One possibility would be to do what Microsoft does with Office 2014 and
OneDrive, and try to force you to save all your files inside the synched
folder. But that quickly gets annoying, especially since most people already
have mountains of files stored and organized elsewhere.
That, and the lack of client-side encryption, is why I'm a loyal customer of a
Dropbox competitor that allows me to sync any folder on any device with any
other folder on any other device. I set it up to sync my entire $HOME
partition, so I don't need to care where my apps store their files. That, Mr.
Houston, is how you get me to hand over my "whole computing environment" to
you.
~~~
sandipc
symlink your home directory into your dropbox folder?
~~~
pronoiac
I'd be wary of a Dropbox folder that contains a link to a parent directory of
itself, with the possibility of an infinite loop.
~~~
grinich
They've taken care of that edge case (and many others).
------
adventured
The retort for Houston is:
You mean in the same way that IBM dominated personal computing (besting that
little start-up Microsoft), and Microsoft dominated search (besting that
little start-up, Google), and Google dominated social (besting that little
start-up, Facebook)?
Turns out, no matter how big or successful you are, you can't dominate
everything. That is something Dropbox has going for it in battling Google,
Microsoft, Amazon, etc.
------
inevrela
Proud user of Dropbox, lot of people around me using it as well, even received
50gb of storage with my S3. I guess I know what it does, but thinking about
Business version - anyone here with any cons? Especially in terms of sharing
stuff in/out of the company?
~~~
brymaster
Found some cons [http://www.drop-dropbox.com/](http://www.drop-dropbox.com/)
------
dandare
I only wish competitors (Drive in my case) would copy their sleek OS
integration and the public folder functionality. Sadly since Condoleezza
Dropbox is not an option for me.
------
pierotofy
Cloud storage is good for many things, but storing financial records, health
information and other sensitive data is not one of them.
------
Cookingboy
Love this following paragraph:
"Houston is also working hard to ensure that Dropbox feels like a collection
of peers, at all levels of the company. It’s a philosophy that appeals to many
Dropbox employees. On a chilly night in San Francisco’s Financial District,
Ilya Fushman, head of business and mobile products, and Agarwal join Houston
and me for dinner at the Battery, an exclusive restaurant and private club.
Despite the posh surroundings, Fushman and Agarwal wax poetic about the
egalitarian culture Houston and Ferdowsi have created. "It’s really hard to
pull off creating an environment of peers," says Agarwal, a former engineering
director at Facebook who oversaw the development of its News Feed. "We hold
ourselves accountable to expectations, and at a bunch of companies, that ends
up being centralized. Drew’s my boss, but I prefer to think of him as a peer
and friend.""
I really don't know if the author was being facetious or the surroundings
really did distort his perception of reality. But either way, as someone who
grew up in a communist country, I really can't believe how people in SV are
spewing these kind of second rate propaganda while keeping a straight face.
~~~
dguaraglia
This is purely a PR piece. I'd guess there's not much editing going on, so
claims like that will go through to the reader as long as they make it through
Dropbox's PR (which is originating the piece to begin with.)
So, yeah, those are some extraordinary claims there, and nobody's going to
check on them. Journalism is mostly dead in this country (except for some rare
exceptions.)
~~~
vonklaus
A HNer made this same point in a different thread today. The child comment
pointed out that (i'm paraphrasing) "people don't pay for journalism or
content, so the only way to monetize it is as a vehicle to drive traffic and
push ads.
~~~
dguaraglia
Absolutely. My thinking is the problem in today's world, specially on the web,
is that you can't tie people down to consume the advertisement, so you have to
fool them into consuming it.
In the good ole' days of pre-cable/pre-TiVo TV, people who wanted to watch a
program would have to sit through the ads because they didn't know when the
next segment of the show would start. Websites can't constrain you the same
way because you are free to take an action against the ad: close the tab,
change tabs, install an ad-blocker.
So what's the solution? You mask ads as content. You get a press release from
a company, do some basic editing on it so it doesn't look exactly the same as
in the other 50 or so blogs affiliated with the PR company, and you are good
to go. You get paid, the client company gets good publicity and the PR company
gets their slice. The consumer is none-the-wiser and thinks s/he got something
for their time. Win/win/win/kinda-lose.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Ask HN: startup idea - Market place for unused coupons? - ec2000
Market place for unused coupons.<p>I thought about creating a marketplace where people can exchange coupons they purchased from sites like Groupon, but haven't used yet.
Do you think this is a good idea? anyone implemented this yet in the USA?
======
steventruong
There are a few that already exist if you just do a quick Google search:
<http://www.lifesta.com/> <http://www.dealigee.com/>
<http://www.dealsgoround.com/> <http://couprecoup.com/>
Now if you're talking about non-Groupon type coupons as well such as regular
retail coupons, there are a few of those as well including the major bargain
aggregating communities.
Some are definitely successful businesses. Whether or not it's a good idea is
up to you (it's going to be subjective for everyone). Just because you have an
idea for a social network doesn't mean you'll be a Facebook. You could be one
of the other thousands of unknown networks. It's all about how you execute.
------
rick888
I believe that Groupon gives refunds, but it still might work with other
sites.
~~~
ec2000
i do see they have refunds, but "ticketed events" are not refundable after the
day of purchase.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Programming Paradigm vs. Architecture - floyernick
How do you think, is programming paradigm such important thing in comparison to software architecture, and moreover, the architecture of infrastructure? Doesn't the architecture make much more impact on the quality of software than the used programming paradigm?
======
a-saleh
It depends on what do you want to achieve, but in general, the language
ecosystem is i.m.o. more important than each of these.
I.e. I really don't like Golang, because it has lackluster support for
functional programming paradigm.
I feel that writing code through composing functions (map/fold/reduce mostly,
maybe some walk, as I often do data transformations) makes me feel productive
and producing less errors in my code.
In Go, I have to write for-loops.
On the other hand, the libraries and the rest of the Go ecosystem is really
nice, especially if you target kubernetes and there is the feeling of 'there
is one obvious way to do it', and I kinda like that.
So I write Go. Hm, reading this after myself, maybe that is some argument for
architecture of infrastructure?
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
A Book About Software Engineering at Google Is Out Today - tim_sw
https://www.amazon.com/Software-Engineering-Google-Lessons-Programming/dp/1492082791
======
dang
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22609807](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22609807)
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
16 weeks to get my iPhone app approved. Guess I was doing it wrong. Here's my advice. - timburks
http://softwaredev.meetup.com/92/messages/4917448/
======
masonlee
It took us four weeks and four rejections to get Borange approved.
The back and forth via email with the App Store people moved at a snail's
pace. The most helpful thing was for us to call Apple developer relations
people and discuss our issues, despite that developer relations people have no
involvement with the approval process.
I heard recently that there a 10 people at Apple working to approve 700 apps a
day, including new apps and updates.
------
augustus
Does the time depend on the category you are posting to?
I got a productivity webapp approved in one week last July.
I will be posting another finance app to the app store but I don't expect huge
delays because its not in the hugely popular game section.
Am I wrong?
~~~
siong1987
webapp is usually easier than real apple app which may have the potential to
crash the whole iphone OS.
~~~
timburks
I've never heard that web apps require approval. Probably a typo? Also, it
would be nearly impossible to "crash the whole iphone OS." An app runs in a
sandbox, the worst thing it could crash is itself.
~~~
augustus
No typo, timburks.
Before the app store debut around July 2007, web apps was the only way to
develop for the iphone.
With Webapps, Apple simply place your application on their
<http://www.apple.com/webapps> page and gives you a chance to promote
yourself.
Apple does not seem to promote those web apps as much as they should.
------
jfno67
I was wondering if there was a difference for company or individual
developers?
We registered as a company and just getting the legal department to allow us
to submit took 4 weeks. After that the review of the application "Stay
Tonight" took only about 2 weeks, but it did not show in a AppStore search for
2 more weeks. In fact we had to report an incident for it to show up in a
search. Then the date of availability was left to the approval date and not
the discoverability date, so we never showed in the new app section. So it
took about 8 weeks, not too bad.
------
apollo
I was hoping for advice about specific issues. For example, don't have a
picture of an iPhone in your logo (or anything else Apple trademarked). Any
other specific issues people have run into?
------
atog
My (twitter related) app was approved in 5 days. The following update in 2
days. I had expected worse, so I was pleasantly surprised.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Dynamic languages are static languages - llambda
http://existentialtype.wordpress.com/2011/03/19/dynamic-languages-are-static-languages/
======
spacemanaki
There was a lot of interesting discussion on the previous submission:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2346590>
Robert Harper's tone seems to rile a lot of people up (some might say he's
aggressive, but I would instead use "enthusiastic") and he seems to pick
really flame-baity titles, but I'm really glad to have found his blog. It's
usually thought provoking stuff.
------
codewright
I realize there was another discussion about 2 years ago and the specifics of
this post have largely been addressed.
I will say that it's a pretty strong turn-off when somebody appears to be
religiously aligned in their technical outlook. I'd rather talk to somebody
who appreciates the pros and cons of static vs. dynamic typing and what the
actual implications are.
I don't want to talk to somebody who appears to only understand dynamic typing
as a strawman and for whom higher-kinded/dependent static type systems are a
crusade. I don't trust crusaders to make sound engineering recommendations, I
want to talk to people who have a sober, well-reasoned, and experienced
outlook on a subject.
I like static type systems, I like compile-time type checking. That's not
going to stop me using a dynamically typed language where it's appropriate.
I'm going to loosely reiterate what Hickey has said on the matter: It's often
the conceptual aspects of a problem that are difficult. The more quickly you
can hammer out what exactly it is you need to do, the better off you are.
Static type systems, as they currently exist in Haskell, Scala, OCaml, Agda,
Epigram, Java, C#, C++, et al don't do a lot to help here. I'd rather chuck
some Python/Clojure around until I know what it is exactly that I want, then
start writing more rigid code.
Part of why I like Clojure so much is that when an API or the "shape" of my
problem becomes more clear after the REPL/experimentation stage, I can begin
defining things in terms of protocols or interfaces.
What's most interesting to me about this is that the protocols are largely
typeclasses which Go's interfaces resemble. You get the same basic expressive
power but there are better affordances for the conceptual stage and a greater
breadth of how firm/rigid your code is.
Part of my problem with static type systems is that they are often an all-or-
nothing proposition (disabled type-checking/type holes/undefined not-
withstanding, to avert the inevitable cascade of GHC-extension-(ab)using
Haskell users).
To summarize:
It's a progression where your code becomes more concrete and final over time
as you better understand the problem. Dynamic type systems that are well-
designed suit this model very well. Static type systems are better for
performance and for situations where the problem is well-defined and you're
mostly satisfying an engineering problem rather than exploring a conceptual
one that's subject to change.
Side note/anecdote: We use Python prolifically at my day job, what few type
errors that occur are usually related to None and not the general type errors
that static-type-users tend to suppose happens on a regular basis. Amusingly,
C++, Java, and C# are all subject to this same issue.
We've been cleaning it up over time by using imitations of monads/monoids.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Ask HN: which affordable SSD do you recommend for a mbp? - zemanel
Which affordable SSD do you recommend for a mbp?<p>I'm planning to replace the 5400 with a ~80G. there are a lot of reviews on the web and also reports of lots of bad/forged reviews, so i was interest to know which ones do you have persoanlly.
======
adbge
I've used Patriot, OCZ, and Intel's SSDs. I would recommend Intel over the
others. In my experience, the Intel drives are faster, higher quality, and
have much better support.
You might want to wait until the 25nm SLC SSD's hit market, which, if I had to
hazard a guess, will probably happen in January.
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/16/intel_lyndonville/>
------
lzw
I also recommend intel, had one of the very early ones fail after a year, but
got quick no-questions replacement.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Show HN: occupyrealtime: a real-time stream of occupywallstreet photos - mncaudill
http://occupyrealtime.com
======
mncaudill
At Flickr, we recently added some real-time features to our API, so I built a
little page that simply streams every single of our photos that is tagged with
#occupywallstreet.
I used node.js -- mainly socket.io (what a great little module) and flickr-
conduit (link: <https://github.com/mncaudill/flickr-conduit>) that I wrote to
make using the real-time stuff easier.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Lisprolog – Interpreter for a simple Lisp - gowan
http://www.logic.at/prolog/lisprolog/lisprolog.html
======
prezjordan
Can you run this backwards and print simple lisp code that has a given output?
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Fresh IDE - mutin-sa
https://fresh.flatassembler.net/
======
truncate
Just curious if they wrote the IDE in assembly (my instincts say not, but they
do make assembler). The login is giving 404
[https://fresh.flatassembler.net/fossil/repo/fresh/fossil/rep...](https://fresh.flatassembler.net/fossil/repo/fresh/fossil/repo/fresh/login)
~~~
2ton_jeff
The IDE is indeed written entirely in assembly language, as is everything from
the webserver up (JohnFound, author of FreshLib/FreshIDE also wrote a fastcgi
layer to interconnect with rwasa from my own goods). Everything there is
assembler.
~~~
zerr
This is not the assembly we remember from TASM/MASM days though. It seems to
include quite many high level constructs.
~~~
2ton_jeff
fasm was in fact modelled after early TASM, and much of the "high level
constructs" are just macros... or did you mean something more specific?
~~~
wruza
At the time I lost my interest to assembly, it had pretty high-level contructs
like looping, function frames, structs, etc. via macros. Macros of fasm are
iirc recursive, so its power is far more than usual assembler. I would put it
at 85% on [regular asm .. non-optimized C] scale. You can think of tasm/masm
as of lisp with cpp instead of macros.
The use case beyond educational purpose is still unclear to me though.
Especially _with_ macros.
~~~
pjmlp
Actually the only Assembler I got disappointed with bare macros support is
gas.
I never used FASM, being an old MS-DOS grey beard, but tasm/masm macros were
quite powerful, specially after MASM 6.0.
So I never got the idea they were like cpp macros.
Regarding the educational purpose with macros, are you aware that TI has some
CPUs with an Assembler that looks like C--, or that AS/400 Assembly supports
objects?
~~~
mhd
Back in the day, there was a bit of a hierarchy amongst home computer users,
with Amiga assembly programmers deriding x86 syntax.
I also knew a few people who nominally programmedi in Turbo Pascal, but whose
code was 70% inline assembly...
And weirdly enough, a few marooned Acorn Archimedes/RiscPC programmers waxing
poetic about their ARMs.
(And if there ever was some niche of a "MenuetOS"-like OS, it would probably
be for the Raspberry Pi)
~~~
pjmlp
Yeah, looking back I would say Turbo Pascal, Turbo C, Turbo Basic and AMOS on
Amiga were the Unity of the early 90's game dev on home computers.
Anything that actually required extracting performance out of the system was
straight Assembly, which I why it is ironic that new generations think that C
compilers were generating fast code since day one.
I also knew a few people that did it like that, to save money on an Assembler.
------
dguaraglia
Oh boy, the memories from all the "IDEs" there were for NASM. In the end, it
was just easier to use your favorite editor, because most of them just had a
pretty color scheme for assembly. This looks pretty sweet, though.
~~~
baldfat
AS a kid I remember those days. I spent like $100 because the IDE was going to
help me crack all the gamez. Whelp that was a sorry waste of money.
~~~
dguaraglia
Haha, I managed to crack a couple programs by following the +ORC cracking
tutorials and a (cracked, of course) copy of SoftICE. In fact, that's how I
got interested in assembly. Then I learned C and started using Linux as my
operating system, so I didn't have a need for either thing anymore :/
------
kitd
I like the example project that compiles a source file into a Mandelbrot
image.
------
ungzd
I don't know what are use cases for that. Nowadays, if you are coding in
assembly, you are probably doing some kernel things, embedding asm in C/C++
(for SIMD or something like that and not because compilers generate bad code),
embedded code for microcontrollers or retro computers (i.e. ZX Spectrum).
But Visual Studio-like IDE for making x86 application software, with GUI
editor seems weird.
~~~
johnfound
I am using assembly language for all my programming tasks.
And most of they are application programming (Fresh IDE itself and many closed
source projects in my work) or even web programming
([https://board.asm32.info](https://board.asm32.info)).
That is why I needed a powerful IDE, suitable for rapid programming of
relatively big projects (500Kloc or higher).
~~~
osrec
This is interesting. Do you not find the dev process significantly slower than
using a higher level language?
~~~
johnfound
About twice slower than in HLL, with code reusing of course.
But the code is more reliable and the debugging process is much easier. After
some short debugging stage, most of the projects runs for years without single
bug report or other support issues.
I am not talking about the significantly higher speed, lower memory footprint
and better UX (especially the response time of the UI is really much faster).
As a whole the advantages are more than disadvantages IMHO.
~~~
zoul
Interesting. Are you sure the increase in code reliability goes down to the
language and not your skills? It feels quite contrary to my experience that a
lower-level language would be more reliable.
~~~
johnfound
Well, I am pretty average programmer. Not the worst, not the best.
The code reliability of assembly programs is better because programming
algorithms in low level, the programmer controls every aspect of the
execution. Notice, that excessive use of __code generation __macros will
cancel this advantage.
Another advantage is that the bugs in assembly programs usually cause
immediate crash of the program and this making the fixing easy.
Defer crashes and strange/random/undefined behavior of bugs in assembly
programs is rare. IMO, this is because of reduced count of abstraction layers.
~~~
osrec
What about code maintainability and readability - I'm guessing that must be
worse when compared to a HLL? Also, what made you get into writing complex
programs in assembly - was it just the extra control? I've used assembly when
I needed to optimise my C code, but it was a slow and difficult process! I
would not really choose it for complex stuff, but I'm really interested to
hear your point of view.
~~~
johnfound
Code maintainability and readability depends only on the programmers knowledge
of the language/framework/libraries used.
For example, I don't know Lisp, so for me it is much harder to read/maintain
Lisp project than assembly language project.
------
jerianasmith
With too many high level constructs, i also feel it looks quite different from
TASM days.
------
TylerE
It would make a better first impression if your hero screenshot didn't have
font rendering from circa 1995.
~~~
Uehreka
I know that comment seems superficial, but when I saw the Windows 98 style
GUI, I actually thought that perhaps this was an abandoned project someone was
bringing up for nostalgic purposes.
~~~
johnfound
The screenshots are taken in Linux: XFCE+Wine. Fresh IDE is actually some kind
of hybrid application. It works in Linux better and with more features than in
Windows. :)
~~~
rbanffy
I know Windows is a lost cause, but Unix apps don't have to be ugly like that
;-)
And even Windows can use GTK.
~~~
johnfound
I am working on v3.0 that will use its own portable GUI toolkit (in assembly
language) with much prettier UI. On this page you can see some preliminary
experimental screenshots:
[https://fresh.flatassembler.net/index.cgi?page=content/artic...](https://fresh.flatassembler.net/index.cgi?page=content/articles/5_FreshLibGUI.txt)
Still not GTK though. It is too heavy for assembly language programming and
will not allow portability for example on MenuetOS or KolibriOS assembly
written OSes.
~~~
vanderZwan
Nice improvement! The screenshots have much nicer font rendering (and a better
font, for that matter). The fact that it uses more than the 16 colours that
were available in Windows 3.1 helps a lot too.
------
shash7
On a side note, check out how they have laid out the curved screenshot.
It is apparently a stack of images. That helps setting the text to follow the
couture of the curve.
~~~
Klathmon
There's actually a CSS property just for this called `shape-outside` [0].
It lets you define a shape of an image (or other element) that makes it so
when it is floated, other elements can wrap up against it correctly.
[1] is an example I just quickly made to show how the linked page could have
been done in straight CSS. It works a bit nicer too as the text smoothly wraps
instead of stepping like the linked article does (although there is no reason
why both methods can't be combined to provide a smooth stepping where
possible, and fallback to the approximation they used when it's not supported)
It's browser support is pretty awful right now (only chrome, safari with the
`-webkit` prefix, and basic support in firefox behind a flag), but if it makes
it to standardization, it's a pretty neat tool to be able to reach for in
these cases.
If there were an easier way to see if the website itself was open source, I'd
try and give it as a quick patch, but it doesn't look like the website itself
is open source anywhere that I can find.
[0] [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/shape-
outsi...](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/shape-outside)
[1] [https://jsfiddle.net/c1ffdpgq/2/](https://jsfiddle.net/c1ffdpgq/2/)
~~~
TremendousJudge
Your example doesn't work in Firefox (text doesn't wrap properly), but it does
in Chrome
~~~
Klathmon
On desktop firefox you need to enable a flag in the browser for it to start
working (at least that's what MDN says, I didn't try it)
------
chrisparton1991
The HTTP response code for fresh.flatassembler.net assets is "200 She'll be
apples", I didn't know 200s could be customised like that :)
~~~
2ton_jeff
Hahah, proper Aussie mate! (there's a compile-time flag to make them all
boring instead of our homage to Aussie slang haha, cheers and glad you like
it)
~~~
exikyut
Hi! I thought the response string was rwasa's fault :)
Question. I've just started to become interested in learning/messing around
with assembly language under Linux, and fasm seems like a really attractive
option - as and nasm are both tied to gcc (nasm indirectly), and fasm skips
all that (and produces slightly smaller binaries too!). fasm also seems
compiles itself in less than a second on my really old machine as well, and
fast iteration time is one of my favorite features.
Linux-specific assembly-language documentation is kind of rare on the ground
though; for fasm in particular, there's literally hens' teeth and dust
bunnies. It's very possible to piece things together, but if you have
absolutely no idea what you're doing it's a bit intimidating.
HeavyThing is practically a tutorial in and of itself, but I must admit my
hesitancy to lean too heavily on it due to its use of GPLv3. I certainly
respect the use of that license (and understand the many reasons it might be
used for such a unique project), but I'm only tinkering around myself at this
point so would likely want to use MIT, CC0 or similar, and would feel a bit
conflicted about the predominant thing I learned from being from GPLv3.
HT is on the list for sure, but I wanted to combine it with other sources of
info. You seem to be one of the few people out there actively using fasm for
Linux development, so I figured it couldn't hurt to ask if you had any other
high-level suggestions.
~~~
2ton_jeff
Start simple and hook fasm in with a "normal" gcc/g++ project... I wrote a
page[0] ages ago on integrating C/C++ with the HeavyThing library and a good
portion of that has nothing to do with my library specifically and is a great
starting point to mess around with assembler on a Linux platform. The only
other pointer is the "call PLT" format for calling externally linked functions
from inside your fasm objects but that is the only tricky bit IMO.
[https://2ton.com.au/rants_and_musings/gcc_integration.html](https://2ton.com.au/rants_and_musings/gcc_integration.html)
~~~
exikyut
That makes a lot of sense.
I could combine this with viewing gcc's assembly output, as well!
Thanks :D
Edit: This page is ridiculously comprehensive. Wow.
~~~
gens
The official fasm tar comes with a few hello world examples. One shows you how
to say hello with libc, other with the kernel (then there's x86 and amd64
versions of bout).
[http://chamilo2.grenet.fr/inp/courses/ENSIMAG3MM1LDB/documen...](http://chamilo2.grenet.fr/inp/courses/ENSIMAG3MM1LDB/document/doc_abi_ia64.pdf)
is the official spec for the amd64 calling convention (aka ABI) on unices.
[http://www.logix.cz/michal/devel/amd64-regs/](http://www.logix.cz/michal/devel/amd64-regs/)
is a nice table showing what goes in what register (still amd64) when calling
a C library or the kernel. X86 library calling convention is just putting
everything on the stack, while the kernel convention.. i don't remember (int
80 and syscall in eax, but arguments..). There's a syscall table
[https://filippo.io/linux-syscall-table/](https://filippo.io/linux-syscall-
table/) and i made a fasm to include
[https://pastebin.com/nnrMVF8u](https://pastebin.com/nnrMVF8u) (amd64; i made
from the kernel source headers, that i can't find now).
That's about all there is linux specific.
~~~
exikyut
Hmm, interesting.
I've had a look at the examples that come with fasm, which are invaluable.
But I _completely_ forgot to point out (I knew I was forgetting something!) in
my previous comment that I'm actually looking for info on _32-bit_ assembly
programming. My motivation comes from the fact that a) a lot of my systems are
32-bit (such as the ThinkPad T43 I'm using to type this), due to circumstances
I cannot change; and b) because (as I discovered to my delight) a program
written for i386 and statically linked (eg, by fasm's ELF writer) will run on
x86_64 without 32-bit glibc/userspace/anything! This makes perfect sense, but
is an absolute winner for me for the kinds of things I'm going to want to
make.
So x86_64 is in the "it would be monumentally stupid not to learn it"
category, and I'm looking forward to doing so, but I'd have to do some
_serious_ ly inelegant wrangling (something like qemu-x86_64 + 64-bit
userspace - on a 32-bit machine, lolol) to actually work with it at this
point.
The syscall table you made is very similar to HeavyThing's, heh. I've actually
been researching precisely that of late; you most likely generated your copy
from
[https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/arch/x86/entry...](https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/arch/x86/entry/syscalls/syscall_64.tbl).
I of course want
[https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/arch/x86/entry...](https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/arch/x86/entry/syscalls/syscall_32.tbl).
~~~
gens
amd64 is just an extension on x86. I took the (64bit) syscalls from a kernel
header, that i can't find now, so you can take from that header you found.
C calling convention for x86 is to push everything on the stack (and use call,
that is short for "push instruction pointer and jmp", ret being the reverse),
while the linux kernel uses a variant of fastcall (aka put stuff in registers
(then use int 80)).
When i was learning i found a lot of x86 examples and tutorials (and a book,
can't remember the name (is free)), and not much on amd64.
Just play with it, it'l get easy when you go over the wall.
With "normal" C calling convention you have to care about the stack pointer
(esp) (i think it's the callee's responsibility (of the called function)),
maybe even the bottom pointer (ebp) (i remember the wikipedia page on calling
conventions explains it). The other difference between x86 and amd64 is
floating point math, where sse is the default on amd64 and x87 on x86 (x87
works on stacks of numbers, the reverse-polish using a stack way IIRC).
Useful tools are: objdump -d ("-M intel" for the intel notation), strace to
trace system calls, and fdbg since GDB can't make sense of a valid ELF file.
You can also join the flat assembler and/or nasm forums. I like fasm better
then nasm for no strong reason, but nasm _is_ a bit easier.
glhf
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
TIME Magazine tells you how to take good selfies [video] - blackdogie
http://time.com/30633/best-selfies/
======
markovbling
Haha that was awesome!
As an aside, makes me wonder if there isn't an opportunity to make an app that
takes like 50 selfies and selects the best one for you (or just ranks them for
you). Like it continually takes photos for 60 seconds and you turn so the
light hits you at different angles and it auto-applies Instagram-like colour
correction etc.
If Google can apply deep learning to recognize cat pictures in YouTube videos,
I'm sure it's possible to assign a score to each of 100 burst-mode photos and
rank them to find THE BEST SELFIE OF ALL TIME! :)
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
When the close button doesn't close - chmars
http://www.salon.com/2013/10/07/when_the_close_button_doesnt_close/
======
jloughry
Close button functionality on pop-up windows _could_ be provided (and
enforced) by the OS. The reasoning for it would similar to the "Trusted Path"
requirement in multi-level systems. Fake pop-ups would lack some visually
noticeable clue that is un-spoofable by applications.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Graylog2: Java, Ruby, MongoDB-powered log management, monitoring, and alerting - mattyb
http://thechangelog.com/post/3504643018/graylog2-server-java-ruby-mongodb-log-management
======
viraptor
It was fun to try out this software. It lacks some features in the interface
though... With some more automatic processing and UI improvements, it could
definitely be a low-end rival to splunk, but right now it can only do a
standard search on custom attributes or whole text (not with a proper full-
text index though) or show stuff "around that message". That means basics
only.
But with the development happening all the time, it's definitely a project
worth keeping in bookmarks. If it can get some of the features available in
octopussy without looking just as fugly, I'm in :)
------
kordless
Be sure to check out LogStash as well. Uses a similar approach with MongoDB,
plus ElasticSearch for...search: <http://code.google.com/p/logstash/>
------
devinfoley
This looks great! Is anybody using it in production though? I can't find any
case studies on their site.
~~~
aedocw
We are using it and loving it. More important than just shipping syslog to
graylog2, we're using it to monitor 30+ servers in a cluster. Each server has
a "health agent" that sends all the important metrics that happened in the
last minute, packed into a GELF message. This could easily scale to 1000+
servers. On the monitoring side, one server dips into MongoDB to pull out the
records and maintain records and graphs of everything that's going on
(including sending alerts when a machine fails to check in as frequently as it
should.)
Graylog2 is pretty solid, and the people working on it are extremely
responsive. If you suggest features that make sense, they'll probably be
implemented within a few weeks (if not a few days!)
~~~
kordless
Let me just caution those with highly scalable expectations. A large MongoDB
instance is going to weight in at around 1-10TB. Here's an updated list of
production MongoDB instances for reference:
<http://www.mongodb.org/display/DOCS/Production+Deployments>
At both Splunk and Loggly I've seen customers sending in multi-tens-of-
millions events a day from a handful of boxes without even breaking a sweat.
It wouldn't take long to blow through several TB of storage in MongoDB if you
were storing all that log data with a retention of a few months.
Log volumes vary from use-case to use-case though, and I absolutely love the
GrayLog2 guys and the way they listen to their users. It's definitely a great
tool for a job that is usually a real pain in the ass!
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Ask HN: How much did Amazon pay for Datarow? - thecleaner
I hear that this company was acquired by Amazon but there hasn't been any information on the amount it paid. Is it public information that just wasn't indexed anywhere ?
======
QuinnyPig
You almost never see reliable information around acquisitions of private
companies like this. Your best bet is to pour beer into an insider.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Chicago Quietly Shortens Yellow Lights by .1 Sec, Writes 77,000 New Tickets - markmassie
http://slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2014/10/16/chicago_shortens_yellow_lights_makes_8_million_off_new_tickets.html
======
a3n
This is just a way to raise taxes without public scrutiny or the honesty to do
it openly.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
The End of Babies - jseliger
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/16/opinion/sunday/capitalism-children.html
======
deogeo
> But the trickling up of reproductive injustice could potentially give it
> broader traction. “White America is now feeling the effects of neoliberalism
> capitalism that the rest of America has always felt,” Ms. Ross said.
I'm not sure what they're trying to say - whites have the 2nd lowest fertility
rate in the US, only slightly higher than Asians:
[https://www.statista.com/statistics/226292/us-fertility-
rate...](https://www.statista.com/statistics/226292/us-fertility-rates-by-
race-and-ethnicity/)
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Working Calculator in Super Mario Maker [video] - janvdberg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRrqK2LyHes
======
hartator
The actual impressive logic circuit used:
[http://i.imgur.com/rltt1y7.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/rltt1y7.jpg)
~~~
userbinator
With all the careful routing of the "signals", the author seems like someone
who might enjoy doing IC design work.
------
lambtron
A link to another video of the same level. This one, however, adds 6 + 6 to
get 12, which (in the final scene), shows how the digital numbers are created
(timing flying bomb-ombs exploding near ice blocks).
OP's video shows 4 + 4 = 8, in which none of the ice blocks need to be
removed, so kind of magical when you're seeing it the first time and wondering
how those blocks got there.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCTGXUNg2fE&feature=youtu.be](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCTGXUNg2fE&feature=youtu.be)
------
userbinator
This seems to be a mechanical calculator. I've always found mechanical
calculators fascinating and delightfully intuitive, because of how physical
they are --- you can actually _see_ components move around and perform
calculation. Although in this case, I would've liked to see more details on
how the sum is generated.
Related: Super Mario Maker is Turing-Complete:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcLE1MuyodA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcLE1MuyodA)
~~~
oneeyedpigeon
You might like this 'Marble Adding Machine':
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcDshWmhF4A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcDshWmhF4A)
~~~
bbarn
Thanks, I just lost an hour watching this guy's homemade workworking machine
videos. Fantastic stuff!
------
hjek
Nice demo, but the dialogue on top of the video is fairly annoying: "I have no
idea how he did it!", "This is insane!", "You can't see it here but my jaw
just completely dropped.". Would have been better with a commentary from
someone who had a clue what was going on.
~~~
joenot443
I felt the same way. IGN though, so I suppose you could expect as much.
------
panic
As you watch the video, notice how Mario is moving along with the shells. This
isn't just for show: the shells will disappear if they move too far offscreen,
and the music-note blocks won't produce an item when hit unless they're
actually visible. Building a circuit this complex under these constraints is a
huge achievement.
------
arikrak
It's pretty cool that it displays the sum as digital numbers.
------
camillomiller
I wish I could put one third the amount of dedication I just witnessed into my
own work, sometimes.
------
seivan
Remember seeing something like this in Little Big Planet, like eight years
ago. Cool to see it with Mario.
~~~
psykotic
> Remember seeing something like this in Little Big Planet, like eight years
> ago.
The big difference is that LBP has a basic scripting system (circuit boards).
Whereas this is a mechanical calculator based on nothing but Mario physics.
~~~
seivan
You're right. This was more intricate. The maker had to crush the ice blocks
into the shape of the numbers. This is pretty intense.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Zuckerberg’s Jealousy Held Back Instagram and Drove Off Founders - yasyfm
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-04-07/zuckerberg-s-jealousy-held-back-instagram-and-drove-off-founders
======
tick_tock_tick
The article reads like a bad hit job it tries to paint facebooks position as
bleak while ignore all its products have continued to experience amazing
growth.
It paints a picture of what the author want the world to be like rather than
reality. One of the biggest examples is how they view regulation as a risk to
Facebook while Facebooks views it as a guarantee of market dominance.
~~~
Barrin92
I can't speak to every point raised in the article, but at least the jealousy
aspect doesn't seem so off-base if one looks at the recent re-branding of
Whatsapp.
Whatsapp now has a giant "whatsapp by facebook" advert right on the loading
page of the application. There was a quite funny article a while back how it
led to school children deleting whatsapp because they thought facebook was
"uncool" but didn't even know it was a product of the company.
I'd also caution about "arguments from growth", given that it's totally
possible that given better decisions it might have grown even faster. Sort of
like the medieval physician who argued that blood-letting worked because the
patient recovered. It'd be better to address the substance of the article.
~~~
eclipsetheworld
More likely a decision made to strengthen Facebook's case to antitrust
regulators. The "by facebook" branding suggests a deeper integration between
different apps and therefore makes it seemingly harder to break up Facebook's
app family.
------
askafriend
Reads like fan fiction rather than objective reporting.
------
pbreit
Founders rarely stay long after acquisition and Instagram seems to be doing
quite OK.
------
mentos
What’s the best book to learn about Zuckerberg and Facebooks?
~~~
dchi
"Facebook: The Inside Story" by Steven Levy. The access he got to FB
executives is beyond anything else.
------
Traster
One thing I'm surprised not to hear mentioned in this article is regulation.
I'm sure there's a level of trying to assert Facebook's dominance over the
more successful acquired product. But one thing that wasn't mentioned is that
there is a strong political movemeent saying we should break up big tech.
Elizabeth Warren was called out specifically by Zuckerberg as the most
effective and transformative politician of our time.
I think one thing we need to consider about facebook is the classic middle
manager wrangling. If you think that a priority you like is under the chopping
block, you tie it inextridcably to something else and then go "Oh, well! Can't
can this project because you'll be destroying our most important project". It
is essential for Facebook to get to the point where it is so difficult to
distinguish between Facebook/Instagram/Whatsapp that you can make a coherent
argument that you can't split that company into 3 separate parts. That's a
great reason for a lot of what was going on at facebook, but the article
doesn't seem to consider it.
------
hwestiii
Wasn’t this common knowledge?
------
jonplackett
As John Gruber writes after every single link to Bloomberg:
* Bloomberg, of course, is the publication that published “The Big Hack” in October 2018 — a sensational story alleging that data centers of Apple, Amazon, and dozens of other companies were compromised by China’s intelligence services. The story presented no confirmable evidence at all, was vehemently denied by all companies involved, has not been confirmed by a single other publication (despite much effort to do so), and has been largely discredited by one of Bloomberg’s own sources. By all appearances “The Big Hack” was complete bullshit. Yet Bloomberg has issued no correction or retraction, and seemingly hopes we’ll all just forget about it. I say we do not just forget about it. Bloomberg’s institutional credibility is severely damaged, and everything they publish should be treated with skepticism until they retract the story or provide evidence that it was true.
~~~
yumraj
Gruber can write what he wants, but is there any evidence that Bloomberg's
_institutional credibility_ was impacted in anyway.
I see tons of articles from Bloomberg being posted on HN, where people care
about that issue. Outside of this, no one cared and there are people on both
camps as far as that story is concerned.
~~~
jonplackett
Having 'people in both camps' doesn't mean much. There are people in both
camps for literally anything because opinion is cheap.
What matters is not people's opinions but evidence (or lack of it).
------
xiaolingxiao
paywall
~~~
thaumasiotes
Bloomberg doesn't have a paywall if you disable Javascript.
~~~
gaogao
I usually just clear my cookies for this and NYT
~~~
jrockway
Last I checked they use a service worker or local storage, so you have to
clear all data, not just cookies. I didn't investigate in detail though.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
YaCy takes on Google with open source search engine - a_w
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/29/yacy_google_open_source_engine/
======
nextparadigms
I'm liking this P2P trend which seems to be spreading everywhere. I don't
think we're ready to have everything P2P yet, but it's good to see the trend
growing. At least now we know that if or when Google will be forced to censor
more results than we'd like them to, there will be a P2P alternative available
waiting for us.
~~~
nickpinkston
Let's hope your views are like those saying the same before open source came
into it's own. We live in exciting times...
------
harryf
IMO what's missing in the search space is a web search engine with an API,
especially with access to the raw crawled content. Amazon used to do this was
the Alexa web crawl data ( see
<http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/alexa_turned_in.php> ) but later
withdrew that part of the service.
~~~
4ad
I have a gut feeling that we won't see something like that soon due to legal
implications.
------
xtracto
I (among quite a lot of people I guess) have thought about using P2P for web
search.
In fact, P2P protocols like KAD have been using to _search_ for quite some
time. What I would like to see is a search system composed of a client:
1\. Implemented in Javascript (so that the user does not need to download a
program to use it). 2\. Defining a file format which describes one URL, with
any extra useful metadata (document type, last crawling date, text content,
etc) 2\. Share those files using a P2P protocol like KAD 3\. Is able to search
in the _content_ of the URL file for words, phrases, etc
As gubatron said, having an online "frontend" would be optimal. In addition to
that, people could embed the "crawling" client in their webpage (which might
double as ad server) to help the crowling effort.
------
gst
YaCy (while a cool project) is not new and has been around for lots of years
now. I think it has quite some potential, but don't expect it to suddenly lift
of. It had enough time to do so, but didn't.
------
turnersr
I'm sure a lot of people are interested in the implementation details of
YaCy's privacy mechanisms. Does anyone know the default privacy settings? Are
search words that are sent in any way protected? I found this page:
<http://yacy-websuche.de/wiki/index.php/En:Privacy>
But it's not that helpful. I'm currently looking at the source code:
<https://gitorious.org/yacy> .
------
derekreed
"Build a search engine" == "takes on Google" ? Well ... I guess so.
------
simonbrown
I haven't looked into the internals of it, but couldn't a black hat SEO run
nodes that manipulate results in favour of their own sites?
------
danmaz74
This could be a good idea, IF there was a way to stop all kinds of malicious
people to tamper with the search results in so many ways. Google already has
to deal with the manipulation of the signals about page relevance, just think
if you had to also deal with tampering with the ranking system itself...
------
ramanujan
The intranet search engine concept is interesting and will help this grow.
Anyone know of anything else which is a search engine in a box, basically an
open source competitor to the various Google Search Appliances?
~~~
wilkenm
The distributed search model that YaCy uses would never work in a large scale
enterprise. Security, safe harbor, etc are all difficult enough using a
traditional, centralized approach. Trying to imagine this done in a
distributed way across the enterprise is giving me a headache.
And the closest thing to open source, turnkey search is gluing together Apache
SOLR and a web crawler. Lucid Imagination offers this (plus other features) as
a commercial product, but it not open source to the best of my knowledge.
~~~
halfasleep
I was playing with YaCy a little, and there is an "Intranet" mode. As far as I
can make out, this can operate in a distributed way, but behind the firewall.
I didn't look into how to set it up in great detail yet though, was playing
with web search.
------
Gigablah
Was that subtitle necessary ("good idea, stupid name"), people probably
thought Google and Yahoo were stupid names at first too.
------
4ad
So I have to install software on my computer to use it? No, thanks. They claim
an advantage: _"no content can be censored and no search results can be
recorded and analyzed on central servers"_ , this is extremely important for
some applications, but for searching source code, I couldn't care less. It
just raises the bar of adoption to the point I'm not interested in it.
General purpose client side software is dead. Client side software makes sense
only for niche applications.
------
gubatron
their idea is good, but the way that it's executed trumps its growth.
instead of having people install this on their computer, they should make it
instead so that sysadmins run nodes and put ads on their node search results.
the end user would just go to a .com site, and search. everyone running nodes
make money, more nodes are installed. The network would be larger than google
in a short amount of time.
wonder why the hell they haven't thought of this.
people aren't going to be typing <http://localhost:port> to make a search and
keep an engine running, also uptime and firewall configurations leaves a lot
of the desktop nodes out of the equation if they can't do NAT traversal to
participate in the network.
me #facepalms to still see them doing this, going to yacy.net is the most
frustrating thing ever to the curious non-techie user.
~~~
danssig
Well... you've thought of it... and they're open source...
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Why we need worst-case thinking to prevent pandemics - tangental
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/mar/06/worst-case-thinking-prevent-pandemics-coronavirus-existential-risk
======
roenxi
There is a real question here about whether we can sustain the sort of
sprawling, interconnected, JIT supply chain that has been set up in the last
20 years and also whether our international travel patterns are sustainable.
The speed with which COVID-19 got to pretty much everywhere is stunning. If
the death rate was more in line with, eg, the Black Death it would be
interesting to see what happened to food & other supplies in the major cities.
Hopefully there is some principle that a virus can't jump between species that
is both infectious, deadly and slow to show symptoms after becoming
infectious.
------
forkexec
For bacteria, antibiotic resistance is a big deal and aggravated by routine
oversubscribing and meat agriculture. We need more antibiotics and phages
quickly.
For fungi and yeast, there aren't enough antimycotics and they too are
overused. We need more antimycotics and phages quickly also.
For viruses, meat agriculture, forest destruction and urban sprawl are
contributory factors leading to faster mutations and jumping species
eventually into us. It would be nice to have a mostly automated vaccine
development lab system that can assemble and test thousands of compounds
simultaneously.
~~~
allovernow
>For viruses, meat agriculture, forest destruction and urban sprawl are
contributory factors leading to faster mutations and jumping species
eventually into us.
At this point you have to acknowledge that cultural factors are responsible
for the majority of modern outbreaks. We know about the meat markets in China.
They are as endemic as the viruses to the various animals they eat. No other
country on Earth has originated this many animal to human outbreaks.
This is not an environmental issue.
~~~
riffraff
> No other country on Earth has originated this many animal to human
> outbreaks.
I am ignorant, what is the data here? Which animal-to-human outbreaks are we
counting?
The top animal-derived epidemics I can think of would be: SARS and 2019-nCoV
from china, H1N1 had mixed heritage, MERS seemed to come from the middle east,
Ebola and HIV from africa. So, pretty spread out?
Also, China is substantially larger than everything else but India, so
wouldn't this be an expected outcome anyway?
~~~
redis_mlc
For decades it's been reported in the US press that the seasonal flu outbreak
comes from small farms raising pigs in rural China.
So start by googling that for each year.
------
chriselles
In 2010, my home of Christchurch has a serious earthquake.
In 2011, it suffered another far more serious earthquake.
The 1st one provided a full dress rehearsal for the 2nd one.
I wonder of the same will be said for pandemics?
Coronavirus is by no means a dystopian apocalypse.
But it could be an opportunity to help us learn to prevent one.
My concern is around the cost benefit analysis from the perspective of elected
leadership.
Prevention doesn’t pay politically.
~~~
a_c
> I wonder of the same will be said for pandemics?
It does.
Hong Kong experienced SARS in 2003. The pandemics hit the city hardly [1],
infected almost 2000, taking a hundred lives, of which several are medical
practitioners.
This time Hong Kong citizens sounded alarm as early as mid-December. They
advocated locking down the border from Mainlanders in mid January [2]. The
dysfunctional Government was completely oblivious to the situation until at
least mid Feb. But the people with vivid memory of SARS took the situation
seriously. Mask were used almost ubiquitously in late Jan. Hand sanitizers are
equipped by everyone.
It is a stark contrast compared with expat or new mainland immigrants.
1\.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002%E2%80%9304_SARS_outbreak#...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002%E2%80%9304_SARS_outbreak#Hong_Kong)
2\. The dates are recalled from memory, from conversation with HK friends. So
take the dates with handful of salt
------
hinkley
I’d like to see some defense budget diverted to create a bigger surplus of
availability of other resources, like medical infrastructure. Give hospitals a
double tax write off for empty beds, or some other clever incentive to ensure
that they don’t try to run at exactly capacity all the time.
------
transitivebs
This is why it's so important that we do everything in our power to achieve a
"societal backup" by expanding to at least one more planet.
At a grander level, this is what Elon Musk, SpaceX, and other related
endeavors are all about.
Humans are terrible at considering and planning for large-scale, exponential,
and extinction-level events ala pandemics, nuclear holocaust, and the long
term effects of climate change.
The only real way to ensure that we don't drive ourselves extinct as a society
(either purposefully or accidentally) is to create a backup copy of society,
just like you would do for any other extremely valuable piece of information.
Onward to Mars!
~~~
est31
Regardless where you put your colony to, if you keep up a transportation
system to that colony and back, you end up enabling spread of the disease.
Coronavirus only spread so quickly because of airplane travel. Had we
cancelled all airplane, train and ship traffic to and from China early enough,
the virus wouldn't have spread as quickly. If in the future we have an
intergalactic society with FTL travel, and one colony discovers an ancient
virus that kills everyone, the virus will spread with speeds faster than
light, because that's our underlying travel method.
To meet threats like coronavirus, you don't need a different planet. Any
remote island would do, like easter island, as long as you shut down traffic
soon enough.
~~~
hinkley
New transportation keeps reducing the time delays for trips, but if you’re
talking other planets, how fast do you think we can get? I expect a lull.
Of course if panspermia turns out to be true, we could discover some new
branch of life that medicine or mammalian immune systems struggle to identify,
but which likes to chew on bones or collagen, turning us all into jello.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Radio Attack Lets Hackers Steal Cars with Just $20 Worth of Gear - touristtam
https://www.wired.com/2017/04/just-pair-11-radio-gadgets-can-steal-car/
======
strictnein
For those wondering why this is possible, a lot of new cars unlock if your key
fob is in your pocket and you simply put your hand inside of the handle to
open your door. And then you sit down and press the start button and you're
off. It's really a rather nice feature, although it's also something that
seems silly until you get a vehicle with it.
The range with normal usage is very short though. If I'm on the driver side of
the car, it doesn't work on the passenger door, and vice versa.
~~~
rconti
Yup. Like many new convenience features, it seems so silly until you use it
and then you can't go back. My new Golf has it, and it works so well that the
doors unlock as my hand is entering the door handle cup but before I even have
a chance to pull on the handle. If my passenger needs to open the door without
me unlocking it, i have to stand REALLY close to them. It's pretty impressive
(in normal operation) how perfectly it works as the key-holder but how close
you need to stand for it to work for someone else.
~~~
lisper
I drove a rental car with this "feature" recently and I _hated_ it. I have a
habit of pulling on my door handles to make sure they are locked. Every time I
did it, the car unlocked itself, which rather defeated the purpose. And as far
as I could tell there was no way to disable this behavior, which made it
effectively impossible to verify that the car was locked as long as you had
the key with you.
~~~
JoeAltmaier
Agreed. User interfaces should include very real human impulses. We're all
somewhere on the OCD scale; repeated locking and testing should be accounted
for.
~~~
lisper
For me it's not OCD so much as cognitive decline. I often just can't remember
if I've already locked my car or not, but for some reason I can remember
having tugged on the handle.
~~~
innagadadavida
Many cars only have this on the front two doors. So feed your OCD by pulling
back door handles?
~~~
rconti
Good advice -- I don't know of any cars that have this feature on the rear
doors.
~~~
lisper
My car is a coupe. It doesn't have rear doors.
------
nonamechicken
Not sure if its the same tech, saw this video yesterday: Relay attack
Solihull:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pffcngJJq0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pffcngJJq0)
~~~
dfcab
Saw that yesterday as well, always a cat and mouse game.
------
downandout
From the article:
_" One hacker holds a device a few feet from the victim's key, while a thief
holds the other near the target car."_
While this isn't awesome, it certainly limits the effectiveness. You would
have to have someone waiting in a parking lot to follow the person, then
another person waiting by their car.
I do have a question though...I assume these things work on challenge/response
schemes. That means that even if the car is started and stolen, it could never
be started again without someone tailing the owner 24/7, which makes this a
neat but nearly useless hack. Am I wrong in assuming this?
~~~
joper90
Yes, if you park your car outside your house on the drive, and the key is in
the house in a bowl by the door (for example) then they can steal the car in
the middle of the night..
This is worse in the UK, as we have much less space, so things are much closer
togeather (ie. the car, and the keys (where they are left overnight).
~~~
city41
We now keep our keys in this bag[0] to (hopefully) prevent this. With the key
in the bag I'm unable to unlock the car even with it right on the door.
[0]
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HETGX00/ref=oh_aui_sear...](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HETGX00/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
~~~
toyg
I repurposed an old silver cigarette case.
------
jagger27
Am I missing something or is the fix a little computer in the fob to
cryptographically sign a one-time challenge sent by the car? I mean, RSA isn't
that hard, is it?
Here's how I see it: the car broadcasts a (short duration) challenge message
on short range (10 meters, say), the key fob, once in range, signs the
challenge message, transmits it, the car checks the signature with the fob's
known public key, and Bob's your uncle. If the fob can compute a signature of
the challenge in 500ms, the window doesn't need to be much longer. Sure,
people will likely be able to pull private keys from the fob with some effort,
and duplicate it that way, but that's no worse than today. Reprogramming the
car wouldn't significantly harder than it is today either.
If we want convenience and security, it seems fine to make the key fob a
little more complicated and beefy.
I feel like this is by no means a new idea and maybe I'm missing something.
_edit: I was missing something._
~~~
schwap
You are misunderstanding how the attack works (probably because the article
misuses the word 'spoofing' IMO). The messages between the car and the key fob
are the _real_ messages. They are just using a radio to extend the range of
the car/fob communication.
~~~
jagger27
Ah, I feel a bit stupid now. Of course.
~~~
schwap
Like I said, I think the article is a bit confusing by using the term
'spoofing', which to you and me I think implies a 'fake' message.
------
maxerickson
Anybody up to date on distance bounding protocols? Is there a well studied
implementation that is anywhere near practical?
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distance-
bounding_protocol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distance-bounding_protocol)
~~~
tomalpha
It must be possible to implement some kind of simple response time check.
Given that the speed of light is ~1ns per foot then a total response time
greater than (2d + p) where d = max distance in feet, and p = processing time
within the keyfob in nanoseconds would provide a bound.
I suspect however that making the keyfob response time consistent might be the
hardest part of the check, closely followed by an accurate timing facility
within the car.
~~~
maxerickson
Yeah, the Wikipedia article talks about an implementation that has a
processing time of 1 ns (which gives the distance within your foot). The
questions are whether it is secure against the world or secure against just
the implementers and how much it would cost.
~~~
tjoff
At the same time as being very low-power.
------
ChuckMcM
It is an insidious problem. There were a couple of kids around here that
weren't stealing the cars, they were just breaking into them on driveways at
2AM and rummaging around for spare change and what not.
Almost every countermeasure defeats the convenience factor. One proposal was
to have the key light up and you pressed a button on it to say 'yeah do your
thing' but at that point why not just have the old style push to open fob?
Perhaps something magnetically coupled rather than RF coupled will help keep
it reliably a near field sort of interaction but even that is subject to a
slightly more sophisticated relay device.
~~~
jwr
Fortunately, this problem has an easy solution.
IEEE 802.15.4 UWB (Ultra-Wideband) radios with timestamping functionality
allow measuring the time of flight (well, not directly, but it can be inferred
from an exchange of messages) of your signal. With some added crypto, it isn't
difficult to build a solution which is limited to a specified distance. You
can get as precise as ±20cm.
This means that you can build a system which will not work beyond a certain
distance, because signals will take too long to travel.
I'm surprised this hasn't been picked up by car manufacturers yet. Perhaps
there is too little market pressure.
~~~
londons_explore
The time of flight is not cryptographically secure. Ie. an attacker can trick
it.
There are protocols which are though:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distance-
bounding_protocol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distance-bounding_protocol)
~~~
xr4ti
Sure. However, I think the objective would to increase difficultly and the
level sophistication required for exploitation rather than compete security.
For instance, a physical lock on your front door can easily be defeated by
someone with the requisite tools and expertise, but that doesn't make them
useless as a security measure.
------
bob_theslob646
The thief starts the car and proceeds to drive away.
Will the car continue to operate once the thief is out of range?
Is the purpose of this just to get access to your car to steal goods?
Or is this just an extreme demonstration to get automakers to tighten
security?
~~~
t1o5
Maybe the car can be driven away for once. The engine immobilizer requires the
keyfob to be present inside the car for it be driven away. If the spoofed fob
can trick the immobilizer, yes it can be driven away for once because the
immobilizer check is not always "on". Its checked before the engine starts.
If it was, I could throw my keyfob out of the window on a highway and the car
would come to a stop.
~~~
fenwick67
Typically with these systems they will continue running until you turn them
off (or stall).
------
toyg
I keep seeing this problem (and likely suffered from early attempts a few
years ago, when my car was effortlessly broken into), but nobody seems to be
talking about solutions. What's the answer? It would be nice if I could ask
about this when I get a new car in a couple of years.
* Is it about making the exchange more computationally complex, so it can't be just replayed? I guess that would require some sort of clock in the key?
* Have 2FA with something like a phone? Like requiring TouchID on the phone to confirm when you press the key.
~~~
moioci
Why don't they put an on-off switch on the fob? Better yet, when the vehicle
locks, send a turn-off signal to the fob. Then you'll have to press a power
button to reactivate it.
~~~
Xylakant
That's running exactly contrary to the feature that's implemented and abused:
The car should unlock when the owner comes within radio distance. So the key
must be on and transmitting - and it's that signal that gets relayed. It's not
a replay attack, basically the signal just gets amplified to trick the car
into believing that the key is close.
~~~
moioci
Right, so when you put the fob in your pocket to leave, you activate it, and
it stays active until you've completed your trip and you lock the car. But
while it's resting on your nightstand or kitchen counter, it's inactive. Or is
there something I'm missing?
------
trisimix
Convenience kills. All you needed was a button on the fob. Oh well.
~~~
agumonkey
So this model lock mechanism is based on distance only ? no human action
required ?
~~~
joper90
Correct, you just have the key (well a card) in your pocket/wallet and walk up
to the car, which unlocks, you can then get in and press 'start'..
So if you leave your keys in a bowl by the door, they can just extend the
range of the key with a relay/booster.
The car will only stop when you turn it off.
~~~
pessimizer
Juvenile power fantasies are going to kill us all. People want to be magical,
wave their arms and move their hands mysteriously, and affect the world.
Things like this save an infinitesimal amount of time (or sometimes even make
actual usage _more_ difficult), and introduce orders of magnitude more
complexity ripe for exploitation. All so people can feel like they're magical.
~~~
kevin_thibedeau
It is a cost savings move. If you have power locks and a transponder system
anyway, the lock cylinders are effectively redundant (minus security concerns)
and can be eliminated for more profit.
~~~
djrogers
These cars all still have physical lock cylinders for backup, the key is
usually hidden inside the fob.
------
dsfyu404ed
There's probably useful commercial applications for this "attack" for
companies that manage large fleets of vehicles. If you already have some the
hardware/software infrastructure to manage it (like company cell phones or
tablets) you could toss all the keys in a central office somewhere and never
worry about losing them or making duplicates. $30ish for a box that plugs into
the 12v (or OBD2 if you want to collect that data) and $1 for a usb cable to
connect it to the $100 tablet that you already have mounted in the company
vehicle for doing work things. Obviously the details would need to be fleshed
out and I'm sure someone (like OnStar) already offers similar services but
being able to hack your way into a cheaper equivalent would put downward
pressure on price.
~~~
maxerickson
It's also based on an inexcusable flaw in the key system. Not a good place to
start a business.
------
secabeen
I've always thought that a simple measure that automakers could implement is
to require the keyfob to have moved in the last X seconds to authenticate an
unlock. That prevents the "key is sitting on a table in my house" relay
attack.
------
mmaunder
Tighter timing constraints doesn't seem like a robust solution. I'm guessing
proximity as an authenticator will become a thing of the past. New keys may
have a button that must be pressed or even a fingerprint scanner.
~~~
craftyguy
> New keys may have a button that must be pressed
My 15 year old car has this feature!
~~~
GoToRO
You are living in the Future!
------
Clubber
I don't know if it's even possible anymore, but a Slim Jim is even cheaper
than that.
For those who don't know what a Slim Jim is (not the snack):
[http://www.autobodydepot.com/AET-
SJ2.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI...](http://www.autobodydepot.com/AET-
SJ2.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsO3zwKfh1wIVXbbACh1RIgraEAQYASABEgIVefD_BwE)
~~~
Zarathust
A slim jim worked because the wires holding the lock were exposed inside the
door. An extremely cheap fix was to wrap those with a metal cylinder.
I was under the impression that this was standard for at least 15 years but
since we're talking about automotive industry, some makers may not even be
aware of that yet
~~~
berbec
Even with cars that have the lock cables wrapped, the window has enough play
to wedge it open and hit the door unlock button. Most locksmiths (sample size:
number of times I've locked myself out of my car) just do that as it has less
damage potential than fishing inside the door.
------
xr4ti
Seems like an easy fix might be to simply kill the engine if the key fob goes
out of range. I can see this problematic if erroneously triggered on a highway
or something, but it would limit the range the thieves could take the car to
the range of their radio, and require radio proximity to the key for the
duration of their travel.
Maybe this is already a thing?
~~~
redbeard0x0a
This could be incredibly dangerous because now your car decides to stop
working because the battery became too low to keep authenticated. Or if
something happens with interference.
The potential failure scenarios increase by a huge margin if you require the
keyfob to be authenticated with the car the entire time.
------
blacksmith_tb
I am no RF expert, but I would guess that it wouldn't take much shielding
around a fob to keep its signal from being relayed (given the poor range of
the fobs in general, the transmitter in there can't be very powerful). Seems
like potentially an Altoids-style tin would be enough of a Faraday cage?
------
zeep
I wish that it would still be possible to get a "dumb" car... one that would
have almost no electronics (or that you could at least disable all wireless
receivers/transmitters).
We know that computers can't be secured... so it is a little scary to ride in
one.
~~~
redblacktree
You can usually buy a base model vehicle with manual locks and limited
technology. You probably can't avoid the AM/FM radio. :)
------
mikeokner
The new Tesla model 3 uses your smartphone over bluetooth as a key. I suspect
we'll see that become more prevalent, which should provide ways to mitigate
most of these issues by using GPS for location instead of RF strength/timing.
~~~
londons_explore
GPS isn't cryptographically secure, and is easy to spoof[1]. Bluetooth can be
relayed[2]. The two attacks would be easy to do simultaneously from the same
evil box.
[1]: [https://www.newscientist.com/article/2143499-ships-fooled-
in...](https://www.newscientist.com/article/2143499-ships-fooled-in-gps-
spoofing-attack-suggest-russian-cyberweapon/)
[2]:
[https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-540-30182-0_...](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-540-30182-0_29)
------
nasredin
"Relay" attack in UK. "Thieves" \- or is it hackers? - steal a Merc.
[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8pffcngJJq0](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8pffcngJJq0)
------
drdebug
Did I miss something or does it sound like a problem GPG solved a while back ?
~~~
signet
GPS doesn't work in garages, adds complexity and is also power hungry?
------
bluesign
doesn't simple frequency hopping with the OTP in the fob and the car solve
this problem?
------
timthelion
I know that a button on the keyfob would work, but this attack could also be
prevented with clock syncing, as the re-transmission of the signal will
certainly take time. A simple timed ping (with cryptographicly signed time-
stamps to prevent replay) would sort this out.
~~~
jimmies
Relying on timings for this type of thing is impractical because you'd have to
sync the time to the nanoseconds and wireless is notorious for being noisy.
It'd make it more expensive too.
The most practical one, I think, is to make it NFC-near instead of BLE-near.
Or, you know, just use a non-contactless one. Or add a button.
~~~
berbec
Or use something that you put in a tumbler-style mechanism that requires
physical contact as well as the RF
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Is Cybersecurity Improving? - dbasedweeb
https://lawfareblog.com/cybersecurity-improving
======
bradknowles
No.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Ask HN: Why IBM's OS/2 Warp Has Failed? - meerita
Does anyone have an good article about its demise? I remember installing OS/2 many years ago. It was like a more powerful version of Windows 95, but since I had to work with W95 all day, I lost track of the progress and crash of this operating system.
======
Spooky23
For consumers, it was more like NT and didn’t support the devices or software
you would want.
For business, it was too IBM to succeed. The company was going through rough
times, and the sales executives would always push high margin mainframe.
~~~
h2odragon
I recall debugging a "why wont this CDROM drive work on OS/2" problem. Not
only did they check the ID numbers returned by the BIOS, they went so far as
to query the device name string. Which in this case was the fault, as it had
"8x" instead of the "2x" and "4x" versions OS/2 would accept.
They went they extra mile to step on themselves. Entertaining to watch but an
expensive ticket for the ride. Linux was free, growing, far more fun, and
worked better.
------
simonblack
_but since I had to work with W95 all day_
There's the answer. W95 had the momentum. The "barrier to entry" for OS/2 was
just too great.
Also OS/2 was very, very expensive, while W95 came 'free' with your new PC.
~~~
russh
It's a shame it was so expensive in the beginning. I was given a copy of OS/2
Extended Edition from a local IBM guy. I saved up enough money to buy a used C
complier and spent a few years working on a project. I really enjoyed
programming on OS/2.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Warren Buffett is now the richest man in the world (beating Bill Gates after 13 years). - falsestprophet
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/10/billionaires08_Warren-Buffett_C0R3.html
======
kingnothing
Since he is already obligated to give the majority of his stock to the B&M
Gates Foundation, shouldn't that be subtracted from his net worth as it is an
outstanding debt, so to speak?
~~~
rms
I see it like a will, you don't subtract someone's will out of their net
worth. He just set it up even more formally than a will because you need to
take billions of dollars very seriously.
~~~
mdemare
But you can change a will. Can he back out of this?
~~~
Xichekolas
He wouldn't want to, and neither would his children or grandchildren, from
what I have read.
Even donating 99% of his net worth, his family will still have over half a
billion dollars, which is more than enough for down to earth people. And I'm
not even sure he is donating that much.
------
j1o1h1n
Truely richer than Putin?
~~~
moog
That's an interesting question. Buffet is clearly the "world's richest man"
measured by the criteria used by the author of this article. I suspect there
are many people in the world who are 'richer', but we don't know about them
because they operate in the 'black' economy or appear much further down the
'official' list.
~~~
pchristensen
How many people do you think there are? You'd have to a) control vast
resources or businesses, b) make sure no legit journalist in the entire world
can tie you to it, and c) not care about achieving higher returns by investing
in legitimate options, d) grow to that fortune without using mainstream
investment options, and e) restrain your spending enough that you don't arouse
suspicion. Not to mention that a huge, illicit fortune would be worth less
than face value because it would be less liquid than a legitimate fortune.
Let's look at the top 3:
Buffet: started one of the most successful investment funds ever, which now
owns most of Coca Cola and many insurance companies, among other giant,
prominent copmanies
Helu: owns most of the telecom in Central and South America
Gates: started and ran the largest software company in the world, running on
~1B computers. Was one of the biggest business and technology success stories
of the century.
You have to be prominent to get those big numbers.
~~~
moog
I dunno, haven't trillions gone missing from the Pentagon budget? Who has all
that money? I think it might be easier to hide immense wealth than you
suggest. Granted, to do so would require extreme political power or approval,
which is why the GP's question about Putin is so insightful.
~~~
pchristensen
Sure, even if you accept that $Ts have gone missing (not sure if I believe
that they're missing, just poorly allocated to overpricing defense
contractors), it would have to go to many, many people. I think it would be
impossible to hide in America. It is a good point about Putin though. He's
probably the only person I can think of in the world who could pull it off.
Still, if the main source of wealth is oil, then it would be hard to hide from
the world market, and essentially useless without including the world oil
market. Same with any other natural resource - how would you hide 600M barrels
of oil ($60B worth at current market price)? Or a mine with that many
diamonds? Or a company with that much revenue?
It still doesn't answer the other question, why hide all that money? If you've
got the billions, why not show them off? Or if you can't enjoy them, why
bother embezzling them?
~~~
moog
Maybe you're right that it would be impossible to hide this in America.
I don't like to get all conspiratorial, but have you read 'Confessions of an
Economic Hit Man'? If half of what Perkins writes is true, then maybe it
wouldn't be so hard. He says that there is a parallel economic system in
operation that most of us don't know about. If you were part of that world,
you probably could flaunt your wealth... you just have to be sure it's hidden
from the population at large.
~~~
pchristensen
Interesting looking book. Still, it sounds like big banks transferring big tax
money to big companies. 3 big means that it can make a lot of people rich and
drive a lot of business, but not necessarily create mega-billionaires.
I mean come on, for $65 billion, you could buy Oracle, Goldman Sachs, Boeing,
or Apple (in 2006).
[http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/18/06f2000_The-
Forbes-2000_...](http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/18/06f2000_The-
Forbes-2000_MktVal.html)
Or try spending it on stuff - the most expensive house is ~$120 million
(Mittal's house next to Buckingham Palace in London). The biggest yacht is
~$100 million. The entire "World" development in Dubai
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_>(archipelago) ) cost $14B, and it's
selling to some of the richest people in the world. You could buy every
superlative in the world and still have most of your money leftover. When you
get to that much money, the only thing you can't buy is bragging rights over
the people above you on the Forbes list.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Questions That Will Keep Physicists Awake at Night - uladzislau
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2013/10/25/physics-biggest-unanswered-questions/?print=true
======
daveyoon
I'm not a physicist, but the fact that the universe is exquisitely balanced to
support life keeps me up at night as well!
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
“MP3 is dead” missed the real, much better story - imartin2k
https://marco.org/2017/05/15/mp3-isnt-dead
======
djsumdog
Wait, people thought mp3 was dead because of that announcement?! O_o I feel
like people have lost touch with the history and the entire reason many Linux
distros do not distribute mp3 codecs!
Some of these writers/editors really need to spend each day reading at least
one headline from that day in 2016, 2015 .. all the way back to 1999.
MP3 is now more free/libre, or at least when it comes to encoding/decoding.
Patents are one of the reasons people have been so hesitant about H.264 and
why we see things like WebM.
Personally, I've encoded in FLAC for years, and even in the early days
(2003-ish) I was backing up CDs to oggs instead of mp3s. Unless you're really
concerned about space today, download your music in a lossless format. Sites
like Bandcamp and CDBaby now support lossless (FLAC and ALAC)
~~~
HenryBemis
People (some/many) believe what they read. Some CEOs in some corners of the
planet will rush to their CIO and tell them "I don't know what this mp3 is but
lets switch to aac A-S-A-P!!!". Then the poor CTO (if he/she has a technical
background) will have to take 15mins to explain to the CEO that "mp3 is not
dead, the patent is gone so not it's absolutely free, while for aac we'll have
to be paying ABC amount for our XYZ product/service".
I guess the current aac patent holders are smiling now :)
Confuse & conquer!!!
~~~
pacificmint
The real shame, IMO, is not that some CEO or other non technical person is
confused, but that reputable news outlets reported it that way. (For some
value of reputable).
If you look at the three links that Marco posted in the first sentence, they
lead to articles by Gizmodo, Engadget and NPR, all of which completely got the
story wrong. That's shocking, if you ask me.
~~~
ungzd
Gizmodo and Engadget are not "reputable news outlets", but junk blogs for
users of browser toolbars with announcements for each chinese tablet. I never
seen any half-decent article on such sites. It's even stupidier than
clickbait, there are no sensationalism and attention manipulation, these sites
are just content fillers, their authors just compose words randomly.
~~~
noway421
Is there even a reputable techinical news outlet? TechCrunch is too very
clickbaity and editorilized, although gets linked here all the time
~~~
KozmoNau7
Ars Technica, perhaps?
~~~
rplst8
No. Absolutely not. After they were acquired by Conde Nast, it has been
downhill at an amazing pace.
~~~
cdrark
I have always found Ars to have relevant and well written content. Conde Nast
has a lot of good writers at their various properties.
------
libeclipse
MP3 is really, really smart. Like seriously.
Not sure why anyone would regard a patent expiration as a sign of its death.
It should be the opposite! It's now free for everyone and in the public
domain, and that is cause for celebration.
~~~
ygaf
It's a bit surreal. Engadget interprets "becoming patent-free" as "being
retired". Gizmodo interprets it as "it's dead". We're not in a world where
file format fanboys have the writing prowess to hold positions in the media
right?
~~~
josefx
Look for companies with financial interest in locking down media and playback
and patent cartels that want you to pay for their codecs and you will find
your "fanboys". MP3 is now both license and drm free, anyone can write it and
play it anytime and anywhere they want without paying a cent. For some people
that thought is nightmare inducing.
~~~
cr0sh
> For some people that thought is nightmare inducing.
Rhetorical questions...
Who are these people for whom the thought of not making that money causes them
such stress and anguish?
...furthermore, what were they like as children?
------
intoverflow2
Honestly I'm looking forward to Spotify running out of money and shutting down
so this generation will wake up that they need to start duplicating and
archiving their media before they lose it.
Have a strong feeling there is going to be a cultural black hole where large
segments of music etc lost in the post-naptster/post-piratebay world because
it only existed on the artists machine, Spotify's servers and YouTube's
servers.
(I understand pirate bay is still kicking but its all certainly way more niche
that it was 5-10 years ago)
~~~
Bakary
I've gone the opposite route. After years of careful curating my music
library, I started to feel chained to the past, listening to a handful of
tracks over and over. Since music is connected to strong emotions, this would
also bleed into other aspects of my life and cause me to be less forward-
thinking.
I'm fully aware that Spotify and its competitors are deals with the Devil but
if they allow me to feel less burdened, the price is worth it.
It's deeply hypocritical but I also secretly hope that at least a few people
stick to archiving and curating just in case.
~~~
logfromblammo
I trained a NI expert system on the kind of music I like, and turned it loose
on the Internet, where it uses the Amazon wishlist API to make
recommendations.
In other words, I had a kid, played my favorite music to the baby, and can now
mooch off all the wonderful new CDs that show up in the house. All CDs get
ripped and encoded as FLAC for the family media drive, and everyone transcodes
their own lossy files for their own portable devices.
It's kind of an expensive solution, though, and occasionally fails to
recommend music that I like.
~~~
aoeuasdf1
Can you post code for this somewhere?
~~~
logfromblammo
It has been around forever, and sufficiently detailed practical demonstrations
are all over the network--often flagged with the acronym NSFW, which stands
for "Natural Sapience Field Work".~
~~~
Natanael_L
You left out the training system details for the neural network.
~~~
logfromblammo
The NI is loaded into a biomechanical interface that provides sensory inputs,
locomotive actuators, and environmental manipulators. Typically, only one
researcher builds the entire device, and collaboration is not useful for that
part of the project. (Unfortunately, as the network heavily exploits subtle
implementation details in the mechanicals, it is very difficult to perform
upgrades after the first stages of training are completed.)
From there, the researcher has to continually upload conceptual primitives
through the sensory apparatus, and the NI prunes and rebalances its own neural
network to establish basic foundation concepts such as object permanence, the
acceleration of gravity, thermodynamics, ballistic path prediction, etc.
Eventually, when the network is sufficiently trained, researchers may begin to
input additional data through a natural language interface. Due to variations
in the biomechanical devices, it is currently impossible to use standard
bootstrap code to accelerate that process.
In order for the NI to be useful as a music recommendations engine, it is
essential to expose it to music that you already like through its audio
sensors, during the initial training phases. After approximately 8 years, the
NI will begin to autonomously seek out music samples in the wild and recommend
that you purchase copies of promising collections. The system is not perfect.
It will occasionally issue recommendations for music that was already present
in the training corpus, or for maliciously-formed music files designed to hack
uninoculated NIs into recommending them. And it should be noted that these NIs
have been known to abruptly diverge from preferences implied by the training
corpus, producing wildly inaccurate recommendations thereafter.
It's probably just cheaper and more reliable to use an AI, but as long as this
thing still works okay, I'm going to keep refueling it.
------
kazinator
> _AAC makes a lot of sense for low- and medium-quality applications where
> bandwidth is extremely limited or expensive, like phone calls and music-
> streaming services, or as sound for video, for which it’s the most widely
> supported format._
Nope; you can scratch "phone calls" from that list.
AAC (specifically, the AAC-LD variant) is not the best for low bitrate calls;
you want a dedicated voice codec for that application.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AAC-LD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AAC-LD)
AAC-LD is only geared toward voice in one parameter: frame size. It's
basically just a "look, AAC can do this too if you want" feature.
Look at the remark there: "It can use a bit rate of 32 - 64kbit/s or higher".
That's a whopping lot. 32 kbps is about the far-out _upper_ bound on bit rate
for using a voice codec. You can get very good call quality at half that.
[http://opus-codec.org/comparison/](http://opus-codec.org/comparison/)
Basically if you look at all the options for compressing speech in telephony,
AAC doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
~~~
phkahler
I thought Opus was technically fine for phone and able to compete on quality.
IIRC it only suffers from lack of use. On paper it seems to be the universal
codec for audio.
~~~
mentalpiracy
Opus is the default voice codec for Discord, and also available as a codec
option for Teamspeak and Ventrilo servers.
Anecdotally, the sound quality is above and beyond what I get on my cell,
without question.
~~~
thescriptkiddie
Don't forget Mumble! Also Slack, apparently.
------
mavhc
MP3 isn't dead, just journalism
~~~
rplst8
This is the truest statement in the whole thread.
~~~
charlesism
Yep. To take "MP3 encoding is now free for anyone to use!" and turn it into
"MP3 is dead!" is one of the worst cases of bad reporting this year.
------
sevensor
MP3 is now as dead as the GIF. Why, I haven't seen a GIF for at least... 15
seconds.
At any rate, (pun intended), I'm perfectly happy with my vorbis files and not
in any hurry to convert to MP3. But I'm glad I don't have to worry about the
silly patent any longer.
------
beedogs
It bugs me that "reputable" news outlets like Fortune Magazine were running
stories which essentially amounted to a Fraunhofer press release with a couple
of paragraphs tacked onto it.
Clearly there's absolutely no effort involved in being a journalist anymore.
~~~
kalleboo
Journalism is dead.
~~~
Bakary
Full length stories and analysis are still very much in demand, but the actual
news communication aspect of the profession is indeed doomed.
------
alsadi
I wrote a similar article in Arabic.
yes, because MP3 is now similar to public domain it does not mean it's dead.
only the business of patent trolls behind it is dead.
[http://g0alkeeper.blogspot.com/2017/05/mp3.html](http://g0alkeeper.blogspot.com/2017/05/mp3.html)
~~~
stannol
The Fraunhofer Society is not and never was a "patent troll". They do actual
research and one of their income sources is licensing the resulting patents.
~~~
nailer
Fraunhofer put the source online without a license at the ISO site, let the
community convince itself that MP3 was a standard and therefore unpatented,
let the community write all the encoders and decoders and surrounding tools
for years, then turned around and asked everyone who made their file format
popular for 10K USD.
~~~
alsadi
Troll is a gentle word, the author of ffmpeg describe patents of software as
"gangsters asking for protection money". All software patents are bad see my
reply above
[http://web.archive.org/web/20070927224154/ffmpeg.mplayerhq.h...](http://web.archive.org/web/20070927224154/ffmpeg.mplayerhq.hu/legal.html)
------
pervycreeper
Related: I haven't heard whether popular free software such as Audacity, Linux
distros, etc. will begin including LAME binaries by default as a result of the
patent expiry. Anyone know if such plans exist?
~~~
_ZeD_
well, for one example, have a look at
[http://www.slackware.com/changelog/current.php?cpu=x86_64](http://www.slackware.com/changelog/current.php?cpu=x86_64)
\- specifically
+--------------------------+
Sat May 6 23:12:02 UTC 2017
a/glibc-solibs-2.25-x86_64-2.txz: Rebuilt.
ap/cdrdao-1.2.3-x86_64-3.txz: Rebuilt.
Recompiled to support libmp3lame.
ap/sox-14.4.2-x86_64-4.txz: Rebuilt.
Recompiled to support libmp3lame.
d/flex-2.6.4-x86_64-1.txz: Upgraded.
kde/k3b-2.0.3-x86_64-3.txz: Rebuilt.
Patched to build with ffmpeg3 and gcc7.
l/ffmpeg-3.3-x86_64-1.txz: Upgraded.
Recompiled to support libmp3lame.
l/glibc-2.25-x86_64-2.txz: Rebuilt.
Reverted a patch that causes IFUNC errors to be emitted.
l/glibc-i18n-2.25-x86_64-2.txz: Rebuilt.
l/glibc-profile-2.25-x86_64-2.txz: Rebuilt.
l/gst-plugins-base-1.12.0-x86_64-1.txz: Upgraded.
l/gst-plugins-good-1.12.0-x86_64-1.txz: Upgraded.
l/gst-plugins-libav-1.12.0-x86_64-1.txz: Upgraded.
l/gstreamer-1.12.0-x86_64-1.txz: Upgraded.
l/lame-3.99.5-x86_64-1.txz: Added.
xap/MPlayer-1.3_20170208-x86_64-4.txz: Rebuilt.
Recompiled to support libmp3lame.
xap/audacious-plugins-3.8.2-x86_64-3.txz: Rebuilt.
Recompiled to support libmp3lame.
------
kozak
A big argument for using lossless instead of lossy are Bluetooth headphones.
When you're listening through them, you're essentially re-encoding one lossy
format into another lossy format, which degrades the quality much more than
each of the formats does by itself.
~~~
mark-r
I simply refuse to use Bluetooth headphones. Problem solved.
------
djmobley
It's not dead, although as storage prices continue to decline, one wonders why
you would still compress audio you care about with a lossy codec.
~~~
adrianN
Because you literally can't tell the difference.
~~~
thirdsun
It's not about audio quality alone, it's about collecting a flawless source.
If you want or need your library in another format at some point you really
should not transcode from a lossy source. You may say that won't ever happen,
but storage is cheap it's very short sighted to risk being locked into one
format. It's not something you could easily fix later.
~~~
adrianN
It might be short-sighted if the format doesn't have excellent open source
decoders. MP3 won't die ever, because of LAME.
~~~
eikenberry
But you can covert to whatever lossless format you need without worry.
Lossless to lossless conversion is possible an infinite number of times
(theoretically), vs lossy to lossy you get maybe a couple for free.
~~~
icebraining
As long as you keep the MP3s around, converting to any format for the 100th
time is no lossier than the first time. What you need to avoid are chains of
lossy formats.
~~~
TillE
Once upon a time I converted 320kbps MP3s of Dark Side of the Moon to 320kbps
OGGs. It ruined a certain cymbal sound.
Never convert between lossy formats, not even once.
------
lholden
MP3 has been "dead" to me ever since the non patent encumbered formats started
becoming popular. Mind you, I've been using Linux as my primary desktop OS
since the mid 90s... So I have a vested interest in open formats.
These days, all my music is in a lossless format anyway. Especially now that
my phone has enough storage space for it.
Anyhow. I'd say that if anything... The patents expiring way the heck sooner
would have been healthy for the format.
------
theandrewbailey
I think the contrary, I can see MP3 getting even more popular now that it has
no patents.
------
hannob
Not sure how the author comes to the conclusion that opus isn't widely
supported.
Opus is supported in all major webbrowsers and natively in modern Android
systems. I'd call that widely supported.
~~~
Yaggo
> Opus is supported in all major webbrowsers and natively in modern Android
> systems. I'd call that widely supported.
[http://caniuse.com/#feat=opus](http://caniuse.com/#feat=opus)
Not supported in Safari. I guess the reason is that iOS devices don't have
hardware encoder for it and Apple doesn't want to compromise battery life
(maybe marginal issue with audio, but big issue with webm).
~~~
jhasse
> I guess the reason is that iOS devices don't have hardware encoder for it
> and Apple doesn't want to compromise battery life (maybe marginal issue with
> audio, but big issue with webm).
I rather think that Apple doesn't like the idea of royalty-free codecs which
would make it easier for free operation systems to support multimedia on the
web. AAC helps to keep you locked into macOS or Windows, because it works out-
of-the-box there (in contrast to Linux distributions like Fedora).
~~~
brainfire
On the other hand, the only audio format I'm aware of Apple inventing in the
last 20 years is royalty-free and available under the Apache license.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Lossless](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Lossless)
~~~
jhasse
It wasn't royalty-free from the beginning, in contrast to FLAC. Guess which
browsers don't support FLAC:
[http://caniuse.com/#search=flac](http://caniuse.com/#search=flac)
------
ksec
AAC was introduced in 1997, does any one know when will its patents expire as
well?
And we haven't had any improvement in Audio compression since then. MP3 - AAC
and That is it. All the others are at best AAC similar quality / bitrate.
At 256Kbps, the majority couldn't hear a difference between MP3 and AAC. At
128Kbps it is only slightly better.
We dont have anything like HEVC which is an order of magnitude better then,
say MPEG-2 at low bitrate.
------
LeoNatan25
Disagree with the author on the technical merits that AAC only sounds
marginally better than MP3 at 128kbps and higher. For certain audio shapes,
MP3 is a rather bad™ compression (as is, to some extent JPEG for some image
shapes), whereas AAC produces much better results due to different compression
mechanics. Much like MPEG4 ASP and MPEG4 AVC and HEVC produce different
compression artifacts, with ASP having much worse artifacts.
~~~
pizza234
> For certain audio shapes, MP3 is a rather bad™ compression (as is, to some
> extent JPEG for some image shapes), whereas AAC produces much better results
> due to different compression mechanics.
Do you base this assertion on blind testing? I'd really like to know how much
of the people that says "MP3 sounds X/Y/Z" actually did one (actually, I'd
like all of them to _actually do one_ ), because in the blind tests I've
participated/seen participating, with a modern encoder and mid/high bitrate
(in the average range of 192/224 kbits) users were systematically not able to
hear any difference.
Of course I found some exceptions; for example, a friend of mine had good
hearing on high frequencies, therefore, he could immediately spot 128 kbps CBR
mp3s which have a lowpass threshold at ~16 khz.
~~~
LeoNatan25
I think I fall within that latter category. I have done tests myself, in an
environment I feel relaxed in and comfortable, and have been able to hear the
difference. I also hear the difference going a step above, with lossless.
------
sitkack
You know what needs to be resurrected? MPEG1 Video Codec. It scales to 4k x 4k
and very soon to be patent free.
~~~
toyg
There is a bunch of early-internet tech that will soon get out of patent
locks, it could lead to a new Golden Age.
------
shmerl
Well, it's not not patent incumbered, but there is no need to use it for
anything besides playback of existing legacy media that doesn't have a
lossless original. Otherwise just use Opus for playback purposes.
------
S_A_P
As a former cakewalk software user it used to piss me off royally that I had
to pay for the MP3 license to unlock the feature. It was a trivial amount
(19bucks?) and I understand why they thought it was a good idea(their way of
sticking it to Fraunhofer, and a ridiculous fee) but it ended up feeling like
the customer that just spent 500 bucks on software was the one getting screwed
especially considering how much cross licensing cakewalk did/does.
------
darklajid
Tangentially related: Being out of touch with the podcast scene for quite a
while I was interested to follow the 'Overcast' link. Unfortunately that
turned out to be for platforms I don't own.
If there are some passionate podcast listeners here,
1) do you have recommendations for an alternative to Overcast (ideally cross-
platform, Android/Linux required, Windows desirable)?
2) can you recommend HN related (overlapping with the content here) podcasts?
~~~
QuicksilverJohn
1)
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mobi.beyondpod](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mobi.beyondpod)
------
Millennium
I'm looking at the Tunequest list at [http://www.tunequest.org/a-big-list-of-
mp3-patents/20070226/](http://www.tunequest.org/a-big-list-of-
mp3-patents/20070226/), and it looks to me like patents #5,924,060 and
#5,703,999 (the last two listed) shouldn't expire for a few months yet. Is
that list mistaken?
------
ytch
AAC was released in 1997, why they start to advocate AAC after MP3's patent is
expired?
I thought they state "MP3 is dead" just because its patent is expired, while
AAC isn't:
[http://www.via-corp.com/us/en/licensing/aac/licensefees.html](http://www.via-
corp.com/us/en/licensing/aac/licensefees.html)
------
smaili
Long live the MIDI!
------
Markoff
TIL MP3 is only one year younger than JPEG, or considering i was using JPEG
daily years before MP3 took off, I remember Winamp version 1
------
zecg
Finally, LAME can become LIME.
------
jjawssd
Can the Opus codec be emulated with asmjs in Safari or iOS?
~~~
derf_
You may be interested in the following project from the Wikimedia Foundation:
[https://github.com/brion/ogv.js/](https://github.com/brion/ogv.js/)
------
Nano2rad
Frauhofer announcement did not mention expiry of patents.
------
tibu
[http://mp3.isdead.fyi/](http://mp3.isdead.fyi/)
------
isk517
So many people here do not want to face the reality that MP3 is dead. I know,
my dad who worked in the MP3 factory for 20 years was laid off last week just
after the last MP3 came off the assembly line. I suspect the more
entrepreneurial amongst you here may want to start scouring peoples Recycling
Bins for old MP3s that you can break down into replacement parts to sell to
collectors.
~~~
globuous
By mp3, do you mean .mp3, the audio file format, or an mp3 player ? Because
the way I understand it, the article talks about the file format, not the
hardware.
~~~
joehart42
_Whoosh_
------
Qwertious
It's odd how this has hit the frontpage, but hasn't had a single comment on it
yet.
~~~
superflyguy
It's just your typical blog; not saying anything very new or interesting.
~~~
Qwertious
And yet it's on the frontpage. Like I said: odd.
------
lloeki
> AAC and other newer audio codecs can produce better quality than MP3, but
> the difference is only significant at low bitrates. At about 128 kbps or
> greater, the differences between MP3 and other codecs are very unlikely to
> be noticed, so it isn’t meaningfully better for personal music collections.
This is patently false unless you listen on bad audio gear (bad DAC, bad
cans).
I don't even have serious equipment (MBP+iPhone so guess about the DAC, as for
headphones: AKG k514 mkII, Sennheiser Momentum (over ear), SoundMagic E10
(intra), Marshall Monitor (not mine), BeyerDynamic DT 770 250Ω (not mine)) and
the difference is downright _obvious_ going from 128k to 256k almost whatever
the place and definitely _noticeable_ on select features from 256k to 320k.
Some corner-case audio patterns are just known to make MP3 encoders choke
whatever the bitrate (a higher bitrate merely mitigates the problem for MP3),
while they pass with flying colours on AAC. Sadly those corner cases are not
just theoretical and have a real effect for some songs. At 320k though it
won't make the song any less enjoyable (which is another metric entirely) but
it can definitely be noticed (which is what the article claims).
~~~
Fnoord
> This is patently false unless you listen on bad audio gear (bad DAC, bad
> cans).
Double blind tests suggest this is true for somewhere between 128 kbit and 256
kbit (256 kbit is CD quality, while 192 kbit is near CD quality, and the
difference between 128 kbit and 192 kbit is miles compared to 192 kbit and 256
kbit; hence I suggest 192+ kbit. However, its 2017 and 320 kbit or lossless
isn't a huge issue anymore; its even OK over 4G). Also, my quote is from 2000;
ever since we swapped to LAME and ABR > VBR > CBR; ABR isn't even a static
(constant) bitrate.
Quoting r3mix.net from 2000:
Facts:
128 kbit/s is not cd quality
256 kbit/s is cd quality (x) (in case of Lame or some Fraunhofer, not Xing)
In february 2000 c't magazin organised a blind listening test. 300 Audiophiles
were involved, finalists tested 17 1-min clips from different artists (classic
and pop):
original CD recording
128 Kbit/s Joint Stereo [MusicMatch (FhG) v4.4] encoded PC decoded Mac
256 Kbit/s Joint Stereo [MusicMatch (FhG) v4.4] encoded PC decoded Mac
all on cdrs and played in a Recording Studio on:
B&W Nautilus 803, Marantz CD14 with amp PM14 (Straightwire Pro cabling and
extra's) [DM30000- so bit more than $15000]
Sennheiser Orpheus Electrostatic Reference-headphones with tweaked
accompanying amp (digital and analog out) [>$10000]
Conclusions:
90% of the 128 Kbit material was picked out
MP3@256 was rated to have the same music quality as cd!
If you find MP3@256 to be of inferior quality compared to the original cd,
you're very likely to be doing something wrong with the test (correct decoder,
no objective double blind testing, DSP filters distorting the process, ...)
Maybe this is something for you. You can always read the article in the german
c't 6/2000 on p92.
The treshold of mp3 transparency lies somewhere between 128kbit/s and
256kbit/s, depending on the kind of music and your hearing and equipment.
~~~
lightedman
"If you find MP3@256 to be of inferior quality compared to the original cd,
you're very likely to be doing something wrong with the test"
Try running that 256kbit MP3 through a pitch shifter. The quality loss becomes
very apparent very quickly.
~~~
jrimbault
"Try playing a random binary blob as a video file, it might play, it might
not"
Mp3 is a _clever_ compression algorithm made for consumption. It isn't
intended to be pitch shifted...
~~~
lightedman
FLAC claims to be lossless/archival yet the same artifacting appears when
pitch-shifted.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Lamborghini and McLaren Dealerships Drive Bitcoin Adoption in USA - floridianfisher
http://www.coindesk.com/lamborghini-mclaren-bitcoin/
======
floridianfisher
An article about my statup!
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
IBM's Plea for Gender Parity in an Ad From 1985 - route66
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/10/ibms-plea-for-gender-parity-in-an-ad-from-1985/280443/
======
bandy
Although it was nice to see, the Society of Women Engineers
[http://societyofwomenengineers.swe.org/](http://societyofwomenengineers.swe.org/)
was in full advocacy swing at that point, with strong chapters at the major
engineering universities, encouraging women to go into Engineering of any
stripe. IBM itself at that time would also move and/or retrain employees who
had either become "too expensive" (due to service) or whose jobs had been
terminated (e.g. end of contract) or outsourced.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Farmizen lets urbanites grow fresh food on a remote farm (2017) - troydavis
https://www.vccircle.com/this-startup-lets-urbanites-play-farmville-on-real-agricultural-land/
======
jerkstate
The product is a sense of connection to the food and it sounds like some
customers are willing to pay a high premium.
It sounds like farmhands employed by Farmizen do all of the planting,
maintenance, and harvesting, and the customer is able to view the crops from
afar, probably by video feed with a personalized blog about how their tomatoes
are doing.
As someone who grew up on a farm it seems very silly and inefficient but also
as someone who now lives in a city and hears fellow yuppies complain about how
"disconnected from nature" they feel, it makes sense that they could get some
customers, but I don't see customers staying customers because the yields will
be low and the prices will be high and the quality won't be as good compared
to the farmers market or organic grocery.
~~~
fhood
Exactly. If you actually let said "urbanites" make the decisions they would
all end up with a bunch of dead vegetables....except for okra and zucchini. As
far as I can tell nothing can stop those two from growing.
~~~
mistermann
I killed an incredibly healthy zuchini plant once with some fish based
fertilizer lol, so it can be done!
------
phyzome
> A farmer with, say, 3 acres of land usually grows only 2-3 crops at a time.
> With Farmizen, the company claims, he can grow up to 20 crops using natural
> methods. This also improves the quality of the soil. Multiple crops also
> help from the risk management perspective. If there are 30 crops growing on
> a farm and three fail, the rest compensate for the loss.
While heterogeneous plantings can reduce herbivore pressure, I feel like this
could result in higher soil pest load by removing the opportunity for crop
rotation. For instance, with some crops it's important to _not_ plant them in
any given area for more than a couple years in a row, otherwise the infectious
nematode population (or whatever) builds up in the soil. Intercropping with a
solid field of brassicas can help break up the pest population cycles.
But maybe this would work if they keep rotatating _where_ the Farmizen plots
are.
In any case, an interesting twist on Community Supported Agriculture.
------
shameekc
Hi all ! I am from the farmizen team. Let me answer some of the questions
raised so far 1. Crop rotation happens in individual beds - when a user is
choosing crops to plant in a particular bed - the app provides recommendations
based on what was growing in that bed previously, as well as the season. We do
see some consumers override the recommendations, and that affects the yield in
most cases. 2. Photos of individual beds are drone images stitched and then
sliced up in some cases and farmer clicked in some cases 3. Farmhands may be
employed by our partner farmer, not by us. 4. This is actually kinda reverse
share-cropping - most of partner farmers are small land holding farmers with a
couple of acres - who would otherwise earn about $120 per month per acre. Now
they make approx 7x of that. Consumers do pay a premium of about 10-20 percent
over organic prices - but given the fact that a majority of consumers don’t
trust organic labels in case of fresh produce in India (with good reason) -
many are willing to pay the premium.
------
twoquestions
If this works, more power to them, but on it's surface I don't see how this
has anything to do with the game FarmVille other than it taking place on a
farm. I'd also encourage anyone who takes part in a scheme like this to go
over their contracts with a fine-toothed comb, as arrangements like this have
been used to awful effect here in the United States:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharecropping](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharecropping)
------
shameekc
CSA models - farmer does everything, focus on the end output. Community
garden/allotment garden - consumer does everything as DIY, focus on the
experience. Farmizen is kind of in the middle - you can do as much as you
want, and you have more control over what you want to grow than in the case of
CSA. At the same time, you can also just sit on a couch and participate in the
experience, unlike in the case of a community garden.
------
seltzered_
How does this model compare to a CSA or csa-like subscription businesses (e.g.
Full Circle, Farmigo, Good Eggs, etc.)?
So there’s an aspect that one ‘rents’ a portion of farm to choose what grows,
but I’m having a hard time understanding why one would want that over a fully
managed service where one trusts the farmer to grow the appropriate food.
This feels like more of a ‘control your farmer’ idea over ‘know your farmer’
~~~
seltzered_
It’s really worth noting that this is a Bangalore based startup. The dynamics
may be different out there. This could help spur investment outside of cash
crops (e.g sugar cane).
------
hackerews
How much do you actually "do" as the remote farmer? Are there a lot of digital
tasks you need to accomplish from the app?
------
XalvinX
This kind of thing is kind of common in Korea.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Windows98 Running in the Browser - tectonic
https://copy.sh/v86/?profile=windows98
======
MrBuddyCasino
Back when the system settings could be reached with less clicks, were
organised in a logical way and didn't use most of the screen as white-space.
~~~
nolok
You mean before windows tried to be designed as a a tablet OS while being on
desktop for 8.0, failed on both as easily predicted, and then refused to admit
the mistake ever since beside the one mandatory change of adding a normal
start button / menu back?
That full screen start view was one hell of an abomination....
~~~
blauditore
To be honest, I think it was not that bad from a usability point-of-view,
agnostic of history. People were just not used to a full-screen, search-
focused start menu. A similar thing happened with Vista, people were
overwhelmed with the wildly different UI. The next version was then a slightly
milder version of it, and at the same time people had gotten used to it a bit,
so most were happy with Windows 7 and are now happy with Windows 10.
It's interesting to see how strongly change-averse most people are when it
comes to those things.
~~~
MisterTea
> To be honest, I think it was not that bad from a usability point-of-view,
> agnostic of history.
Perhaps in a vacuum it might work. But this is the real world were hypothesis
are just that.
> A similar thing happened with Vista, people were overwhelmed with the wildly
> different UI
No. People were apparently overwhelmed by system instability and resource
hogging (mainly hard drive grinding). I don't remember people complaining
about the UI's usability. Though there were UI complaints which were mostly
echos of the same complaints leveled at the glossy "Teletubby" XP theme.
> It's interesting to see how strongly change-averse most people are when it
> comes to those things.
Interesting? It's human nature. We develop habits and routines which take time
to memorize and get right. It's work which we personally invested. I'm sure
you have routines that if changed by an external force without choice would be
upsetting to you.
~~~
buran77
> and resource hogging
Memory usage used to be a major complaint (possibly the biggest) even if it
was made clear repeatedly that the OS was simply keeping more stuff in RAM
instead of dumping it to disk specifically to improve performance. A mechanism
that stuck to these days. That memory isn't marked that obviously in the Task
Manager now, and memory is is no longer such a luxury so people don't complain
anymore. But on my 16GB machine I have 4.1GB in use clearly marked on the
graph, and another 7.5GB cached that is not at all made to jump at people.
People want the added goodies and expect absolutely no impact on anything
else.
When XP was launched we heard the same grumbles. XP was bloated, had higher
resource usage than 98/2000, less stable than 2000, not compatible with a lot
of hardware, weird GUI. By SP3 people were loving it and by the time Win 7
arrived nobody wanted to let go of XP. Win 7 was bloated, had higher resource
usage than XP, less stable than XP, not compatible with a lot of hardware,
weird GUI. By SP2 people were loving it and by the time Win 10 came along
nobody wanted to let go of Win 7. And no, it's not an issue of OS quality
going down. Like you said, people just get used to stuff and can't take change
and when you combine it with the lack of understanding you get all kinds
complaints.
Reminds me of an anecdote about a certain car made for the low end market,
targeting a segment of owners of 20+ year old clunkers. Everyone would buy it
and complain that the fuel consumption was _huge_. Strangely enough this was a
modern engine, certainly more efficient than the old ones it was replacing.
The problem? The fancy computer was showing instantaneous fuel consumption.
When accelerating? 25 liters/100Km. Outrageous! The company just hid the
instantaneous counter and left only the very reasonable average. Problem
solved. Then there were the "I can't feel the road with this power steering"
complaints which worked themselves out, although to this day there are people
who swear the old cars were better (they were most definitely not).
Between lack of knowledge, nostalgia goggles, unreasonable expectations ("all
of it, for free"), and a few more things these popular opinions of tech of the
past aren't all that useful. It says a lot about the commercial success of a
product, not its actual qualities.
~~~
Klinky
I am pretty sure Windows 7 was pretty highly praised upon its release and
considered vastly superior to Vista, and at least on par with XP as far as
usability.
~~~
buran77
Vista was a blip on the radar and nobody ever really used it as a reference
point for anything other than ridicule. XP was running strong even in 2014
when it went out of support so it makes sense this was the bar to pass for Win
7. And the vast majority of users jumped from XP to 7 as the numbers confirm.
In 2009 when Windows 7 was launched, Vista's market share (all desktop OSes)
reached the all time peak of 18%. At the same time the (then) 8 year old
Windows XP had 72%.
------
lxe
Plugging Fabrice Bellard's
[https://bellard.org/jslinux/](https://bellard.org/jslinux/) where you can run
linux and windows on a hand crafted js x86 emulator.
~~~
dleslie
Of course it was Bellard. Of course.
~~~
giantDinosaur
The challenge is to find something he made that _isn 't_ in some way
impressive.
~~~
alvarelle
The graphical design of his website?
~~~
numlock86
There is no design so there is nothing to judge about.
~~~
saagarjha
We can judge him for his design, which is to consciously choose to not focus
on design :)
------
csomar
Here is something that I stumbled upon that I think was a big loss: HTML Help
[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Compiled_HTML_Help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Compiled_HTML_Help)]
It's unfortunate that Microsoft didn't work toward making it an open source
standard for documentation. We'd have avoided every other documentation having
it's own format, style, etc... Plus you get the whole documentation in a
single file, not worrying about broken stuff, missing images, broken links,
etc...
~~~
newsbinator
I remember when you could bypass the login prompt and open a web browsing
session by going to HTML Help. If I recall correctly you could run executables
from the resulting browser's address bar too.
~~~
barbegal
I think that was still a bug in Windows XP.
~~~
pix64
With Windows 10 you can boot from a DVD/USB and replace system files in the
Windows directory related to the accessibility options. The accessibility
options are available at the login screen and are ran with admin privileges.
Then you simply click the button to start the accessibility options and bam
you've changed the administrator password.
------
rightbyte
It's funny how I find Win98 more user friendly and logical than Win10. Just
look at the start menu where thing are sorted in folders. No ads optimizations
anywhere. Just an annoying shortcut on the desktop for MS Internet.
Is it possible to make a program like the sheep.exe nowadays? It is awesome.
~~~
1ko
Gnome 2 was Windows 95 UI, refined, cleaned of all bloat and with a modern
look (for his time). All installed apps were automatically stored is the right
sub-menu in the Application button. It was really neat to use.
~~~
coldpie
XFCE basically still is that. No "reinventing the desktop experience" junk,
just a rock-solid desktop with all the features you expect.
~~~
ciupicri
All features except running on Wayland.
------
izietto
To me, still the best UI/UX OS experience. That menu organization is just
perfect. Everything is crystal clear about what is selected or not. No idea
why the OS moved from this layout.
~~~
znpy
yes. in my opinion though, windows 2000 was the pinnacle.
it had the user experience of windows 98 but was also a lot more stable.
~~~
szatkus
Non-NT Windows didn't support memory protection. That's the main reason why it
was much more stable. Programming on Windows 98 was a nightmare. If you, for
example, went too far with your `i++` you could've crashed the system.
~~~
andrewshadura
That's not actually true. It was far more nuanced than this.
------
_trampeltier
Now you have a VM in a browser on a cellphone. And my cellphone still have
sometimes problems on so many pages because they are so bloated. A full OS
does load faster then so many website ..
------
lewiscollard
Awww, "My Briefcase"! I had totally forgotten that was a thing :) What a nice
little nostalgia trip.
~~~
lostgame
Omigosh, I really miss the heck out of when Windows had charm, and personality
like this.
Stuff like Hover! - getting that Weezer music video with the Happy Days set on
the Win 95 media edition or whatever...such cool little things that displayed
a sense of ‘fun’ about very business-centric software.
~~~
netsharc
My Pentium 100 could play this 320x240 video
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqL1BLzn3qc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqL1BLzn3qc)
fullscreen with no choppiness. I had forgotten about this video until I saw it
last year...
But Windows had skeumorphisms, even nowadays the screen with everything
minimised is called "the desk[ ]top".
But I guess briefcases and recycle bins made things relatable...
------
FillardMillmore
Wow, what a flashback! This was the OS I actually grew up with. I remember
being 3 or 4 years old and playing Carnivores 2 on my Dad's Windows 98 PC.
Even the slowness and unresponsiveness is there, just like I remember!
Yeah...this was the golden age. So much hope and so much optimism for what
could be in regards to technology and what it would allow for the general
population. I still think we're not there, but we can get there still,
perhaps.
~~~
hnlmorg
> _this was the golden age. So much hope and so much optimism for what could
> be_
Funny that because I grew up in the 80s and for me the golden age was 10 to 15
years earlier and I saw Windows 98 as the decline.
There was so much variety and experimentation in the 80s, and so much
excitement too when GUIs first started appearing on home computers. There was
also much more diversity in the computing landscape with different hardware
architectures and operating systems. In fact back then DOS machines were some
of the least interesting hardware and early Windows (pre 3.x) was just
terrible compared to what Acorn, Atari, Amiga and Apple were doing. Then came
the mid-90s and everything had converged into x86 running Windows. I remember
at the time feeling rather let down by just how boring and crummy desktop
computing had become considering all the interesting things that preceded it.
Things picked up again once I discovered BeOS and Linux -- I guess even in the
90s I didn't like Microsoft Windows and to be honest little has changed over
the years.
That's just my opinion though. The "golden age" is a very subjective thing
that I suspect is largely driven by the age of the observer.
~~~
saagarjha
I grew up using Windows XP/Vista and browsing the early days of the
interactive web, mostly based on Flash. For me of course that was the golden
age, and now we’re stuck with huge walled gardens and invasive adtech…iPhone
had come out and it was amazing watching the mobile market rapidly advance. I
remember seriously suggesting Windows Phone to my parents…Google Docs totally
upended how we did assignments in late elementary school.
~~~
FillardMillmore
I don't think Google Docs was a thing until I was in high school. Still, don't
think my schools adopted it quickly. I do have many fond memories of flash
games too (and of course, viruses I inadvertently introduced to my parents'
computers).
Back when I was learning computers in elementary school, we were taugh to use
Yahoo! as our search engine and most of our 'computer' assignments for the day
involved drawing butterflies in Microsoft Paint or seeing how many words we
could type per minute.
------
btashton
First think I had to do was see if Active Desktop worked... And yes it does.
"View My Active Desktop as a web page", I guess Windows 98 was just ahead of
its time.
~~~
mercer
Set the desktop background as this site for some winception!
------
jokoon
Does anybody have a reasonable explanation why windows 10 requires a SSD and
so much ram?
I wish a kernel engineer could give a good answer to that question.
One side of the answer could be that the software that is bigger, but honestly
that doesn't explain everything.
I wish somebody could confirm Wirth's law is real and that there are valid
example of it.
~~~
muazzam
The same reason Facebook loads multiple MBs of JavaScript code for something
that could have been not more than 1 MB. One can't help but wonder about
nefarious purposes: either collecting user data or abusing the computing
resources. For companies that tend to hire the best and the brightest, the
'software bloat' theory is not compelling.
Curiously, major Linux distributions have also gotten significantly slower
compared to early 2000s versions.
I wonder, for a thought experiment, what if companies stopped development on
software when it reaches certain stage of maturity, say Windows 2000,
providing only necessary security updates or optional visual changes?
~~~
rightbyte
I was very reluctant switching from win xp to win 7. Unless the 64bit era
would have forced me I rather would have stayed put.
New software is really not adding much to the table after some point of
completion since the software companies seems to mostly add pet feutures and
user hostile fads be it star menu, complete gui changes, 'enterprise' admin
lookout or ads and tracking.
E.g. Facebooks 1000s of developers seem to add a net of antifeutures to their
site. On Netflix you can't even disable autoplay.
It is the same really for software moving to remote mainframes. The companies
rather hide and burry the old desktop versions deep.
------
keyle
Impressive! But loading Google for kicks, in IE, sort of killed it.
Definitely can feel the nostalgia.
I remember the first time I decided to leave Windows 95 run overnight, the
next morning, moving the mouse would send the harddrive playhead flying like
crazy... You know the old "SHRrrrrt Shrrrt..."
It had such a memory leak overnight that moving the mouse was causing the swap
to kick in non-stop!
~~~
WantonQuantum
Interesting. In 1997 I had a thinkpad running Windows 95 and I went weeks
between reboots. It was rock solid.
~~~
toast0
Windows 95/98 stability really depended on the quality of your hardware,
drivers, and software. If things intracted poorly, it was easy to get a system
that needed a reboot every few hours to stay responsive.
~~~
TedDoesntTalk
Agreed. Drivers were a big one. As I remember, they had unfettered access to
everything... so they could consume all ram or cpu or read any part of memory.
Powerful and scary.
~~~
hyperman1
In win95, everything had access to everything if it wanted. E.g. DLLs were
mapped in a shared memory segment that was shared between all applications.
Lots of 16 bit code was still running, and this did IPC basically by messing
in some other program's memory. Backward compatibilitty required very thin
walls between processes.
DOS TSR programs started before windows were still running. I had one that
popped up a calculator in dos text mode, and if you pushed its hotkey in
win95, it switched win95 back to text mode, paused win95, did its thing, then
popped back in win95.
Only the very basics of protected mode and virtual memory where there, and a
well-behaving program had a reasonable chance of staying in its own sandbox.
But only because it wanted to. Seen from the CPU, you could argue EMM386 was
more the actual OS than win95/win98.
None of this is meant to be negative. It was a solid step up from windows 3.x,
and yet quite usable with 4MB RAM of which the first 1MB wanted a very
different treatment.
------
danfritz
Ha the beauty of calling defrag.exe and hoping your pc would run faster after
it. So relaxing to see blue block move around (with the occasional horror of a
red block indicating an error)
------
hyko
Shame we're limited to 16 colors...miss those title bar gradients :D
Was this the pinnacle of UI design, or is nostalgia clouding our judgment?
~~~
ptx
I think the pinnacle must have been before the title bar gradients were added.
They always annoyed me: is the title bar any less of a title bar towards the
right? No? Then why does it fade out?
~~~
derefr
The color is a background for the text. It fades out because the bar stops
being about showing the title text, and starts being about showing window
controls, that exist as buttons with their own backgrounds and borders.
Sort of like how desktop icons have text with a blur-extruded drop-shadow. It
fades out at the point where text is no longer shown.
~~~
ptx
The title is shown in the entire title bar (e.g. long titles for web pages)
all the way until it reaches the buttons, which as you say have their own
border, so there is no gradual change in its character. It's 100% draggable
and 100% showing text all the way, so the form (showing gradual change) is at
odds with the function (sharp distinction between title and buttons).
------
vishwajeetv
What interests me is the core interactions with Windows systems remain mostly
the same, unchanged, in the span of last 20 years!
~~~
ToFab123
Isn't the same true for osx and linux?
~~~
phendrenad2
> osx
Between architecture changes (PowerPC to x86 to x86-64 and next up ARM), and
compiler changes (I doubt Objective-C code written for OS X 1.0 will compile
on the latest XCode), breaking API changes, security changes, and even
deprecating standards (can't use latest OpenGL, you gotta use Metal)... not
really.
~~~
saagarjha
Depends on how complicated it was. I can assure you that your simple GUI still
mostly works as those classes came from NeXT and aren’t going anywhere soon.
------
kdamica
I immediately played Freecell, which I spent way too many hours playing as a
kid.
------
hestefisk
Ping localhost works as well. Now to see if you can kill the machine by
causing a ICMP packet buffer overflow.
------
aronpye
Has it crashed for anyone yet? I tried using Windows Update and it hung, it’s
Windows 98 alright.
~~~
zuppy
you can crash it with the /con/con commad too
edit: for the ones who haven't lived the windows 95-98 era:
[https://coderanch.com/t/131585/engineering/Folder-con-
Window...](https://coderanch.com/t/131585/engineering/Folder-con-Windows-
invalid#639965)
------
hestefisk
This is brilliant. Even the goold old Windows --> Run ... -> CON/CON bug seems
to work.
------
thom
For even more fractal nostalgia, please be aware that in those days you could
still run 'progman.exe' if you so desired.
Sadly this install doesn't include QBasic which was also still available on
these DOS based Windows versions.
------
tectonic
See also: [https://github.com/jsdf/pce](https://github.com/jsdf/pce)
------
thanato0s
I won winmine on win98 in a browser.
My 14 years old me would have never believed me.
That's why I made a screenshot.
------
Commodore_64
Hell yeah! Now I can play jazz jackrabbit in firefox!
~~~
umvi
I wanted to play Chip's Challenge, but it's too slow on my Chromebook
------
backzerman
omg finally a reasonable minesweeper emulator
~~~
throwaway888abc
:) Check the javascript replica
[https://codepen.io/joelbyrd/pen/hdHKF](https://codepen.io/joelbyrd/pen/hdHKF)
~~~
kyberias
Bad imitation. Doesn't support the all-important right-mouse+left-mouse click
combination.
~~~
steerablesafe
Check out minesweeper X, it was (is?) used by the competitive minesweeper
scene (yes, it was a thing).
[http://www.minesweeper.info/downloads/MinesweeperX.html](http://www.minesweeper.info/downloads/MinesweeperX.html)
------
fredley
I can _hear_ the sound when the hourglass appears. You know the one I mean (if
you're old enough).
------
max_
Hypothetical question: If you where a program running in the VM how would you
know if you are in one?
~~~
benbristow
There's ways. Detecting whether tools like VMWare/Virtualbox are installed,
whether certain drivers are installed, checking the hardware listings etc.
etc.
Malware is quite a good study subject about this question. There's a lot of
malware that won't run if it's in a virtual machine to avoid researchers from
testing it inside one.
~~~
brittspace
Do you have a reference that is runnable in this emulator? (Genuinely
curious.)
~~~
Retr0spectrum
[https://github.com/LordNoteworthy/al-khaser#anti-
virtualizat...](https://github.com/LordNoteworthy/al-khaser#anti-
virtualization--full-system-emulation)
[https://github.com/AlicanAkyol/sems](https://github.com/AlicanAkyol/sems)
(dunno if these would build/run on win98 though)
------
eeereerews
Firefox/Linux: the cursor constantly tracks to the left. You have to push the
mouse to the right to keep it still.
Works in Chromium though.
~~~
0xffff2
Firefox 77.0.1/Ubuntu 18.04: No mouse drift for me.
------
timvdalen
Wow, I can't believe how smooth that is.
I've got to say, the icon for .txt files brought on some very specific hit of
nostalgia.
------
b3lvedere
Nice. Even the old /con/con bug still works :) -edit- sorry about that, was
already mentioned previously :)
------
annoyingnoob
Tried to visit yahoo.com and IE crashed.
~~~
sevencolors
I think because this is a stock install and needs a network connection setup
first. Mine "crashes" too but then another window loads to setup MSN
Good times!
------
dariosalvi78
Would myself in 2000 believe that I would be running Windows 98 in a mobile
phone, emulated in a browser?
~~~
brittspace
Given that 2000 was the time of Windows CE on the Compaq iPAQ H3100 [1] ...
no, probably not :)
[1] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPAQ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPAQ)
------
nabaraz
I tried unsuccessfully to load Windows98 (via same link) in the Internet
Explorer. Inception!
------
classified
Won't that provoke a DMCA takedown request and a subsequent lawsuit from
Microsoft?
~~~
notriddle
Maybe a DMCA takedown notice...
But a lawsuit? Why would Microsoft care enough to launch a lawsuit?
------
dirtyid
Kind of miss how... unified the design language was back then. I've resorted
to making custom icons for my taskbar because ever app suit has their own
clashing identity. That's after inconsistencies in Win10 intself.
------
EvanAnderson
Boots the QNX demo disk[1]. Pretty cool! Sadly, it does not detect the
emulated PCI NE2000 NIC.
[1]
[http://toastytech.com/guis/qnxdemo.html](http://toastytech.com/guis/qnxdemo.html)
------
TheSpiceIsLife
The Hindu’s got it wrong...
It’s JavaScript libraries all the way down.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtles_all_the_way_down](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtles_all_the_way_down)
------
rory_h_r
Windows98 with the best version of Solitaire. Those were the days.
------
renewiltord
This is beautiful and pure nostalgia fever.
------
thamer
How to get a BSOD:
1\. Open Start Menu
2\. Click "Run"
3\. Type: con\con and press enter
------
reddotX
Start -> Run -> aux/aux
------
sirusdas
i am still unable to understand it, do you mean you are mounting the system in
browser? how do you make sense of the bin and iso file in node and how exactly
an os can run using V8 engine?
------
muterad_murilax
For the love of God, please fix the title already! (Missing a space.)
------
turdnagel
IE is crashing for me whenever I try to load any site.
------
beamatronic
Is it public domain now?
~~~
orionblastar
No, but it is no longer supported by Microsoft so it is abandonware. It is
still closed source and piracy to copy without permission but Microsoft does
not care about it because it is too old to sue over.
~~~
chungy
They've been known to send C&Ds to various sites that host old versions like
this.
"no longer supported" is a flimsy argument for abandonware anyway. by that
reasoning, Windows 7 is abandonware and it still runs basically every Windows
program ever.
~~~
lostgame
I think that kind of boils down to the ‘spirit of the law’ kinda thing.
Windows 98, conversely; _cannot_ run modern software, and the majority of
software in use for the last decade - it is only going to be installed as an
experiment by geeks like us, for the most part.
~~~
quickthrower2
Arguably anything using Windows 98 is satire. :-)
~~~
mschuster91
For what it's worth, a Berlin court used Windows 95 (!) until Fall 2019, and I
wish I were joking here. [https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/experten-warnten-
schon-20...](https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/experten-warnten-
schon-2017-it-katastrophe-am-berliner-kammergericht-kam-mit-
ansage/25163810.html)
------
noisy_boy
I like the offline-Dropbox aka My Briefcase. God I hated that app for no good
reason.
------
jose-cl
sheep.exe <3
~~~
Nursie
Might be of interest then - [https://www.microsoft.com/en-
us/p/esheep-64bit/9mx2v0tqt6rm?...](https://www.microsoft.com/en-
us/p/esheep-64bit/9mx2v0tqt6rm?activetab=pivot:overviewtab)
eSheep 64!
(I haven't tried it)
------
subhashp
Amazing!
------
mongojunction
This is really amazing and takes me back.
Very funny seeing it on such a small format in the top right corner.
Makes me think a "Windows 98" PWA on mobile would be super funny.
Unfortunately the windows sound wave file doesn't make any sound in the
browser. I guess this is because a Soundcard or Speaker is not emulated.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Stack Overflow is doing me ongoing harm - dsiegel2275
https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/336526/stack-overflow-is-doing-me-ongoing-harm-its-time-to-fix-it
======
solidasparagus
SO is mismanaging this so awfully.
Also kinda funny that she gets fired for using the term 'they' and then Stack
Overflow goes and talks to the media about her firing and refers to her as
'they'.
~~~
curyous
It's not just mismanagement of the situation, SO is actually behaving badly.
------
dsiegel2275
OP here, disclosure: I worked with Monica for several years, so I know her
professionally. Everything that I have read about this situation and how she
was treated is appalling.
------
greatjack613
Very happy this has come to the attention of hacker news.
As a regular contributor to SO it has really bothered me with how she was
treated, I think with the support of the HN community we can make a
difference.
~~~
kbenson
Maybe you can give some back story, or point to where it's summarized fairly
well? (maybe it was even on HN and I missed it?)
All I see here are a list of what SO did wrong, but only from one side, and
not why they felt the need to do so (even if only explained post-facto).
As a member of the HN community, I think it only makes sense to attempt to get
as much information as possible, lest this turn into and angry internet mob
situation that no longer cares about details and facts. We have enough of
those already.
~~~
wilde
[https://meta.stackexchange.com/a/335088](https://meta.stackexchange.com/a/335088)
------
why-oh-why
More context:
[https://judaism.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/5193/stack-...](https://judaism.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/5193/stack-
overflow-inc-sinat-chinam-and-the-goat-for-azazel)
However I’m not familiar with the situation.
~~~
Double_a_92
Thanks. Sometimes posts are really confusing. Without context this to me seems
like some random person complaining very generically about their employer...
For anyone else wondering: It's about someone that got their moderator rights
removed from StackExchange after they were sceptical of CoC changes that
involved preferred pronouns and such.
------
WillDaSilva
As time goes on, StackExchange is becoming less concerned about what their
users desire, and less concerned about meta in general. I hope Monica is
vindicated, but I expect StackExchange will continue down this unfortunate
path. To my knowledge, there are no decent alternatives to what StackExchange
offers.
------
lgats
This posts builds on the previous HN discussion "Stack Overflow Inc. Fiasco:
Timeline" from 17 days ago
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21173643](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21173643)
------
deca6cda37d0
It’s the end of SO as we know it. If they don’t turn this around it will
demise slowly.
~~~
Gibbon1
Seems exactly like SO as we know it.
------
kstenerud
I have no clue about this situation, but given the allegations, this looks
like it would be better handled as a slander and libel case in court.
~~~
luckylion
It looks like this is her trying to avoid having to go there. As far as I
understand, slander & libel cases are also extremely hard to win for victims
in the US, so they typically avoid them.
~~~
wool_gather
The Stack company also added forced arbitration to their TOS a year or two
ago. That may be an impediment for her.
~~~
SnarkAsh
She opted out within the 30 day window, so her options remain open.
------
Japhy_Ryder
You got fired. Deal with it. Move on.
------
tinus_hn
She’s been removed from a volunteer position at a company and threatens
lawsuits. Good luck with that!
~~~
wool_gather
The removal is not the legal issue; s__t-talking about her to the press is.
------
lonelappde
SE and Chipps mistreated Cellio and were obnoxious about firing Cellio, but I
don't see anything in that post about "ongoing harm". Ongoing harm would be
if, hypothetically, people were harassing Cellio on Twitter or in meatspace
over SE's slander, or if employers or customers shuned Cellio.
~~~
ars
> were harassing Cellio on Twitter
[https://twitter.com/bitandbang/status/1182389562846384129](https://twitter.com/bitandbang/status/1182389562846384129)
She's not named, but the slander is obvious.
~~~
upofadown
That is clearly directed at the people resigning in protest, not the person
that got fired.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
How Jasonette Went from an Esoteric App to a Radical New Way to Make Native Apps - gliechtenstein
http://blog.jasonette.com/2016/01/12/Jasonette-2016-in-review?hn
======
gliechtenstein
A couple of months ago I released Jasonette with a Show HN:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12879179](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12879179)
We've made a lot of progress since I open sourced it, so I thought I would
share my experience.
This is my first blog post to share my experience working on Jasonette.
Would appreciate feedback!
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Ask HN: Who is responsible for fending off DoS attacks? - ebun
Posterous, who uses Rackspace for hosting, was recently the target of a DoS attack. I got an email from them stating that they were addressing it and also offered some workarounds.<p>In a situation like this, who is responsible for fixing/addressing/getting sites back up? I'd imagine it would be the host but I'm curious as to the work done by Posterous.
======
DanBlake
That depends on the scope and size of the attack.
If the attack is small, which the vast majority of attacks are, (either in
bandwidth, packets per second, or both) then the responsibility is on the
dedicated server owner to fix it via a software fix. (iptables with perl
scripts to ban offending ips, etc..). If you have a managed host, they will
obviously help with that.
If the attack is larger than that, but still not epic (say, 2gbps attack) then
the responsibility is on the host/datacenter, who will most likely null route
your server. What that means, is they will tell their upstream providers not
to send any more traffic to your IP address and NOBODY will be able to access
your site. This is done until the attack ends. If they dont null route your
server, they will attempt to filter the traffic coming in themselves through a
in house solution.
If the attack is of epic scale, it becomes less of a issue for the datacenter
you are hosted in and more of a issue for the upstream providers to filter it
on their end. A average datacenter can only do so much when 50gbps is coming
in when they normally only see 10.
------
lsc
the hosting company is the only one /able/ to respond, (well, depending on the
attack type. the nastier attack types fill your pipe and/or overwhelm your
router's pps capacity... your upstream is the only one who /can/ address
that.)
however, standard practice in the hosting industry is to disconnect the
target, temporarily or permanently.
the thing is, cleaning up this shit gets expensive fast. And there is plenty
of 'splash damage' to your fellow customers.
I was taken out a few months back by a DDos. Fourteen thousand dollars in SLA
credits I paid out. The customer? was paying me one hundred fifty a month, and
this was the second time he got hit with a major attack. I asked him to leave
or help me pay for the damage. Obviously, he picked the former option.
but yeah. my upstreams wanted me to get rid of the guy after the first attack.
'finishing the job' really is standard practice, if the attack is sufficiently
large.
Personally, I think this fact is one of the reasons why the problem isn't
going away. Service providers, the only people who /can/ do anything about it,
well, they can spend a whole lot of time and effort tracking down the source
(being as most DDos traffic is spoofed, this is quite difficult) or
alternately, we can just take the target offline.
the economics of the situation are all wrong... but I don't know how to fix
it.
------
byoung2
It has to be a combined effort. The hosting company is like the fire
department - when your house is on fire they come through with axes and hoses
because their focus is saving lives, not property. When your site is being
attacked, the hosting company focuses on stopping the attack, but you'll end
up fixing a lot of security holes and patching code afterwards.
For example, when I worked at Internet Brands, when several of our sites were
attacked last year, our hosting company installed a Palo Alto firewall in
front of our load balancer. It stopped the attacks overnight, but some sites
became unbearably slow or unresponsive. It turns out that it was blocking some
legitimate traffic (e.g. requests for RSS feeds for vBulletin forums, curl API
requests). We had to go through hundreds of sites to look for things like this
to patch.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Self-driving cars can be disabled with a laser pointer and a Raspberry Pi - scoot
http://www.alphr.com/cars/1001483/self-driving-cars-can-be-fooled-by-fake-cars-pedestrians-and-other-bogus-signals
======
ArcticCelt
Human-driven cars can also be disabled with a laser pointer to the eye of the
driver.
[http://www.livescience.com/21707-lasers-eye-
damage.html](http://www.livescience.com/21707-lasers-eye-damage.html)
~~~
mikeash
Human driven cars can also be disabled with funny sounds or women wearing
short skirts or a bit of spray paint on the road.
We really need to remember that humans are atrocious at driving on average,
and doing better than them is a pretty low bar. Not that we shouldn't strive
to improve automation, but don't let perfect be the enemy of the good.
~~~
krapp
Human drivers, on average, are not "disabled" by any of that. Distracted
momentarily, sometimes, perhaps, but not disabled - city driving is _replete_
with "bits of spray paint" and "funny sounds" and sometimes "women wearing
short skirts." On average, human drivers manage a great deal of complexity
without incident. We use the same visual acuity, adaptability and instincts to
negotiate traffic as we did millennia ago to avoid predators and survive our
climb up the food chain, and we're actually quite good at it, albeit obviously
not perfect. Human drivers are capable of not mistaking the reflections of
other cars _for other cars,_ and know the difference between a cardboard box,
a human being and another vehicle.
The bar is actually quite high, if you want to do better than humans _on
average_.
~~~
mikeash
Humans usually aren't disabled by that, but sometimes they are. How often is a
human distracted by one of these things, and before they can recover they
drive into an obstacle? It happens with great frequency.
And in this particular case, humans not only can be disabled with a laser
pointer, but they can be disabled _permanently_ , not just for that driving
session, but for the rest of their lives. Can't swap out cameras in a human
driver. Yet somehow this is not a crisis for manually-piloted cars.
~~~
krapp
> It happens with great frequency.
I doubt it happens that often, but I can't back that up with numbers, and I
can't be arsed to try.
But, humans can vary in their driving ability. In the case of autonomous cars,
you would have to assume any flaw in one is shared by all. The problem isn't
the laser pointers, or that humans can also be disabled by laser pointers, but
that autonomous cars aren't yet smart enough to deal with errant signals. If
all the autonomous cars can be stopped by an ever increasing list of simple
conditions that (with a couple of exceptions, like a laser pointer in the
eyes) wouldn't stop an average human driver, then it implies that the current
state of the art does not nearly live up to the hype.
~~~
mikeash
We can come up with a long list of simple conditions that wouldn't stop an
average computer but would stop an average human, too. For example, a computer
won't have any trouble driving for 48 hours without powering down, or with a
stinging insect in the cabin.
That's not to say that computers are superior to humans. It's quite clear that
the current state of the art in autonomous driving is way behind what humans
can do. My point is simply that comparing scenarios which one can handle and
the other cannot is not very informative.
------
djrogers
"Google, Uber and even Apple’s potential self-driving car can all be
foiled..."
So two cars that haven't even been seen in public yet - one of which might not
even exist - can be foiled by this technique?
Might be true, might not be - no way for anyone involved in this story to know
though. Is this really what passes for journalism now?
In fact, according to the article, this was never even tested on an actual
autonomous car's software - he just spoofed a commercial LIDAR system and
extrapolated from there.
~~~
archycockroach
"Ultimately, this latest car hacking is yet another signal that industries
usually disassociated from data security now need to start taking it
seriously."
Garbage.
------
scoot
_" Petit began by recording pulses from a commercial Ibeo Lux Lidar unit.
Discovering the pulses weren’t encoded or encrypted, he could simply use them
at a later time to fool the unit into believing objects were there when they
weren’t." _
That appears to answer my longstanding question as to what might happen when
multiple vehicles using lidar are on the road at the same time. (Pulse timing
notwithstanding of course, but given enough cars and enough time it could be
periodically problematic.)
However, regarding stopping a car with fake laser generated obstacles - that's
nothing that can't be done with real "obstacles". A roll of paper or aluminium
foil stretched across the road can't be discriminated from a solid object, and
a a few empty cardboard boxes are as good as concrete blocks to a self driving
car.
Or even just standing in the road yourself if you have sufficient faith in the
technology.
~~~
analog31
I suspect that the lidar signals could be modulated in the same way that cell
phone signals are, so that a population of cars can share a single laser
wavelength without confusing one another.
------
Robdgreat
Ever since I first played Need For Speed 2, I've fantasised about a real-life
version of the ROADRAGE cheat code I could use to cause those doing the rest
of us on the road a disservice to flip over with a mere honk of my horn. We're
not there yet, but this is a clearly a step in the right direction.
------
jedberg
You can disable a human driven car the same way, and you don't even need the
Raspberry Pi.
------
redthrowaway
You don't need the Raspberry Pi to disable a human-driven one.
~~~
mirimir
Randomly pointing lasers at vehicles is a good way to get shot. Just sayin' ;)
~~~
chx
USA, baby, USA! Feel threatened? Answer with deadly force, it's the only way.
~~~
mirimir
Laser gun sights are very common in the US. So for some people, it's more than
just "feeling threatened". They're arguably too paranoid. And irresponsible.
But being right about that won't help if they shoot you.
------
chipsy
I remember how when laser pointers started proliferating there was a media
panic over their potential use in downing aircraft and blinding people.
Schools swiftly moved to ban them(I recall being in a few assemblies where
someone brought in a pointer and caused some mild, easily ignored disruption).
Regardless, the world hasn't blown up. You can still legally own a laser
pointer in most countries, subject to various power limits. The risks and
responsibilities involved in their use are real, but have to be weighed
against every other hazard.
------
andrewchambers
The police will crack down on you as hard or harder than if you just pointed a
laser pointer at human drivers. You can get very long prison sentences already
for doing this.
~~~
veb
They already do to people who do this to aircraft!
------
rfrey
Who needs a laser? Self driving cars can be disabled with a three dollar box
of roofing nails.
~~~
mikeash
Yeah, but at least they're immune to two-dollar boxes.
------
JabavuAdams
Who did the industrial design on these cars? What's the target market?
I love the tech, and I love the goal, but I might refuse to ride in one of
these just because they look too retarded.
EDIT> This may seem frivolous, but I see it as a huge barrier to adoption. At
least make them look cool, not like preschool toys.
~~~
sigmar
>Who did the industrial design on these cars? What's the target market?
No one did the industrial design. It isn't a product, it is a prototype to
test a technology.
~~~
JabavuAdams
Right, but someone had to create that image, even if it's CG. The image itself
is a liability to the eventual product's marketing.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Why html thinks 'chucknorris' is a color - andrewhillman
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8318911/why-does-html-think-chucknorris-is-a-color
======
eth0up
Be thankful that's all it does:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr_X10iYeP8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr_X10iYeP8)
Imagine if he did that to the whole internet.
------
combatentropy
That's awesome
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Earth Needs Fewer People to Beat the Climate Crisis, Scientists Say - harambaebae69
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/population-control-critical-part-climate-150004993.html
======
Bostonian
A contrasting viewpoint that I agree with is
[https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-03-14/want-t...](https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-03-14/want-
to-help-fight-climate-change-have-more-children) Want to Help Fight Climate
Change? Have More Children Don’t feel guilty about bringing children into a
warming world. Be hopeful that they can help solve the problem. By Tyler Cowen
Bloomberg March 14, 2019, 10:00 AM EDT
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Rampant Piracy Will Be The Kindle DX’s Savior - vaksel
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/09/rampant-piracy-will-be-the-kindle-dxs-savior/
======
falsestprophet
_Just find the book you want in PDF form, upload it to your Kindle over USB,
and you’ve got a perfectly readable and convenient textbook._
I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that students are just going to
skip the $500 kindle part of this plan.
~~~
jkincaid
I don't think so. You've been able to get PDF versions of many books (both
textbooks and novels) for a few years. I've never met anyone who actually
printed one out or read an entire book from their computer, save for maybe a
leaked Harry Potter book.
~~~
ramchip
As a student, I can say that the point isn't always to read the whole book:
the kind of textbook you'd want in a PDF form tends to be large reference
books which you can search quickly in a PDF reader. But I'm used to working
and reading whole books on the screen, and believe it or not there are quite a
few legal ones: for example I work with a few art books whose copyright has
expired a long time ago, and I read a lot of research papers in PDF.
------
gyeh
An alternative business model for the textbook industry (even with rampant
piracy):
_"... publishers could move to a more sustainable model in which the textbook
is priced close to the cost of printing and shipping (say, $20), while all
students are charged a reasonable fee (say, $60) for what really matters,
which is the content of the textbook, the labs and homework exercises. Other
industries already use this model -- think hardware and software, or razors
and razor blades."_
[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2009/05...](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2009/05/07/AR2009050704299.html)
~~~
marcusbooster
This won't be popular but how about; classes choose which textbooks they
require, total cost per student is determined and added on to tuition, the
university can now distribute copies in digital or paper format. Keeping it
all electronic would lower costs all the way around and still get the authors
paid.
~~~
ramchip
My uni offers access to quite a few engineering books through
www.books24x7.com, which is somewhat similar to what you suggest. Teachers
usually suggest paper books though, so people can bring them to lectures, etc.
(about half the teachers forbid using laptops in class).
------
Herring
Thing is publishers actually have a good chance of convincing schools to add
textbooks to the tuition.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Americans keep buying veggies and then throwing them away - artsandsci
http://www.popsci.com/food-waste-healthy
======
douche
Tends to happen when vegetables are picked early, and are at the very tail end
of their shelf-life by the time they get shipped around the world and hit your
refrigerator.
If you grow your own, things last much, much longer. For instance, it's not
uncommon for my parents to have tomatoes kicking around ripening off on the
porch for a week or two, unrefrigerated. Don't try that at home with
supermarket vegetables.
Greens are probably the worst example. Ideally, you'd eat them the same day
they are picked, but that obviously doesn't work in the supermarket model.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Ask YC: Blogging software for App Engine - zeke77
Does anyone know of any blogging software that runs on App Engine? I am in the process of moving my personal site (which includes an integrated WordPress blog) to App Engine. Everything is moved over but the blog. I know I can link to an external blog, but I would much rather have it integrated into my site and be able to customize it and muck with the code.<p>Does anything like this exist yet, or do I need to make my own?
======
smoody
I haven't tried it yet, but you might want to take a look at this:
<http://bloog.billkatz.com/>
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Show HN: X-spreadsheet 1.0.28 – A JavaScript canvas spreadsheet for web - myliang
https://myliang.github.io/x-spreadsheet
======
rs23296008n1
Great stuff. A few things to fix.
Like how to add functions etc. This looks promising.
[https://github.com/myliang/x-spreadsheet/blob/master/src/cor...](https://github.com/myliang/x-spreadsheet/blob/master/src/core/formula.js)
------
fiatjaf
I wrote this many years ago:
[https://sheets.alhur.es/](https://sheets.alhur.es/)
The source code is somewhere on GitHub, but I don't remember where exactly, I
tried so many times to write a good spreadsheet. My final goal was to use them
to power-up a structured n-dimensional app for storing any kind of data and
visualizing it and doing computations like in a normal free-form spreadsheet.
------
myliang
[https://github.com/myliang/x-spreadsheet](https://github.com/myliang/x-spreadsheet)
------
llagerlof
I know a similar project. It has some years by now.
[https://ethercalc.net](https://ethercalc.net)
------
MR4D
Bummer. Can’t edit a cell on iPad.
Still not sure why Apple hasn’t figured this out. It’s my main reason for
still needing a laptop.
~~~
rs23296008n1
Apple still haven't learnt what Pro actually means yet. I'm not convinced they
like professionals using their tablets or even their computers for that
matter.
Note to rabid fanboys: don't bother. I use my ipad pro 12.9"s for making money
on a daily basis. I know where the faults are.
------
mdszy
entering a forumla completely breaks it
~~~
SanchoPanda
I can't tell if this is a bad build or maybe due a tracking thing, but running
it locally browserified runs everything perfectly, mobile included.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
OVH to invest 1.5B € in 10 data centers - mrb
https://twitter.com/OVH/status/763740561882898432
======
herbst
Everytime my server fails because of a hardware issues (happened 3 times to me
the last 2 years) the support blames me or the software i am running, then
hours later, still nothing working, i get a "automated" email that they now
fixed the hardware issue, and everything is working again.
I can really not recommend them for productive environments, but for big
servers that are not critical at all they have interesting offers.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
How I'm using Twitter to acquire 100 uniques a day for my startup - ngjjdkdk
http://trevorstarick.com/twitter-an-untapped-well-of-potential-new-users/?
======
dang
This post was upvoted by sockpuppets. We have banned those, buried the post,
and banned the site.
Edit: We're also banning the site of the startup this was promoting, since it
has been promoted abusively on HN in the past and asking for that to stop [1]
seems only to have encouraged more.
1\.
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7637010](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7637010)
~~~
trevorstarick
I don't get why there seems to be hostility towards Outpost. On both occasion
([https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7637010](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7637010)
and the current) the articles have been relevant to the YC community and to my
knowledge hadn't been up voted by sock puppets that we created or operated.
This article mentioned Outpost once and wasn't even centred around it. I could
have replaced Outpost with any other company and it still would have same
purpose.
~~~
dang
Our hostility is to abuse and gaming of HN. If you aren't doing it, it must be
someone else. In that case, their dedication to promoting your personal blog
is remarkable.
They managed to find their way to both of your own (now deleted) submissions
of this article from medium.com, and then helpfully re-submitted it from your
personal domain and ring-voted it up. They don't seem interested in anything
else, either. Quite the fans.
------
gone35
The idea of directly engaging potential users actively seeking/asking for a
particular product/service on Twitter is very interesting; but unfortunately
the way you are implementing it right now is unethical and in violation of
Twitter's Automation Rules and Best Practices [1]:
"Creating serial or bulk accounts with overlapping use, however, is
prohibited."
I initially thought you were using your company's own Twitter account for
messaging people; instead, by your own admission [2], you have resorted to
using multiple 'realistic' accounts:
[https://twitter.com/search?q=outpost.travel](https://twitter.com/search?q=outpost.travel)
This kind of growth hacking is misleading and unethical, and I think it has no
place in Hacker News.
[1] [https://support.twitter.com/groups/56-policies-
violations/to...](https://support.twitter.com/groups/56-policies-
violations/topics/237-guidelines/articles/76915-automation-rules-and-best-
practices)
[2]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7720634](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7720634)
~~~
consta
Well you can always argue what is right and what wrong. Very true, it is a
violation of the Twitter terms of services but I still appreciate it for
sharing with the HN community.
There has also been a post about Darkmarket
([https://github.com/darkwallet/darkmarket](https://github.com/darkwallet/darkmarket))
on HN. Again, I do not encourage trading illegal goods at all but as a proof
of concept it is still impressive.
------
Theodores
The amount of startup-culture Kool Aid going on here is quite mesmerising.
First the product, 'let's aggregate the aggregators!!!'
The monetization: those affiliate marketing codes everyone else uses!!!
Then there is the user acquisition strategy. Getting some intern to post stuff
to Twitter for you.
The spin off product: a Twitter spamming machine!
Then there is 'sharing economy'. Is this really all it amounts to?
~~~
untog
Hacker News is so much more honest at this time of day, before Silicon Valley
wakes up.
It'll never last, they're going to disrupt us any second now.
~~~
dang
I'm not sure what you find honest about this behavior, but you're right that
it isn't welcome on Hacker News.
------
vidarh
Have you considered what potential there is for scaling in up? Because if all
you are getting that way is 100 uniques a day, the effort involved sounds like
it'd make it a net loss compared to simply buying the traffic via paid
advertising. If the tweets continue to generate additional referrals down the
line, then of course it might change.
But frankly, having seen the travel space up close, I find this system more
interesting than your startup...
~~~
techaddict009
Asking out of curiosity Is it legal to automate tweet in twitter? I mean if
twitter detects someone is doing so wont they ban them?
Edit: I Read the post properly the replies are manual not automatic so I don't
twitter will have any issue with it.
~~~
drazion
It might be ok to automate tweets, but this particular service might run afoul
of Twitter's spam rules
Per Twitters Rules for Identification of Spam[1]
-If your updates consist mainly of links, and not personal updates;
-If you send large numbers of unsolicited @replies or mentions in an aggressive attempt to bring attention to a service or link;
[1][https://support.twitter.com/articles/18311#](https://support.twitter.com/articles/18311#)
------
phpnode
If this trick is still really working for you, please, do yourself a favour
and shut up about it. Drawing attention to it is not going to end well for
you, either twitter shuts you down or people just copy your idea and it loses
effectiveness. The correct time to write about these things is when they stop
working.
~~~
imjared
All he's doing is smartly parsing the results of Twitter searches. This isn't
really groundbreaking, it just requires some legwork.
~~~
phpnode
I agree, but the general point is that specific marketing tricks that work
well should be hoarded, not shared, because sharing them destroys their value.
~~~
gk1
> "because sharing them destroys their value."
... Why?
Because it'll lower your competitive advantage? If your main competitive
advantage is knowing about some cheap Twitter trick--sorry, I mean "Growth
Hack"\--then you need to rethink your game plan.
~~~
phpnode
because sharing them makes them stop working. No one said anything about this
being his main competitive advantage.
------
austenallred
I wrote something similar to this, but more for the layman. Kind of a step-by-
step guide to Twitter user acquisition. [http://www.austenallred.com/the-
hackers-guide-to-the-first-1...](http://www.austenallred.com/the-hackers-
guide-to-the-first-1000-users-twitter/)
Before we launched were were getting about 50 signups/day from Twitter at our
landing page - around 150 visits.
------
phea
This is unscrupulous, even the account that submitted this to HN is only 3
hours old and I'm guessing most of the upvotes have been faked.
~~~
trevorstarick
My account had posted it from Medium earlier but I realized how SLOOW it was
loading so I loaded up a Ghost Blog droplet for Digital Ocean and reposted it
there. I needed a new account to post it on behalf of so a smashed my
keyboard. Voial!
~~~
dang
The reason you didn't address what phea said is that you promoted this story
through abusive techniques. So abusive, in fact, that we're banning your main
account too, as well as this site.
Edit: We're also banning the site that you've abusively promoted here in the
past [1].
1\.
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7637010](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7637010)
------
crixlet
I'm not affiliated with it, but LeadSift does something similar to this and is
actually pretty good at it for picking up new lead opportunities
[http://leadsift.com/](http://leadsift.com/).
------
mhp
This post is doing something a bit different and probably more useful, but it
reminds me of the people that search Twitter for mentions of their competitors
and then try to convince those people to use their product instead. I see this
every once in awhile when I search for our product mentions and it makes me
sad. I'm sad because it's a huge waste of time for them and they are actually
damaging their brand (not ours).
Even though Twitter is public, there's still a sense that some random person
isn't just going to start replying to your tweets.
------
rbobby
I wonder if they are using paid interns or unpaid interns? Makes me wonder if
the cost of paid interns was put towards regular advertising whether it would
generate a better return.
~~~
givehimagun
Unpaid interns would be a violation of labor laws if you're simply not paying
them for work you would normally pay for.
------
NIL8
99% of the time this technique will not be worth while.
However, there are niche markets where this could be useful. This is
especially true when the user has a limited means to pay for ads.
------
pnathan
This isn't a complete story.
\- How many of those users convert to cash in the bank and recurring
customers?
\- Has this actually resulted in a better ROI than other means?
\- Does this sort of semi-solicited tweet advertising gain or lose goodwill?
From a tech standpoint, this is cool, from a business standpoint, it's not
proven yet from this writeup. IMO.
------
esMazer
Security Notification
Per company security policy you have been denied access to the website:
[http://trevorstarick.com/twitter-an-untapped-well-of-
potenti...](http://trevorstarick.com/twitter-an-untapped-well-of-potential-
new-users/)
Reason: Not allowed to browse this Botnet site.
------
chippy
The thing to remember here is that the replies are being crafted by a human.
It's a very sensible thing to do.
If you were to use the same procedure but send the replies off using a bot and
the API, then I believe that it would be against the Twitter ToS.
~~~
trevorstarick
It was what I originally was planning on doing but felt that a personal
response would be better than a bot. During the hours of 3am - 9am I do set it
up to be auto replies but there's not much traffic anyways. There are similar
Twitter bots that do this and I've spoken to someone from Twitter about a grey
of the ToS area I might be able to work in.
~~~
Nogwater
If there isn't that much traffic between 3am and 9am, then why is it worth it
to spam during those hours?
------
sireat
File this nothing new under the sun,
I know a few people who worked on a startup doing exactly this some 2-3 years
ago.
Problem was it would not really scale plus Twitter really limited the free
pipe.
There were a lot of hotels interested, but not enough to pay.
------
mikkom
"How I'm spamming Twitter to acquire 100 uniques in a day"
~~~
shawabawa3
To be fair, if you post a question on twitter you can hardly call it spam if
someone answers it, even if it's with their own product
~~~
mikkom
I think the question is, how spammy would you think if 1000 other people would
do the same? How relevant would the answers be if every answer would have 100s
of answers from bots that are advertising their service?
~~~
wpietri
Not sure why you're getting downvoted. "What if everybody did that?" is a
great framework for considering the effects of novel behaviors.
~~~
knewter
literally is just Kantian ethics
------
uptown
Great innovative lead-gen. I'm more curious about your database of
destinations. Do you have formal partnerships with the sites you're linking-to
to syndicate their listings?
------
alecsmart1
Am wondering if there are an API based services which can be used for NLP?
Something cheap because the number of messages to be processed will be
extremely large.
~~~
izendejas
Not sure what your budget is like, but here's one that does entity extraction
and classification.
[https://www.mashape.com/jetlore-dev/semantic-text-
processing...](https://www.mashape.com/jetlore-dev/semantic-text-
processing#!documentation)
Demo:
[http://dev.jetlore.com/tech-demo/text-processing-
api/entity-...](http://dev.jetlore.com/tech-demo/text-processing-api/entity-
extractor)
Disclosure: I used to work for Jetlore.
------
joushx
As an very active twitter user this kind of behaviour is very anoying for me.
I would never klick one of these.
------
AliAdams
I think AirBnB might have a problem with your website's design.
------
josefresco
Wondering how much of this new traffic converted into customers...
------
ZirconCode
"they’re are" _twitch_
------
0xjvm
Glorified spam.
------
trevorstarick
I'm planning on doing a more in-depth write up on how NER/NLP in the
tweetosphere is different that general NER/NLP which will by me technical
explanation of what I did here. That should be up sometime later this week.
~~~
brianbreslin
Can you elaborate more on how having these specific tweets helps your specific
startup or how you are converting them from casual tweeters to your new users?
Right now there is a big disconnect in the post. I am guessing its because you
assume the reader understands even what ner/nlp is
------
ashwin_kumar
"Over the past decade"? Actually founded on March 21, 2006
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter))
:)
~~~
trevorstarick
Over the past eight years didn't sound as sexy.
~~~
teach
Be very very careful with this sort of thing. Try "the better part of a
decade" if you want a phrase with a similar ring but actual truth behind it.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Is it really a Leonardo? - howrude
https://aeon.co/essays/why-the-expert-eye-still-rules-the-game-of-art-authenticity
======
craigcannon
Related: The Mark of a Masterpiece -
[https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/07/12/the-mark-
of-a-...](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/07/12/the-mark-of-a-
masterpiece)
~~~
kevinwang
Wow, that was a wild ride
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Neo-nomads transform a laptop, cell phone and coffeehouse into their office - farmer
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/03/11/MNGKKOCBA645.DTL
======
chris_l
How on earth can they concentrate on their work in a cafe?
~~~
lupin_sansei
Exactly. If you can't afford office space why not do your programming in a
university library? Lot's of good reference materials at hand and places to
hang out too.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Ask HN: If you had $500 to spend on Startup services – what would they be? - Lindathefounder
I recently won a competition and got this small yet fun reward. Since I only need a premium WIX account and a server, i'm having a hard time thinking of other "essential services" to spend this money on. I only have a few more days to do so.<p>Any ideas??<p>Thanks!
======
kleampa
if your startup is a web app, an user onboarding tool would be recommended.
eg: onboardx.com
~~~
Lindathefounder
Perfect. Thank you!
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Quora Video - allenleein
https://productupdates.quora.com/Video-on-Quora?ref=producthunt&share=1
======
crispytx
Seems like Quora is going after a big chunk of YouTube's market. Pretty much
everyone uses YouTube for this sort of thing. It'll be interesting to see if
they'll be able to pull this off.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Facebook testing new homepage? - jetupper
http://i.imgur.com/ewWQX.png?1
======
jonrussell
What device was this captured on, and where in the world was it taken? Hard to
say it is testing anything without more details, ie is this the app sign-in
screen or Web-based? Can you provide more info?
Certainly it is a cleaner and more aesthetically pleasing look though.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
If all of scientific knowledge were to be destroyed what would you pass on? - bootload
http://seedmagazine.com/content/print/starting_over/
======
watchandwait
The list in the article is terrible. Mostly evolution or biosphere mumbo-jumbo
that says more about our time today than helping humanity start over.
I'd pass along the idea of the scientific method, that through observation,
hypothesis, and testing we can advance knowledge in a cumulative way.
~~~
bootload
_"... You can make sense of anything that changes smoothly in space or time,
no matter how wild and complicated it may appear, by reimagining it as an
infinite series of infinitesimal changes, each proceeding at a constant (and
hence much simpler) rate, and then adding all those simple little changes back
together to reconstitute the original whole. ..."_
Ever heard of the Watts/Strogatz model? ~
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watts_and_Strogatz_model>
------
anateus
Several of these seem to be "a clever thing about my field" rather than a
Reboot Keyphrase such as the one Feynman provided.
I particularly enjoyed Steven Strogatz's phrase which attempts to encapsulate
calculus and thus impart the mathematical underpinnings that Newton did--thus
providing for the first time that leap in predictive powers of human-created
models that spurred the _belief_ in our ability to truly understand the world
around us.
That is, it's one of the few phrases that I think would _generate the impetus
for further study_ , rather than relying on that drive to be there.
------
pavlov
The proposed nuggets of information seem too complex and abstract to survive
after the "reboot".
In that environment, the seed phrase would essentially be a message from
supernatural beings. It would need to be simple enough not to get distorted
beyond recognition when it is orally transferred by nomadic tribes in the
desert who are likely to be more interested in instructions concerning
circumcision and goat-slaughter than the details of double-helix molecules
(think Bible, Quran).
------
patio11
Boil water prior to drinking it.
------
michaelcampbell
Skepticism and the importance of rigor and the scientific method.
------
fractallyte
A shopping list: 'Pound pastrami, can kraut, six bagels - bring home for Emma'
That should be _just_ sufficient... ;-)
------
petervandijck
Diseases spread by viruses and such, wash your hands.
------
kunjaan
Godel's incompleteness theorem.
------
ilkhd2
I would pass a description, how to make a Gutenberg Press. Everything else
will come up afterwards.
~~~
pavlov
The printing press may not be all that useful on its own, if the culture
doesn't have a framework for thought development that printing could
accelerate.
The Chinese had printing technology long before Gutenberg, but it did not
spread to Europe, nor the Middle East where the Islamic culture was
intellectually advanced. It was only after the Renaissance that the cultural
and political atmosphere was ripe for mass distribution of accumulated
knowledge and dissenting opinion.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Samsung Galaxy S now #1 in Japan, displacing iPhone 4 - Garbage
http://www.bgr.com/2010/11/04/samsung-galaxy-s-now-1-in-japan-displacing-iphone-4/
======
JunkDNA
"the Galaxy S managed to take the top spot, though only when considering the
32GB and 16GB iPhone models individually."
Bit of a link-bait headline.
------
jlgosse
Also not news since the iPhone 4 has been out FOREVER when compared to the
Galaxy S
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
New class of attack on cryptosystems discovered (vid included) - nickb
http://citp.princeton.edu/memory/
======
tptacek
This isn't an attack on cryptosystems, unless you torture the definition, so
that SSL/HTTPS is no longer a "cryptosystem", but rather "SSL/HTTPS deployed
on Dell Inspirons talking to IBM Blade servers running Apache".
As Spaff points out in the comments on Felten's blog, DRAM reminiscence isn't
new.
As another commenter points out, stealing DRAM chips from wakeful computers is
slightly outside the threat model for full-disk encryption. The purpose of
full-disk encryption is so that Fortune 500 companies don't have to issue
press releases every time someone loses a laptop. The new guidance to those
companies may now be to disallow "sleep" mode until disk encryption systems
get effective at zeroing keys before sleeping.
Problems like this are what motivates things like the Intel TPM.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Show HN: Automate QA Pipelines for Heroku Review Apps - creichert
https://assertible.com/blog/automating-qa-pipelines-for-heroku-review-apps
======
creichert
I love how trivial it is to get unique disposable environments for each GitHub
pull request automatically w/ Heroku.
This post talks about how to enhance review apps with automated post-deploy QA
testing. In short:
\- push commits to GitHub PR
\- CI builds the code
\- Heroku deploys code to a temporary environment
\- Assertible runs automated tests against unique Review App environment URL
\- Assertible flags GitHub status check as pass or fail, dependending on the
results of the tests.
Interested to hear how other people are executing smoke tests & acceptance
tests _after_ deployments.
~~~
vimpire_
This is actually a pretty cool workflow for teams on GitHub: set up a suite of
smoke tests to run after every push on a PR, before manual QA, and before
prod.
I'd love to hear how other teams run automated tests during development or any
similar workflows.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
The HTTP 500 Solution - newscasta
http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2015-11-27-the-HTTP-500-solution.html
======
jessaustin
Somewhat agree with comments on TFA that 500 is in a sense more rude than 400.
The point stands, however, that one owes no details to obnoxious requests.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
The Story So Far (Y Combinator Startup Auctomatic) - JohnN
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6921893.stm
======
edgeztv
Hey Kul, it was good running into you guys at eBay Live. Unlike Auctomatic, we
(mystorespace.com) went the guerrilla route that day :) Our story is at
mystorespace.blogspot.com.
We also got swamped with requests for accounts the week after eBay Live.
Working around the clock, we managed to launch our Beta two weeks later (also
after having given more optimistic predictions up front - not the best way to
go :).
Just emailed you guys with some ideas.
~~~
jamongkad
Nice I was working on the same idea a few months back. Is this like Viaweb?
~~~
edgeztv
Viaweb 2.0 :)
I'd be happy to discuss in more detail. Email: alex "at" mystorespace.com
------
joshwa
Still not launched? and not even an ETA? So much for launching at eBay Live...
Lesson: don't announce a launch until you're darn ready to release the
thing...
~~~
kul
fair point Josh, lesson learnt.
~~~
joshwa
Sorry, don't mean to be a pain--- I was just anxious as your customers to see
what the product really looks like (in a past life I did a fair amount of ebay
stuff).
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
America Desperately Needs AI Talent, Immigrants Included - smacktoward
https://breakingdefense.com/2019/12/america-desperately-needs-ai-talent-immigrants-included/
======
rowanG077
More AI talent? I feel that industry is already overstaffed and hyped to the
max.
------
tabtab
When the AI bubble pops, will they go home? I was in the middle of the dot-com
bust, and the visa workers didn't go home, making finding a job in CA
difficult. I had to go out of state.
~~~
tabtab
I didn't mean to come across as a bigot. My poor score suggests that's how
it's being interpreted, though. The _stated_ purpose of the visa program is to
solve "labor shortages". If there is no longer a shortage (such as shortly
after a bubble poppage), then in theory the visa workers should be let go.
Lack of IT jobs on the West coast made life tough for my family back then, and
it was partly caused by the presence of visa workers. I'm just calling it as
it was. These laws have direct consequences on people's lives.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
How to exit vim in 5 simple steps - CodeLikeAGirl
https://code.likeagirl.io/help-i-was-using-git-to-commit-some-code-and-now-the-window-has-changed-and-i-dont-know-what-s-9348a27e145b
======
IncRnd
Or, after you hit escape and enter command line mode, you may choose to type q
immediately followed by !.
This sequence will quit while also overriding the saving of the file. This can
come in handy if you accidentally change a file after you start editing it.
Escape:q!
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Is a home tech company still a viable idea? - forca
I've thought about starting a home-based tech company that deals with individual home owners and SOHO types as well as smaller businesses. Is this still a viable business model in 2014 and beyond.<p>I'm referring to home network setups, malware removal, OS installs, etc. Is this viable anymore what with the cloud all the rage?
======
timrosenblatt
It depends on what exactly you're asking, and what your goals are.
Is the question: Can I earn a living wage for myself by selling my skills
around setting up hardware and software for end-users?
or is the question: Can I start a company that I can grow upwards of 10+
people by providing home and small business hardware and software support?
or is the question something else?
Ultimately, the answer is "probably yes". Hardware and software is
complicated. Not everyone knows everything they need. When this happens,
people are typically willing to pay for qualified help.
The specific economics of this come down to the market and your costs.
~~~
forca
Tim,
Thank you for replying. I suppose "yes" and "yes" is the best answer to your
questions.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.