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Shelley: macOS menu bar app that runs shell scripts upon authorized HTTP request - miles https://tyler.io/shelley/ ====== csilverman I have an iOS Shortcut that SSHs into my Mac and runs scripts. It’s pretty simple; I only use it to remotely launch/quit Slack, but I could probably do a lot more if I had a reason to. It’s cool to see somebody else mention Hazel. I love that app—it’s one of the most useful apps I have—but nobody else seems to use it. ~~~ skinnymuch Like the author said. I have no clue what to use Hazel for. Keyboard Maestro I get. ------ hellomyfriends you can do that with pure nginx/apache or almost any webserver as well, it's called CGI ~~~ AdamJacobMuller The first programming work I ever did was with CGI, about 25 years ago, writing bash scripts to control playing MP3s using webmin's HTTP server (I think Apache was too complex for me to figure out how to setup at the time). I'd be lying if I said I was't a bit sad that we've gone so far that CGI isn't even in the thought process for this problem. ------ captn3m0 cool hack, but remember to turn this off at untrusted networks. ~~~ black3r or just add a https proxy before it before it..., even better, use a https tunnel service like ngrok to allow automating stuff from anywhere not only from your local LAN.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Show HN: DueFocus – Comprehensive time tracker for freelancers - androsipen https://duefocus.com/ ====== vovkvovk cool application	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Even Faster WebAssembly: Cheerp 2.0 Surpasses Emscripten for Speed and Size - multimillion https://medium.com/leaningtech/cheerp-2-0-release-880f249a5677 ====== pumanoir Great to see alternatives to emscripten. I’m definitely going to try this one out, I’m especially interested in the smaller size ( compared to emscripten) promised by this tool. And for the people want to do swift to webassembly check out air by remobjects.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: How popular is Python for web applications? - 3dfan Python has seen crazy growth over the last 5 years:<p>https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=php,javascript,python,ruby<p>Is that because everyone and their dog are now writing AI software, or is it also widely used for other areas?<p>In particular, I would be interested how popular it is to write web applications in Python these days. ====== jamil7 Django is used widely for CRUD apps or any area you'd typically use Rails. Flask is also a popular option among developers and theres been a few new generation python microframeworks focused around ASGI popup in the last few years. I haven't used it for years but my girlfriend uses it heavily for scientific computing and data science which is I'd say where a big chunk of it's userbase is.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Here's How Microsoft Competes With "Free" Android - msredmond http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-charges-more-for-licensing-6-patents-than-it-does-for-windows-phone-7-2011-4 ====== jcr Does anyone know which six Microsoft patents are claimed to be infringed by android?	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
In-N-Out Secret Menu Survival Guide - jasonwilk http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2011/03/the-in-n-out-survival-guide-we-ate-every-single-item-on-the-secret-menu.html ====== anateus Denny's has free wifi, open 24/7, free caffeine refills, stabbings are _quite_ rare, basically a hacker's dream. So, Denny's Bacon Hack: You can order a side of bacon (4 strips) for about $3 or... order a Grand Slam Breakfast and make all 4 components be the bacon (2 strips each), giving you 8 for about $5, a saving of $0.125 per strip! Those savings sure add up during an all night coding/bacon tear. ------ AmericanOP Next time you're at Chipotle ask for half-and-half meat (e.g. half chicken half carne asada)- you usually wind up with way more protein than you normally would since nobody wants to give you less than half a scoop (x2). I think I found my answer to the 'successful hack of some (non-computer) system' question. ~~~ georgieporgie Now, _that_ could be considered a restaurant hack. Writing a blog post about discovering a well-documented 'secret' (i.e. "we want the general population to order quickly") menu is not hacking. At all. Also, I'm sorry to say that In-n-Out is simply not that good. There are countless local, independents that serve a much better burger, and have a variety of fresh, seasonal shakes. ~~~ rms I've found it to be true that In-n-Out isn't that good on an absolute scale, but it's great for how cheap it is. I can definitely get a better grass fed beef hamburger for $10 (or an even better one made from the ground lamb at the Berkeley Bowl for $8.99/pound) but haven't had a better _fast food_ burger than In-n-Out. ~~~ georgieporgie _haven't had a better fast food burger than In-n-Out._ I have. Also, the only places serving burgers I've been to that aren't fast food are the few gourmet burger restaurants. The problem may be that you're in the Bay Area (the burrito capital of the world, IMO). ------ chopsueyar Chik-Fil-A Hack(more like an easter egg): Employees are required to say "My pleasure" whenever a customer says thank you. I try to see how many times I can get them to say "My pleasure." ------ wtn The only hack you need is fries with no salt. This order ensures that you will get your fries piping hot, as they must create a fresh salt-free batch. ~~~ mambodog Then ask for some salt. ~~~ wtn You could. I prefer ketchup, which has plenty of sodium itself. Also, it cools piping hot fries, ------ arepb List of hidden menu items [http://www.yelp.com/topic/san-francisco-in-n-out- secret-menu...](http://www.yelp.com/topic/san-francisco-in-n-out-secret-menu ---longer-than-the-actual-menu) ------ ghshephard Unfortunately, as a (very) regular patron of the relatively new In-n-Out on Veterans Blvd in Redwood City, I can attest that many of these items aren't actually known to all In-N-Out outlets/cashiers. In particular, the Flying Dutchman is not very well known, and cashiers either try to order (A) A protein style Double-Double (with all of the sauce), or, (B) when they enter it as a Z-Plain Protein, I don't get the cheese. So - at the end of the day, I've had the most success carefully describing exactly how I want my burger prepared - they are pretty much prepared to do anything. Use the Secret Menu as a guide, but be prepared for Cashiers _not_ to know some of the names. ~~~ rexf Have you ever seen anyone order the Flying Dutchman? Someone must order it every now and then, but it's more novelty than meal candidate. (I tend to go with the Double-Double w/ onions. If I'm feeling particularly unhealthy, I'll get animal style fries.) I wouldn't order the Flying Dutchman (just meat + cheese). If you do, then more power to you. ~~~ ghshephard It's actually the only thing I order at In-N-Out - It's a pretty good low-carb snack. ------ robflynn I ended up falling in love with this page: [http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/07/the-burger- lab-h...](http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/07/the-burger-lab-how-to- make-an-in-n-out-double-double-animal-style.html) His reconstruction of the in-n-out double-double animal style. I miss it so much from my time in California. I anxiously await returning to the area, but until then, I may just have to recreate the experience following his plan. ------ josh33 Didn't realize that animal style including cooking the mustard into the patty ~~~ arepb And curiously, Animal Style fries don't include mustard. ------ mayukh Spent $55 ordering the entire menu ? pretty cool ------ chopsueyar McDonald's has "All-American" Hamburger and Cheeseburger meals. It is a small fries, small drink, and single-patty burger. ------ brokentone Nice writeup. Engaging writing and good idea, ordering it all at once on a story that has otherwise been beat to death. As an aside, I'm surprised at how many of my college friends don't know about the secret menu despite growing up on In-n-Out. ------ dclaysmith I loved this article on the Mc10:35. [http://www.geekologie.com/2010/03/secret_mcdonalds_menu_item...](http://www.geekologie.com/2010/03/secret_mcdonalds_menu_items_th.php) ------ tastybites You can get any of the sauces they put in the burgers on the side to dip your fries into also. On a related note, I recently at at 5 guys and it was 2x as expensive and about 1/2 as good as in-n-out. Anyone who says it's better is absolutely nuts. They expanded too fast. ------ jawartak When my co-founder and I went to interview for YC W11, the _only_ good restaurant near our hotel was an In-n-Out. We were there for four days. We didn't find out about the secret menu until dinner of the fourth day... ------ cachemoney Just because you put the word "Hacking" in the title, doesn't mean there's actual hacking involved. Flagged. ~~~ jeromec Oh come on! I enjoyed that _immensely_ and if it wasn't on HN I would have never knew about it. As a native Californian I feel truly well-equipped now. I had known about the Animal styles, and extra meats, but almost everything else is unbelievably new. BTW, another trick I learned which wasn't mentioned in the article is _dipping your fries in your milkshake_. Try it, trust me. ~~~ SoftwareMaven Fries in a Wendy's frosty is far superior. There is something about the consistency that is just _right_. For those who haven't tried it, just think of it as the American fast-food version of Thai food: that magic combination of sweet and savory. ~~~ chopsueyar Ask anyone who works at Wendy's how often the frosty machine is cleaned.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Linux from Scratch - findaway http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/ ====== drallison IMHO the best way to learn about Linux.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: Which YC Company does A/B Testing for anything - ismail I remember reading an article or blog post, there was a YC company that did A/B testing but could be used for offline. What is it called? Are they still around? ====== mwsilver SigOpt - [http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/12/sigopt- launch/](http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/12/sigopt-launch/) ------ hkailahi Optimizely ([https://www.optimizely.com](https://www.optimizely.com))?	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Restoring YC's Xerox Alto day 7: experiments with disk and Ethernet emulators - dwaxe http://www.righto.com/2016/09/restoring-ycs-xerox-alto-day-7.html ====== makomk Ahh, the quirks of FPGA development. If I recall correctly, you shouldn't use tristate signals internally because there's actually no such thing within any modern or even semi-modern FPGA (and I believe the same may even be true of ASIC development). ~~~ cnvogel The hardware internally doesn't use tristate signals, but your VHDL compiler _should_ be smart enough to turn... pin <= 'Z' WHEN tristate ELSE '0' WHEN zero ELSE '1'; ...into an instantiation of a tristate IO-buffer on an external "pin" which can high-Z. Sometimes the logic isn't that trivial, though, and you (as a programmer) might not realize that your code actually prohibits the pin from going 'Z'... (or you've confused the VHDL compiler). Better stick to something explicitly simple as the code above, or directly instantiate a bidirectional I/O pin from your chip vendor's VHDL library: the_pin: IOBUF port map ( T => tristate, -- '1' == high_z I => data_out, -- data leaving the FPGA, may be tristated O => data_in, -- data entering the FPGA IO => pin); -- physical I/O pin ~~~ DigitalJack I wouldn't recommend letting a tool decide what your IO is supposed to be. ~~~ cnvogel There are cases where you absolutely must instantiate something from your vendor's libraries. But inference tristate I/O from a single concurrent statement will be safe (and also the recommended way to handle tristate i/o on the three platforms I've used). -- output data, driven active when \WR is LOW, high-Z otherwise d <= d_out WHEN wr_en_n = '0' ELSE (others => 'Z'); -- input data d_in <= d; Just don't bury the logic in some deeply nested if/else tree tree in a process or state machine, this is likely to not synthetize to what you had intended. :-). ------ bobsgame I love reading these write-ups. These guys have amazing skills! ~~~ 0xdeadbeefbabe It's time consuming enough without having to blog and take pictures. Sure is nice of them to take us along on the ride. ------ dudemcbacon These posts are great! I'd love to see more posts from vintage computer enthusiasts. Anyone know where they hang out? ~~~ jf The Computer History Museum has some special interest groups: [http://www.computerhistory.org/groups/](http://www.computerhistory.org/groups/) If you're in the SF Bay Area, I'd also suggest seeing the 1401 in person on Wednesdays (3:00 to 3:30) or Saturdays (11 - 11:30) - see also: [http://ibm-1401.info/](http://ibm-1401.info/) ------ digi_owl Love the clamped to the desk fat cable going from the board to the diablo drive. ~~~ kens It's a prototype - what do you expect? :-)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
The Algebra of Algebraic Data Types - dons http://chris-taylor.github.io/blog/2013/02/10/the-algebra-of-algebraic-data-types/ ====== crntaylor Author of the blog post here. It's amusing to see this submitted by Don Stewart, since it was his explanation[0] of algebraic data types that first made them "click" for me! I think I forgot to mention him in this post, but I remembered in the talk[1]. If anyone's interested in this and where else it might go, I recommend read Don's SO answer[0], this SO question and the related answers[2] and these papers [3,4] on derivatives and dissections by Conor McBride. There are also several good blog posts[5] and a paper[6] by Brent Yorgey on the topic of combinatorial species, and of course Dan Piponi's blog[7] is a treasure trove of interesting insights at the intersection of math, physics and computer science. [0] <http://stackoverflow.com/a/5917133/546084> [1] <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YScIPA8RbVE> (shitty audio for the first minute or 2 - it gets better). [2] [http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9190352/abusing-the- algeb...](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9190352/abusing-the-algebra-of- algebraic-data-types-why-does-this-work) [3] <http://strictlypositive.org/diff.pdf> [4] <https://personal.cis.strath.ac.uk/conor.mcbride/Dissect.pdf> [5] <http://byorgey.wordpress.com/> [6] <http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~byorgey/papers/species-pearl.pdf> [7] [http://blog.sigfpe.com/2010/08/divided-differences-and- tomog...](http://blog.sigfpe.com/2010/08/divided-differences-and-tomography- of.html) Edit: It should go without saying, but because a few people last time around seemed to think I was trying to pass this off as my own ideas, let me state that there is _nothing_ original in this blog post. It's a repackaging of the ideas and work of lots of other people, all of whom are way smarter than I am. ~~~ joe_the_user I don't mean to be negative, it's probably the material as much as you but as I read the article, I find a voice repeating "what is the point, where is this leading, why, why?". I mean, as I read the article, my impression is "here's verbose syntax that does describe types but whose relation to the tasks of an ordinary programming language, to getting things _done_ is left unexplained for too long for attention span, if it is explained at all". And I'm fairly mathematically sophisticated (MA a while back with some effort to keep current). It seems like the constructions "thrown on the floor" everything that happens in the creation of a type. But I can't understand what that does except make simple operations look like a giant mess. I would add that the stack overflow mentions that the construction is a way to construct an algebraic with "polymorphic parameterization". IE, Haskel uses the laws of algebra and some supplied primitives (AddL AddR, which you mention but don't define!)to calculate A + B. Perhaps if you make that explicit, the article wouldn't have the "floating in the clouds and never coming down" quality that it has for me now. ~~~ kenko Aside from the practical interest in defining zippers as noted in another response, isn't it enough that there be this interesting and (by many, anyway) unsuspected correspondence, that holds fairly deep down? I mean---taking the Taylor series of a type! After all, we are told that "anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity" is suitable for an HN submission, no? ~~~ joe_the_user Well, the correspondence sounds interesting but if remains just on the level of the unexplained, it is hard to see it really being interesting. If you define a function, call it a "type" and then take the Taylor series of that function, how mind blowing is that really? My point is that without a motivation to these constructions, they are just constructions. It may be everyone in-the-know understands the motivation already, knows why this thing labeled type really has a "deep" relation to an abstract type-thing. Fair enough but I'm just saying if one omits this motivation, your whole exercise doesn't look interesting to those not in-the- know, OK? ------ tmoertel If you find this way of looking at of algebraic data types strange, or want to understand why it is sound, pick up a textbook on analytic combinatorics (a great one is free [1]) because the parallels are _very_ close. (In analytic combinatorics, the goal is to count the objects in various combinatorial classes.) Part 2 of the linked-to article, for example, shows that the list data type data List a = Nil \| Cons a (List a) can be mapped to the algebraic form L(a) = 1 + a * L(a), having the solution L(a) = 1 / (1 - a). In analytic combinatorics, the sequence operator _F_ ( _a_ ), representing sequences of the underlying class _a_ , is given F(a) = 1 / (1 - f(a)) where _f_ ( _a_ ) is the ordinary generating function (OGF) representing the class _a_. It's basically the same as the list data type's representation, which is what we ought to expect since a list is just a sequence. [1] <http://algo.inria.fr/flajolet/Publications/book.pdf> ~~~ archgoon Robert Sedgewick also has created a Coursera course for analytic combinatorics where he develops some of the ideas in his book. <https://www.coursera.org/course/ac> The topic is incredible. Basically all the math you learn in Undergraduate mathematics gets pulled in to solve counting problems and perform algorithm analysis. It's inspiring. :) ------ brudgers For me, this was a great article. I deepened my admittedly limited understanding of algebra, and picked up a little of the flavor of Haskell in the process. "Every little bit helps," said the old lady as she pissed in the ocean. I now own a little less dumbass. ------ andrewflnr The idea that types are the same because the cardinalities of their sets of values are the same is weird. So my type for the days of the week is "equal" to my enumeration of the Seven Dwarves, and the sum of Maybe Bool and Bool->Bool? How is that a useful definition? ~~~ evincarofautumn They aren’t the same, they’re isomorphic—there exists some isomorphism between them, which is to say a bijective homomorphism, which is to say a one-to-one mapping between two algebraic structures, which is to say types. Category theory is too damn abstract. In any case, having isomorphic structures means that any transformation you apply to one can be applied to the other by way of a particular isomorphism. There is a “next” day of the week, in the same way that there is a “next” Dwarf by order of introduction[1], in the same way that there is a “next” value in this partial ordering I just made up for (Either (Maybe Bool) (Bool -> Bool)) which you can’t program in Haskell: Left Nothing < Left (Just False) < Left (Just True) < Right (const False) < Right id < Right not < Right (const True) [1]: Doc, Bashful, Sleepy, Sneezy, Happy, Dopey, and Grumpy.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Humanoid construction robot installs drywall - mavci https://www.engadget.com/2018/10/01/aist-humanoid-robot-installs-drywall/ ====== TaylorAlexander It’s a cool demo. We’re definitely getting better at making humanoids. I would guess this is a pretty “hard coded” demo designed to work for this exact room setup only. It’s going to be some time before we have the machine intelligence necessary to do enough for this robot to find a toolbox on its own, retrieve the necessary tools, unload the drywall from a truck, carry it to the room in question, install it, and complain about OSHA all autonomously. Still, I’ve never seen this before. We are making progress. Just keep in mind that an actual robot that would do this commercially is probably 20 years away. Someone else said 10-20, and I’m inclined to think 20+ is more realistic. As in, you hire robots for your construction because it’s cheaper/better. ~~~ sandov >It’s going to be some time before we have the machine intelligence necessary to do enough for this robot to find a toolbox on its own, retrieve the necessary tools, unload the drywall from a truck, carry it to the room in question, install it, and complain about OSHA all autonomously. I don't think it's necessary to develop machine intelligence to do some of those tasks. The toolbox could could emit EM pulses so the robot can find it, the tools could be put in a specific order and put back the same way by the robot, the drywall could have easy-to-remove arrow stickers so the robot knows how to find it's borders, etc. ~~~ phs318u Two and a half years ago I wrote a paper on "robotic automation" for a big financial services company. One of the conclusions was that, while the world of things was heretofore designed with humans in mind, in "the near future" (i.e. about where we are now), "stuff" would be designed for "machine-first" use, rather than "human-first" use. This isn't surprising. We've seen this before in the transition from "animal engines" to "steam engines" (think - the whole infrastructure around the care and feeding of the animals etc transitioning to manufacture, fuelling and support for steam engines). We're starting to see it now in the (slow) transition from "carbon-fuel transport" to "electric transport". ~~~ geezerjay > One of the conclusions was that, while the world of things was heretofore > designed with humans in mind, in "the near future" (i.e. about where we are > now), "stuff" would be designed for "machine-first" use, rather than "human- > first" use. This. Just to provide an example, humanity already has self-driving cars for decades, and they are deployed and are extensively used in public transoortation. The trick to solve this problem was to not force human- designed solutions to an automation problem. Thus, instead of trying to automate vehicles to run on roads, we have vehicles running on railway tracks. Problem solved. ------ ofrzeta Doesn't make much sense to me. Apart from the fact that a humanoid could walk to the workplace – which it probably can't. For the actual task it would be much easier to use a non-humanoid with a carriage and several axes. Also it is a bit of a hoax because the whole humanoid reporting kind of suggests the robot is autonomous while one the image you can see a camera mounted on top of the wall and there's probably some huge computer in the back. EDIT: Here's some actual information about the project: [https://www.aist.go.jp/aist_j/press_release/pr2018/pr2018092...](https://www.aist.go.jp/aist_j/press_release/pr2018/pr20180927/pr20180927.html) ~~~ function_seven > For the actual task it would be much easier to use a non-humanoid with a > carriage and several axes. True, but I think the idea is that you would be able to download the TileSetter update and use the same robot to finish the backsplash in the kitchen. Then, with the newly-released CoverWall module, you can put that robot to work gluing and applying wallpaper with perfect, no-seam precision. A carriage and several axes probably wouldn't handle the manipulation of wall coverings that diverse. ------ Animats Very nice. I'd like to see the video with no breaks or cuts, though. It's interesting to see this done as a job for which the robot does not have enough manipulators. This would be easier with two hands to handle the board and one hand to apply the fasteners. On a production line, you'd have some way to keep the workpiece firmly in place while inserting fasteners. But they did it the hard way, with a humanoid form and only loose control over the workpiece. Which is what humans do. They often just push workpieces against a fixed object for guidance rather than go for full clamping. ------ felipemnoa Slowly but surely we are getting there. This made me think of when digital cameras first came to market. Nobody took them seriously at first. I would not be surprised at all if within 10 or 20 years we have humanoid robots like these, but improved several orders of magnitude, available on the market. It will be another technological revolution. If it can do chores I will certainly be the first on line to buy my first model. ~~~ java-man I hope to see robots like this - or not humanoid at all - at the recycling centers sorting. There is no reason for humans to work there. ~~~ slapshot Single stream recycling is largely solved. Unsurprisingly, humanoid form factors aren't optimized for conveyor flows of materials. Lots of gates, air puffers, filters, size categorizers, etc. Maybe you could add an arm at the end, but there's no reason for the legs and torso of a humanoid robot. Example: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODu2kbpVSXg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODu2kbpVSXg) ~~~ java-man Thank you for posting this video! Very interesting. As for robots, I was envisioning a sort of multi-tentacle thing that hangs over the conveyor, with multiple cameras and manipulators that can quickly extend, grab a piece, and drop it into an appropriate bin. No need to have a humanoid form of course. ------ yardie Installing drywall is unsurprisingly easy. Just that just needs a driver, a jack and a bucket of screws. And the sheets are large enough where you can cover a room with just a dozen. What eats up time is the taping and mudding. It's what sets an abject amateur from a pro. ~~~ crescentfresh My god when I saw the title I thought how awesome it will be to see mudding automated. I was disappoint. I'm just starting on drywalling a repaired section of my basement. I'm only at the "get the drywall from the hardware store to the basement" phase, already that was hard enough and that was the easiest part. Ugh. ~~~ toasterlovin Mudding is a fucking pain in the ass. There's no other way to describe the utter frustration of what you are about to embark on. ------ purplezooey But can it apply skip trowel... that is the question ~~~ forgotAgain Ha, ha and sand it smooth. ------ stewfortier Whenever I see humanoid robots, I’m always reminded of this TechLoaf joke: [https://www.techloaf.io/2018/06/05/a-i-scores-sweet- summer-j...](https://www.techloaf.io/2018/06/05/a-i-scores-sweet-summer-job- as-lifeguard/) ------ madeuptempacct These things will be in prod in 5-10 years. Same with autonomous cars. Goodbye 5-10% of all jobs. [https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2016/employment-by- industry-191...](https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2016/employment-by- industry-1910-and-2015.htm) ------ chiph So humans aren't the only ones that have problems with collated screw guns. (You need to apply firm pressure until the screw is driven. Which might not happen if the bit is worn, or the screw in the plastic tape didn't get aligned correctly, or one of many other problems that can happen) ------ TallGuyShort Ah - but can the robot exceed time and budget estimates, do a shoddy job and then weasel it's way out of warranty obligations? Jobs are safe, everybody - there will be a few more unions who will lobby for bans on robotic drywallers because of some made up safety reason. ~~~ gonzo41 If anything, it sounds like the solution would be every laborer gets a clip board and gets to supervise a robot doing the job they used to do. Obesity will be an ongoing issue for humanity.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Show HN: A game I made in 48 hours - joemanaco https://joemanaco.itch.io/timezone ====== joemanaco Author here: Last weekend I participated in the Ludum Dare Game Jam (#44, Theme was "Life is your currency") and did a game from scratch in 48 hours: TIME ZONE How to play? Arrow Keys Left/Right: Move left/right Arrow Keys: Up: Jump X: Shoot Instructions: Try to reach the exit before your life counter reaches zero. You can earn valuable time by collecting Life Capsules. When you destroy an enemy they will drop Life Capsules. But be careful: Each shoot costs you time. Play at itch.io: [https://joemanaco.itch.io/timezone](https://joemanaco.itch.io/timezone) Source code: [https://github.com/JochenHeizmann/timezone- ld44](https://github.com/JochenHeizmann/timezone-ld44) (will add Readme/Build Instructions later on when I got some more hours of Sleep) Soundtrack: [https://soundcloud.com/jochenheizmann/timezone-ludum- dare-44](https://soundcloud.com/jochenheizmann/timezone-ludum-dare-44) Ludum Dare Game Page: [https://ldjam.com/events/ludum- dare/44/timezone](https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/44/timezone) I did everything from scratch (Code, GFX, Audio, Level Design). I've used Monkey (which transpiles to Javascript) to code it, Photoshop for the pixels (Artwise I was inspired by Downwell, which I tried to mimic, but I suck at art) and Logic and Renoise for the Music and Sound FX. ~~~ airstrike why not support WASD? we've been using our left hand for directional controls since at least 1981 [http://www.sextonsmusicandgames.com/80s-classic-arcade- games...](http://www.sextonsmusicandgames.com/80s-classic-arcade- games/y8azyi81bholy5zxwr7dhmtty5lvou) probably want to make jump / shoot right-hand actions as well, like in most games I really like the concept and wanted to play the game, but as it stands the controls are too annoying for me ~~~ doodpants Why WASD and not ESDF? People have been touch-typing with their left hand in that home position since the late 1800s. (Or do you actually operate WASD with your pinky, ring, and middle fingers when gaming?) ~~~ airstrike Don't be dense. WASD is the most common layout, but sure, if you're that opinionated make it ESDF then. My point still stands. Left and right hand controls should follow a common sense approach ~~~ doodpants Maybe I'm weird, but being right-handed (like most people), I prefer directional controls on the right hand and action buttons on the left. Your characterization of the former as "left-handed" and the latter as "right- handed" controls seem backwards to me. So, to be honest, I don't even use WASD (or ESDF). ~~~ nkrisc WASD is an incredibly common movement control scheme for video games. I'd go so far as to say it is the predominant four-directional control scheme for video games made in the past 20 years that were made to be played with a QUERTY keyboard. > being right-handed (like most people), I prefer directional controls on the > right hand and action buttons on the left. It is right-handedness that led to this because it was used in conjunction with a mouse, so all those right handed players had a mouse in their right hand, meaning their left hand was on the keyboard. If you, as a right-handed person, use a mouse in your right hand and the arrow keys in your left hand, you are very much in the minority. Even for games that don't use a mouse, this convention (and muscle memory) is so established that it makes sense to use WASD, even for right-handed players. However making it configurable is always desirable to accommodate the minority of players who might not want to use WASD for any reason. If you're not an avid gamer or primarily gamed before keyboard + mouse was common, this might indeed seem strange. But for anyone who's gamed consistently in the past 20 years it is very normal. Why not ESDF? I don't know why initially but today WASD is established convention. ~~~ filoeleven > Even for games that don't use a mouse, this convention (and muscle memory) > is so established that it makes sense to use WASD, even for right-handed > players. A further argument for movement from the left hand comes from consoles, which starting with the NES if not earlier have consistently (always?) had the d-pad on the left. I remember having some trouble reversing that learning for the PC platforming games that used the arrow keys for movement. ------ sonofgod Took me a while to work out you could actually make time from killing enemies -- I saw they only created one time crystal, and that it took about three to kill them, then died due to being out of time, so didn't realise that the monster's ones are significantly more valuable. :) ~~~ joemanaco Thanks for your feedback. Yes, I wanted to implement a separate crystal for the enemy loot to make it more obvious, but I ran out of time. ------ cyborgx7 Great animation. And the movement feels really good too. I like the premise, but the one hit death on the enemies is very frustrating. ~~~ joemanaco Thanks for you Feedback. I think I have to tweak the hit boxes a little bit, so it's more forgiving. And probably also change from insta death so you only loose time/life when you hit an enemy. ~~~ cyborgx7 A little more forgiving hitboxes would already help a lot. There is a lot of "I barely touched him" in there. But playing it some more, and getting it bit farther in the game, I'm already really enjoying what there is. Edit: Finished level 3 with almost 2 minutes to spare. Would definitely play more of this. Specially levels that focus on forward momentum, like level 1. ~~~ joemanaco Yes, I think for a more complex post-compo version a lot of thought has to be put into the level design to consistently push the player and give him this feeling of "Shit, I'm almost out of time" \- but also with the possibility that he saves himself in the last seconds. ~~~ cyborgx7 My mind instantly goes to a random, infinite level, turning it into a runner. But I don't want to backseat design your game. I actually really appreciated when I reached the end of level 1 and learned I don't have to keep restarting from the beginning. That was a nice surprise. ------ apexkid This game is incredibly difficult in the first level itself. ~~~ joemanaco Yes, I made a playthrough on YouTube if you prefer watching it ;-) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSW4QmNz1JY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSW4QmNz1JY) ------ ahallock Impressive game for only 48 hours of dev--need more levels! Was able to get a pretty speedy deathless run after learning the patterns. Actually skipping most enemies seemed to be a good strategy. Also enjoyed the mechanic of bouncing enemies into position to progress faster. ~~~ joemanaco Thanks. ------ emilfihlman Way too hard, you should also continue jumping as long as up is pressed. ~~~ joemanaco Yes, it's very hard :) You should be able to adjust the jump height by pressing/holding the up key. Didn't that work for you? Which browser/os? ------ DanBC I love this! I am _terrible_ at it. ~~~ joemanaco Thank you. Yes, it's intentional a quite hard game. :) ~~~ wqweto It's even harder playing it under Remote Desktop over slow connection! ~~~ joemanaco LOL :) ------ tronko Greate game. As a backend developer, is amazing that you did that in 24 hours. PD: the music is the best part of the game, perfect for coding :) ~~~ joemanaco Thank you. Hey, I'm also a backend developer by day ;-) ------ tomcam Lots of fun and great sound, too ~~~ joemanaco Thanks! ------ heed The character sprite and animations look very similar to downwell: [https://youtu.be/kY83H8BdxhI](https://youtu.be/kY83H8BdxhI) Not a criticism, just an observation. ~~~ joemanaco Yes, a lot of people mentioned that. Indeed I had the mobile version opened next to me while I pixeld it and tried to recreate this minimalistic style. The idea was that because I suck at pixelart I would probably be able to create a consistent and nice looking game in this simple style. And I think especially in the sprite I took a little bit too much "inspiration". I replaced the sprite now with something more unique. You can play the updated version here: [https://joemanaco.itch.io/timezone](https://joemanaco.itch.io/timezone) ------ mpfundstein I think it would be great if you could remove the 3,2,1 countdown in the beginning. Just let me restart ASAP! ------ linuxftw Great game. Hard, but not impossible. ~~~ joemanaco Thanks ------ Zecc Took me some time (heh), but I've finally "compelted" the game. I really did enjoy the music. ~~~ joemanaco Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the feedback. ------ terrycody awesome game, may I ask what the knowledge u need to build such a game? More details are appreciated! ~~~ joemanaco Coding wise the game is pretty simple. It has no real physics or anything involved and basically simple "Rectangle-Collisions". You can have a look at the source code (although it's pretty dirty with lots copy/paste involved during the hard time constraints). As mentioned I did it in Monkey, but it should be also easy to recreate it in vanilla javascript, because all you need is a basic canvas you can render to, and there you go. The real hard part was to get all the differents parts involved ready in time. For example the art took me alone around 10-12 hours because I'm really bad at graphics and I put a lot of effort and lots of trial and error in the animations. The music I did in Logic Pro and Renoise, and it took only around 2 hours because I'm quite experienced in doing music (doing it since my childhood). But if you listen carefully you will find out that the arrangement is very simple, and it's also not mastered. Turning this in a full-blown-not-so- repeatedly track would take several days I think for me (I sticked to the 80:20 rule here ;). The level design I did in Tiled, and I had the Tiled loader ready before the Compo started. ------ LandR This is great! ~~~ joemanaco Thanks :)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Strategies work only to the extent of their execution - ankut04 https://thoughtlytics.substack.com/p/10-strategies-work-only-to-the-extent ====== notlukesky SaaS companies can and will try multiple growth methods till they find what sticks for their particular niche. It only is called execution when it succeeds. Todays success playbook may result in tomorrows graveyard. Execution can also be accelerated with the right type of advisors and investors. Not every startup will have that luxury. The composition and experience and network of the team can be a big plus especially in Enterprise SaaS where there can be long sales cycles. Execution can include: Strategic investors Strategic advisors Mindshare PR Technology partnerships Technology alliances Channel partnerships Sales acumen Marketing acumen Developer evangelism Free trials Freemium model SEO SEM Leveraging social media Leveraging podcasts Referral program Affiliate program And so many more variables... including fund raising prowess that can be used to minimize the competition.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Guide to Web Automation - peterdemin https://medium.com/@peterdemin/guide-to-web-automation-889557804453 ====== peterdemin Did you use any of mentioned products?	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Neighbourly by Google - prostoalex https://neighbourly.google.com/ ====== jklinger410 I have been thinking a lot about creating localized versions of services like reddit and facebook so that people could be more in touch with what is actually going on around them instead of this kind of national narrative. It seems unfair that there is only room for so many famous people, so many inventors, so many journalists, because all of the attention (money) aggregates towards the top. If you could have, say, a local Martha Stewart that actually can subsist and become quite wealthy by sticking to a couple counties in a State, the whole system becomes much more valuable to each individual who participates. The way it is now your value is almost nonexistent, there is such a high barrier of entry to virality, it's like winning the lottery. What if it was easier to go viral in your own home town, build a career off of it, and never have to make the front page of any national website? Sorry, bit of a rant, but services like this hint that other people are thinking similarly. I'd like to see a much bigger push into fragmenting the web, and moreso fragmenting the attention share. It moves much like the economy, trickle up. ~~~ gowld [http://nextdoor.com](http://nextdoor.com) is the leader in this space. ~~~ hungerstrike I didn’t like having to give them my real address or phone number. I hope the Google version of this is a little more lenient, but I doubt it will be. ~~~ alanbernstein Would you prefer all users be allowed access to any neighborhood group they choose? ~~~ hungerstrike No, I would prefer that they just use my geo-location. I wouldn’t even mind if they asked me every couple of months or so to verify my location. ~~~ Royalaid Spoofing geolocation is possible too. ~~~ hungerstrike Big deal. How many people are actually going to go to the trouble to do that to talk to people in my neighborhood where they don’t even live? I could have easily tricked Nextdoor into doing whatever I wanted to. But shouldn’t have to waste my time. ------ brightball So Nextdoor will have a competitor soon. I was honestly wondering when this would happen because the geographic based reviews and advertising approach totally aligns with the type of service that Google would NOT kill after a couple of years. Maps, business reviews and advertising...only makes sense. ~~~ luddaite Why isn't Facebook competing more actively in this market? It seems that the data they have access to is better suited for this scenario. ~~~ mvid They used to have a neighborhood feature, but I am guessing it just fizzled. Also I don’t really want my neighbors to have a view into my Facebook profile ------ scarface74 Hopefully this doesn't become the same toxic hell stew that NextDoor can be.... [https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolineodonovan/racial- profiling-i...](https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolineodonovan/racial-profiling-is- still-a-problem-on-nextdoor) ~~~ ajross Racist busybodies were nattering racists long before they had a social media platform. If anything, platforms like Nextdoor are helping the issue by shining light on it, allowing the nutjobs just enough of a safe space to feel free to talk while letting the rest of us see what they're doing. Regardless, Nextdoor in my area is hardly toxic. It's actually pretty stale -- mostly a mix of home services referrals and junk for sale. They've cranked up the ad content very significantly over the last year without really bringing/encouraging much in the way of better neighborhood content. I don't know if Google is going to do it any better, but some competition in this space certainly couldn't hurt. ~~~ acdha It’s true that nuts existed before but social media can have an amplifying effect when it helps them find fellow travelers and convince themselves that their views are common and normal. Anyone building platforms needs to take that problem seriously since it leads to both serious real-world negatives (e.g. antivax) and driving more reasonable people away. ------ kinow NZ has, [https://www.neighbourly.co.nz/](https://www.neighbourly.co.nz/) which looks like a local competitor with same name. Things might get a bit confusing here if Google's stars to pick popularity ~~~ berkut Interesting that Google are using the non-US (British, Aus, NZ) spelling as well... ~~~ abrowne All the examples (people and neighborhood names, the question about the salwar suit) sound South Asian to me, so maybe it's launching first in India? ~~~ alexgolive In the mission, it mentions Indian cities specifically "In big cities across India, it’s getting harder to get good answers" [https://neighbourly.google.com/mission/](https://neighbourly.google.com/mission/) ------ prepend I can’t wait for them to suck at this and then quit eventually. I really wish they would just become a Platform company and let the next doors of the world build on them and let goog take 30% of revenue. They are bad at network/human stuff. As evidenced by this site “coming soon.” ~~~ antirez What's worse is that by network effect certain bad Google products killed good non-Google products. Then the Google product was retired or never evolved and so forth. ------ avar Prediction: This app is just an A/B test between A = asking the users of the Google Maps app structured questions and B = This app doing so with machine learning & user-powered Q&A. Depending on how that goes one or the other will be removed within a year. ~~~ stevenwoo They already sort of do some checking of their location services with follow up queries in the Android Rewards app. I would swear a large percentage of stores/location it asks me if I have visited recently are stores that I have never heard of but it either thinks I visited or is doing some sort of sanity check to make sure I am answering honestly. ------ scrollaway Google has been doubling down on the q&a approach of asking users common questions and turning those into datasets and features. This follows suit. ------ davidw Wonder if it'll get content like [https://twitter.com/bestofnextdoor](https://twitter.com/bestofnextdoor) Nextdoor is a hive of NIMBYism. ------ jroseattle I'm seeing comparisons to NextDoor and/or other hyper-local apps. While this service has the focus at a neighborhood level, the premise seems to be more quora-meets-yelp-meets-neighborhood. I question these content-generation-as-process apps, and whether users are exhausted of them. One of the reasons I believe NextDoor works so well is that it doesn't try to be the neighborhood reference guide. This is opposed to starting with the premise of answer-a-question, as this service seems to drive. I'm also speaking from the standpoint of my little neighborhood in Seattle, so as with everything -- your mileage may vary. Just an observation: reading through the mission posted on the site, this seems to be geared toward cities in India? The footer allows for language change and lists "UK English", "India English", and other non-English languages. I wonder if this service intends to support other countries when they release. ------ osrec Anyone else seeing India specific examples on the landing page? I'm British Asian, and was quite surprised when the first example was a question about a local salwar kameez tailor... ~~~ alexgolive It mentions Indian cities specifically in the mission page "In big cities across India, it’s getting harder to get good answers" [https://neighbourly.google.com/mission/](https://neighbourly.google.com/mission/). I'm a European living in the US, so it's unlikely to be doing some kind of special targeting. ~~~ osrec Wow, that is very India focused indeed... They even mention the deluge of good morning messages typical of Indian WhatsApp groups! ------ parliament32 Not a huge issue but... why is the entire page of marketing and examples East Indian? What is a "salwar suit"? Is this a feature that's coming out globally or just in India? ~~~ g8oz India? Oh boy, as if there wasn't enough neighborhood gossip going on there, now it's going online. ~~~ anonnel Making neighborhood gossip easier is worrying on many levels. A hack that has been used in the past to scale totalitarian social control is to employ what is essentially a viral enforcement mechanism: basically, getting people to inform on their neighbors. It only takes one or two visible instances of this behavior with a violent outcome and it replicates quickly, following an exponential growth rate until the population is saturated with informants. Reporting on neighbors and peers is much of the glue which has held together the worst authoritarian regimes: DPRK, East Germany, Nazi Germany ... as well as being a primary strategy for causing the revolutions which put those regimes in place. A platform like this: \- lowers the friction of informing \- is vulnerable to anonymity / spoofing / automation / remote manipulation \- allows for stories of informing to persist in the community memory as always-online posts, increasing their effect across time \- is connected to a de facto surveillance apparatus (the internet) to boot ------ duxup I assume this is a response to NextDoor? I look forward to the next 'bear in the neighborhood' scare hosted by Google ;) ~~~ tlb Wild animal activity is relevant to some people. We've had mountain lions kill deer within 100 meters of our property. Better to keep the dogs in when they're around. NextDoor and email lists are a terrible way of disseminating scares. I'd rather have a "apex predator weather" feature that tells me, day-by-day, whether to keep the dogs in. ~~~ duxup It is a valid thing to be aware of. Unfortunately / fortunately in my area ... there was no bear (at least no evidence) and it was HIGHLY unlikely to have occurred (bears haven't been around these parts for decades). But there was a siting, and lots of photos of bear (deer) poo, and trampled flower beds as evidence! ~~~ j-c-hewitt A baby bear killed six of my chickens. ------ ninkendo Yet another google service that will be dropped in one of their "spring cleanings" in a few years. ~~~ willart4food The secret of Innovation is to keep on trying and failing. Not everything is always a win. Midas touch is a fable, not reality. ~~~ MBCook The problem is Google’s size. 1\. Try out new business 2\. Take over the market due to Google’s name/search power 3\. Decide business isn’t worth it and pull out 4\. No one is left, people have to start from scratch again ~~~ estel Which of the businesses they've dropped is this true for? Few of the examples I can think of were market leaders when they were dropped, and none of those were monopolising the market completely. ~~~ WorldMaker Google Reader? The diaspora that followed is often considered to be the "death" of RSS, and certainly the "death" of "Social RSS". RSS usage in general did tank after Google Reader. Though, there's a correlation/causation question there. Google Reader shutdown to entrench Google's attempt at a walled garden social network, but Google was considered late to the "walling in your garden" party at the time, so market forces (Facebook, Twitter) what they were at the time, it's possible that even if Reader didn't shutdown, RSS probably was "doomed". Similarly, Google Talk? For a brief period _everyone_ was using XMPP (whether they knew it or not), to the point where even Facebook capitulated to using XMPP for real-time communications, partly to integrate with Google Talk, just in time for Google to drop most Talk support and XMPP support in the "upgrade" to Hangouts. Again, things are washy in the correlation/causation question. If Google had pushed Talk longer, would XMPP be more of a thing today? Or was the walled garden communications network too tempting to the market that it would have gone that way anyway? Personally, I think Google losing a lot of its "roots" in trying to use standards to best fit (RSS, XMPP), versus rolling everything internally/proprietarily was a key change in the web at the time, and I'm willing to ascribe it more to the causation side of things, but there's certainly a healthy debate to both sides. ~~~ exikyut Hmm. This comment gave me an idea: what does Trends say for RSS? It has two results: \- For the search term: [https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=rss](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=rss) \- For the "computer file format": [https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F0...](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F0n5tx) Both charts are nearly identical. There's a noticeable blip in March 2013 when the closure was announced, but that blip sits within a concretely downward trend. I had to dig a bit to locate the very tiny downward slope in July when Reader actually shut down; there's nothing noticeable there. ------ zmmmmm So there's a whole card about how safe it is and how no contact info is shared, and right above it is a card where someone has posted with their picture visible, a location marker and a time since they were there. Maybe I'm reading a lot into one example on their marketing page, but I really hope Google _has_ thought through security. ------ nmstoker So little to go on, but the big challenge will be how to get value from the inevitably idiotic questions people will ask. This is a massive problem on Google Maps, it's inundated with questions that are either: 1.answered in the place description that questioners clicked right past 2\. not suited to crowd sourcing, such as things that require a rep from the business to approve ("Can I get a children's cot put into room 643?") And there's the Amazon Q&A issue with answers too: so many responses with "no, I don't know how to answer that", because people don't think enough to realise that not answering is a more appropriate response when you don't know on sites like that! ------ mrleiter That's kinda nifty for advertisers, if Google will allow advertising there (which I assume they will). Hyper-local advertising surely has its perks: low cost/high success I think are quite possible. ~~~ niftich Hyperlocal advertising is the space that tries to gather up the long tail as the efficacy of mainstream adtech is questioned. Ad money is dominated by spray-and-pray big name brand awareness whose correspondence to conversions is opaque, but most of online adtech is about tracking metrics for particular targeted ads, and big buyers are frustrated about their opaqueness and questioning their value [1]. Then there's the long tail of everyone else, from a small band to a local restaurant, who are just trying to get their names out there, but lack the clout to lobby Facebook's ad policies. This hyperlocal advertising is what many Facebook ads have been tending towards. It's only natural that Google would try to corner as much of it as it can, with services that are more content-driven than Maps. [1] [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16362705#16363374](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16362705#16363374) ------ everdev Twitter tried this (jelly.co) and it didn't catch on. I think the challenge is that the question base is so broad and most local experience revolves around things to see and do, which is largely a solved problem between Yelp, StubHub, Google Maps and Google Search. Also, I've found that if people don't want to use the massive number of local reviews already on those sites, they tend to ask their actual friends. Why ask a single random person a question when dozens or hundreds have already posted a review about a local experience? ------ firasd Interesting. Although the mobile gold-rush is considered over, I think there's still real potential in 'hyper-local' realtime information. There are some examples of this--Waze for traffic, the 'Citizen' app for crime--but there's so much more that can be visible. Power outages, roads needing repair... of course it's (relatively) easy to make an app that tracks all this but the tough part is giving people a reason or incentive to post the information. ~~~ 0x00000000 I liked Yik Yak a lot before they destroyed it. It provided this type of information and allowed people to ask local questions like what this looks like it aims to do. ------ alexgolive It mentions Indian cities specifically in the mission page "In big cities across India, it’s getting harder to get good answers" [https://neighbourly.google.com/mission/](https://neighbourly.google.com/mission/). I'm a European living in the US, so it's unlikely to be doing some kind of special targeting. ~~~ gowld Look at the photos and screenshots, and the language options the bottom-right corner of the home page. It's an app for Indian women, at least for now at launch. (Indian Orkut?) ------ Jedd I looked at nextdoor years ago, but they weren't willing to let users log in from Australia. They said that would be coming real soon now... Nabo is an Australian system, but lacks the features of nextdoor - notably the ability to have subgroups specifically for apartment blocks. There's a few other systems out there, but they're usually non free, or rubbish, or both. ------ earenndil I'm calling it now: google will discontinue it and it will be looked back upon just like google reader/wave. ------ tomkinson S̶o̶f̶t̶w̶a̶r̶e̶ Google is eating the world. I'm actually surprised that they aren't pulling back a bit. Antitrust case is not near in this climate, but it will happen eventually and it's becoming harder with their ever growing tentacles to avoid or reverse. They are going to be their own worst enemy in the end. ~~~ jacksmith21006 Doubt you will see them pull back. Glad they don't and keep pushing. The big one was yesterday ordering 62k cars for the Waymo ride sharing service. ------ myth_buster Google maps already has the _Local Guide_ feature and _Ask the community_ section which is very similar to this. ------ z3t4 Google probably see that many people are searching on Google for such information and they plan to steal the users from current sites. I wonder if this is Google's new growth strategy - find out what is hot by looking at what people are searching for, then try to enter that market. ------ halamadrid Is that competitor for Nextdoor? It would be interesting to see Nextdoor's reaction to this launch. ~~~ alelefant In the two years I've been a home owner and on Nextdoor, the only feature I've noticed they introduced was ads. ~~~ askafriend I'm also a user and I've noticed significant changes. In that time I’ve noticed Real Estate, Ads, Marketplaces, Interest groups, completely redesigned apps, etc. and probably a bunch of stuff that I haven’t noticed as well. ------ pmilla1606 Interesting - and on the same day as another (hyper?)local app: [https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/31/area-120-subway- pigeon/](https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/31/area-120-subway-pigeon/) ------ oculusthrift " Any affordable maths private tuition around here?" 1\. Doesn't sound like proper english 2\. Is this targeted towards indians or something? Everything I am seeing seems to indicate that. Such as " ayurvedic chemist " and "salwar" ~~~ aatharuv Maths is perfectly standard Indian or British English. The neighborhood mentioned in the screen shots, "Andheri East" is in Mumbai. Mumbai's lingua franca is Hindi, and Marathi is the state language of Maharashtra which Mumbai is the capital of, so it seems likely that they're starting the rollout in Mumbai, given that these are two of the language choices. ------ Apocryphon This isn't just a competitor with Nextdoor. It might also compete with Quora, or at least fill the local need that Q&A platform can't address. Might also be a less scammy alternative to Craigslist. ------ merinowool Looks like an ideal tool for local drug deals. Could this be a new Instagram? ~~~ reaperducer That's what Facebook Marketplace is for. ~~~ merinowool It is funny how LE focused on darknet meanwhile the real market runs just fine on regular internet through popular sites. ------ RestlessMind I hope someone from Google answers this - why should I use this? Is there any guarantee that this will be around 3 years from now once the original team gets promoted and moves on? ------ lecro [https://i.imgur.com/K4YLt6E.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/K4YLt6E.jpg) It looks to me that Google applies some kind of personalization to my landing page. ~~~ exikyut Are you in Russia? (I am _very_ curious about your account, btw. This is your 2nd comment ever, after the first in 2009.) ------ shishy I was wondering when something like this would come out. My community uses a Facebook group, and I've seen others do something similar (or even email listservs) ------ softwarefounder It's possible that this could be killed off in a few years, but more likely that it will be absorbed into Google Maps and/or Reviews ------ benevol I wonder when the day will come when we admit that we have to call the Web "Googlenet". ------ dgudkov It seems like the concept of local guides on Google Maps is getting to a new level. ------ sriku More reason to be glued to phones instead of actually talking to neighbours? ------ floatingatoll Dear Google HN readers, “stiching” is misspelled in the second screenshot. ~~~ adrianmonk As long as we're reporting issues, the language chooser at the bottom right is white text on a white background when I actually click it. Whichever one I put my mouse over becomes white on blue, and I can read it. This is while using Chrome on Linux. ~~~ saagarjha Seems to be a native dropdown on my computer, so are you sure it's not your theme affecting it? ------ jeremiahwv Communication problems need to be solved with protocols, not apps. ------ HuangYuSan "Coming soon to your neighbourhood" Is it though? ------ amelius Who will own the data? Google or the community? ------ mholt Anyone know how this integrates with Maps? I could imagine some really cool innovations by applying machine learning or somehow connecting the data from this app to Maps users. ------ l33tbro Slight tangent, but what's with the Yahoo purple? ------ benatkin I'm annoyed as hell that a US company is using the UK spelling of "neighborly". ~~~ nisse72 Are you also annoyed by Under Armour? ~~~ benatkin You bet, haha. I don't think it's a useful reaction, but it's my reaction. ------ hartator Great name. /s	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Apple bans Watch apps “whose primary function is telling time” - iwwr http://9to5mac.com/2015/04/28/apple-watch-face-app-policy/ ====== s_dev >This rule that Watch apps that only tell time will be rejected has actually been enforced since Smart watches actually have really nothing to do with time pieces -- the name watch is just some marketing skeumorphism because its a smart phone on your wrist. If the Apple watch couldn't tell the time it would still be just as useful and expensive. If you don't agree with this policy because its authoritarian -- it is -- but thats Apple and thats another debate. Given that they are authoritarian they might as well get rid of "apps that exclusively tell time" or "fart apps". This makes sense to me. ~~~ applerules I agree. Also: Smart phones actually have really nothing to do with cell phones -- the name phone is just some marketing skeumorphism because its a smart computer in your pocket. If the Apple phone couldn't call or text it would still be just as useful and expensive. If you don't agree with this policy because its authoritarian -- it is -- but thats Apple and thats another debate. Given that they are authoritarian they might as well get rid of "apps that exclusively call or text" [e.g. whatsapp, hangouts, snapchat, facebook messenger, burner etc] or "fart apps". This makes sense to me. ------ joshstrange So while the headline seems pretty damning I think this policy makes sense seeing how the third-party "apps", as of right now, do not execute ON the watch (everything happens on the phone and talks to watch). Apple doesn't want "custom watch faces" which will require talking over the expensive (in terms of battery) link to the phone for every update. I think this is all about battery not trying to stifle third-party watch faces. ------ dalke I wonder if the restriction only regards Earth time. People have made watches that kept Mars time - [http://mars.nasa.gov/mer/spotlight/spirit/a3_20040108.html](http://mars.nasa.gov/mer/spotlight/spirit/a3_20040108.html) . I'm sure some JPL people and other Mars fans would want their Apple watch to be the same. ------ soup10 Yes please don't let your customers customize their watch face. One of the few cool things about a smart watch. Idiots. ------ pstevesy That makes sense. Though a clock fart combo app might be able to squeeze by. I guess it doesn't fit in with their vision of what they want it to become. ------ jbdigriz After reading this article and some of the comments, its completely clear that Apple has undeniably triggered almost the exact same effects on some people as the most addictive drugs known to mankind. It's almost mind boggling to consider but I would go a step further to say this is likely the same effect reflected in Apple's recently announced profits - much like a drug kingpin entering the market with his highly addictive product would experience (ie. Crack cocaine in the 80s). It's truly beyond anything I could imagine and honestly scares the shit out of me. The problem in such scenarios is that reason and logic become completely irrelevant - the addict falls under the trance of the drug and short of keeping them physically separated from said chemical in order to let the body clear itself of its influence and effects, few have the will to come back from the depths - and the end result is almost always painfully tragic. It's so tragic that society ends up going to the opposite extreme and attempts to ban nearly any mind altering chemical - that is how fearful the collective sentiment is and if the war on drugs is any precedent, it can last four decades and ultimately ruin even more lives than the drug itself. I read this article and I really felt I had been directed towards a satirical article from the likes of The Onion or Clickhole. I am NOT trying to be overly emphatic or derogatory - it just seems like the first time a brand and their line of material products seems to have such a deep rooted hold on its customers. Sure, there are always fads which have a momentary grasp over their customers: Tickle me Elmo, Furbies, various pop artists, etc. But those always seemed to follow the same trajectory and never indicated any lasting effect. But this is clearly very different. Think about this piece for a moment and the clearly Apple supportive writer and website. On one hand, he had the sensibility to write the article and even put the almost satirical title on it. That's probably a good sign. Also good is the factual recounting of the brand's position and justification of such. Reason seems to still have a far deeper rooted presence in this person's being than the brand does. But in much the same way an addict or a victim of domestic abuse reacts upon the possibility of losing said target of addiction, it quickly devolves into justifications and ultimately acceptance of such a completely untenable prospective future. Though there is certainly some sarcasm in the few commentators here, it's clear their sentiments and perceptions follow the same trajectory. Again, I apologize and don't mean to insult or belittle, my argument is my true and honest opinion. So I must ask - is it me? So disconcerting is this notion that I'm compelled to ask if perhaps I'M the crazy one. Because I read this article and see that a company has produced a product precisely to resemble a watch in every way and even includes such in the name but then makes a draconian move to deny third parties willing to do so the ability to distribute software producing A WATCH FACE for said watch (likely thousands with no desire to even make a profit). Is this real? Am I hallucinating??? I struggle to come up with any reasonable scenario where this is a move to prevent competition, which would also be highly disturbing but not in the least surprising, especially considering the brand in question. It's simply some form of an arbitrary egomaniacal move which defies rational belief to those not completely consumed and ultimately entranced with any position held by some perceived 'god' or 'god-like' object (need to confirm I'm not the only one before fully backing this statement). But it's bizarre and the potential is as unsettling as the actual result in front of me - the same as if Apple produced the Apple Cat and then immediately barred anyone from calling our treating it as a cat while simultaneously making it appear as a dog and requiring all customers assimilate and accept the same. And the response being, "Yeah, I think it's their right to do this - I mean, it's not a REAL cat anyway, so why not call the Apple Cat a DOG..I mean it's Apple afterall, right ;)". Yes - it's Apple, the company who indirectly employs factories with such inhuman work schedules that they need to install nets to catch the numerous employees jumping from the roof to end their torture; Apple, who while hoarding tens of billions in stockpiled profits uses all its might to prevent potential extra costs by clearly colluding with and/or threatening competitors from "poaching" talent interested in reclaiming their souls and free thought by leaving - even for ex-employees years departed from their empire of misery. Holy hell, where am I and how did I get here?!? There are a number of anecdotes describing the Microsoft antitrust investigations years ago. I recall one description of the completely defiant and confrontational tone of Mr. Gates during these times and his unflinchingly complete denial of any possibility of such a concept. There is some room for debate, but I can't imagine a rational person would see such accusations as completely baseless, especially when presented with evidence of clear internal communications showing not only obvious actions to suppress competition, but purposeful intent and rhetoric to this regard. I remember thinking then that this was delusion personified - someone so desperately self identifying with his creation that to accept such condemnation would be to accept condemnation of himself. It happens and perhaps at some point, to all of us. But the normal progression ultimately leads to a snap back to reality (thankfully the case with Mr. Gates - at least as far as one can tell from his undeniable and profound generosity). And ultimately a nostalgic look back at how entranced one had been as almost unbelievable - from the comfort of rational thought. So here's hoping the spell is broken and those held captive by their obsessive enchantment come back to reality because we really need you here. Otherwise, if you're out there, Morpheus - I desperately need a red pill	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Deciding to rewrite getaddrinfo in rust - azth http://blog.dkhenry.com/2016/02/17/deciding-to-rewrite-getaddrinfo-in-rust/ ====== agwa How security sensitive is getaddrinfo? The recent vulnerability was actually in glibc's DNS client library, libresolv, not getaddrinfo itself (but it was triggered when using getaddrinfo). Therefore, I think that rewriting libresolv in Rust (and possibly the DNS NSS module) would be more fruitful than trying to rewrite getaddrinfo. It would also be easier - libresolv is in its own .so so you could swap the entire thing out, rather than having to patch glibc or use LD_PRELOAD hacks. (I actually started working on this a few days ago :-) ~~~ yyin Is ldns vulnerable? Did OpenBSD drop BIND and libresolv in favor of ldns and nsd, unbound, drill? Might be an interim solution. ~~~ Sanddancer Yes, OpenBSD dropped BIND, as did FreeBSD. ------ tinco glibc in total is about 460.000 lines of C. If we're planning on reimplementing it as a whole that's going to be quite an undertaking. Musl is an alternative libc that's only about 60.000 lines of C. I don't know exactly why libc is that much larger, as musl also aims to be a complete and POSIX compatible libc. Its getaddrinfo is considerably smaller at 90 lines, and there's no goto's, it looks comfortably readable at a glance. Maybe a nice blog post would be to compare both implementations to find out if there's a concrete difference in functionality and code quality. edit: I should've looked at the 2nd Google result, it's a complete comparison of a bunch of libc's: [http://www.etalabs.net/compare_libcs.html](http://www.etalabs.net/compare_libcs.html) ~~~ pm215 Some of that will be glibc's coverage of a much wider range of architectures and host OSes than musl (a very back-of-the-envelope wc -l suggests that somewhere between 20 and 25% of glibc code is in sysdeps/ or ports/sysdeps/), but that's clearly not the only thing contributing to glibc being bigger. ~~~ belorn There is also GNU specific functions and macros in glibc. Is musl implementing _GNU_SOURCE? I know that my own project use TEMP_FAILURE_RETRY macro quite heavily, among with asprintf. ------ mikegerwitz I understand why people want to rewrite C libraries and such in Rust. Software like glibc is battle-tested---it is _widely_ used on hundreds of thousands of systems around the world, and has been used (though not at today's massive scale) for decades. I understand that glibc is under active development and there is a lot of new code, but let's keep this in perspective: Writing a new implementation of a system is a huge opportunity to introduce bugs. There is focus on these specific problems, but in the broader scheme of things, glibc is remarkably stable, performant, and feature-rich. A new implementation will have bugs, and those bugs might be less likely to be caught simply because the system will not be as widely used for quite a long time. Even formally proven systems don't address flaws in the actual program specification. (See "The Limits of Correctness" by Brian Cantwell Smith for a good discussion). Also relevant (which I'm reminded of in part because of his recent death): Peter Naur's Programming as Theory Building. So even _new_ code to glibc has the benefit of a huge community of both developers are users to eyeball it and test it out in production on a huge number of systems. So rewriting glibc may solve certain problems, but it's bound to create a whole lot more, considering the narrow range of issues that are being focused on. New Rust code will have undiscovered issues too, even if they're not memory or stack related. I feel that this effort might be better spent fixing and finding problems with glibc---and continuing the development of tools to find those problems, to benefit _all_ of our old C libraries and programs--- than rewriting for the sake of rewriting. ~~~ wvenable > Software like glibc is battle-tested This seems a bit counter-intuitive given that serious problems are still being found years or even decades later. Perhaps battle-tested is insufficient. And while new code is likely to have bugs, assuming it's already based on the original C code it would be less than if it was re-written from scratch based on a spec. New code can take advantage of the battle-tested nature of the original code even if it's in a different language. ~~~ mikegerwitz > This seems a bit counter-intuitive given that serious problems are still > being found years or even decades later. Perhaps battle-tested is > insufficient. Bugs will always exist. But that statement will apply equally to any software, regardless of language. > New code can take advantage of the battle-tested nature of the original code > even if it's in a different language. That's why I referenced the Peter Naur paper on Programming as Theory Building ---in practice, that may very well not be the case. ~~~ dikaiosune > Bugs will always exist. But that statement will apply equally to any > software, regardless of language. I'd be curious to see some research suggesting that the prevalence and severity of those bugs is identical regardless of development tool/language/runtime, but I'd be surprised if that's demonstrable. The question at hand is not "will safer languages eliminate all bugs?" It's "will safer languages reduce the prevalence and severity of important classes of bugs?" I'd wager it's probably yes, but even if you disagree, I don't think that it's reasonable to suggest that because there will always be bugs we should never improve. ~~~ mikegerwitz > I'd be curious to see some research suggesting that the prevalence and > severity of those bugs is identical regardless of development > tool/language/runtime, but I'd be surprised if that's demonstrable. I intended to convey that software written in any language will have bugs, not that all languages will produce the same types of bugs. ~~~ Manishearth Yes, but all that gets you is that no language is a panacea; bugs always exist. It does not address the question of whether or not there will be a propensity for more bugs (or more severe bugs) when comparing two languages. ~~~ mikegerwitz > It does not address the question of whether or not there will be a > propensity for more bugs (or more severe bugs) when comparing two languages. My argument is based on the act of rewriting it---regardless of language. Many languages provide excellent guarantees, but that does not protect against bugs in the implementation itself (logic). ~~~ Manishearth Yes; and the rewrite can take into account the logic used in the old code (especially in the security-critical areas) as well as all the vulnerabilities that have happened before. You're not starting from a complete blank slate; you can pick up the lessons learned. Despite being "battle tested", all of these C programs continue to have both memory and logic errors. I think a rewrite would have the same rate of new logic issues after the initial code review and testing. "bugs will always exist" \-- sure, so if we have something that eliminates a class of bugs, why not use it? The other classes of bugs will be there (and probably in the same force) whether you rewrite or not. A lot of these bugs get _introduced_ due to cruft in old code as well. So there are a bunch of tradeoffs here. ------ lmb The comment about changing the const pointers is subtly wrong. There are pointers to const memory and there are const pointers to memory. My favourite little known C fact. See also [http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1143262/](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1143262/) ~~~ delroth That's not really "little known". Almost every single piece of code that does string manipulation in C uses that fact: const char* s = ...; while (s++) { ... } ~~~ lmb I think you have proven my point. I'm talking about this: void something(const char const s); Maybe I'm extrapolating here, but it surprised me. ~~~ dcohenp That is indeed what the post you're replying to meant. Note that the pointed- to value is a constant string, yet the pointer itself is being modified. That's a fairly common idiom in C string-handling code, only possible because it's a const char _, not a const char_ const. ------ Someone1234 Is there a good reason why a binary compatible glibc couldn't be re-written in a better language? People are always going to be using C/C++ and there is little that can be done about that exposure, but at least the libraries they rely upon could be better engineered to have certain assurances about safety. ~~~ lmm You'd lose most of the safety. E.g. a lot of the value of Rust comes from ownership tracking, but you can't track ownership across a C-ABI boundary because the information simply isn't there. And I'm not sure assurances in libraries used by unsafe languages are really that valuable - it'd be like locking your back door and leaving your front door open. Better to make a clean break. ------ minitech Minimalism comes in many forms. Here, we see an example of a content-free article. > fun aside, name and service are both const char* so I find it funny that > they are set in the program, I do understand that from the callers > perspective they don't change, but still bad form … are you sure you know enough C to do this? ------ MichaelBurge I know that it's used for more than just C programs, but it still seems a little perverse to rewrite the C standard library in something other than C. Imagine if someone had a preference for writing his Python libraries in Perl that emitted Python bytecode. Or if C++'s Boost was the output of a Haskell program. ~~~ Santosh83 I get what you mean, but I guess calling it the "C Standard Library" is really a historical holdover from times when the entire system was written only in C (with the exception of a smattering of assembly). In the current context it should probably be called the "System Standard Library" and when you consider it like that, a system standard library in another language isn't all that weird. They all compile down to machine code anyway, so the Python-Perl analogy doesn't quite match. ~~~ pjmlp UNIX is the C runtime, kid of. They just didn't want to force it into other OSes when ANSI C was defined and eventually POSIX took up that role. ------ saghul Another potential source of inspiration is Musl: [http://git.musl- libc.org/cgit/musl/tree/src/network/getaddri...](http://git.musl- libc.org/cgit/musl/tree/src/network/getaddrinfo.c) ------ chillingeffect So many tentative posts here :) I say, "Go for it!" Kozlowski's attitude is exactly what we need. That's not saying it will ship in Ubuntu 18.04... It will be carefully vetted just like any piece of software, but it's got to start somewhere and I like that he's sharing his thought process with the community. As people have pointed out, it may not actually be the Rust part of it that's valuable, but the organization and code quality. Rah rah! ~~~ oconnor663 I'm not so sure about the attitude. > After reading about the newest glibc vulnerability, I have decided to see > how much effort there is in rewriting parts of glibc in a safe language. If I were a C programmer, especially if I were a C programmer who worked on glibc, I might feel a little bit insulted that remark. Safety is a complicated concept, and calling Rust "safe" and C "unsafe" oversimplifies things, _especially_ if your Rust code includes unsafe blocks. See also [http://www.tedunangst.com/flak/post/heartbleed-in- rust](http://www.tedunangst.com/flak/post/heartbleed-in-rust). I don't think we have anything to lose by being as diplomatic as possible with these sorts of things. We can acknowledge that Rust's safety is a work in progress, and that we're still learning about the drawbacks. ~~~ betenoire it might oversimplify it, but there is truth in there too ------ agentgt Has anyone successful linked to a Rust library from another language (ie Python). I know Rust offers FFI and will apparently make its data representations C like if annotated and I think has some ABI. This is the second post I have seen in the last couple of days of "glibc is bad lets rewrite it in Rust". However the problem is not that glibc is just bad but rather everything links to it. If other languages can't talk to Rust easy this would be a nicer problem to focus on first (before rewriting glibc). I guess this is sort of how its done: [http://siciarz.net/24-days-of-rust- calling-rust-from-other-l...](http://siciarz.net/24-days-of-rust-calling-rust- from-other-languages/) Rust -> C <\- Other language. You have to create the C header files (I'm surprised Rust compiler or something similar doesn't automate this). ~~~ Manishearth You don't necessarily need C header files. Rust is able to export symbols easily with the C ABI; if your language has the ability to take a library and call such symbols (Python/Ruby do; for example), you're fine. It's only C++ where you need a header file because that's how C++ binds with any library. It's not a Rust-to-any-language issue, header files are a Rust-to-C++ issue only; really, an any-language-to-C++-or-C issue (I think such a tool exists, too). ~~~ dbaupp A C header is not needed at runtime, it is purely a way to easily describe the symbols in a library that exist in a (somewhat) type-safe way. It's the lingua franca for describing libraries, and tooling (such as Rust's bindgen, or Python's cffi) can consume them to do the setup/create the information necessary to call functions from other languages. This is much nicer than manually trying to transcribe the Rust (or whatever) signatures into your application. _> header files are a Rust-to-C++ issue only_ Or... C? (And of course other languages too, as just discussed.) ~~~ Manishearth > It's the lingua franca for describing libraries, and tooling (such as Rust's > bindgen, or Python's cffi) can consume them to do the setup/create the > information necessary to call functions from other languages. Hence the "not necessarily" in my comment. The parent seemed to be painting this as extra unnecessary work; I was saying that a header file is _not_ necessary except for binding to C/C++. If you want to write a C API that will be called from many languages; you should have a header file so that bindgen tools can consume it. If you want an API that will only be called by Python .... not so necessary, you may want a header file anyway but it depends on the situation. > Or... C? Sure, goes without saying :) ------ JustSomeNobody How many new vulnerabilities and bugs will be introduced by doing this ya think? Rust in and of itself won't make things all better. ------ Xcelerate > fun aside, name and service are both const char* so I find it funny that > they are set in the program, I do understand that from the callers > perspective they don't change, but still bad form Correct me if I'm wrong (I haven't programmed in C++ in forever), but aren't "name" and "service" pointers to constant arrays of characters rather than constant pointers to (mutable) arrays of characters? In the first case, you're saying you have a variable that points to a memory location; the variable itself can be changed, but the data in memory at that location cannot. In the second case, you're saying that you cannot change the variable that contains the memory address; however, you _can_ change the data in memory at that location. (And if I remember correctly, I believe there are also such things as constant pointers to constant memory...) ~~~ mbrock [http://cdecl.org/](http://cdecl.org/) const char foo declares a pointer to a char that is constant. const char const foo declares a constant pointer to a char that is constant. ~~~ teddyh You know, you could just apt-get install cdecl And then do it on the command line. But hey, let's turn everything into a web service, with NSA et al. monitoring as a bonus feature. ------ armitron Not only that, but most people in this thread are STILL missing the multiple elephants in the room. First, Rust allows unsafe code in the core language [not simply through FFI as in other safe languages]. So there's a gaping hole that we know _will_ be abused (performance! performance!) right there. Even if we grant that this is not the case, here is the deal breaker: The Rust approach to security depends on an ecosystem that follows the same approach. To think that this is more than an utopic dream is to enter cuckoo- land in my opinion. So we digress back to the castles-built-on-top-of-sand. There's millions of lines of code written in unsafe languages plus all mainstream operating systems. The Rust approach will never work in this sort of environment. An approach that _might_ work however is unikernels and using a language that promotes design with failures in mind [and makes it extremely easy to rapidly rearchitect/rebuild/redeploy]. Erlang is the best example in my view, but there could be more. Alas, Rust is not really suitable for this either due to its static nature. ~~~ dang Your comments in this thread have been inflammatory, condescending, and vague. That amounts to trolling, whether you intended to or not. You've done it quite a bit in previous threads, too, which is not good. Please don't do this on HN. Here is how to stop: (1) take out everything inflammatory ("It boggles the mind how utterly misguided", etc.) and make neutral statements instead; (2) take out the personal language ("you just don't get it", etc.); (3) replace vague grand claims with specific factual statements. If you do this, you'll not only no longer be breaking the HN guidelines, you'll also be sharing what you know more effectively, which benefits all of us. We detached this subthread from [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11162577](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11162577) and marked it off-topic. ------ armitron It boggles the mind how utterly misguided the "let's rewrite everything in Rust!" people are when it comes to understanding security and its implications. Let me begin by introducing my premise: Rust will do NOTHING for security, it is not an improvement in any way, and at least as far as security is concerned, it will lead to at best colossal time waste, at worst actively damage the cause _by misdirection, making ppl feel warm and fuzzy, providing illusion of security_. What??? B-b-but memory safety, I hear you say. How can this even be possible I hear you cry. Memory safety (assuming that Rust completely solves it, which it absolutely DOES NOT) is but one (small) piece of the entire puzzle. In the same way that the skilled craftsman knows that he can't build a castle on top of sand, the skilled (and security conscious) software engineer _should_ realize that memory corruption (and race conditions in the same unit/process) are not the foundation of the security chain. I dare say that a lot of the bugs exploited out there today (but not necessarily made public), are pure LOGIC bugs (that include race conditions) that stem from the interactions between extremely complex autonomous subsystems. Rust is simply operating at a too high-level abstraction layer to deal with any of these issues. This is the logical progression of Sergey Bratus's weird machines taken to the next level. Some examples: The Linux kernel. Any UNIX operating system taken as a whole. Any Windows taken as a whole. Any OSX system. Anything built on top any of the above. Anything built on _combinations_ of any of the above. Weird machines are not limited to isolated units, you know, they very well exhibit EMERGENT behavior. Are you starting to get the picture now? And then of course we _still_ have the bugs that stem from unsafe languages, as long as there's a path that cuts through all the intermediate layers of "safe" code. Graphics drivers and webgl anyone? Truetype in the kernel? Rust has plenty of things in its favor but to position it as a cure for issues that it doesn't even know how to address is a colossal mistake. We have given rise to a beast that threatens to consume us all. It's one thing to despair due to the immense complexity of the domain and quite another to step into an imaginary realm and solve illusionary problems that we create just to feel "safe". ~~~ topspin There were about 36 000 traffic fatalities in the US in 2015. This is inherent to the trillions of miles traveled in affordable machines operated by drivers of variable competence, and nobody has a solution to fix the problem today. Maybe one will emerge, but between now and that day we're going to keep driving and keep killing each other. Should engineers, admittedly lacking an absolute solution to traffic fatalities, forego seeking designs and materials that reduce the frequency and consequences of failure? Rust delivers a higher degree of memory safety. It is a better tool in the tool box and arguing that engineers should ignore it because their efforts are inherently flawed won't work, any more than arguing that a new headlamp or traffic light design is futile. Also, you should understand now what you're up against. The legacy stack is riddled with flaws; every day we face a deluge of security notices, some large fraction of which are caused by memory safety problems. In other words, your opponents in this debate have an endless supply of ammunition. Good luck with that. ~~~ Alupis > here were about 36 000 traffic fatalities in the US in 2015 > nobody has a solution to fix the problem today. You're entire premise revolves around 0.01% of the population. That's not a good basis. There's about 34,000 automobile related deaths annually in the US[1]. There's about 323,000,000 people in the US.[2] The point I'm making, is let's not get carried away with exaggerating how "bad" a "problem" is. According to the CDC, more people die annually from accidental poisoning (about 39,000) than automobile related accidents - but I don't hear all the calls to "solve" that problem. Will things be "safer" written in Rust? Maybe. Does Rust solve everything? Absolutely not. Yes, a lot of bugs are "unsafe" memory access issues, but a lot of bugs are not. Re-writing everything in a pet language that happens to be popular today in 2016 is not a good call. Rust is fairly new, and nobody has any idea if it will stand the test of time. C has, clearly. Instead of getting out our pitchforks, we should rally to guarantee these critical projects are fully funded and staffed with full time developers. That alone, will yield far greater results than some lofty goal of completely re- writing 100's of thousands of lines of code which have been working, tested, and matured for almost 3 decades. [1] [http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/accidental- injury.htm](http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/accidental-injury.htm) [2] [http://www.census.gov/popclock/](http://www.census.gov/popclock/) ~~~ pcwalton > Yes, a lot of bugs are "unsafe" memory access issues, but a lot of bugs are > not. A huge number are. For example: [https://www.cvedetails.com/vulnerability- list/vendor_id-72/p...](https://www.cvedetails.com/vulnerability- list/vendor_id-72/product_id-767/GNU-Glibc.html) > That alone, will yield far greater results than some lofty goal of > completely re-writing 100's of thousands of lines of code which have been > working, tested, and matured for almost 3 decades. Windows, the popular Web browser engines, and antivirus software are all examples of systems software that are very well funded. But they still regularly fall to memory safety problems. The converse is also interesting to look at: djbdns and qmail are examples of poorly funded software, but they have had very few memory safety problems. I agree with the general principle that funding helps security overall, though. ------ akerro Please call your implementation getaddrrinfo ------ w8rbt ___Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I 'll rewrite this in another programming language.” Now they have two problems._ __ ~~~ maxerickson This is a great story to make glib comments on. ~~~ w8rbt This glib comment has a long history in technology. So it seems appropriate. http://regex.info/blog/2006-09-15/247 ~~~ steveklabnik I thought your parent was making a pun about 'glibc' and 'glib'.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Elite versus Non-Elite Access to Covid-19 Testing – Philip Greenspun’s Weblog - djsumdog https://philip.greenspun.com/blog/2020/03/24/elite-versus-non-elite-access-to-covid-19-testing/ ====== chmaynard Nice blog post from Greenspun, convincing and well-documented. He promises one interesting idea every three months and this is one of them. Well done!	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (January 2020) - whoishiring Share your information if you are looking for work. Please use this format:<p><pre><code> Location: Remote: Willing to relocate: Technologies: Résumé/CV: Email: </code></pre> Readers: please only email these addresses to discuss work opportunities. ====== Fej Location: NYC metro area/NJ/New Jersey/NY/New York (US) Remote: if you like, but physical presence is preferred Willing to relocate: no Technologies: HTML5/CSS3/ES6 (JS), Python, Java, C Email: j at the domain below Résumé (code block does not allow links): [https://fej.io/resume](https://fej.io/resume) Recently graduated from the Stevens Institute of Technology in NJ, right next to NYC - CS bachelor's degree with a minor in philosophy. Worked with Node.js, Vue.js, and Postgres for a senior capstone project. I'm currently working with a professor on improving an existing web app and fixing legacy PHP code. Always excited to try new languages, frameworks, methodologies - you name it. Please don't hesitate to leave a comment with any questions. Thank you for looking. I am a citizen of the US. ------ austincheney Location: Fort Worth, TX, US Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: * Fullstack - TypeScript/JavaScript/Node.js * Security - Security+, CASP, CISSP (expired) * Clearance - US federal TS/SCI * Accessibility \--- Personal Preferences: * _Vanilla JS_. I detest large frameworks and unnecessary dependencies. I prefer writing solutions to business requirements as directly as possible in an imperative/functional style. * Not everything should be a dependency. A quality product will not contain 1000 NPM packages. * I prefer _git_ for version control. * I enjoy writing documentation and receiving technical criticism. \--- Prior Personal Projects: * _Share File Systems_ , a complete GUI in the browser that allows viewing and navigating the current machines complete file system and sharing aspects of that file system to specified devices/users. The application is server-less, peer-to-peer, and focused on privacy first. The first link is a video demo and the second is the code on Github: [http://mailmarkup.org/sharefile/demo1.mp4](http://mailmarkup.org/sharefile/demo1.mp4) , [https://github.com](https://github.com) * _Pretty Diff_ , a language parsing diff utility that also beautifies code. Supports 45 languages. [https://prettydiff.com](https://prettydiff.com) * _Sparser_ , the parser used by Pretty Diff. [https://sparser.io/](https://sparser.io/) \--- Resume available via email. Email: info@prettydiff.com ------ bradneuberg Location: San Francisco Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Maybe Technologies: Deep Learning (CNNs, RNNs, network architectures, TensorFlow, PyTorch, etc.); Software Engineering (architecture, test-driven development, engineering leadership, etc.); Systems Engineering (Python, databases, Unix, AWS/GCP, distributed systems, etc.); General ML (Jupyter, data science, etc.); Web Engineering (JavaScript, HTML, CSS, API development, web servers, etc.); Product Management & Innovation (user-driven development, futurist studies, etc.) Résumé/CV: [http://codinginparadise.org](http://codinginparadise.org) Email: bradneuberg at googles email service (gmail) dot com ~~~ tgtweak What kind of work are you looking for? Seems you should be founding more startups :) ------ alexandander Location: San Francisco, CA Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Java/Spring, Python/Django, bash/linux, JavaScript, Postgres/MySQL, AWS/Docker Résumé/CV: available on request via email Email: hello {{at}} alexanderbw {{.}} com I'm an experienced software engineer specializing in elegant API/SDK design which is _insanely_ friendly to developers. I will take your complicated API and make it so clean and user-friendly that even your grandma could use it. ~~~ quickthrower2 Nice pitch! ------ moonandsun Location: Raleigh, NC Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes (depending on position) Technologies: C++, C#, ASP .NET MVC, Java (though fairly rusty), PHP, Ruby, Full Stack Development (HTML, CSS, Javascript), Windows Server administration, SQL Server, mySQL, SQlite, Project Management, Networking Technologies, Physical and Information Security, Digital Forensics, Linux (Redhat/Knoppix/Backtrack/Kali) Résumé/CV: Please send an email and I'll be glad to send it. Email: moonandsunconsulting@gmail.com I am a computer professional and have done this for more than 20+ years (everything from hardware technician, call center, network technician, database administrator, security, and systems engineer/integrator). I have a Computer Science degree from North Carolina State University and have worked for large enterprise corporations. For full disclosure, I have a criminal record from about a decade ago (and will be glad to disclose details to anybody that might be interested, but not a breach of trust or theft or anything like that) and that has hindered my job search. I have been consulting since then and am looking for a stable position. I have experience doing work for large and small businesses and understand many processes both in application development and management. If anybody is willing to give me a chance or at least get in touch, I would greatly appreciate it. If I need to relocate, I would definitely consider that. Thank you. ------ TeMPOraL Perhaps a little unusual, but: a team of 5 people (3 backend engineers + a product manager + a solutions architect), including myself, is looking for a project. Location: Poland, UK, US Remote: only Willing to relocate: no (but can occasionally travel for meetings) Technologies: Clojure, ClojureScript, Common Lisp, JavaScript, Java, C/C++, Erlang, Neo4J, PostgreSQL, Chef, GCP, reactive programming. Résumé/CV: on request Email: hn_work@jacek.zlydach.pl Context: we're a group of independent contractors who have, for the past several years, worked together creating and developing a product in cybersecurity risk management space, targeted at enterprise-level customers. Despite breaking into the market and entering evaluation process with multiple large and well-known enterprises, the parent company owning the IP has started to disintegrate and we're being forced to look for another work. Since we're an experienced team that works well together and have been successfully solving hard problems and delivering for years, we're trying to find an opportunity to work on something together. Between us all, we have over 60 person-years of commercial development experience. Two of us are capable handling front-end development, but we've all been mostly backend-focused. Individually, experience additionally includes: game development, hardware and firmware engineering, CAD/CAM (Fusion360), network engineering, devops. ------ v1l I'm an experienced product and engineering leader. Over the past decade, I've built productive, talented prod/eng teams and shipped delightful products at multiple startups. I work with early stage (typically Seed/Series A) startups as a consulting Head of Product and CTO. What I do: \- As an interim Head of Product/CTO, I will lead your product and eng functions \- I will drive all aspects of product development, including product research, talking to your customers, product strategy, sprint planning/execution, and ultimately, successful product delivery. \- Help you hire great people into product and engineering roles \- Provide interim engineering leadership and make sure your team is motivated and building the right thing without over-engineering it. \- Ensure that good product and engineering practices are built into your organizational culture. I'd be ideally suited at a startup where the sales/business-focused founder(s) need an experienced hand to manage and propel the ship on the product/tech side. At my last startup, I took a SaaS product from a back of napkin sketch to software with dozens of business customers and in the process we raised venture funding. Prior to that, I led a 10-person eng team at a well-known startup in SF. Location: SF bay area Willing to relocate: No Full-time: No, looking for part-time contract/freelance/consulting opportunities Email: in my profile ------ jonpurdy Location: Currently Toronto, moving to SF in February Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies/Skills: Certified Scrum Master, Scrum & Kanban Methodologies, Multi-team Coordination, Jira, Python, Containerization, Cloud Infrastructure, Blockchain Résumé/CV: jonpurdy.com/resume.pdf Email: hn-202001@jonpurdy.com (will respond from my real one) I'm primarily a Technical Project Manager looking to help teams build software more efficiently. In previous infrastructure roles I've spearheaded numerous projects, brought service endpoint uptime from ~95% to 100%, took over and grew a team, and improved team performance by implementing Infrascrum methodology. Since 2018, I've implemented Scrum and Kanban, coached junior development teams, and successfully completed and released multiple software projects, both internal and for clients. I also acted as a product manager for many of the internal products we created, developing product mission and vision statements, roadmaps, gathered user feedback, and built user-facing documentation and product websites. Ideally, I'm looking for a SF Bay Area-based startup that has built (or is close to completing) an MVP and is looking to scale the development team's size and efficiency, as well as technical infrastructure. I'm available either on a contract or full-time basis. I’m best able to fill the following roles: scrum master, product owner, technical product manager, Agile coach, or project manager, or some sort of combination of them. Thanks and please email me if you have any questions or just want to chat. ------ netfunk81 Location: EU Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Go, Ruby, Rails, Elixir, Rust, C, PostgreSQL, web development, distributed systems, Apache Kafka, streaming, audio development Résumé/CV: Available on request Email: netfunk81@protonmail.com \--- Hi HN, I'm a seasoned developer with previous as co-founder/CTO of a funded startup (8 years) in the web/audio space. Currently I am technical lead of a product team in a mid-sized EU startup (2 years). I'm a productive, polyglot programmer with plenty of direct experience in backend web development, mobile development and real-time audio/streaming tech. I am also comfortable tackling many of the non-technical challenges faced by startups (product mindset, process, project management, engineering management, etc.) I'm interested in hearing about opportunities where my skills, experience and mindset may be a good fit. Must be remote-friendly, but I can travel within Europe for interviews and meetings. Some example roles that I'd consider: \- Backend or full-stack web development \- Audio/video/streaming dev roles \- Tech lead or the right EM role \- Technical co-founder opportunities (salaried) \- Short-term/contract developer roles \--- Throwaway account, full CV available on request. Thanks! ------ gremlinsinc Location: Southern Utah Remote: Yes\|Only Willing to relocate: Nope. Technologies: - DBS: Postgres, MySQL, faunadb, mongodb - languages (ranked by familiarity): PHP, Javascript, Ruby, Python, Elixir, Rust, Golang (Would love to work w/ go/rust more) - Backend Frameworks (ranked ^): Laravel, Rails, Express/Node.js - Frontend Frameworks (ranked ^): Vue, React, Svelte, Angular - CSS: Tailwind, Bootstrap, Bulma - Mobile: Quasar / Ionic Framework / React Native - API's: AWS, Rekog, Polly, Fedex, UPS, Craigslist Bulk Posting, Amazon Product API, Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Clockify, etc... - AI/ML: Rekog, Polly, python/NLTK == created image classification to search emails by images in ads. - Cloud: Aws/Azure/GCP. Learning Kubernetes/terraform. - Serverless: Some small projects, looking to use more in the future. - Business: Scrum, Agile, Kanban, Jira, Accelerator (Boom Startup) Resume: [https://patrickcurl.com/resume](https://patrickcurl.com/resume) email: patrickwcurl (at) gmail.com Currently working on an open source (soon to be released) SaaS boostrapper w/ teams\|plans\|projects built using laravel+vue+inertiajs+tailwindcss. I also work 40-50 hours weekly on freelancing work including a modified clone of reddit for a community focused site. I've been working in php/laravel since 2013 and have a number of published articles on laravel, linux, vue, etc... at [https://medium.com/@patrickcurl](https://medium.com/@patrickcurl) I'm looking for exciting projects as a developer, product manager, project manager. I'm also open to working as a CTO or consultant for architecture planning or as a mid-level devops. ------ blaisehorvath Location: Budapest (EU) Remote: Yes (Only) but kick off meetings, monthly meetings are okay in the EU Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Go, Node.js, Fullstack JS React/Redux/Vue/Vuex…, Python, C, Docker, Microservices, AWS certified Résumé/CV: [https://emergence-engineering.com/cv/balazs](https://emergence- engineering.com/cv/balazs) Email: balazs.horvath@emergence-engineering.com I’m a proactive developer/team lead with years of experience in remotely integrating to teams in the US and UK. I can help in architecting, building and shipping your web, mobile, PWA distributed system. I am flexible with my work schedule so time zone difference shouldn’t be an issue. I prefer working as an independent contractor/consultant but I’m also available for part time or full time work. ------ michalu Content + data science I specialize in data-science that can be turned into marketing/thought leadership content and actionable business insights. I can work with SQL, Python and related data-science libraries including Pandas, NumPy, Matplotlib; source and process data using APIs, BeautifulSoup or Selenium; build simple machine learning models with Scikit-learn. I can deliver insights, engaging content and beautiful data-visualizations. Location: Europe, (currently France) Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No CV + contact: [https://quantitup.com](https://quantitup.com) ------ odomojuli Location: Los Angeles Remote: Yes Willing to Relocate: Yes Techonologies: React / Redux, Vue / Nuxt, Svelte / Sapper, Node / Express, Django, Flask, GraphQL, PostgreSQL, Python, R, Julia, Quantitative Modeling, Mathematics Bio: Fullstack developer and machine learning researcher. I like building prototypes. Technical cofounder. Would love to be involved with an early startup. Have managed data science teams. I have an extremely pleasant disposition. Open to consulting as well. Resume: Request at info@odomojuli.com Email: info@odomojuli.com Website: [https://odomojuli.com/](https://odomojuli.com/) ------ formalsystem Role: Technical Product Manager, Applied Machine Learning scientist Location: San Diego Willing to Relocate: Yes (US, UK) - US citizen Technologies: Machine Learning, Python, Tensorflow, Pytorch, Julia, C#, Unity, AWS, Node, SQL Skills: math, optimization, physics, graphics, design Resume: [https://www.overleaf.com/read/wkbttymdcmqt](https://www.overleaf.com/read/wkbttymdcmqt) Personal site: robotoverlordmanual.com Email: marksaroufim@gmail.com Hi I’m Mark, I’m an Applied ML Scientist and Product Designer. I'm the founder of yuri.ai where my goal is to make it really easy for game developers to balance their games using Reinforcement Learning. I’m looking for a job because the Lebanese banking system is collapsing and I’ll soon need income to support my parents. How I can help you: I can write top notch documentation and can explain anything to anyone: My book robotoverlordmanual.com is a visual and accessible robotics, ML and math textbook with over 28000 monthly viewers. I’m very comfortable writing and speaking. I can manage your most complex projects: I was the BI lead when Microsoft was selling its display ads business to AOL, I made sure Outlook AI efforts were compliant. I’ve worked on projects with 100+ stakeholders and have bootstrapped projects where I was the first engineer to 10 engineers. I can turn your research into a product: I’ve done this with Yuri, I’ve done this at Microsoft when I was working on a next gen email ranker and a part of speech tagger and I’ve done this at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory when I was setting up their computer security anomaly detection pipeline from scratch I can setup your entire BI infrastructure and measure what matters: I’ve done this for more than 10 teams at Microsoft. I will help you find and measure the metrics that are most indicative of your product success. I will also get along with your dev team: I have extensive science and development experience and can tell the difference between realistic work and sci-fi. I have extensive experience with tooling and research in BI, ML, RL and game dev. Please ask me questions! ------ ajahso4 Location: Nigeria Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Node.js, TypeScript, JavaScript, React, Vue, Python, Django, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, AWS, Heroku Resume: [https://ajahcs.herokuapp.com](https://ajahcs.herokuapp.com) Email: talk2ajah@gmail.com I am a mechanical engineer by training which I believe gives me some leverage in viewing problems with a broad perspective. Also, I am willing to learn new technologies and work in a cross-cultural environment. ------ Dim25 Location: San Francisco, CA, USA Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Full-stack with Machine Learning experience. PM for remote team. Résumé/CV: https://bitly.com/dima_cv1 Email: dima_cv1@protonmail.com Hi all, I'm Dima ([https://www.linkedin.com/in/dim25/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dim25/)), worked on various tech (Webdev+Python+ML) and non-tech roles. Most recent projects: * Analyzing millions of job postings. Orchestration (Airflow, Docker); Data gathering (Selenium; Scrapy; MitmProxy), enrichment, and analytics. [Role: Founder + core developer] * CCTV Stream analytics (TensorFlow computer vision w/ Kurento WebRTC gateway). [Role: ML engineer] Previously: * Co-founder at MBaaS startup. 'Firefighter' from $0 to $120K MRR. * Hired and managed a team of 15 mobile developers to assist with the delivery of the #1 mobile banking app in Russia (iOS + Android). * AWM, rev-share with Kinks (guys from San Francisco Armory). Especially good match: if you need a cost-efficient prototype; fix and deliver your machine learning or automation strategy; looking for an early-stage full- stack dev with ML experience; or have a remote team you don’t have time to manage. Let's connect: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/dim25](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dim25) ------ sjsamson Location: San Francisco, CA, USA Remote: Preferred, but on-site is fine Willing to relocate: No Resume/CV: [https://linkedin.com/in/suri-samson](https://linkedin.com/in/suri- samson) Email: sjsamson86 at gmail d0t com Technologies: Computing Infrastructure (Servers, Networking, Storage), GNU/Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, VMware, OpenStack, CI/CD, Distributed Systems About me: I am a Bay Area native and lifelong technologist. Built my first computer when I was 8, got exposed UNIX/Linux systems and installed Red Hat Linux and Slackware in late 1900s, which sparked my interest in technology and set me on the path I am on. Experience and skills in the Systems, Infrastructure, DevOps, and SRE spaces; from the physical layer (data center and computer hardware) up to supporting apps in production and the developers that build them. Recent years focused on the emerging cloud native computing stack, helping software developers and organizations be successful with it. I bring a systems theory approach to thinking about and solving problems. Have many areas of interest, and am also interested in applying my skillset into various other (not traditionally considered tech) industries and verticals like transportation, energy, water, agriculture, etc. that can have a large positive societal impact. ------ rmbibeault Location: Boston, MA Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes (Highly interested in relocating to Silicon Valley, or San Fransisco, or other major tech hubs/cities, such as NYC, also interested in staying in the Boston area) Technologies: Common Lisp, Python, Linux, git (some knowledge of rust, and C) Github: github.com/Duderichy LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rbibeault](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rbibeault) Resume: see LinkedIn, and message me there, or email me for a copy. Email: RichardMBibeault@gmail.com I passed the triplebyte interview. Physics major (Bachelors of Science) turned software developer. One year as a backend developer at a common lisp shop. Looking for a linux based company. (macOS as workstation computer/laptops is great too!). Avid learner, I try to read and learn as much as possible, I've recently gone through Designing Data Intensive Applications, and Designing Distributed Systems. Would be glad to work at a company that uses a functional language, such as Haskell, especially if they don't expect new employees to come in already knowing the language. Also highly interested in companies using Rust, python, or go. Ambitious: only been at the company a year and spent a significant amount of time this summer directing an intern, overhauled the build system the company uses internally (set up jenkins over previous system). Eager to learn as much as I can. ------ nunoarruda Front-End Angular Developer Location: Europe Remote: Yes, remote only Willing to relocate: No Technologies: HTML, CSS, Sass, DOM, JavaScript, ES6/7/8, TypeScript, JSON, AJAX, HTTP, Web APIs, RESTful APIs, Bootstrap, Angular, RxJS, NgRx, Ionic, Angular Material, Wijmo, Karma, Jasmine, Protractor Résumé/CV: [https://nunoarruda.com/resume.pdf](https://nunoarruda.com/resume.pdf) Email: nuno@nunoarruda.com Looking for: Permanent but part-time (4 hours a day) employment Hi, I'm Nuno, a Result-Oriented Front End Angular Engineer with a strong technical skill-set, attention to detail, and 17 years of experience. I have a passion for translating beautiful designs into functional user interfaces and building great web applications. I actively seek out new technologies and stay up-to-date on industry trends and advancements. Continued education has allowed me to stay ahead of the curve and deliver exceptional work to each employer I’ve worked for. I've successfully delivered projects like a CSS UI library used by 17,000 employees, a mobile app that has 120,000+ users, and a web app serving over 100 million images. I've done frontend work for Adobe, Webflow, Bayer, among other companies. I'm originally from Portugal but I've been working remotely for the last 6 years for companies worldwide. I can be flexible in order to have overlapping working hours with a distributed team. ------ rasikjain Location: Greater New York Remote: Yes (Remote Only) Willing to relocate: No Technologies: • Web: ReactJs \| ES6/7 \| TypeScript \| Redux \| Node.js \| Express.js \| AngularJs \| HTML5 \| Bootstrap • Microsoft: .NET Core \| C# \| Asp.Net MVC \| Web API \| Linq \| Entity Framework • Data: SQL Server \| MySQL \| MongoDB \| Redis \| CouchDB • Cloud: AWS \| Azure \| Docker \| S3 \| EC2 \| SQS \| SNS \| RDS • Packages & Tools: Axios \| GraphQL \| Redux \| WebPack \| Babel \| NPM \| Git \| Jenkins \| Splunk \| SumoLogic \| Jira \| Sitecore Email: jainrasik [at] gmail.com Résumé/CV: [https://www.rasikjain.com/resume/](https://www.rasikjain.com/resume/) Stackoverflow: [https://stackoverflow.com/users/1993944/rasik- jain](https://stackoverflow.com/users/1993944/rasik-jain) LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rasikjain/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rasikjain/) Github: [https://github.com/rasikjain](https://github.com/rasikjain) Experienced (15+ years) Software Engineer & Architect with experience in FULL- STACK applications in React.js / TypeScript / C# / AWS / Cyber Security. Worked in different roles dealing with Product Development, Solution & Enterprise Architecture, Security & Cloud. ------ zephyrfalcon Location: Ocala, FL Remote: yes Willing to relocate: no Technologies: Python, relational databases (MS SQL Server, Postgres, MySQL), web crawling, GUI development, scripting, automated testing, SQLAlchemy, web development (esp. Flask, Django, Pyramid), ETL, REST APIs, parsing. Web development: mostly React. Languages: Python of course, Scheme, Prolog, Lisp. I have some familiarity with many other languages, like C, C#, Ruby, OCaml, Elixir, Clojure, Haskell, etc, and in most cases I can probably quickly become productive in them, if you have an existing projects in one of these languages. (I am always eager to pick up new programming languages or technologies.) Resume/CV: [http://aquila.blue/misc/resume.html](http://aquila.blue/misc/resume.html) LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/hans- nowak-16a9b316a/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/hans-nowak-16a9b316a/) Github: [http://github.com/zephyrfalcon](http://github.com/zephyrfalcon) also: [http://bitbucket.org/zephyrfalcon](http://bitbucket.org/zephyrfalcon) and: [http://gitlab.com/zephyrfalcon](http://gitlab.com/zephyrfalcon) Email: zephyrfalcon at gmail.com Note: At this time I am looking for part-time work, preferably 20 hours a week or less. ------ cereniyim \- Location: Europe \- Timezone: GMT+3 \- Remote: Yes \- Willing to relocate: No \- Technologies: Python 3.0+ with Pydata stack(numpy, pandas, scipy, statsmodels, matplotlib, seaborn, plotly, scikit-learn) and SQL, BigQuery on GCP \- Résumé/CV: [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MmLa0mhwg9FiuWRYBCcpIvpl...](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MmLa0mhwg9FiuWRYBCcpIvpl8jQuTZxmkPa2QSx9rAc/edit?usp=sharing) \- Email: iyimceren@gmail.com \- Github: [https://github.com/cereniyim/Data-Science- Projects](https://github.com/cereniyim/Data-Science-Projects) \- Medium: [https://medium.com/@cereniyim](https://medium.com/@cereniyim) \- Linkedin: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ceren- iyim](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ceren-iyim) \- Kaggle: [https://www.kaggle.com/cereniyim](https://www.kaggle.com/cereniyim) Budding and self-taught data scientist with 6 months of experience in the field. Changed careers from enterprise consulting with the passion for data and creating impact. My strengths are in the data wrangling & visualization. I am looking for contract/full-time data analyst or scientist roles. ------ salvagedcircuit Electrical Engineer Recent projects: [https://www.salvagedcircuitry.com](https://www.salvagedcircuitry.com) Location: NYC Remote: No Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: C++ Html CSS Cadence Virtuoso Quartus KiCad Eagle ModelSim OrCAD LTspice TINA-TI PCBdesign Solidworks KeyShot NX Android Resume/CV: [https://www.salvagedcircuitry.com/docs/EE.pdf](https://www.salvagedcircuitry.com/docs/EE.pdf) linkedin: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony- kouttron/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-kouttron/) GitHub: [https://github.com/anthonykouttron/pcb-business-card-qr- nfc](https://github.com/anthonykouttron/pcb-business-card-qr-nfc) Business card: [https://hackaday.com/2019/11/19/theres-more-to-designing- a-p...](https://hackaday.com/2019/11/19/theres-more-to-designing-a-pcb- business-card-than-meets-the-eye/) Email: anthony at salvagedcircuitry dot com I am an electrical engineer, hacker, maker and problem solver and I believe I would make an excellent fit to your engineering team. With broad experience in rapid prototyping, project development, CAD, designing cell layouts, performing DRC, debugging circuits and designing PCBs, I am confident that I can be of considerable value to any agile engineering team. ------ ag_user123 Location: Europe Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Not at the moment Technologies: JavaScript, ES6+, Node.js, Koa(Express), React.js, Gatsby, GraphQL, Redux, D3.js, Wordpress, React Native, Webpack, PostgreSQL, Bootstrap, Heroku, Firebase, TypeScript and more. Résumé/CV: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ngTkTVeDaakyFxEmPyyqyMuKxD6...](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ngTkTVeDaakyFxEmPyyqyMuKxD6MR_ja/view) Email: mail@andrejgajdos.com I am a freelance full-stack web developer with over six years of experience delivering software. I have worked for clients all around the world in many different industries. I have delivered solutions for startups, digital agencies and big companies, such as Apple. I have background in computer science and am able to create everything from small business websites to custom web applications. Personal Website: [https://andrejgajdos.com](https://andrejgajdos.com) LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrejgajdos](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrejgajdos) Github: [https://github.com/AndrejGajdos](https://github.com/AndrejGajdos) ------ libbkmz I'm a Senior Software Engineer experienced in a wide range of technologies, like embedded systems, system modeling, web, databases, networking, etc. My passion is to create things that help people all over the world. Love to solve complex problems. The primary programming language is Python, but also have experience with JavaScript, PHP, Perl, C/C++, Clojure. Studied a little bit Go, Rust, D, and other not very popular languages. Have experience with embedded systems like STM32 or ESP8266 for home IoT automation. Have extensive knowledge about how NAND (Flash) memory works. Have done many system models of SSD, especially in Python with the help of Cython, numpy, and C. Have experience with Linux Kernel Hacking, especially in the block layer. Also have some experience with Frontend: AngularJs, VueJs. Location: Belarus (Europe) Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: System modeling (Python, Cython, numpy, pandas, C), embedded software, Linux Kernel Hacking, NAND, Flash storage internals, Python, Flask, Django, MongoDB, Linux, VueJs. Résumé/CV: Available by email. Email: libbkmz.dev+hiring < ат > gmail.com ------ half-pixel-off Location: Seattle Area Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: For the right position Technologies: Game Programming & related (C#, Unity 3d, Python, JSON, Couchbase, Django, etc...), Embedded Programming (C++, C, VxWorks, etc...) Résumé/CV: Email me and I'll give PDF/DOCx/LinkedIn. Email: half #hyphen# pixel - off /at sign/ brown +dot+ dev --------- About Me: I'm a Game Programmer who used to be an Embedded Systems Programmer. Currently my day job is to maintain a video game and the ~50 servers it takes to run it. And also to plan the technical features for the upcoming milestones. And also to write code for the game a lot, unless I have to write code for the website a lot. I probably have too many hats right now, because one of them feel like a hat for managing which hats I'm wearing. I'm the 'jack of all trades' (technical ones, at least) and am feeling the 'master of none' sometimes - but my boss likes my ability to jump on emergencies and get done whatever needs doing. Before video games, I made hardware easier to access for the rest of the software engineers. I mainly did OS abstractions (VxWorks); the hardware abstraction layer; and IIC, SPI, etc. drivers on radiation-hardened hardware. I had a Top Secret (SCI) clearance from around 2008 to 2012. I'm interested in a better work/life balance and career future than the video gaming industry. No 15 hour days, 7 day work week environments, please - I've had enough of those for this lifetime. I'm also interested in learning Rust. ~~~ skyichi what is the email? ~~~ half-pixel-off Sorry - got a bit wild with it. My username is the first half. ------ dvt SEEKING WORK \| Los Angeles \| Remote I'm an expert engineer and data professional interested in consulting and architecting data pipelines. At Edmunds.com, I worked on a fairly successful ad-tech product and my team bootstrapped a data pipeline using Spark, Databricks, and microservices built with Java, Python, and Scala. These days, I work for a "new media" company you probably heard of and, over the past year, I re-built an ETL Kubernetes stack, including data loaders and extractors that handle >10,000 API payload extractions daily. My area of expertise includes data interoperability with Facebook Marketing, Facebook Graph, Instagram Graph, Google DFP, Salesforce, etc. That I'm a top- tier developer goes without saying. I'm interested in flexing my consulting muscle and can help with best practices, architecture, and hiring. Would love to connect even if it's just for networking! Blog: [https://dvt.name/](https://dvt.name/) GitHub: [https://github.com/dvx](https://github.com/dvx) Resume/contact: [https://dvt.name/resume/](https://dvt.name/resume/) ------ davidmott Location: UK, Worldwide Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: HTML/HTML5/CSS/CSS3/JavaScript/PHP/Python/Ruby/Laravel/MySQL/Node.js/AngularJS/AJAX/Go/Perl/Django/Java/C++/C#/C/ASP.NET/Swift/React Résumé/CV: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-mott-854772199/ PDF copy available Email: contact@davidmott.com Hi HN! I am currently open for projects. About me: I'm a Developer/Designer based in London (UK) who spends his time building products for entrepreneurs and businesses worldwide. These products include iOS and Android Apps, Websites and Mobile/Web Games. I have produced platforms for a variety of industries such as: Gambling, Social media, Fashion and more. I also, on occasion, teach and currently host a free coding class a couple times throughout the year. Portfolio: [https://www.davidmott.com/](https://www.davidmott.com/) Youtube: [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgdwsX9k3gNNjl0dBx6synA](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgdwsX9k3gNNjl0dBx6synA) For any enquiries you're welcome to reach out to me via Skype/Mobile/Email which can be found through my personal website, or by booking meetings in London. If you require an NDA before chatting kindly let me know. I also offer numerous discounts including projects that require more than 1 platform (ie, a website and mobile app build). If you've made it down to here, thanks for reading! ------ timothycrosley I'm a principal level software engineer with experience providing strong technical direction for development teams. I have extensive experience designing and developing complex web applications and large scale data processing pipelines. Working with teams to create and maintain both low and high-level documentation while working with customers to define requirements. A knack for simplifying and organizing the complex, enabling teams to scale. Core developer behind many successful Open Source projects. I'm always excited to learn more and to tackle new problems. Location: Seattle, WA, USA Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies/Languages: Python, JavaScript, C/C++, Ruby, YAML, TOML, HTML, CSS, Sass, LESS. Technologies/Frameworks: Spark, Hive, Django, Compass, Zope, QT, PySide, GTK, TK, MEAN, Angular, hug, flask. Technologies/Databases and Caches: Hadoop, Oracle, PostgreSQL, MYSQL, MongoDB, Redis, Memcache, ElasticSearch, Solr, Google’s Cloud Datastore. Resume/CV: github.com/timothycrosley, timothycrosley.com Email: timothy.crosley@gmail.com ------ Jane0617 Location: San Francisco Bay Area, CA Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No I am seeking an entry-level data analyst or data scientist position. I’m passionate about data and extracting value from data, and good at advanced analytics skills and marketing campaign (funnel analysis and cohort analysis). Also, I am very curious, detail-oriented, fast-learning, problem-solving and proactive. Technologies: R, SAS, MySQL & PostgreSQL, Python, Tableau, Power BI, GitHub, Excel, PowerPoint, LaTeX, EViews, SPSS, MapInfo Skills: Theory of Point and Interval Estimation and Hypothesis Testing, Bayesian Methods, Experiential Designs (ANOVA, ANCOVA, AB testing, Multiple Comparisons and Latin Square Designs (LSD)), Linear Regression, Machine Learning (KNN, Logistic Regression, Naïve Bayes, K-means Cluster, SVM, Decision Tree, Random Forest), Data Visualization (ggplot2, Tableau, Seaborn), Deep Learning (Keras, TensorFlow, RNN, LSTM, CNN), Natural Language Processing (Sentiment Analysis, N-grams, TF-IDF, Topic Modeling), Advanced SAS (SQL and Macro), Advanced Statistical Theory (MLE, LRT, Monte Carlos), Data Synthesis, Data Pipeline, Data Mining, Data Wrangling, Data Visualization, Statistical Modeling, Machine Learning, Regression-based Models, Hypothesis Testing, Text Mining, Cohort Analysis Résumé/CV: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K6hbKv6Go8fv5QSpANJoRsoVDtA...](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K6hbKv6Go8fv5QSpANJoRsoVDtAhdoBJ/view?usp=sharing) Email: jane06172019@gmail.com Github: [https://github.com/JaneLiu0617](https://github.com/JaneLiu0617) ------ Kliment Location: Cologne, Germany Note! Not looking for full time positions - I only take on project work. Remote: Yes, strongly preferred Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Embedded C++, Embedded C, Python, Electronics (design, layout, prototyping, testing), 3D printing, electromechanical and robotic design and prototyping Résumé/CV: Email if needed Email: kliment at 0xfb.com (yes, with a zero) IRC: Kliment on the freenode network I do custom electronics, robotics, and embedded software development - I specialize in quickly turning ideas into prototypes. I've built custom automation equipment for chemistry labs, sensors that are in use in household/utility applications, control circuitry for construction equipment, 3d printing electronics, data acquisition equipment. No project too small. Few projects too large. Deep discounts for open source hardware work. I would also be happy to come over (anywhere in Europe) and teach any of the above skills to a small group of interested people. I've taught courses in electronic assembly (SMD), 3d printing (building/using printers, iterative 3d model design using programming) and robot design and construction. I've taught courses at several universities, hackspaces, company events and conferences. ------ morenoh149 SEEKING WORK \| New York, NY nyc \| Remote or onsite in NYC Software Engineer experienced building Tech companies. Proven track record as a technical contributor, agile project manager and managing outsourced teams. Have worked at Startups and large companies. Comfortable eliciting requirements, writing specs and developing the solution on time⏱⏱⏱⏱⏱. Have worked fullstack, mobile, devops, conversion funnel optimization and machine learning. Developed software used by thousands of paying customers Javascript (React Native, Node.js) Python (Django, tensorflow, ml-engine) Ruby on Rails, Android Java, iOS apps, Go, SQL (mysql, redshift, postgres), experienced translating high level requirements into data models (information systems) OLTP and OLAP variants, have developed ETLs using aws glue and ec2 running python, have web scraped with scrapy and proxies on scrapinghub, and cloud (AWS, GCP, Heroku, Docker). Industries: Foodservice, Clover POS, Healthtech (HIPAA), Fintech ¥¥¥¥, ECommerce morenoh149@gmail.com [https://harrymoreno.com/hire-me](https://harrymoreno.com/hire-me) ------ givan Location: Eastern Europe Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: PHP, MySQL, Javascript (ES5, ES6+), Wordpress, Laravel, Bootstrap 4, Ecommerce, Linux, jQuery, Git etc Résumé/CV: https://github.com/givanz/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/givan-ziadin-64233816a/ Email: givanz [at] gmail (dot) com I’m a full stack developer focused on PHP 7 and Javascript with more than a decade of experience. Knows the ins and outs of web development from high performance server side code to clean and modern frontend development. I believe in open source and love to build and contribute to open source libraries. My most popular open source project [http://www.vvveb.com/vvvebjs/editor.html](http://www.vvveb.com/vvvebjs/editor.html) a drag and drop website builder javascript library [https://github.com/givanz/VvvebJs](https://github.com/givanz/VvvebJs) Looking mostly for part-time contract/freelance/consulting opportunities. ------ teetertater New Grad Data Scientist / Machine Learning Engineer (May 2020) with experience at 2 startups Location: Vienna, Austria Remote: Yes or On-Site Willing to relocate: Vienna or nearby Tech: Python, Scala, R, PyTorch, fast.ai, SQL/NoSQL, Docker, Kubernetes, NumPy, Spark, HDP, GitHub/BitBucket, LaTeX Experienced with computer vision, deep learning, distributed ML, data analysis, shipping models to production, APIs, building streaming ML pipelines, and more Languages: English/Russian Native Speaker, German B2 (Conversational) Résumé/CV: [https://www.yury.cc/resume.html](https://www.yury.cc/resume.html) Website: [https://www.yury.cc/](https://www.yury.cc/) LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/yzhuk](https://www.linkedin.com/in/yzhuk) GitHub: [https://github.com/Teetertater](https://github.com/Teetertater) Email: yuryivz@hotmail.com ------ oldboyFX We are a two-person web development team (also hireable individually) with extensive experience in architecting, building, and managing large custom-made applications. Recent projects: [https://codetree.co/case-studies](https://codetree.co/case- studies) Throughout the last decade we built Airbnb-like platforms, music streaming apps, healthcare/finance/construction apps, real-time GPS vehicle tracking suites, worked on core systems of big data platforms (millions of daily transactions) and more. We mostly collaborate with companies, but also have a lot of positive experiences assuming CTO-for-hire roles to work with non-technical founders. \--- Location: Central Europe Remote: Yes, since the beginning of our careers Willing to relocate: No Email: ivor@codetree.co \--- I specialize in front-end, but also do back-end(node) and UX design (JS/TypeScript/Babel, React, Webpack, GraphQL, ESLint, CSS etc.). My partner specializes in back-end, DevOps, system administration (Ruby on Rails, Java, PostgreSQL, Elastic, Docker, AWS, etc.), and also does light front-end work. Read more on [https://codetree.co/](https://codetree.co/) ------ ngrishanov Location: Yekaterinburg, Russia Remote: yes Willing to relocate: no Technologies: Most used recently: Python 3.7, asyncio, PostgreSQL, Docker. Also have experience with Javascript, node.js, MongoDB, Vue.js. Résumé/CV: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ssNXbs6XuHfwj4anYCLcT4jiDTQ...](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ssNXbs6XuHfwj4anYCLcT4jiDTQeBl2S) Email: mail(at)ngrishanov.me \------------- 6 years of experience. I’m fairly good at launching working services in production quickly enough. I’m most interested in parsing, analyzing and visualizing large amounts of data (my all time favorite project is web application for parsing and visualizing pressure and temperature measurements from sensors inside oil wells). If that’s something you need for your startup or whatnot - let me know :) If you want to see my work in action - check out Hacker News parser I did as a test task for some company: [https://github.com/ngrishanov/appfollow- test](https://github.com/ngrishanov/appfollow-test). It's something what I did in a few hours. ------ mchisto I'm looking to continue working on scalable systems aimed at handing millions of users. 7+ years in the industry / CS undergrad. Experience working at both startups and large enterprises. AI / reinforcement learning as a hobby (completed specialization on Coursera). Location: Portland, OR (US Citizen) Remote: willing to try (3+ years of experience working with remote teammates) Willing to relocate: would consider Seattle if the opportunity is an excellent fit. Technologies: -> Languages: Scala, Haskell, Rust (but I've used about 10 different languages over the years) -> Async architecture toolbox: Kafka, RabbitMQ, SQS/SNS -> Big Data stack: Spark, Hive, HBase -> ML/RL: PyTorch Résumé: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1YHWh4Fi6bur1mQg3U6FBUXIlb_-8H7-8 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxchistokletov/ Email: I'll share it if you ping me on LinkedIn. Or you can find it in my résumé. ------ jscotto Junior Software Developer Location: NJ/NYC Remote: Sure! Willing to relocate: Yes! Technologies: JavaScript, jQuery, NodeJS, Express, MySQL, Sass, HTML5/CSS3, Bootstrap, Firebase, Version Control(Git/GitHub) Resume: [https://jasonscotto.com/resume.html](https://jasonscotto.com/resume.html) Email: jayjscotto@gmail.com ------ akavuri Location: Buffalo, NY, US Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: • PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES: Python 3, Java, C, Shell Script • LIBRARIES: Pybullet, Scikit-Learn, NumPy, Pandas, TensorFlow, Keras, Django(API development), Flask • DATA MANAGEMENT: MySQL, Hadoop, MongoDB, Apache Cassandra, AWS • WEB TECHNOLOGIES: HTML5, CSS3, XML, PHP, Bootstrap, JavaScript (Native \| Meteor \| Socket) • OTHERS: Git, Apache SOLR Résumé/CV: send an email (or) ask me on LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhinavkavuri/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhinavkavuri/) Email: akavuri@buffalo.edu Portfolio: [https://abhinavkavuri.github.io/](https://abhinavkavuri.github.io/) Entry-level Developer with prior internship experience of 6-8 months. Currently looking for a summer internship and eventually a perfect & challenging full-time job. Strong background in Machine Learning and Web development. Open to relocation anywhere in the US. Think we should work together? I’d love to hear from you at akavuri@buffalo.edu Thank you. ------ n_sanity Location: Vancouver (looking to move to Montreal though) Remote: Yes (depending on position) Willing to relocate: Yes (depending on position) Technologies: C, C++, Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, React, Java. Résumé/CV: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JemzuonjNJGrK3-QA17R8Q3pe60HOnsr/view?usp=sharing Email: thiabaud.engelbrecht@gmail.com I have one term of school left, looking for something for when I graduate. I've done two internships before, one working on Call of Duty (lower-level C++ work, mainly networking and serialization), one working on an internal tool (React/Redux and Django). I also have some personal projects on GitHub, my favourite of which is a scripting language I wrote from scratch in C: [https://github.com/yasl-lang/yasl](https://github.com/yasl-lang/yasl). I'm interested in moving to Montreal but am open to hearing from people anywhere, depending on the role. ------ perryrjohnson7 Role: Data Scientist Location: Seattle, WA Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Python, Machine Learning Libraries (NumPy, Scikit-learn, Pandas, Turi Create, TensorFlow, Keras), Web Application Frameworks (Dash, Flask), Heroku, Google Cloud Platform, Bash, Git, JavaScript, MongoDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, HTML, CSS, API’s, Geographic Information Systems Résumé/CV: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/perryrjohnson/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/perryrjohnson/) Personal site: [http://perryrjohnson.com](http://perryrjohnson.com) Email: perryrjohnson7@gmail.com I'm a data scientist with experience in e-commerce, quantitative finance, farm tech, and working with early stage tech companies on leading data science initiatives. I am really passionate about leveraging machine learning and data science to solve meaningful problems. Here are a few of my recently published public projects: [https://medium.com/@perryrjohnson7](https://medium.com/@perryrjohnson7) ~~~ LacunaRecruiter Sent an email and inmail! Would love to chat with you based on your work with MDS. ------ elliotbnvl Location: Providence, RI (Boston area) ️Remote: Yes, but happy to visit Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Full stack web development, front-end leaning: TypeScript, React, Redux, Node, Docker, GH Actions, Terraform, CircleCI Email: elliot.bonneville@gmail.com Résumé/CV: [https://elliotbonneville.com/resume](https://elliotbonneville.com/resume) Blog: [https://elliotbonneville.com](https://elliotbonneville.com) StackOverflow profile (40k+ reputation, ~600 questions answered): [https://stackoverflow.com/users/339852/elliot- bonneville](https://stackoverflow.com/users/339852/elliot-bonneville) I have nearly six years of experience developing complex web apps for startups and have contracted remotely all over the US and internationally throughout that time. I am currently looking for full- and part-time contracts with immediate availability. ------ howard941 Firmware Engineer Location: Sarasota Remote: Preferred Willing to relocate: Very unlikely Technologies: Sensors; Communications; Drone/UAV/robotics: New product development; Sustainment; Embedded/firmware/bare metal, FreeRTOS, NuttX; nix/RF/crypto; Kinetis KE Cortex M0+ & M4, Nordic Semi's M4 SOC, ST's M4 ARMs, Espressif's ESP8266, Microchip dsPIC; realtime; IAR, gcc via MCUXpresso & Kinetis Dev Studio & unix like systems; MPLAB-X IDE; Embedded FreeBSD; Embedded Linux on for ex. Raspberry Pi / Broadcom BCM2837; PX4 drone NuttX on STM32F4; gdb; clang; UML; debugging development prototype hardware; embedded HTTP server; grid support power generation systems; TCP and UDP over IP; Ethernet; power line communications; RS-485; RV-C CANBUS; Bluetooth LE; LoRA; Battery powered devices; storage scopes; visual studio; Java w/Android Studio; GNSS; NEMA cybersecurity and IoT council member. Licensed attorney & pilot (ASEL/IA); amateur radio extra class Resume: Please request by email Email: hginfla@gmail.com ------ ironmagma Full stack generalist. I am searching for interactive products to work on, especially in the creative, realtime, or entertainment spaces. Experience working at startups, both in the 'very large' and 'medium' sizes with SaaS web offerings and internal developer productivity tools. Location: San Francisco, CA [US Citizen] Remote: Preferred, but open to on-site for the next 6 months Willing to relocate: FL immediately, or would consider Texas, NY, MT, NE, and other East Coast locations on a 6 month horizon Technologies: Front end = (React +love for hooks, React-vis, Redux, Apollo, TypeScript, Flow); Systems/Back End = (Rust, Python, C++, Go, C# / .NET, Kubernetes, Postgres, GraphQL) Resume: [http://philippeterson.com/resume](http://philippeterson.com/resume) LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip- peterson-12b61953/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-peterson-12b61953/) Email: pc.peterso@gmail.com ~~~ jonovate If TX (Houston specifically) becomes more immediate then hit me up :) ~~~ ironmagma Awesome, will do! Thanks! ------ hostedmetrics Location: United States (Puerto Rico) GMT-4 Remote: yes Willing to relocate: no Technologies: data analytics and monitoring, see bottom for details Email: heliodor [ a@t ) [ hostedmetrics ) d-o-t c-o-m I offer two services: 1) Design and implemention of data processing systems. 2) Data analytics and business intelligence to measure and improve the business performance of growing products. I will instrument your software to produce the necessary metrics, measure conversion rates, set up insightful dashboards, and best of all: optimize and grow! Both now and down the road. About me: My passion for metrics and data analytics goes more than nine years, when I joined as one of the first handful of engineers on the Data Analytics team at Squarespace. More recently, I have performed traffic, conversion, and profit analysis for an affiliate marketer. Available on a contract/consulting basis. A few keywords for people using search: business intelligence, data analytics, data warehousing, ETL, data visualization, reporting, time series, Django, InfluxDB, Prometheus, Graphite, Grafana, Segment, TimescaleDB, RedShift, contractor, consultant. ------ buckatwork Location: New York City Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Possibly Technologies: React, TypeScript, Node.JS Resume: Adaptable web technologist. Maker before planner. Trusted advisor. I can bring 15 years of software experience (10 in the Bay Area) to help get your products in front of customers. Where I best support is in a role with tight communication loops with low management overhead. I've worked on products with millions of visitors, as well as helped get startups off the ground by being a contributor as well as a listener and faciliator of good practices such as training, retrospectives, and recruiting. I'm pretty good at breaking big things into small things and keeping the flow going. I'm seasoned as a full-time remote teammate who overcommunicates. My technical expertise is steeped in web technologies, particularly React and its associated tools. For a client I created Universal Redux ([https://github.com/bdefore/universal- redux](https://github.com/bdefore/universal-redux)), a precursor to Create React App, helped make it the base of their projects and then managed its journey to an open source release. I'm up to date and versed in the ins and outs of hooks, TypeScript, Electron, and Gatsby. I can help kickstart (or contribute to) solid integration tests and build tools. I can be very autonomous, and am a not-so-bad generalist when I need to be, capable of supporting across the stack. As an example, I have recently developed/designed/managed a popular site entirely independently: ProtonDB ([https://www.protondb.com](https://www.protondb.com)). The site reached HN as a #1 post, receives > 150k MAU and growing, and requires only minimal upkeep and expense. Email: buckatwork [at] gmail.com ------ robyates Location: Boston / Cambridge, MA; New York, NY; Washington D.C. Remote: Yes. Willing to relocate: Yes. Technologies: Java, C++, C#, Ruby on Rails, Python, R Website: [http://www.robertjyates.com](http://www.robertjyates.com) Résumé: [https://drive.google.com/open?id=1nhS6mg8Y5Icoo99QxMnNFoHfvy...](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1nhS6mg8Y5Icoo99QxMnNFoHfvyXomm8a) Email: rjyTwoNineEightFive at gmail dot com Replace "Two" with "2", "Five" with "5", and the other number text with their digit equivalents Completed Masters in Computer Science from Stanford where I concentrated in artificial intelligence (AI). Coursework in statistical aspects of data mining, machine learning, multi-agent systems, social and information network analysis, general game playing. More than 5 years of full-time work experience, over 2 years of internship experience. ------ micheda With over five years of experience in the industry as team lead, founder, and CTO, combined with a solid foundation in modeling and querying spatial, sequential, and graph data obtained during my doctoral research, I can help you define, lead, and execute data science and engineering projects in IoT, robotics, mobility analytics, location intelligence, user profiling, and customer journey analytics. Location: Munich, Germany * Remote: Yes * Willing to relocate: No * Technologies: Data Science and Machine Learning: machine learning and data mining algorithms, experience with Scikit-learn, TensorFlow, Seaborn, Pandas, NumPy, Joblib, Jupyter Lab. Data Engineering: static and streaming data processing, experience with Cassandra, PostgreSQL, Parquet, HDFS, Hadoop, Spark, Apache Airflow, Celery, Fabric, Docker, Flask. AWS services: EMR, S3, Lambda, CloudWatch. Programming languages: Python, Java/Scala, C/C++. Graph Mining: Neo4J, NetworkX. * CV: available by email * Email: michele.dallachiesa@sigforge.com ------ eyyildiz SEEKING WORK \| Remote Only Location: Istanbul (Turkey) Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: .NET [Core] (C#); ASP.NET; Git; Gitlab; EntityFramework; Linq; Docker; databases: Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, skills: Automations; API; Architecture; Tcp/IP communications protocol development Résumé/CV: [http://www.acetype.com/ERDEM%20YAVUZ%20YILDIZ%20CV.docx](http://www.acetype.com/ERDEM%20YAVUZ%20YILDIZ%20CV.docx) Email: erdemyavuzyildiz[at]hotmail[dot]com I'm a highly experienced professional software engineer specialized in .Net stack with 25+ years of experience. Currently looking for opportunities to fully utilize my skills. I can consult on architectural problems, work as a discrete unit or a part of another team on implementing the solution. I can replace a small software team's work force with my experience, and develop very complex big enterprise projects alone. I can function as a Team Leader or Lead Architect or Lead Developer ------ sinisamikulic Frontend engineer and web consultant with 8 years of experience in highly successful and fast-growing startups across San Francisco and Berlin ([https://sinisamikulic.com/case-studies](https://sinisamikulic.com/case- studies)). My strengths are in UI/UX product development and frontend infrastructure. Looking for full-time or part-time engagement to help build your product. \--- Location: Europe (Berlin, Germany and Zagreb, Croatia depending on the season) Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: JavaScript (React, Redux, TypeScript, Node.js, Webpack), GraphQL, Ruby/Rails Website: [https://sinisamikulic.com](https://sinisamikulic.com) LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sinisamikulic](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sinisamikulic) Email: contact@sinisamikulic.com \--- Sample project I co-founded — [https://movieo.me/](https://movieo.me/) I can jump on a call right away! ------ BenoitP Machine learning engineer, specialized in Explainable AI / ML Recent Highlights: * Implementation in Spark/Scala of treeinterpreter, currently used in production * Participation to the FICO-Google Explainable Machine Learning Challenge * Intuitive, visual data/signal explorer (work in progress, partial view at [http://explicable.ml](http://explicable.ml) (the 3D background view)) Location: Paris, France Remote: yes Willing to relocate: for the right job, yes Technologies: SHAP, RuleFit, Random Forest, Word2Vec, PCA, t-SNE, LSH, ROC, Scikit-Learn, Spark, Weka, Databricks, BigQuery, Hive, Postgres, MySQL, Oracle, AWS, Linux, Maven, Git, Java, Scala, Python, CAML, Elm, Javascript, Spring, Primefaces, d3.js Résumé/CV: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/benoitparis/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/benoitparis/) Github: [https://github.com/benoitparis/](https://github.com/benoitparis/) Email: benoit@explicable.ml ------ jaredmosley Location: Dallas, TX Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Fullstack development, Javascript, Node.js, Angular, Java, Mulesoft, Python, SQL, Linux Résumé/CV: [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1C8OVbmk- QET4Y6DsNueoDtWK...](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1C8OVbmk- QET4Y6DsNueoDtWKK9FvLKqIb85W1va8xlI/edit?usp=sharing) Email: JaredLMosley@gmail.com LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jared- mosley-a23a49140/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jared-mosley-a23a49140/) Github: [https://github.com/superturkey650](https://github.com/superturkey650) I am a Fullstack developer trying to find something to dig my teeth into. I enjoy refactoring just as much as creating from scratch, and I know the importance of documentation and good communication. I give back to my community using my skills and am eager to grow with good mentors. ------ 52-6F-62 Location: _Toronto, Canada_ Remote: _Yes or onsite_ Willing to relocate: _Not likely within the next year—distance pending_ Technologies: _Mixed experience levels with JS /TypeScript (mainly back-end, some React, Vue, Electron), NodeJS, Python, MySQL, MongoDB, Go, C_ Résumé/CV: _[https://robertfairley.com/cv](https://robertfairley.com/cv) _ Email: _rrafairley @ gmail_ \--- I've worn different hats at different times in my current role, but currently mainly focused on digital publishing engineering. Recently developed a system for transforming simplified inDesign export data into well-formed Apple News+ formatted magazine content. For that reason I'm proud to say you can now find me on the Macleans magazine (Canada) masthead (Apple News+ edition). I also started and support a couple of open-source Apple News libraries with some growing community support because of the lack of information and help available at my latest project's outset. ~~~ bussierem FYI, on chromium browser I get "this site is not secure" full page warning. ~~~ 52-6F-62 Many thanks, I'd let the cert expire. ------ Ellipsis753 Location: London, UK Remote: No Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Full-Stack, C, C++, PHP, Python (2/3), Java, Hardware Design, JavaScript, Amazon Web Services, MYSQL, Linux, MicroPython, Java Spring Boot, JavaScript Backbone, JavaScript Marionette, REST APIs, HTML(5), CSS(3), responsive design, jQuery, Underscore, LESS, SASS, WordPress, WooCommerce, STOMP, WebSockets. Résumé/CV: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaneevanstone/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaneevanstone/) Email: shanee@ifnotequal.com Hi. I've recently moved to London, so looking for a new role. I'm currently MakerClub's Chief Technology Officer and a Full-Stack Developer. I provide guidance and expertise as we bring making and programming to children across the UK. I also built the online platform, website and hardware. I think I'd fit a medium-sized IoT startup pretty well, but definitely open to other things too. ------ pmalex Location: Russia Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Bare-Metal programming, drivers, C/C++, Python, Haskell, QNX Neutrino, FreeRTOS, Embedded Linux, Verilog, Embedded Systems, Embedded Hardware verification, GNU Toolchain, Intel/MIPS Assembler, Multi-Threaded Software, SPI interface, NAND flash, AM335x, etc. Resume: [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mRAdhNIXH5SLcM- XtbcEBv94...](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mRAdhNIXH5SLcM- XtbcEBv94qDNj2HyiK5DDlxpcyuM/edit?usp=sharing) email: genary@ya.ru ======================================= I'm interested in the design and building of complex embedded software projects (drivers, multi-threaded daemons), hardware design (in Quartus, ModelSim), bare-metal hypervisors design. I have a scientific background in abstract algebra. My LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/palexm](https://www.linkedin.com/in/palexm) ------ nalexn Location: Russia Remote: Yes (Worked remotely for > 3 years) Willing to relocate: No Technologies: iOS, Swift, Objective-C, Xcode, RxSwift, SwiftUI Résumé/CV: [https://drive.google.com/open?id=1rtHAyxPqeEcjSQKLz9F5Gqvm-1...](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1rtHAyxPqeEcjSQKLz9F5Gqvm-150-Rzu) Email: alexey {at} naumov.tech Blog: [https://nalexn.github.io](https://nalexn.github.io) \-------- Over the past eight years working as a software engineer, I grew to an iOS team lead of a public FinTech company working from their headquarters in Hollywood, CA, followed by starting my startup. Now I’m on the market for my next professional challenge as a software engineer, who blends experience in mobile app development and systems architecture with product-oriented leadership and team coaching. If you need an exceptionally skilled and proactive team player - check out my LinkedIn / Resume to read more about my experience! ------ wcunning I'm a powertrain controls engineer for one of the big three, working on DAT systems on the powertrain side of the interface, and I am now looking to move further into the autonomous vehicle space. I have experience with automotive standards and practices, underlying vehicle architectures and the reams of documentation and safety analysis required of modern systems. I have a Master's in EE: Systems with a focus in controls and signal processing and prior experience with machine learning, though that knowledge is a little rusty. Location: Ann Arbor, MI Remote: Open to it Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: C/C++, SysML, Model Based Design, ISO26262, Embedded system design, controls and signal processing, some machine learning Résumé/CV: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/william- cunningham-6b63a656/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/william- cunningham-6b63a656/) Email: wdocunningham@gmail.com ------ saelamin \---------------------------------------------------------- * Location: Atlanta, GA USA * Remote: Yes * Willing to relocate: No * Technologies: Full stack developer and designer. PHP, Laravel, Javascript, ES6, React, jQuery, HTML/CSS, SASS, LESS, MySQL, AWS, Linux, Web APIs, RESTful APIs, WordPress * Resume/CV: [http://23andwalnut.com](http://23andwalnut.com) \---------------------------------------------------------- 15 years total programming experience, 10+ years building for the web, 5 years technology and strategy consulting. I provide full service software development and combine strategy, technology, and design to solve complex business challenges. Extensive experience taking projects from concept all the way through launch and have worked with clients of all sizes, from individuals and startups to multinational enterprise companies. \---------------------------------------------------------- * Email: projects [at] 23andwalnut.com \---------------------------------------------------------- ------ westoncb Location: Tucson, AZ Remote: yes Willing to relocate: probably not Technologies: JavaScript + various web technologies, Java, Objective-C, real- time rendering / computer graphics: opengl / webgl, glsl. I've been doing lots of work with three.js in recent years. Résumé/CV: [http://symbolflux.com/resume.html](http://symbolflux.com/resume.html) Email: westoncb@[google's email service] I've been programming for over a decade, have been a founding engineer at a YC startup, and a lead engineer doing primarily graphics work for a 3D printer startup. During the past couple years I've mostly worked on a contract basis, helping clients develop web apps centered around interactive 3D graphics, or researching and developing algorithms loosely in the domain of computational geometry. My projects: [http://symbolflux.com/projects](http://symbolflux.com/projects) ------ lykr0n Role: Site Reliability Engineer/System Administrator/System Engineer Location: Seattle, WA (and surrounding areas) Willing to relocate: I'd rather not Technologies: Linux (CentOS/RHEL), MySQL, Postgres, Clickhouse, Docker, Nomad, Consul, Vault, Puppet, Ansible, SaltStack, Python 2/3 (development + administration), Rust (development + administration), Java + JVM (administration), KVM (oVirt/RHEV), VMware vSphere, Limited AWS/GCP, etcd, zookeeper, kafka, haproxy, nginx, Bash, GitHib/GitLab, Git, HTML, Datadog, Grafana, InfluxDB, and so on and so on. On Call? Love it. Résumé/CV: On Request Email: lykron@mm.st Looking for more of a smaller company this time around. 5 to 250 people or so. Could be startup to established company. I love building infrastructure and being involved with architecture design. I've been heavily involved in improving reliability of applications and systems to make sure they do not go down. ------ vonseel Location: Austin, TX Remote: No Willing to relocate: Not immediately, maybe in the future. Technologies: Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, React-Native, DevOps including Kubernetes/Docker, Ansible, and Linux. Résumé/CV: Upon request. Email: KevinIsACoder@gmail.com Interested in: Golang, Elixir, C#. Back-end developer with ~8 years experience working at various levels of the stack. I enjoy working on challenging problems that force me to learn and evolve my skill-set. My most recent work was primarily React-Native iOS development, but most of my prior experience is Python-based and I am looking for back-end roles going forward. As noted above, I am also interested in back-end roles for Golang, Elixir, C#, or possibly even Java development. Not interested in moving right now, but I may consider moving in the future to Dallas, or CA/NY, if the right opportunity presents itself. ~~~ jonovate If Houston becomes interesting hit me up. ------ 8bitstudio SEEKING WORK Location: Vilnius (Lithuania) Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: .NET [Core] (C#, F#); ASP.NET; JVM (Clojure, Java, Scala); Python; AngularJS; Vue.js; React; iOS (Swift); AWS (wide range of services); databases: Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Datomic, Couchbase, Redis, Event Store Résumé/CV: On request Email: hello[at]8bitstudio[dot]dev We are a three-person full-stack highly professional development team with extensive experience in online advertising and fintech. We can consult on architectural problems, work as a discrete unit or a part of another team on implementing the solution. Describe us your task, project or idea and we will provide a timely response with estimates and a plan. We offer very flexible rates and will help you with suggestions on how to best optimize the development effort. For contact details and other information please visit: [https://www.8bitstudio.dev/](https://www.8bitstudio.dev/) ------ adefemi171 Hi all, Am Adefemi by name a Self Motivated, Resourceful Software Developer skilled at technical leadership, communication and presentations. Driven to learn quickly, advance computer proficiency and training. Solid background in Agile Development and Remote settings supporting team needs. Flexible and hardworking team player focused on boosting efficiency and performance with conscientious and detail-oriented approaches. I am available to work remote for a Junior role as a DevOps Engineer and also up for ReactNative Engineer Role. Location: Lagos, Nigeria Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, MySQL, Terraform, k8s, Docker, AWS, GCP, AZURE, Ansible, Gilab, Jenkins(more in Resume) Resume: [https://drive.google.com/open?id=1K6Dv3sd5lGf7OeY3prjg9lOctM...](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1K6Dv3sd5lGf7OeY3prjg9lOctMXtQmgO) Email: Adefemi171@gmail.com ------ harlanji Location: San Francisco, CA Remote: willing. Willing to relocate: within CA. Technologies: Clojure, Docker, Kubernetes, RasPi, JVM 8, NodeJS, AWS, GCP. Resume: tailored to position. Samples on website. Email: biz@harlanji.com Hi HN. I’ve been stuck homeless for almost 2 years. I’m mentally sound and sober, but have no support network. They were mostly gone when I quit drinking and became vegetarian. I can’t get through a Google-style interview right now, but I’ve done it 5+ times in my career. My experience goes back to 2003ish, and I got a CS degree in 2011. I am stuck in trauma from being homeless and have legal problems with a past employer that I don’t want to talk about. I perform well at every service and labor job that I take, few guess that I’m homeless or ask questions. I’m hoping to get off the street in a transitional job and ease into more specialized work, my plan allows for me to get off the street and save on $2,000/mo. Thanks. ------ asdfgeoff I am a full-stack data scientist who builds narratives around user behaviour at scale using quantitative data. I have spent the past five years using data to build better products for users—first as a product manager for an online car marketplace, and most recently as a data scientist at a travel company. I thrive working with the python ecosystem (jupyter, pandas, numpy, scikit- learn) to turn user data into actionable insights using statistical techniques such as A/B testing and machine learning. Location: Berlin, Germany Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Python, pandas, numpy, scikit-learn, matplotlib, seaborn, SQL LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffruddock](https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffruddock) Personal: [https://www.geoffruddock.com](https://www.geoffruddock.com) Email: geoff [at] ruddock [dot] ca ------ saturnzhang Seeking a full-time software engineer position starting from March 2020. Dynamic, detail-oriented, bilingual Software Engineer with a proven track record for requirements gathering, designing and developing applications. Strong programming, analytical and designing skills. Experience with web application development, mobile application. Excels at programming skills in Java. Location: Seattle, WA, USA Full-time/Part-Time: Full-Time Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Java, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, MySQL, Elastic Search, data structures and algorithms; object oriented programming; distributed systems design and development Résumé/CV:[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oA2Pq9CxivjvcQZZf7p7Y2jvKsA...](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oA2Pq9CxivjvcQZZf7p7Y2jvKsA07zaq/view?usp=sharing) Email:kit.mmx@gmail.com Visa Status:currently on H1b, will receive green card EAD in three months. ------ nahtan Location: Southeastern US Remote: Yes, definitely Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Java, Node.js, SQL, JavaScript, Oracle PL/SQL, Bash, HTML/CSS, Vue.js, Jenkins, Docker, SVN, Git, PostgreSQL, Ubuntu/Oracle/Redhat Linux Résumé/CV: On request Email: nlrpublic638@gmail.com I have about 3 years work experience in backend development, and especially in building Java web services supporting a high-traffic retail website and POS systems. Currently working as a software developer at a medium-sized retail company in a position where I have to be jack-of-all trades. Because of that, I have experience managing and building deployment/DevOps systems using Jenkins, acting as a business analyst and working on projects directly from end users, developing SQL tables, managing integration with 20-year-old custom GUI and SQR scripts, developing best practices, and developing most of the company's web services. ------ ViktorV Location: Hungary Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: React/Redux/Node/Typescript/Firebase/Postgres/C/C++/Python/Pytorch/Verilog/6lowpan etc... Résumé/CV: [https://www.emergence- engineering.com/cv/viktor](https://www.emergence-engineering.com/cv/viktor) Email: viktor.vaczi@emergence-engineering.com Been an EE, doing web dev currently. I'm always interested in business development, humans etc.. So if you're looking for someone in your team who's not only codes and does whatever your say, but helps developing your business / gives you feedback then I'm your guy. Feel free to get in touch, I don't think listing things is a good way to know a developer :) If you have a stack that I'm not familiar with, but it's interesting then I'm okay with joining. ------ ansek Location: Prague, Czech Republic Remote: yes Willing to relocate: yes, preferable Technologies: Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, Go; NodeJS, GraphQL, React/Vue, HTML/CSS; minor skills in Augmented/Virtual Reality, Unity and Machine Learning. Resume/CV: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonsekatskii/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonsekatskii/) Email: antonsekatskii@gmail.com \--- Systems Thinking nerd (and not shy about it) with good social and communication skills (my second passion is human interactions). Think 55 minutes about a problem, then solve it in 5 remaining minutes. Strongly believe that it's all about thinking processes (and their quality) and turning them into the code is just a learnable skill. Love to learn something extremely difficult extremely fast if it helps to crack the problem. Let's do something great together, shall we? :) ------ astangl Location: St. Louis, MO Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No, but open to occasional travel Technologies: Scala, Java, JavaScript, Akka, Spark, AWS, S3, SWF, EC2, Docker, Kubernetes, React, Jenkins, Kafka, PostgreSQL, Clojure, C++, DevOps, microservices Résumé/CV: [https://alex-stangl-resume.netlify.com](https://alex-stangl- resume.netlify.com) Email: alex.stangl@gmail.com LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexstangl](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexstangl) GitHub: [https://github.com/astangl](https://github.com/astangl) I'm a senior software engineer, experienced in a variety of languages and technology stacks. I'm looking for interesting and rewarding work, especially using modern functional programming languages such as Scala. I have experience in developing web applications using various UI stacks, but prefer backend development. I have experience as team lead, technical lead, and mentor. I am especially interested in automation, striving to make life easier for both developers and end-users. Coworkers and friends look to me for programming advice and assistance in solving complex problems. I relish challenging projects. I strive to write exceptionally clean code, along with suites of thorough unit and integration tests. I am pragmatic, and bear performance in mind, however. Multiple times I've profiled and analyzed code and design, and identified opportunities to speed up and/or reduce footprint by a factor of 1000x or more. I enjoy working on interesting and challenging problems, especially science- related ones, and on systems that impact large numbers of people. Contributing to open source projects would be a huge plus. I have experience working remotely, and with my background and abilities, I will be an asset to your team. ------ ThePadawan Location: Zurich, Switzerland Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: C# (ASP.NET, .NET, .NET Core, Entity Framework Core), Java, Python (Flask, Django, SQLAlchemy), T-SQL, GCP, Docker, TypeScript/Javascript, React, Vue.js, Angular (2, 5), HTML5, Bash Resume/CV: [https://leastsignificantbit.de/static/CV.pdf](https://leastsignificantbit.de/static/CV.pdf) Email: wwtbh.prat.0919@gmail.com German full stack developer with MSc CS and 4 years of software engineering experience. Experience with Agile (Scrum), both project- and product-based development and interpersonal communication. Interested in public speaking, teaching and architecting for the monolith/microservice dichotomy. Currently looking to find a new opportunity to both grow in the area of project management, and produce meaningful change in an international environment. ------ bgrc Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada Remote: Preferred Willing to relocate: No Current Technologies: Elixir/Phoenix, Javascript/Typescript Other Technologies: Ruby Website: [https://briangracie.net](https://briangracie.net) Email: contact(at)briangracie.net Github: [https://github.com/bgracie](https://github.com/bgracie) CV: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian- gracie-23876197/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-gracie-23876197/) I'm a full stack web developer with experience creating line-of-business applications for a variety of clients, including an investment firm and association of medical doctors. I enjoy working directly with product owners and users and actively participating in the design process. I also have a keen interest in functional programming techniques and languages. ------ franksvalli Location: Charleston, SC Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: JavaScript (ES6+), HTML5, CSS3, React.js, Webpack and Rollup, Jest, React Testing Library, Material-UI, Storybook, Node.js, Postgres, Redis Résumé/CV: [https://www.themaingate.net/resume/](https://www.themaingate.net/resume/) Email: david.b.calhoun@gmail.com Experienced frontend web developer with an understanding of frontend fundamentals (plain old JavaScript, HTML, and CSS) as well as frameworks that build on those fundamentals (React.js, etc). Experience working in environments with unclear requirements, and pushing to get a better understanding directly from users themselves when possible. React + Node.js + EdTech or other good causes is my ideal combination! Willing to relocate for the right position. Have done work for Netflix, Google, Yahoo!, as well as a few other smaller companies. ------ jph98 Location: Bristol, UK Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Javascript, React (+ Native), Python, Java LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanholloway/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanholloway/) Blog: [https://medium.com/@jonathan.holloway](https://medium.com/@jonathan.holloway) Résumé/CV: [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D7LpdfSMI8qTdp1YwBT6Sjqp...](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D7LpdfSMI8qTdp1YwBT6SjqpEmRi6Qlra4fljjvQyJo/) Email: jonathan.holloway@gmail.com Software engineer, data engineer, product manager, engineering manager/CTO looking for contract work (remote or SW England based) primarily. Relocation eventually for the right role. ------ Art9681 IT Systems Automation and Administrator Location: Huntsville, Alabama Remote: YES Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Windows/Linux/MacOS, Ansible, PowerShell, Python, JavaScript, Jenkins. I can learn anything required for a job. Resume: Will email upon request (I have 20 years of IT/Scripting experience) Email: Art.Aquino@icloud.com I am an experienced Systems Administrator and Automation Engineer looking for a remote opportunity. I have been working in the Gov/DoD sector for most of my career and looking to try something different. I am a veteran and currently hold a clearance. I am very motivated to learn new things and my career is my hobby. I do this out of passion and not just for a paycheck. I like anything to do with technology, video games, reading books and general geeky stuff. I like working with people of all ages and cultural backgrounds. I am willing to mentor and learn in any capacity. ------ scatter I am a EE PHD with 8 years of work experience, looking to transition in to data science / visualization / machine learning related roles. Worked at a semiconductor startup for 6 years before with full ownership for R&D of a product line. If you are a startup looking for a part-time data scientist or ML engineer, I would love to talk to you. You will get an experienced engineer working nearly for free, and I will get real-world ML experience. It is a win-win. Location: San Francisco Full-time/Part-Time: Part-Time Remote: OK, but SF Bay Area is preferred for more face to face interaction. Technologies: Python, R, Data Visualization, Machine Learning, Deep Learning Work Samples: Please see resume. Email: skirank@gmail.com Resume:[https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EIsON6O8hktnLpiZDR6wDbgBgk...](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EIsON6O8hktnLpiZDR6wDbgBgktduR8h) Visa Status: US Citizen ------ bitcollector Location: San Jose, CA Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: CCNP, Data Center, DWDM, Wireless, VPN, Security, TLS, Python, Java, C, C++, Linux, macOS, ESXi, NAS, Nginx/Apache, IoT, TCP/IP, IPv6, ARP, DHCP, DNS, SMTP, BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, Load Balancing, VLAN, HSRP, 8021.x, X.509, PKI, pfSense, tcpdump, wireshark, OpenVAS, Git, Jinja, Ansible, yaml, Paramiko, Cisco, Arista, Juniper, Whitebox, ffmpeg Website: [https://duanenoland.com](https://duanenoland.com) Résumé/CV: emailed upon request Email: jobs[at]duanenoland[dot]com 10 Years experience building world class networks at Cisco Systems & LinkedIn. Looking to branch out from a traditional network engineer role and into a SRE type position working with end to end systems. I'm also extremely passionate about network security and would love a role that focuses in that area. ------ gkamisli Location: Dublin, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, London Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Python (incl. Numpy, Pandas, Scikit-Learn, Tensorflow, Keras), Java, R, SQL Resume/CV: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SlbumiXwJ9OgrpLsuz- dKMv2md_...](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SlbumiXwJ9OgrpLsuz- dKMv2md_BwObO/view?usp=sharing) Email: kamisligul@gmail.com I completed my MSc in Computer Science at Oxford and have been working as a Research Scientist at Oxford since September. I am enthusiastic about data science and machine learning with an interdisciplinary education in industrial engineering and computer science. Interested in a full-time position where I can utilise my current skills and knowledge, and I can further develop these skills in a practical and fast-paced environment. ------ AndroidJedi Location: California Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Android Development, Object Oriented Development, Android SDK, Android Studio, Eclipse IDE, ADB, Java, C/C++, SQLite, XML, HTML, CSS, Git and Linux. I develop Android apps for phones and tablets. I have published apps in the Google Play store. I have full life cycle software development experience, including: product concept development, product design, project planning, research and development, algorithm development, programming, testing, debugging, publishing apps to the Google Play store and app maintenance. Email and Resume/CV: [http://compxpressinc.com/docs/kpcv.html](http://compxpressinc.com/docs/kpcv.html) Website: [http://compxpressinc.com](http://compxpressinc.com) ------ dcAnswers Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA (near Detroit) Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: For the right position. Technologies: Python R, SQL, HTML CSS, Git, PostgreSQL, Tableau, Pandas, NLTK, Flask, Requests, TensorFlow, Bootstrap, and many more. Résumé/CV: Available upon request. Email: dan at dataconcord dot com About me: My work is focused on data analysis, data science, and business intelligence. Most of my deliverables have been in the form of interactive visualization of my analysis but I do everything in the ETL to analysis to visualization pipeline. If you have needs related to those types of roles, please email me. I'm open to project based (full or part time), contract, and full time direct positions. ------ lleolin Location: Northeast Ohio Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Ruby, Ruby on Rails, Redis, JavaScript, TypeScript, React, Redux Résumé/CV: [https://docs.google.com/document/d/14gZqNiu5EbKWt0jOfS2a88bz...](https://docs.google.com/document/d/14gZqNiu5EbKWt0jOfS2a88bzkyNUb2UOjs496TYuq0Y) Email: lleolin@fastmail.com I have been developing web applications in Ruby on Rails since 2006 as both a hobbyist and a professional, in addition to other Ruby frameworks such as Padrino or Hanami. I am seeking challenging problems that engage my creativity and desire to build neatly architected, functional, and well-tested apps. Very open to opportunities to do more front-end development (particularly in React), or move into other languages and frameworks such as Elixir or Phoenix. ~~~ faehnrich You might be interested in this Cleveland-area list of tech companies and resources. [https://github.com/mrfright/cleveland- tech/](https://github.com/mrfright/cleveland-tech/) ------ michallech Location: Poland Remote: Yes (EST/PST timezones OK) Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: * Python, Django, DRF * AngularJS, React+Redux, React Native, Vue.js * AWS, Docker, Kubernetes Résumé/CV: https://michallech.info/static/Michal-Lech-Resume.pdf Email: michal [AT] michallech.info Website: https://michallech.info ============================== I am Full Stack Developer with 8+ years of commercial experience in prototyping, MVP, backend and frontend development as well as maintenance and DevOps. Good communication skills, passionate about programming, self starter, OK with freelance/consulting as well as full time work. ------ soulnothing Location: Philadelphia Remote: Yes (6 years fully remote. Willing to relocate: New York Only Technologies: Kotlin (Multi Platform), Python, F#, Java, Go, TypeScript, AWS, Data Center, React. Résumé/CV: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seobrien4 Email: sean@animus.design Looking for a part-time engagement with flexible hours. I've been focusing recently on cloud migrations, and building out high performance micro service architectures. I focus on product as much as the core engineering stack. Working with customers to define a product road map and how best to implement the product. My most recent open source project is a new relational mapper for Kotlin. Allowing multi platform (native,js,jvm), in a non blocking manner. ------ atrilumen Hey, I'm Corey Location: Colombia (US Expat) Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: JS, Node, Choo, Elm, Tachyons, Rasa (Vue is okay; React makes me feel icky; Angular makes me angry.) Email: gmail, corey.trampe Twitter: [https://twitter.com/coreytrampe](https://twitter.com/coreytrampe) I've been struggling as an independent developer / producer for like 15 years, consulting / freelancing intermittently when desperate. I need some stability for a change. My focus for the past several years has been on conversational interfaces and "Messaging 2.0". But I've been struggling with no funding, and need to get a real job and work on Slater as a side project. I am bright and passionate, and I'm looking for a family / gang to be loyal to, and for work that is meaningful and humane. ------ iamthepieman Location: Northeast U.S. Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Depends Technologies: * .NET (Core, Web API, XAML, desktop and server applications) * JavaScript (Node, Vue, Leaflet, Dojo, mapping and geospatial SPAs) * Infrastructure (AWS, ArcGIS Online, virtual server administration) * Python * SQL * Misc (federated security, network analysis and exploitation, GIS, technical documentation and policy writing) Résumé/CV: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ram- tech/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ram-tech/) Email: ryanandrew at gmail I have 14 years of experience in software and system engineering. I'm Passionate about data analytics and mapping. Experience in full-stack web, desktop and REST API development along with all the standard supporting tech/processes like git, Powershell, Scrum, SQL, data design, requirements gathering and basic project management. ------ danioso Location: Medellín, Colombia / Monterrey, Mexico Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes (City in Colombia or Mexico) Technologies: (frontend and backend development) Node.js, ES6, HTML/CSS/SVG, Bash, Linux, NGINX, AWS, MongoDB, SQL Server. And some experience with PHP and Elixir Résumé/CV: See link below Email: danosot@gmail.com \-- I'm Daniel Osorio an experienced software developer, architect and product designer with more than 15 years of experience, I help people write high performance, maintainable, scalable software, better and more effective. [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danioso](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danioso) (Full PDF via email) ------ muffa Location: Los Angeles Remote: No Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Python, Docker, some machine learning Résumé/CV: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/hugo- sjöberg-56a31743](https://www.linkedin.com/in/hugo-sjöberg-56a31743) Email: hugo.sjoberg88@gmail.com Short about me, I will move to Los Angeles in 8 days, my wife just got a transferred and I joined :D I will apply for a work permit as soon as I arrive so I will latest be available at the end of March. I am an energetic developer from Sweden who has mostly been working in automotive with different things, started off with machine-learning then moved on to build internal tooling and some infrastructure all in python. Drop me an email or add me as a contact on LinkedIn if my profile sounds interesting or if you just want to chat. Have a great day! ------ azdv Remote: Yes ! Willing to relocate: Maybe Technologies: * Crypto/Blockchain - building Crypto infrastructure (multiple Blockchains), customized libraries and APIs, as well as front-end (MetaMask) solutions - Highly motivated to continue working with this. * NodeJS/Meteor/SailsJS * Serverless (going heavy on that one) * Cloud technologies (AWS/Azure/GCP) - a lot of Terraform work as of late * Wordpress/CodeIgniter/Yii/Drupal (Components, Hacks, Themes) - less motivated, unless truly cutting edge (or WP VIP projects) * CI & Unit testing - Jenkins, Mocha & Karma for JS, Toast for PHP, as well as Selenium * Django (general Python too) - to a lesser extent Resume: Upon request Email: dev (at) azdv.co Looking for Challenging projects. Most recently worked extensively with Serverless & AWS APIs, building cloud-related prototypes, before that worked as an AngularJS specialist ------ valzevul Location: London, United Kingdom Remote: Yes, if this is a contract without strict time zones Willing to relocate: No Technologies: All things iOS (Swift, Objective-C, Xcode, CI/CD, fastlane, watchOS); leading, coaching and mentoring; building and designing scalable and performant systems. Résumé/CV: [https://drobinin.com/cv](https://drobinin.com/cv) Email: hn@drobinin.com \--- Started as a web developer in 2008, switched to backend in 2011 and shipped my first iOS app in 2013. Won Apple WWDC Scholarship, led VK University's iOS track, a regular speaker at mobile conferences worldwide since 2015. Can help you with release pipelines, automation of CI/CD flows, solid app's architecture and bring your mobile team to the next level (or help building it from scratch). ------ cx4life Location: Seattle, WA Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: JavaScript, Python, Go, Docker, React, SQL, HTML/CSS, Azure, git, Jenkins, PHP, C#, Powershell, Bash Résumé/CV: www.timwoods.dev/resume Email tim.woods.tw@gmail.com Full Stack dev with 2 years experience. Just moving to Seattle from Bellingham, WA and looking for a position in the city. Experience with microservices in Azure, writing REST APIs, extending/maintaining/rewriting legacy code, some DevOps work with Jenkins/Azure pipelines. I hoping my next role allows me to gain expertise in distributed systems or cloud-based services. While I have limited experience in the area, I'd also be interested in a data engineering role. ------ shaggyfrog Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada Remote: Yes/OK Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Everything. Last 3-4 years: Python (Django), Kotlin, Java (Spring), JavaScript. Also last 11 years: iOS/OSX (C/C++/Objective-C), Bash, Perl. MSc in AI (heuristic search). LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomashauk](https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomashauk) Stack Overflow: [https://stackoverflow.com/users/161161/shaggy- frog](https://stackoverflow.com/users/161161/shaggy-frog) Résumé/CV: See LinkedIn and/or request via e-mail Email: thauk@ualberta.net First computer: Atari 800 (Logo and BASIC) Cake: YES I'm a proud generalist. I add value. I care about my work. I get stuff done. I deliver. Send me an e-mail! ------ syedsadman16 Location: NYC Remote: On-site preferred Willing to relocate: Within NY Technologies: Java, Android App Development, Python, HTML, CSS Resume/CV: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/syed- sadman-a85686113/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/syed-sadman-a85686113/) [Resume is attached on profile] Email: syedsadman16@gmail.com \--------------------------------------------------------- Looking forward to exploring new opportunities this year! I'm a junior Computer Engineering major with a focus on Software Engineering. I'm proficient in Java and Android app development but I can also work with Python and web apps. Please feel free to email me or connect with me on LinkedIn for more information about my skills. ------ WinonaRyder Location: UK Remote: Yes (only) Willing to relocate: No Technologies: React (5+ years), TypeScript (3+ years), Go/Golang (9+ years), PHP, JavaScript (ES5, ES6+, 10+ years), HTML5, CSS3, Webpack, Node.JS, Python, Linux, Docker, Podman etc. Résumé/CV: Available on request. Email: hn@sonoya.uk Website: [https://sonoya.uk/](https://sonoya.uk/) I’m an independent contractor (own ltd company), full-stack/front-end engineer, designer and open source programmer who's been coding for ~15 years. I'm currently working on cloud proxy/website optimizer [https://oya.to/](https://oya.to/) and an ideal position would be a fully- remote contract, full or part-time, but willing to negotiate. ------ scha Location: New York, NY Remote: Open Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Sketch, Figma, Adobe CC Résumé/CV: [https://soheecha.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Sohee-Cha- De...](https://soheecha.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Sohee-Cha-Designer- Resume.pdf) Portfolio: [https://soheecha.com](https://soheecha.com) Email: soheexcha(at)gmail.com \--- I'm Sohee Cha, and I'm looking for an entry or mid-level position as a visual designer. I say this because my strengths lie in visual design from over 5 years working as a graphic designer, but I am ultimately interested in moving my career towards product design. I currently have 1 year of freelance UX/UI experience. ------ cyanic Location: Europe (mostly) Remote: Yes (Preferred) Willing to relocate: For the right opportunity Technologies: Go, Python, C, JavaScript, Linux, Bash, SQL, HTML, CSS, React, Docker, and more Résumé/CV: Upon request Email: hired+hn at cyanic dot gr \----- I'm a principal software architect and engineer. Highly skilled and self- motivated with 7+ years of professional experience across the whole stack. One of the first hires and co-founders in multiple startups. Worked on highly profitable projects from start to finish. Experienced in remote work and project leadership. Very interested in working on challenging engineering problems where I can be involved in all aspects of the product. ------ mikeokner Location: St. Louis Remote: Willing (some travel OK too) Relocate: No Technologies: AWS (SA Pro), Go, Python, JS, Scala, Linux, Postgres, Dynamo, Cassandra, Redis, Terraform, Ansible Email: michael (at) okner (dot) com Resume: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeokner/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeokner/) (full PDF available via email) I have substantial experience architecting and building modern, cloud-native applications and leading a remote team. I currently oversee the platforms used by thousands of developers & scientists at a Global 250 in a SRE/Architect role. I am most interested in roles that involve leadership & development of technical/software products. ------ arjinium Location: Mumbai, India Remote: Yes, Strongly Preferred Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Python, Web Application Frameworks (Django, Flask, Tornado), REST APIs (DRF), Postgresql, MySQL, HTML, CSS, Heroku, Vanilla JS, Frontend Frameworks (VueJS), Linux, Docker. Résumé / CV / Portfolio: Full CV and details of Open Source contributions available on request Email: black11shadow@gmail.com I'm a Backend Python Developer with 5 years of experience building web app backends and APIs. I've recently started dabbling in frontend frameworks, Vue & React to be precise. Have been working on Open source applications for 4 out of 5 years of work. I’m looking for a permanent or contract remote position as a backend/fullstack developer. ------ dinopunk Location: Central Pennsylvania Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: PHP, Phalcon PHP, Laravel, Python, Flask. HTML, CSS, JS. Composer, REST APIs, git. MySQL, Beanstalkd, Gearman, Redis, SphinxSearch. Docker, Saltstack, Prometheus. Linux Ubuntu / CentOS, Transcoding, FFmpeg, HandBrakeCLI Résumé/CV: [http://robpacker.com/home/resume](http://robpacker.com/home/resume) LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/robpacker/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/robpacker/) Email: repacker@gmail.com ------ famoreira I'm a Full Stack developer and enjoying working both on the frontend and backend. Also enjoy doing performance optimisation work on application and database level, and have experience implementing improved CI pipelines. I offer a rate discount if I get to work with Elixir and/or Go. * Location: London, UK * Remote: Yes * Willing to relocate: No * Technologies: Ruby, Rails, JavaScript, React, Node.js, PostgreSQL, Heroku, AWS, DevOps, Jenkins, Docker * Résumé/CV: [https://filipeamoreira.com/resume.pdf](https://filipeamoreira.com/resume.pdf) * Email: filipe@coderelax.com * GitHub: [https://github.com/filipeamoreira](https://github.com/filipeamoreira) ------ braunshizzle Location: Niagara, Ontario, Canada Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No (but open to travel) Technologies: PHP, Laravel, Laravel Spark, Laravel Forge, Javascript, jQuery, Vue.js, Node.js, HTML, CSS, MySQL, AWS, WordPress, Linux, Vagrant, Docker, Redis, SASS, LESS, Web APIs, RESTful APIs. (Experience with many Integrations & API's) Résumé/CV: [https://linkedin.com/in/braunson](https://linkedin.com/in/braunson) \- [https://braunson.ca](https://braunson.ca) Email: braunson [at]] braunson [[dot] ca GitHub: [http://github.com/braunson](http://github.com/braunson) ------ vladdoster Location: Boston or Nashville Remote: Yes/No Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Python (since 2013), Java 8+, Docker, Devops related tech. Resume/CV: [https://vdoster.com](https://vdoster.com) Email: mvdoster@gmail.com GitHub: [https://github.com/vladdoster/](https://github.com/vladdoster/) WIT '19 new grad looking for work in backend / devops development. Passionate about anything infrastructure and run a multi-node automated homelab in spare time. Would love a chance at devops role. Always excited to try new languages, frameworks, methodologies - you name it. Please don't hesitate to leave a comment with any questions. Thank you for looking. I am a citizen of the US. ------ myufazim \|Intern\| Remote: No Willing to relocate: Yes, Prefered Technologies: {C++, pytorch, node, express} I'm a Junior in Computer Science at the University of Michigan. I have experience implementing IIoT testing infrastructure for Emerson's fluid valve lab and doing research in IoT wearables at my University. Over the past year I've taken classes and done side projects in ML(pytorch, CNNs) and webdev(MERN stack). Résumé/CV: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/myufa/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/myufa/) Github: [https://github.com/myufa](https://github.com/myufa) Email: myufa (at) umich (dot) edu ------ jbmsf Location: San Francisco, CA Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: See CV. (Python, Node, AWS) Résumé/CV: [https://cv.jessemyers.com/](https://cv.jessemyers.com/) Email: jesse (dot) myers (at) gmail (dot) com I've been developing professionally for 19+ years, primarily at small-to- medium sized startups. I switched gears this year to find better life-work balance, providing part-time consulting to several companies. I'm ready to switch back to working on a single thing, preferably still part time. I prioritize good people and flexibility over most other things. ------ bussierem Location: Midwest USA Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Not at this time, unfortunately Technologies: Python, Elm, Nim, C#, Elixir, and JS; I can learn anything I need to for a job. Résumé/CV: [https://me.3digit.dev](https://me.3digit.dev) Email: In my resume ^^^ I am an experienced dev, and have worked across the entire stack, including QA/testing. I have a love of quality code and good communication, having experienced the bad end of both. I would be looking to make changes for the better wherever I go, preferably to Senior Engineer or higher. Looking to stay in code as much as possible, but I would be willing to consider leadership given the right situation. ------ snowedin Location: Seattle, WA Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Linux, Windows, Python, Cisco, Arista, Namespaces, Docker, Kali, Metasploit Résumé/CV: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross- snider-b927b846/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-snider-b927b846/) Email: ross.snider@gmail.com 9 years industry experience in Security, much more if you count non-employed security work. Most recently I played a critical role growing a security organization at Oracle Cloud as well as two tech lead roles directing Security Architecture and Red Team at Oracle Cloud. Looking to grow a new security organization or mature an existing one by bringing up new capabilities inside it. Known for creative solutions. ------ mrcool_ru Location: Moscow, Russia Remote: No Willing to relocate: Yes (USA) Technologies: - PHP: Laravel, Symfony, Yii, Magento, Drupal - Javascript: Backbone, Angular JS, Vue.js, React, React-Native - SQL: MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server - NoSql: ElasticSearch, Sphinx, Redis - Docker, AWS Résumé/CV: [http://tiny.cc/NickIvanov](http://tiny.cc/NickIvanov) Email: mrcool.ru+y <at> gmail.com \------------- Senior Fullstack developer with more than 8-year background in web development, with excellent problem-solving skills. Strong knowledge of OOP principles, and design patterns. Extremely good in PHP, SQL, and JavaScript. ------ tristanmk Location: NYC metro Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Python (Django, Flask), Angular, React Résumé/CV: www.tmk.name \----------- My dream is to work for a non-profit, social organization, charity, library, university, social research, government - I am not inspired by the FAANG grind, I want to spend my working life helping others. I am a full-stack developer with internship experience. I am not married to web development, I love learning and tackling challenges, so let me know what you are working on and how I help. I am finishing my senior semester in university. I am looking for a full-time opportunity starting in June. ------ sophiechoi Location: Seoul, South Korea Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Java, Spring Boot, Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, Vue.js, Jenkins, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, Linux, Git Résumé/CV: [https://choicode.com](https://choicode.com) Email: Linked on my website Language: Fluent Korean, conversational English I am a software engineer in Seoul. I am looking for freelance software engineering opportunities. In my current role at an AdTech startup, I worked both on frontend web development (VueJS) as well as on our server's Java backend involving large volume data processing with Redis and PostgreSQL. If you are interested in working with me, please feel free to contact me. ------ JJDeviloper Location: Just North of San Francisco, CA Remote: Open Willing to relocate: Open Technologies: Scala, Ruby on Rails, C++, Java, Python, JavaScript, JQuery, Node.js, Unity Engine, Unreal Engine, Android Résumé/CV: http://bit.ly/JJ_Reibel_Portfolio Email: jj_reibel@aol.com I'm a Software Engineer, Full Stack Web Engineer, and Game Designer with decades of independent experience using many technologies, with only my most used being listed. I have experience working with teams and I'm looking for a role at either a large company or a start-up. ------ parasight Location: Berlin Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: C++, C, Make, CMake, Golang, Erlang, JavaScript (Node.js), Java/Kotlin (Android), Android NDK, Objective-C/Swift (iOS), Linux, macOS, AWS, network protocols Résumé/CV: On request Email: hackphonic@gmail.com I'm looking for part-time contract/freelance/consulting opportunities. How can I help? \- Design and implement new features. \- Find and fix difficult bugs. \- Analyze and optimize performance issues. \- Reduce the technical debt in your code. GitHub: [https://github.com/polaris](https://github.com/polaris) Stackoverflow: [https://stackoverflow.com/users/218471](https://stackoverflow.com/users/218471) Email: hackphonic@gmail.com ------ r6203 Location: Germany - UTC+1 Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Fullstack - TypeScript \| JavaScript \| React \| Node.js \| Python \| Go Look... I know how frustrating it is to find a developer who cares about your business and your clients. Yes, that's right, caring about your clients because... to be honest, your main goal is to make your clients happy so that they eagerly throw money at you, isn't it? I create state-of-the-art web apps that make the lives of my clients customers easier. And I can do the same for you. Shoot me a message and at least let's chat about it... Email: hello@robinaltay.dev Website: [https://robinaltay.dev](https://robinaltay.dev) ------ c3534l Location: Portland, Oregon Remote: Yes Willing to Relocate: maybe to Seattle, but I really do love Portland Technologies: Python, Haskell, C#, Go, Terraform, Docker, AWS,SQL, Ansible... Resume: [https://web.tresorit.com/l#FI93Attlqb3t7wPHp9JuKg](https://web.tresorit.com/l#FI93Attlqb3t7wPHp9JuKg) Email: gn342ram@gmail.com \--- I linked my GitHub in my resume, but I'm working now on getting some more recent and complete code samples up, so ask me about code samples again if you're reading this later in the month. I have DevOps experience, but I feel happy and fulfilled when I get to write code and develop applications and tools that other people use. ------ dynatos Location: Seattle, WA Remote: Not a requirement, nice to have Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Javascript, Typescript, Node, React, Redux, Express, SQL, Docker Résumé/CV: Email me Email: jason (at) jasonwortley (dot) com \---- I'm a full-stack Software Engineer focused on Web. Currently seeking opportunities and actively interviewing. Ideally looking for a role where I can have impact on a team and develop software in a front-end/full-stack role. I would describe myself as a strong self-starter, fast learner, and looking to have meaningful impact quickly. Security has been an interest of mine historically and I'm excited to continue learning about that problem space (either myself or as part of my job). ------ themalikyusuf Location: Lagos, Nigeria Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Ansible, AWS (C2, ECS, ECR, ELB, VPC, RDS, Aurora, Cloudformation, CloudWatch, Route53, S3, SNS), Continous Integration(Travis, Concourse, Gitlab CI), Docker, Vagrant, Python, Kubernetes, Node.js, Linux, Nagios, Zabbix, New Relic, Graylog, MongoDB, PostgreSQL Résumé/CV: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Iej4-- OBQ0aoYH6tICKOxwSXrhB...](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Iej4-- OBQ0aoYH6tICKOxwSXrhBn54BE/view) Email: themalikyusuf@gmail.com I am also an AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate. Validation number: QX109NVKE2B41S9V ------ temp3992221 Location: Hobart, Australia Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Java (and other languages), Devops, RDBMS, Automated Testing, Linux/FreeBSD Résumé/CV: On request Email: jshevland@calm-horizons.net I'm based in Hobart, Tasmania currently and the job market is basically dead at the moment, so I'm looking for either remote work or perhaps relocation (have AU/NZ and US citizenship). 20+ years in software dev mostly, with devops and a fair few other skills in the mix. Please contact me via email and I can send a resume through. ------ JCrandell Location: San Francisco, CA Remote: Yes (preferred) Willing to relocate: BOS/NYC/CHI/LA/SEA/AUS/DEN Technologies: Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, Elixir, React Native Résumé/CV: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin- crandell-922530a4/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-crandell-922530a4/) Email: Justin.Crandell.Developer@gmail.com \--- Seasoned software engineer on the lookout for my next opportunity. I love creating tools that improve the lives of everyday people. Industry agnostic. I can find a meaningful challenge in just about anything. Please forward all inquiries/opportunities to email. ------ torianne02 Name: Victoria (Tori) Fluharty Location: San Jose, Ca. Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Ruby, Rails, Sinatra, JavaScript (ES6+), React.js, Redux, PostgreSQL, SQL, Heroku, HTML, CSS Resume: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12ZpcakUzNG47NgZ1E7bwL4ooLtTy72Bx/view?usp=sharing Email: victoria.fluharty@gmail.com Portfolio: http://www.toricodes.com/ Blog: https://dev.to/torianne02 LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/victoria-fluharty-741129b4/ ------ SaraU Location: Madrid, Spain Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Tecnologies: Scala, Spark, Apache NiFi, Apache Hive, Apache Zeppelin, Akka, Cassandra, MySQL, SQL Server. Résumé/CV: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara- rodr%C3%ADguez-5b026b147/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara- rodr%C3%ADguez-5b026b147/) Email: sarauris@gmail.com About me: Degree in Computer Science. Native spanish speaker, and professional proficiency in english. Actually working as Scala backend software engineer. ------ jkprow James Prow Location: Seattle, WA Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Temporarily Technologies: JS/HTML/CSS, React (Native) and ecosystem, nodejs, Docker, Linux, Python, SQL (particularly Postgres), REST, GraphQL. Resume: linkedin.com/in/jkprow Email: jkprow [at] gmail [dot] com 5 years of full-stack web and mobile application development. Educated in design and user experience. Assisted in successful exits for two SaaS companies and have been contracting since July. Contract experience has been broad: Product MVPs, early-stage consulting, mobile development, robotics, SaaS integrations. Comfortable designing and building web and mobile products from scratch as well as helping with development of existing ones. ------ infosecrole Location: Toronto Remote: Yes or local to Toronto Willing to relocate: No Technologies/Skills: Security & Privacy Research, Security Architecture, BSD, Linux Website: [https://www.info-sec.ca](https://www.info-sec.ca) Email: hn2020 AT info-sec.ca ------ deepsunn Location: Chattanooga, TN Remote: Yes (currently work remotely) Willing to relocate: New York, NY Technologies: JavaScript (React & React Native, Node/Express, Redux) Résumé/CV: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EzCDry6k8c0ou5EF-SGkWCCLrc0MaBfo/view?usp=sharing Email: joehdodd@gmail.com Front-End/Full Stack developer with product suite experience. Looking for another product-focused role with a team that values iteration and doesn't get bogged down in process for process' sake. ------ neom Location: Seoul, SK / Toronto, Canada (British/Canadian/SK Eligible) Remote: Preferably. Willing to relocate: Would prefer to stay in Seoul/Toronto Technologies: Good full stack- however, certainly bizdev: One of the first directors of community at DeviantART, Product and Marketing Dir- myplanet.com, first Chief Technology Evangelist and VP of Strategy at DigitalOcean Résumé/CV: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/dnsroot/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dnsroot/) Email: je@h4x.club -Looking to help a dev focused company grow, preferably Asia Pacific, open to Canada or EU. ------ JustAPerson Location: Boston Remote: No Willing to relocate: Yes (Bay Area, Seattle, New York) Technologies: Rust (since 2014), C++, LLVM Resume/CV: [https://jpriest.me/pdfs/jpriest_resume_spring_2020.pdf](https://jpriest.me/pdfs/jpriest_resume_spring_2020.pdf) Email: jason@jpriest.me GitHub: [https://github.com/JustAPerson/](https://github.com/JustAPerson/) MIT '19 new grad* looking for work in backend / systems software development. Passionate about anything performant. I tinker with compiler and operating system development in my free time. ------ linasr Location: Munich, Germany Remote: yes, but it doesn't always work with hardware Willing to relocate: not sure yet, maybe Switzerland Technologies: I am FPGA designer with almost decade experience. I started with Altera Quartus, but now work with Xilinx Vivado. I use VHDL and Verilog for design, SystemVerilog for testbenches. Python, embedded C and C++ are used on daily basis. I also write firmware for normal microprocessors and design printed circuit board using KiCad. Notable projects: complete GigE Vision camera and code for cryptomining ASIC. Résumé/CV: www.linkedin.com/in/linasr Email: rudalevi [at) gmail (dot} com ------ schmookeeg * Location: Los Angeles, CA * Remote: Yes, Preferred * Willing to Relocate: No * Technologies: Myriad Security, Networking, and Hardware; ISC2 CISSP, CEH, CCNA, ITILv3; Defense Experience NIST 800-171, 800-53, ISO 27001, 27002, and PCI of course :) * CV: Yes! Please email for current CV * Email: vwav8tr+HN@gmail.com Hello! Very seasoned security professional with Aerospace, Defense, and Software/Endpoint/Data hardening expertise looking for a new challenge. Travel-friendly, Remote-friendly, and can work equally well as management or hands-on. Let me help secure your apps, your network, and your data against increasingly sophisticated threats! ------ wangsterj Location: San Francisco, CA Remote: Open Willing to relocate: No Technologies: JavaScript, Node.js, React, PostgreSQL, AWS, Docker LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justnwang/ Website: http://www.wangjustin.com Resume: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V4g2WoP3dGw7o3pwbLbcLZ2XzamZjNsK/view?usp=sharing Email: wang.justiny@gmail.com Full-stack engineer looking for the next full-time opportunity in web development! Would love work with a mission-driven company. ------ hluska Location: Regina, Canada Remote: Yes (preferred) Willing to relocate: Within Canada Tech stack - Python, Django, Flask, PHP, WordPress, Go, Javascript, AngularJS and MySQL. Website - [https://hluska.ca](https://hluska.ca) Email - gthluska@gmail.com My name is Greg and I prefer the pronouns he, his and him. I am a gifted problem solver who has spent much of his career either founding or working for early stage tech startups. This has turned me into a very strong generalist with strong skills in software development, writing, digital marketing, and public relations (long story, but I started a magazine once). ------ jkwaters Location: Currently Ottawa, Canada Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes. Looking to relocate to Switzerland (Basel, Zürich, etc) to be with fiancée. Technologies: Java, Clojure, Python, .NET, C#, C, C++, JS (Node, Angular), Docker Résumé/CV: [http://jkwaters.codes/](http://jkwaters.codes/) Email: jkwaters [at] gmail I am a graduate from Carleton University with a Bachelor Computer Science. I am currently working as a full stack developer using .NET and Oracle SQL. During an internship I worked in a DevOps environment and it sparked passion about DevOps culture. ------ grahamburger Location: Utah Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Python, Go, Javascript, Wireless and Fiber Network Deployments Résumé: [https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSkImtmsvwb_FQVF...](https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSkImtmsvwb_FQVFi2CmuMq_7sejb5rA0XnBBCLnI1zJEMOtpPcB82HjWOxhaWmO1iavcr76i3cNZk7/pub) Email: graham@castleton.es Github: [https://github.com/grcastleton/portfolio](https://github.com/grcastleton/portfolio) Let's chat! Prefer remote but open to relocation or local work. ------ thekhatribharat Location: Bangalore, India Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Go, Python, Java, JavaScript, Kubernetes, Docker, OpenShift, ReactJS, SQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, Kafka, Elasticsearch, RabbitMQ, Redis, InfluxDB, Git, SaltStack, AWS, Google Cloud Résumé/CV: Available on request (LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bkhatri/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bkhatri/)) Email: khatribox+HN@gmail.com Blog: [https://medium.com/open-factory](https://medium.com/open-factory) ------ excitednumber Location: NYC. Will travel to Jersey City, CT Remote: Willing to relocate: No Technologies: python (good), c# (ok), java (ok), js (ok), php (ok), sql (postgres, mysql), mongodb, bigquery, gce, various google cloud products and API, geospatial data, real estate investing, financial services. Executed work in crypto space, systematic investing, social media engineering (instagram). Managed a small team of quant engineers. Résumé/CV: Please request. I am currently employed. Email: jm5491@stern.nyu.edu ------ beardedetim Location: TN, USA Remote: Yes Willing to Relocate: No Technologies: JS/TS/Node, HTML/CSS, Python, Clojure, Go, Nginx, AWS, CI/CD, GraphQL/REST/gRPC Resume: [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G2bL4Q6j4z8kbFXJYzquhvLg...](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G2bL4Q6j4z8kbFXJYzquhvLgzcMYWj8vxKO7oAIoTy8/edit?usp=drivesdk) Email: timroberts@fastmail.org Been a Frontend dev for ~15yrs, have moved to full stack for ~5yrs. Looking for fullstack or backend positions. Would love to be a player/coach or EM for the right org. ------ nkellmeyer Location: St. Louis, MO USA (Central US TZ) Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Availability: part-time Technologies: Perl, PHP, Oracle, SQL, HTML, CSS, jQuery Linkedin: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas- kellmeyer-b552b44/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-kellmeyer-b552b44/) Email: nickkellmeyer[at]gmail(dot)com I am a full stack web developer, most of my experience in Perl and PHP, though I dabble in Python, C#, javascript, etc. 20 years of experience -- suffice to say I can pick up new techs. Looking for part-time engagement, up to 20/hours a week. ------ wendywu09 Location: SF Bay Area Remote: No Willing to Relocate: Yes Technologies: • Front-End: Javascript ES6, React, Redux, HTML5, CSS, Styled Components, Webpack, Babel • Back-End: Node.js, Express, Sequelize, MySQL, MongoDB, Mongoose, PostgreSQL, Cassandra, Nginx, Redis • Other: Git, AWS, Docker, Mocha/Chai, Jest/Enzyme Resume/CV: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XclihWhJWoSl-6DYiZYgKqWJ3MT...](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XclihWhJWoSl-6DYiZYgKqWJ3MTY6YT_/view?usp=sharing) Email: wendy.wm.wu@gmail.com ------ vmlinuz Looking for senior backend position, or similar Location: Hong Kong Remote: Sure Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Unix/Linux, C, shell, Java (on Android), some Javascript, bit of SQL, PHP, bit of AWS monitoring - all sorts of stuff! Preferred platform would be Python/Django... CV on request Email: vmlinuz@gmail.com My career has stretched long enough that my _second_ job was working on Solaris at Sun. I've been living in Hong Kong for almost 15 years, and I'm not looking to leave right now, but I am looking for work! ------ jstrieb Location: Pittsburgh, PA / NYC Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Python, C, SML, Bash, SQL, Java, HTML/CSS, JavaScript, LaTeX, Docker Email: <HN username>@andrew.cmu.edu Résumé/CV: [http://jstrieb.github.io](http://jstrieb.github.io) GitHub: [http://github.com/jstrieb](http://github.com/jstrieb) Current Carnegie Mellon undergrad seeking a paid summer 2020 internship position. Extensive side-project portfolio using a wide variety of technologies, including a project with 1.1k stars on GitHub. ------ thdn Location: La Paz, Bolivia Remote: Yes. Willing to relocate: Yes (Germany) Technologies: C#, Go, C/C++, Java, Python, Rust, Linux, shell/bash, AWS, Oracle, PostgreSQL, SQL, PL/SQL, Docker/Podman/LXC, Kubernetes. Résumé/CV: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TS_zRBSF5a0BuEJE2CFwGzSCeH5...](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TS_zRBSF5a0BuEJE2CFwGzSCeH5zDXTx/view) Email: ZGFuaWVscmJAbGl2ZS5jb20= Systems Engineer with 12+ years experience at all levels of the stack, seeking opportunities to relocate to Germany. ------ kylklatt17 Location: Phoenix AZ Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: yes Technologies: C/C++/Go/GLSL/OpenGL/Win32/Steam/Discord/ con't Résumé/CV:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a2-l7V1cfantpUkDuKv0bREkVoGHS8JxUbyYY6DBwKY/edit?usp=sharing Email: (in resume) I don't have "professional" experience, but i'm looking to change that. I'm self taught having built just a load of projects. ------ gnaman Location: Bengaluru, India Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Typescript, JS, Angular, Solidity, Ethereum Dapps and Contracts programming, dApp development, React, Node, along with Golang, Python and some Java Linkedin: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gnaman](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gnaman) Email: hn@namang.me About: Fulltime software engineer looking for part-time project or contract based work only. I'm not looking for full-time roles. Especially looking to work with non-profits and NGOs. ------ kumarmd Location: San Francisco Bay Area Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Python, PHP/Laravel, JavaScript, Swift / iOS, AWS. Wordpress / Woocommerce, Mysql/ DynamoDB / Firebase, PyTorch I got a PhD in engineering (informatics related) in the bay area, but then moved on to web and app development, and ran a startup using ml/data science/web tech at scale. I have 5 years of experience building web apps, scaling backends on AWS, data science, and machine learning. Resume available on request Email: kumarmd@protonmail.com ------ andreachimney Location: Italy Remote: Yes (exclusively) Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Rust, C++, Python, Pandas, Javascript, WebGL, Vue.js Résumé/CV: Please ask via e-mail Email: andreaofthechimney@protonmail.com I'm a software developer and quantitative portfolio manager with 10 years of experience. I like working with statically typed, functionally-oriented languages (Rust!) on full-stack applications (among these, financial software with which I design, test and deploy trading strategies). I'm also experienced in interactive 2D/3D graphics programming. ------ 100-xyz Indian Institute of Technology Alumnus, 25+ year of IT and management experience in US and China. Currently at Facebook. Looking for leadership roles (Eng. Mgr, Dir of Engg ...). NOT looking for IC roles. Location: San Francisco Bay Area Remote: No Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Fullstack, PHP, Ruby, javascript, nodejs, mysql, Project Management CV: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sridhar- ramasami-76a226117/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sridhar-ramasami-76a226117/) Email: leisenming AT protonmail DOT com ------ neuromancer2701 Location: Central Virginia Remote: YES Willing to relocate: NO Technologies: C++, C, yocto linux, python, embedded Résumé/CV: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nerdking/ Email:king.seth@gmail.com Website: openrover.com Embedded linux engineer with a passion for C++ and robotics. Remote is what I am really targeting but I would be open to a 2-3 week integration period onsite and 1 week a quarter back at HQ. Georgia Tech OMSCS 2018 ------ akmittal Location: Bangalore, IN Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: JavaScript, Typescript, NodeJS, graphql, React, Angular, Go Résumé/CV: [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hmnRTyHsf_muoArhrRxJTvbO...](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hmnRTyHsf_muoArhrRxJTvbOHxu3IlPlV9HqBa63on4/edit?usp=drivesdk) Email: mittalmailbox@gmail.com GitHub: [https://github.com/akmittal](https://github.com/akmittal) 6 years of experience building scalable web applications. ------ mongrelion Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Expert in automation and programmable infrastructure. Strategic consultant. Résumé/CV: on a case to case basis Email: mail [a t] carlosleon [ d0t ] info I understand business and I understand tech. I'm the bridge between management and your engineering teams. I make sure that your team is aligned with true business requirements. Big fan of SRE and DevOps. If you're struggling to get the ball rolling, give me a call. I travel within the EMEA region. Available from March on. ------ fountstudio SEEKING WORK -- Dev studio with immediate availability for a new project. A few of our full stack engineers are available for a new project or to individually augment a team (remote/contract preference). \-- Location: US Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Significant experience with modern Javascript frameworks, NodeJS, React, React Native, Angular, Python, AWS and more. Resume/CV: [https://www.fountstudio.com/work](https://www.fountstudio.com/work) Email: JD {at} fountstudio.com ------ smileprem001 Software and Cloud Architect with 15+ years of experience in both enterprises and startups Location: Sunnyvale, CA, USA Remote: No Willing to relocate: No. Anywhere in the Bay Area is fine. Technologies: GCP, AWS, Java, Python, Cloud Architecture, Software Architecture, API Development Résumé/CV: https://blog.smileprem.com/public/downloads/Premkumar_Masilamani_2020.pdf Email: premkumar.masilamani.2020@gmail.com ------ kk2 Location: São Paulo, Brazil Remote: YES Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: NodeJS, TypeScript, VueJS, JavaScript, React, Vuex, Vue-Router, SCSS, Python, Firebase, MongoDB, MySQL, Git, Bash, Unix, Vuetify, Bootstrap, TailwindCSS Résumé/CV: request via e-mail Email: ferrarivitor@outlook.com.br Github: https://github.com/lkk2 Discord: Kk2#2137 Commitment and Responsability, i really need to work! dont hesitate to email me! ------ cascada Location: SE Asia Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: maybe Résumé/CV: [https://gildedhonour.co](https://gildedhonour.co) Technologies: various, will depend on a task Email: alex @ serendipia.email ====== I'm Alex. I'll solve your problem in building custom software for you. The areas I mostly work with are: * e-commerce * security * machine learning * marketing * web ====== My projects: [https://gildedhonour.co/projects](https://gildedhonour.co/projects) ------ mvlpn Location: Eastern Europe Remote: Yes (with possible travel a few times a year) Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Java, Kotlin, Spring stack, Spring Boot, SQL, Hibernate, Architecture design, Microservices, Batch processing, AWS, CI/CD, Angular, Bootstrap Résumé/CV: [http://bit.ly/2ZHmSIZ](http://bit.ly/2ZHmSIZ) Email: mvlupan {{at}} gmail {{dot}} com The area where I could provide the most value upfront is FinTech. Looking to work fully remote with occasional visits to the company office (if required). ------ belzebalex Alex Toussaint Remote: No Technologies: Go, React, C, C++, Python, Docker/Docker Swarm, HTML/CSS/JS, Rest, Postgresql .. Willing to relocate: Looking for an internship in July in an English-speaking country Resume/CV [https://alextoussaint.com/about.html](https://alextoussaint.com/about.html) Email: me@alextoussaint.com I'm 18 years old and Co-founded [https://kaktana.com](https://kaktana.com) (SaaS) and did freelance work on crypto trading bots. ------ yibambe Location: Auckland, New Zealand Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Java, Javascript, jQuery, HTML, CSS, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Apache, AWS, Linux, Web APIs, RESTful APIs. Résumé/CV: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-john- cucio-150167141...](https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-john- cucio-150167141/) Email: cuciocj [at] gmail [dot] com GitHub: [https://github.com/cuciocj](https://github.com/cuciocj) ------ karabesque Location: oakland, ca Remote: ok! Willing to relocate: let's talk? Technologies: full-stack web dev, technical writing, documentation (sphinx/rst, markdown, latex) Résumé/CV: http://karabonne.com/resume2020.pdf Email: kara at karabonne dot com i'm mostly looking for support engineer and technical writing positions - need help putting together a support database, FAQ section, or API documentation? hit me up! ------ ankit219 Location: Mumbai, India Remote: Open to both remote and on site - can work in EU timezone Willing to relocate: Yes, to anywhere in Europe or US. Technologies: Python, Jupyter, skillset more on Growth and Product Side Résumé/CV: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankitmaloo/ [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lVOa9apD-bSCp-omNW_zY2EN1xzlbCeQ/] Email: ankitmaloo.21@gmail.com ------ skyriser SEEKING WORK \| Montreal, Canada \| Remote Technologies: iOS/macOS/watchOS, Objective-C/Swift Web: http://chriscomeau.com Resume/CV: http://chriscomeau.com/resume LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiancomeau GitHub: https://github.com/chriscomeau Portfolio: https://github.com/chriscomeau/Portfolio Email: chris.comeau@skyriser.com ------ swilliamsio Location: Melbourne, Australia (British Citizen) Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Java, JavaScript, Python, Unity LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-alexander- williams-b708b91...](https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-alexander- williams-b708b9116/) Résumé/CV: [http://www.swilliams.io/resources/ScottWilliamsCV.pdf](http://www.swilliams.io/resources/ScottWilliamsCV.pdf) Email: woohoowilliams@gmail.com ------ Bonteq Location: Forestville, CA. Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: -- Python: Vanilla, Flask, Django, Selenium, Scrapy -- Javascript: Vanilla, VueJS, NuxtJS, Vuex, Vuetify, CypressIO -- Hosting: Heroku, Google Cloud Platform, Google Cloud Run, Pythonanywhere, Netlify -- Docker -- git -- PostgreSQL Résumé/CV: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cody-bontecou/ Email: bontecouc@gmail.com ------ mebassett Location: London Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: People, Processes, Product, Data. Also skilled with Haskell, node, postgresql, python, tensorflow, aws, gcp. Résumé/CV: [https://mebassett.info/cv.pdf](https://mebassett.info/cv.pdf) email: see profile. Startup cofounder/CTO. I can help with: \- building an mvp \- finding product/market fit \- building a team \- minimizing bugs and improving shipping times by improving engineering and product management processes \- transitions/transformations \- due diligence and pre-sales support. Open to fractional/interim/contract roles. ------ papzi Location: Brisbane, Australia Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Ruby, Rails, Javascript, React LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulangell2/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulangell2/) Résumé/CV: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ApTxYPYgBBu0O26hUDHxODBxidI...](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ApTxYPYgBBu0O26hUDHxODBxidIY__w2/view) Email: paulangell@fastmail.com ------ mzitelli Location: São Paulo, Brazil Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: JavaScript, TypeScript, React/React Native, Redux, Redux-saga, Node.js, Express, Elixir, Phoenix, Postgres, Java, Kotlin, Android, OpenGL, RxJava, Python, Tensorflow. Résumé/CV: [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mnofYV3pFbGNVPyZWLZCw1w-...](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mnofYV3pFbGNVPyZWLZCw1w-B-v4Z_xRwgsNfKaA9Fw/edit?usp=sharing) Email: zitellimateus@gmail.com ------ ok_coo Location: Chicago Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Not at this time, would be willing in the future Technologies: PHP (Laravel), Python (Flask), HTML/CSS/JS, typical web dev stuff Résumé/CV: [https://peteherbst.com/resume](https://peteherbst.com/resume) Email: pete [at] peteherbst [dot] com History: Mostly full-stack web dev, focused on PHP (Laravel) and a little bit of Python with Flask. Looking to expand myself and work on something more challenging than what I have been doing. ------ genagain Location: Boston, MA Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Python, Ruby, Javascript, React.js, SQL, PostgreSQL, Elasticsearch, Redis, Hive, Spark, Airflow, Hadoop Résumé/CV: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WnZBpYh6GPGDdp4SvsCjwV1-OmJ...](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WnZBpYh6GPGDdp4SvsCjwV1-OmJZocXf/view?usp=sharing) Email: myself@genohta.com Personal Website: genohta.com I'm Gen and have 3 years of full-stack web development experience. ------ scottappleton Location: Vancouver, BC Canada Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes (Anywhere in Canada/US) Technologies: Javascript, React, NodeJS, ExpressJS, Jest, HTML5, CSS3, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Jest Résumé/CV: https://resume.creddle.io/resume/731ed6e0sa Email: scottappleton09@gmail.com Recent graduate looking for entry level opportunities in Web Development. Experienced in both front and back-end. ------ esamsonov Hi there, I‘m Evgeny! I‘m an experienced JavaScript developer focusing on fast-growing startups. Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: JavaScript/TypeScript, NodeJS, React, NextJS, Redux, AWS (I'm a Certified Cloud Practitioner), etc. LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ycagwyw](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ycagwyw) Personal: [https://esamsonov.com](https://esamsonov.com) Email: iam@esamsonov.com ------ nataz Location: Washington DC metro area Remote: No Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Link analysis tools, basic database skills, basic data visualization and GIS skills Résumé/CV: Looking for new challenges and opportunities - note, I don’t have a traditional HN dev background, but I suspect more than a few companies on this board intersect with my world... Knowledge/Skills: \- Strong background in navigating and managing the US government contracting process from both sides of the table as both a federal manager and a government contractor \- Experience and insight into working with the US National Lab complex \- Demonstrated success in managing globally distributed teams that bring multimillion-dollar projects in on time and on budget with a high degree of quality \- Successfully negotiated security agreements and contracts with dozens of foreign government agencies \- Proven history of building diverse, deeply integrated teams, with diverse skill sets (security, intelligence, science, logistics, engineering, IT, and communications) to design solutions to complex problems in very challenging environments \- Subject matter expert on multiple NSC working groups, consultant to INTERPOL, office interlocutor with IC, DOJ, and DOD elements \- Familiar with both executive branch/department level/OMB and congressional authorization and appropriation process What I do now: \- Program Director working in a National Security field holding an active Q/TS/SCI w/ poly \- Manage a ~$100M+ annual budget w/ oversight of 150+ FTEs organized into distributed teams working on complex projects in 30+ foreign countries across the globe \- GS15 equivalent with both a policy and program implementation background at senior USG leadership level Previous work includes: physical and political risk assessments for clients operating in potentially dangerous environments, sub-contractor as a national security subject matter expert for multiple US National Laboratories, sub- contractor for Palantir sub (back when they used to use other companies for forward deployed), research analyst at a policy institute on defense and intelligence topics, other interesting stuff… Email: JayCeeJobOffers@gmail.com ------ richardgill88 Location: London, UK Remote: London or Remote Willing to relocate: No, but open to occasional travel Technologies: React, React Native, Node, RESTFful APIs, Firebase, Elixir, SQL Databases, Cloud. Résumé/CV: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardgill3/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardgill3/) Portfolio: [http://tiny.cc/rg-portfolio](http://tiny.cc/rg-portfolio) Email: richard [at] z-dev [dot] com ------ em-bee Location: european, living in china Remote: yes, can travel (20%) Willing to relocate: only with whole family Technologies: Linux, frontend and backend webdevelopment, prototyping. Résumé/CV: on request (20 years experience with web development, team lead, CTO) Email: see profile. I am open to remote contract opportunities as a senior developer, teamlead, part-time or full-time CTO, trainer, mentor I am also able to build up a development team for you here in china, to help you enter the chinese market or take advantage of chinese resources. ------ julienmarie Julien M. ( French ) Location: Manila, Philippines Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Maybe Technologies: Elixir, Erlang, React, JS, PHP, SQL (Postgres/MySQL), Docker, Devops Resume: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/julienmarie/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/julienmarie/) Email: jm [at] producture [dot] com \--- Been CTO, Head of Product and Head of Marketing in multiple companies ( Social Networks – Friendster! – Ecommerce, Dating, Saas ). Builder. Problem Solver. Highly technological. 15 yrs of experience. ------ chriscyber Location: China (Shanghai), Germany (Frankfurt) Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Kubernetes, Docker, Terraform, Prometheus, Grafana, Redis, Django, CI/CD, Ansible, Elastic, Ethereum, Bitcoin, Python, C++, Javascript, Go, SQL, Azure, AWS, AlibabaCloud Résumé/CV: [https://nextoa.com/resume/wangwenpei- en/](https://nextoa.com/resume/wangwenpei-en/) Email: chris@sagescaling.com 10+ years DevOps experience - sagescaling.com ------ advw-hireme Location: Seattle, WA Remote: Maybe Willing to relocate: No Technologies: GCP (esp GCE, GAE, GCS, Spanner, Cloud SQL, BigQuery), Python C, C++, Java, some TypeScript, Django (incl rest framework), Drupal, some Angular, Linux, MySQL Résumé/CV: [https://docs.google.com/document/d/10YuxcfZj5Q4oyZ2WtHXI0XY3...](https://docs.google.com/document/d/10YuxcfZj5Q4oyZ2WtHXI0XY3OjW9RF52EehgdmT8IkY/preview) Email: david at newg dot as ------ helloitjase Location: San Francisco, Bay Area Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Javascript, ES6, React, NodeJS, Express, PostgreSQL, Apache Cassandra, MongoDB, Webpack Linkedin: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/helloitjase/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/helloitjase/) Email: jason(dot)sl(dot)chen[at]gmail(dot)com I am a full stack web developer focused on Javascript. Looking to work at a startup preferably, open to companies in the entire Bay Area. ------ shreve Location: Ypsilanti, MI Remote: Yes, only Technologies: Golang, C++, Ruby, Linux Résumé: [https://shreve.io/resume.pdf](https://shreve.io/resume.pdf) Email: jacob@shreve.io I'm a soon-to-be CS BSE looking for a junior software engineering role starting in May. I spent 6 years as a Rails developer, but went to school to help me pivot to systems programming. I want a job that will help me grow my security and distributed systems knowledge. ------ adblu Location: Poland, Silesia, Gliwice/Katowice Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: only surrounding cities. Technologies: Python, Tableau, Matlab, C++, Power BI, GitHub, Excel, PowerPoint, LaTeX, MapInfo Résumé/CV: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/aoramus/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/aoramus/) Email: adrian.oramus@gmail.com ------ shashanoid Location: Philadelphia, PA Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes (Including International Locations) Technologies: TypeScript, Python, React, Ruby on Rails, C#, AWS, Docker Résumé/CV: [https://shashwatsingh.me/data/shashwat- resume.pdf](https://shashwatsingh.me/data/shashwat-resume.pdf) Email: shashanoid@gmail.com Github: [https://github.com/shashanoid](https://github.com/shashanoid) ------ saltmaster I enjoy working as a full stack developer but have been more focused on front end in the past year. I’m a fast learner and have been developing in a few languages for the last 10 years. Currently working in Rotterdam but I'm open to new opportunities. Location: Rotterdam, NL / The Netherlands Remote: No Willing to relocate: No Technologies: PHP, JS, MySQL, Node, Vue Résumé/CV: [https://umja.nl/](https://umja.nl/) Email: tim@umja.nl ------ deepakvig180 Location: Vancouver, Canada Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, Go; NodeJS, GraphQL, React/Vue, HTML/CSS, Docker Résumé/CV: [https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZnLE4Qo3U5lpgASM-B7ueaSgTj...](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZnLE4Qo3U5lpgASM-B7ueaSgTj0F5Iko) Email: deepakvig@gmail.com ------ aswathrao Location: TamilNadu,India Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: HTML, CSS , Javascript , React, Python Résumé/CV: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/aswathknm/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/aswathknm/) Email: aswathm78@gmail.com Hey I haven't updated my linkedin because of being a freelancer. But willing to wo ------ comoMagna Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada Remote: Not required Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Java, C, C++, AWS, Node.js, React, JavaScript/HTML/CSS, TypeScript, Python, SQL, Git, Python and more Résumé/CV: [https://www.osmanhajiyev.com/websiteDocuments/Osman- Hajiyev-...](https://www.osmanhajiyev.com/websiteDocuments/Osman-Hajiyev- Resume.pdf) Email: osman.hajiyev@gmail.com ------ hireme-thrwaway Ruby on Rails dev with over 10+ years large scale, production Rails experience looking for salaried position with health benefits for 3 days / week for 50% of market salary. Currently doing Rails remote for a FAANG company. It is a great job, but more than I need at this point. \-- Location: West coast Remote: Yes, with multiple years of remote experience at large companies. Willing to relocate: No. Technologies: Ruby on Rails, AWS, and stuff like that. Email: rubyonrails@tutanota.com ------ feep Location: San Luis Obispo, CA Remote: Preferred Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Mostly Python, 20 years Résumé/CV: On request Email: feepish at gmail Looking for automated testing/QA position. Language/framework/toolkit not important. If the testing tools are fun, I'll give it a shot. Contact me, I'll send a cover letter and resume. thanks, rusty ------ dimm Location: Budapest Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Javascript ES6, React, HTML5, CSS3 Résumé/CV: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/dimitrimarion/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dimitrimarion/) and [https://www.dimitrimarion.com/](https://www.dimitrimarion.com/) Email: contact@dimitrimarion.com ------ rement Location: Virginia Beach, VA Remote: Yes (preferred) Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Python, Ruby, JavaScript, PHP, Docker, Web, GIS Résumé/CV: [https://tuckerchapman.com/resume](https://tuckerchapman.com/resume) Email: tucker.r.chapman@gmail.com Fullstack Open Source enthusiast that is passionate about building web applications that are enjoyable to use, easy to maintain, and provide value to end users. ------ valtism Fullstack developer from Australia looking to work abroad (preferably US or Canada). Experience with React, JS, Node, C#, .Net, SQL, AWS, others. Location: Paris, France Remote: No Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: React Résumé/CV: https://pdfhost.io/v/FzJdhWYt_Dan_CV_International.pdf Email: daniel4wood@icloud.com ------ ranjanprj Location: Bangalore, India Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Python, Django, Celery, PostgreSQL, K8s Résumé/CV: [https://drive.google.com/open?id=1O2Q_4OuKJuM0ljm98TrYN2iTLo...](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1O2Q_4OuKJuM0ljm98TrYN2iTLoxDRaX_) Email: ranjanprj@gmail.com ------ codq SEEKING WORK \| Brand & Content Marketing, Writing Location: New York City Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Possibly Technologies: Python, MySQL; primarily an SEO-focused content manager and marketer, seeking to grow startups via brand development and content marketing Résumé/CV: [http://www.linkedin.com/in/brooksrocco](http://www.linkedin.com/in/brooksrocco) Email: brooks@brookside.media ------ hueyjj Location: Bay Area (current), Los Angeles, New York City, New Jersey, Seattle Remote: No Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Java Spring, Javascript ES6 Resume/CV: Email me for a copy Email: jasper (no space) jeng (at) gmail (dot) com Github: github.com/{username} New grad of Dec. 2019. I've done two internships in the Bay Area. I play with Go and React/Typescript on my own time. Looking for a place to grind, preferably a startup or high-paced environment. ------ _-___________-_ Location: Hong Kong & London Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Rust, Python, C/C++, Kubernetes, RabbitMQ, PostgreSQL, Linux sysadmin & DevOps, deep networking & protocols knowledge Email: hnunderscores@protonmail.com Résumé: email me for a copy 15 years in tech, have recently hired & lead teams and architected solutions to complex problems. Very interested in early- or very-early-stage startups solving interesting problems. ------ plumenator Location: Singapore, want to move to Canada (Vancouver preferably, but I'm open to other locations) Remote: Might be an option in 3-4 months Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Rust, Haskell, C++ Résumé/CV: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karthikravikanti/ Email: karthik.ravikanti@gmail.com ------ dmautz Location: Washington, DC Remote: yes Willing to relocate: Denver/New Orleans Technologies: Ruby on Rails, Python, PySpark, Javascript Resume/CV: [https://bit.ly/2SNxjcQ](https://bit.ly/2SNxjcQ) Email: dmautz@gmail.com 10 years working at the US Treasury as a software and ETL developer. Looking to move to Denver or New Orleans. Self taught, easily learns new technologies. Full stack developer. ------ quicko106464 Location: Cleveland, OH Remote: If possible Full Time Only Willing to relocate: Columbus, Pittsburgh Technologies: Data Engineering, Python, Scala, SQL, Linux, Spark, Airflow Resume: On Request Email: owen.w.quick {at} gmail.com Looking for a data engineering position 3 years data engineering in the healthcare industry, mainly using the Cloudera Hadoop stack and Airflow. I'm always interested in learning new technologies and working in new industries. Willing to relocate if necessary. ~~~ faehnrich Hello fellow Clevelander. You might be interested in this Cleveland-area list of tech companies and resources. [https://github.com/mrfright/cleveland- tech/](https://github.com/mrfright/cleveland-tech/) ------ rusye Location: Portland, OR Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: \--MongoDb, Express, React, Node (MERN), JavaScript, NoSQL, SQL, HTML, CSS \--Going to Learn GraphQL next Résumé: [https://www.russcodes.com/russ_codes_resume.pdf](https://www.russcodes.com/russ_codes_resume.pdf) Email: russ [at] russcodes.com About Me: I'm a boot camp grad looking for an entry level position as a software developer or a full-stack developer ------ abbe98 Location: Sweden Remote: no Willing to relocate: yes Technologies: Python, JavaScript, Vue, Java, PHP, HTML, CSS Résumé/CV: on a case to case basis Email: albin(dot]post{at)gmail.com Currently tech lead/business developer at an government agency focusing on R&D (for the last 2 1/5 years). Extra passionate about maps, web-accessibility, and linked data. Looking for a job preferably outside of Scandinavia related climate or journalism. ------ longshorej Location: Chicago Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Scala, Akka, Rust, Java, React, TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Bash, Kafka, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, Chronicle Queue, CQRS, Event Sourcing, RDBMS, TDD Résumé/CV: [https://www.jasonlongshore.com/longshore-jason- resume.pdf](https://www.jasonlongshore.com/longshore-jason-resume.pdf) Email: hello@jasonlongshore.com ------ mrdmnd Location: San Francisco Bay Area Remote: Yes, flexible. Willing to relocate: no Technologies: C, C++, Python, Scala, Mathematica, Matlab Resume: Contact me directly Email: mttrdmnd@gmail.com \-- Interested in research grade problems. MIT-trained computational geometer. Current interests include earth science prediction problems, robotics, and geometric optimization. Most recently worked at Google X as balloon systems simulation engineer. Contact me for some wild stories about airspace ;) ------ themanmaran Location: SF Bay area. Remote: On-site preferred, remote is fine. Willing to relocate: No Technologies: JavaScript/Typescript, Node.js, WebGL, AWS, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, React/Redux. Can operate across the entire stack but prefer frontend and UX related work. Résumé/CV: [https://www.tylermaran.com/](https://www.tylermaran.com/) Email: tyler.maran@gmail.com ------ hnhiring0120 Data Engineer. I have experience with large scale data storage and modeling, building streaming and batch processing pipelines using PySpark, Kafka and Flink, optimizing ETL jobs, and workflow scheudling using Airflow. Location: Paris, France Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Python (proficient), Java (familiar), Spark/PySpark, Flink, Kafka, Airflow, Hbase, ElasticSearch, Docker, SQL, Linux. Résumé/CV: On request Email: hn.hr.yamz@gmail.com ------ claudio-viola Location: Anywhere Remote: Yes Willing to Relocate: Maybe Technologies: Node.js , Javascript, Graphql, API, Backend Development, Microservices, k8s, Docker Resume: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudio- viola/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudio-viola/) Email: [http://scr.im/3zi3](http://scr.im/3zi3) ------ Rafaell4 Location: Colombia Remote: No Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: React Native, iOS, GraphQL, JavaScript Résumé/CV: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10qtJLfB4ULxyXhT667sMEK4vDOEPFVvD/view?usp=sharing Email: rvillarreal416@gmail.com GitHub: https://github.com/Rafaell416 ------ rossboss Location: Atlanta Remote: Yes (preferred) Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Javascript, TypeScript, Angular, Vue, Node.js, C#, Python, SQL. Résumé/CV: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-p/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-p/) (email for additional info) Email: ross.palmer.dev@gmail.com looking for fun and exciting projects! ------ CameronLloyd Location: Columbus, Oh Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Would prefer it Technologies: Java, Python, Javascript, Angular, AWS, Docker, Learning React Résumé/CV: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/11x0S8NUJARU96t0hn- ldhzzeGgV...](https://drive.google.com/file/d/11x0S8NUJARU96t0hn- ldhzzeGgVyjGEO/view?usp=sharing) Email: lloyd.cameront@gmail.com ------ dijit Location: Malmo, Sweden / Copenhagen, Denmark Remote: Yes, preffered Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Saltstack, terraform, Elasticsearch, Golang, Rust, Python, Gitlab-CI Résumé/CV: [https://dijit.sh/resume.pdf](https://dijit.sh/resume.pdf) Email: dijit@sh.drk.sc \-- I'm passionate about SRE based roles, I'm relatively flexible and incredibly eager to encounter larger challenges. ------ FailMore Junior Developer Location: London, UK Remote: No Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: (Le Wagon Full-Stack Bootcamp) Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, HTML, SCSS, mySQL Résumé/CV: 2 years of user/revenue/margin 'growth' (and working with development teams to do the 'hacking' part) 2 years as an investment analyst at a top tier European VC 2 years running my own company (TechCruch Disrupt nominated) Email for full details of the above Email: eichler (dot) summers (at) gmail.com Thanks! ------ remoteware Location: USA Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Ruby, Ruby on Rails / Elixir, Phoenix / Java / JavaScript, React / Python / Go / PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redshift, DynamoDB, Redis / AWS Resume: upon request Email: remote.ware.sd@gmail.com Experienced full-stack developer looking to work remotely. Currently a SDE at AWS for the past 6+ years and I am ready for new challenges/opportunities. ------ ecu Location: Greater Philadelphia Area Remote: Preferred Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Solr\Lucene, Python, R, C#\\.net core, MySql, MSSQL, Ansible Résumé/CV: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RDDZ- rcmgWsQ9jU_401ldTPqY6Q...](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RDDZ- rcmgWsQ9jU_401ldTPqY6Q6G_O_/view?usp=sharing) Email: chris@ulicny.io ------ akashbrdj Location: Bangalore, India Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Javascript, React, Redux, Typescript, Golang Résumé/CV: https://in.linkedin.com/in/akashbdj91 Email: akashbdj@gmail.com Looking for a frontend role, but happy to work in a full stack type of a role as well. ------ vallode Problem solver and self-started web developer based in London with over 4 years of experience. I am heavily focused on UX/UI. Looking for full-time or part-time and anything in between. \-- Location: London, UK Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: no Technologies: Typescript, Angular, PHP, Python Résumé/CV: Email for a copy, also see [https://vallode.com/](https://vallode.com/) Email: vallode@protonmail.com ------ mnoorani Location: Sydney, Australia Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: C#, Java, AWS, SQL, API, Databases Résumé/CV: [https://moiznoorani.com/resume/](https://moiznoorani.com/resume/) Email: moiz.noorani1@gmail.com I'm looking for opportunities only in Australia to join my family there. I'm currently working full-time in Frankfurt, Germany. ------ varunpsr Location: Pune, India Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No, but open to travel Technologies: Python, Django, Celery, Scrapy, ReactJS, React Native, RabbitMQ, Docker, RESTFful APIs, AWS, Postgres, GraphQL, C#, .NET Résumé/CV: [https://stackoverflow.com/cv/varunpsr](https://stackoverflow.com/cv/varunpsr) Email: varun.rathore@outlook.com ------ Jd Location: Moscow Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Javascript, Solidity, Ruby, Enterprise Stack, Haskell, Java Résumé/CV: https://github.com/fractastical/distributed-governance/blob/master/my_experiments.md Email: joel@swarm.com ------ gerosan Location: Ohio (but don't want to stay here) Remote: Not required Willing to relocate: Prefer to (Western Region of US) Technologies: Swift, Java, Kotlin, ARKit, ARCore Résumé/CV: Ask me on LinkedIn Email: Connect with me on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sorianog/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sorianog/) ------ fishbone Location: South East US Remote: yes Willing to relocate: no Technologies: 15 years of full stack web development - Go, Node, C#, Vue, React, SQL, Azure, GCP and many others Resume: upon request GitHub: [https://github.com/freeman-g](https://github.com/freeman-g) Email: googerb at gmail Certified Scrum Product Owner Certified Open Group IT Specialist Vue Docs Contributor Willing to build you a sample project Interested in 30 hour, highly productive week Thank you! ------ akzfowl Location: The Bay area. Remote: Not preferred at present. Willing to relocate: Yes. Technologies: Python, C#, Java, Node.js, WebGL, OpenGL, Javascript/Typescript. Can operate across the entire stack but tend to prefer backend and infrastructure related work. Can work with functional languages. Recently been exploring Golang. CV: Available by email. Email: akshay10791@gmail.com ------ tcvt Location: Oregon, US Remote: No Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Scala, Typescript, SQS, DynamoDB, EC2, Android, Docker Résumé/CV: [https://toddcooke.github.io/Todd_Cooke_Resume.pdf](https://toddcooke.github.io/Todd_Cooke_Resume.pdf) Email: toddcookevt@gmail.com 1.5 years professional experience mostly using Scala and various AWS services. ------ no-dr-onboard Location: Austin, Texas, USA Remote: Yes Willing to Relocate: No thank you. Experience: Pentesting/VA/RedTeaming (physical, network, application, wireless), Application SAST/DAST (C#,Go,C/C++), Security Research, Sysadmin, Red Team Infrastructure, Custom Cloud Security Solutions Resume/CV: linkedin.com/in/gmalfie/ Email: alfa.ro.greg at gmail.com ------ jczhang Location: Los Angeles Willing to relocate: Yes Résumé/CV: Available on request LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayseezhang Email: jczhang@ucla.edu Former software engineer and analytics consultant looking to transition to PM roles. ------ tapland Location: Sweden Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes, also Internationally Primary technologies: COBOL & RPG IV (Mainly OpenVMS, some AS/400, want to learn Z). SQL/RDB Secondary tech: JS, DB2, Micro Focus Cobol.net Résumé/CV: skoog.dev for my LinkedIn, JS rework in progress Email: hn@skoog.dev Also interested in knowing what stacks involving COBOL are out there for my own personal development. ------ rahk Location: Sweden Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: PHP, Back-end Development, REST, Continuous Integration, Symfony, GNU/Linux, MariaDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Docker Résumé/CV: [https://hallabro.nu/files/resume.pdf](https://hallabro.nu/files/resume.pdf) Email: Attached in my resume. ------ ramanujank Location: India/Estonia Remote: Sure! Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Developer Advocacy, Technology Evangelism Résumé/CV: [https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_7vV8rGtj7TaXdJVnpSaHI4Mm...](https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_7vV8rGtj7TaXdJVnpSaHI4Mm9SWWxmTE9GbndOaEhnMkxV) Email: ramanujank@gmail.com ------ s2000 Experienced software engineer with 10+ years of professional experience including stint as CTO and Lead Engineer. Location: Texas Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Tech: Ruby on Rails, Javascript, HTML, CSS, Vue.js, React, Node.js, Python, ElasticSearch, and more. Email: technologyexpert @ protonmail.com ~~~ jonovate Texas is big, which city? ------ senderista Location: Seattle area Remote: Yes, or onsite in Seattle area, or both Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Rust, Java, Python, SQL, Linux, Git, AWS, PostgreSQL, Redis GitHub: [https://github.com/senderista](https://github.com/senderista) LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobinbaker/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobinbaker/) Résumé/CV: [https://www.dropbox.com/s/ypsf998y2kysv3g/TobinBaker_Resume....](https://www.dropbox.com/s/ypsf998y2kysv3g/TobinBaker_Resume.pdf?dl=0) Email: tobin.d.baker@gmail.com I'm an experienced backend engineer who's worked on distributed systems at large scale in both industry and academia, including at AWS and the University of Washington Database Group. I'm mostly language-agnostic but have recently developed an affinity for Rust and would enjoy an opportunity to use it at work. I enjoy mining the academic literature for algorithms and data structures that could be useful in industry: a couple examples are my projects [https://github.com/senderista/sorted- vec](https://github.com/senderista/sorted-vec) and [https://github.com/senderista/hashtable- benchmarks](https://github.com/senderista/hashtable-benchmarks), which implement and benchmark little-known but promising papers from 1979 (Munro's 2-level rotated array) and 1973 (Knuth's bidirectional linear probing) respectively. Particular academic areas of interest include streaming and sketching algorithms, hash tables, and succinct data structures. I also have considerable experience in DevOps/cloud deployment, including both on AWS and inside AWS itself. Here are docs for an Ansible-based cloud deployment tool I wrote for the University of Washington's Myria distributed OLAP database: [http://myria.cs.washington.edu/docs/myria- ec2](http://myria.cs.washington.edu/docs/myria-ec2). I am particularly interested in technically challenging projects which tangibly improve the lives of their users, and in working environments which foster learning, collaboration, empathy, and inclusion. I would appreciate the opportunity to work remotely at least 1-2 days/week. ------ nikivi Location: London, UK Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: React/TypeScript/Go/Python CV: [https://nikitavoloboev.xyz/cv.pdf](https://nikitavoloboev.xyz/cv.pdf) GitHub: [https://github.com/nikitavoloboev](https://github.com/nikitavoloboev) Email: In CV ------ phomer Location: Toronto Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Go, Java, C Résumé/CV: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulhomer/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulhomer/) Email: paulwhomer@gmail.com 30 years of experience. Looking for something new and interesting. Prefer backend/systems programming. ------ prithsr Location: Greensboro, NC Remote: no Willing to relocate: yes Technologies: HTML, CSS, C++ (basic knowledge), R, Python (learning at the moment) Résumé/CV: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/prithvi- rakhyani-367075b2/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/prithvi-rakhyani-367075b2/) Email: priths@me.com ------ sumitjami Location: Nürnberg, Germany Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Python, Ruby, Golang, Kafka, Prometheus, data pipelines, OpenStack, Kubernetes, Django. etc Résumé/CV: http://bit.ly/2YtMmZX (google drive) Email: in resume ------ luord Location: Colombia Remote: Yes (preferred) Willing to relocate: Depends on the project and country. Technologies: \- Python (Django, Flask, SQLAlchemy, Celery). \- JavaScript (Vue, React, Node, Typescript). \- Operations: Docker, Ansible, GCP. \- Other: PostgreSQL, Bash. Resume/CV: [https://luord.com/pages/resume](https://luord.com/pages/resume) Email: lo@luord.com ------ mhmd130330 Location: Dallas, TX Remote: No Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Typescript, AWS, Javascript, HTML, CSS, Python, Java, C#, SQL Resume/CV: Available on Demand Email: mhmd130330@gmail.com Working at a major car manufacturing firm. Maintain a website built on backbone.js as well as a Node.js web application as well. Currently developing a serverless backend API with AWS and typescript. ------ ksawerykot Location: Poland / Leeds UK Remote: yes, preferably Willing to relocate: in the short term only Technologies: Clouds (AWS, Asure, GCE), Terraform, Kubernetes, Docker, CI/CD, Python/Golang Résumé/CV: [https://bit.ly/36kJamp](https://bit.ly/36kJamp) Email: ksawery.kotewicz@gmail.com ------ mflare Location: Germany Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No (but occasional travel/onsite is ok) Technologies: Java (Android, SWT, Swing, JSF/PrimeFaces), C, C++, SQL (MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite), Linux Résumé/CV: [https://t1p.de/c8rx12](https://t1p.de/c8rx12) Email: in resume ------ camilogiraldo Location: Medellín, Col Remote: YES - Experienced Willing to relocate: YES Technologies: React/redux, Angular, NGRX, node.js, bootstrap/tailwindcss, HTML/CCSS, es6/typescript,GIT Résumé/CV: camilogiraldo.co -linkedin.com/in/camilogiraldo91/ Email: camilogiraldo91@gmail.com ------ vouhardy Location: London Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Audio technologies such as JUCE, AudioKit. Swift, JS, Python, C/C++, RabbitMQ, AWS Email: can@ince.io Résumé: email me for a copy or see ince.io 7 years in tech, have done big media projects and built big scale stacks, interested in early-stage startups solving interesting problems ------ thoughtpalette Senior Front-End Engineer, Architect Nine years of client side development experience Location: Chicago IL Remote: Preferred Willing to relocate: No Technologies: JS, TS, CSS, HTML, SPAs, Angular, etc Resume: By Request Email: ${hnUserName}chris@gmail.com Site: [https://thoughtpalette.com](https://thoughtpalette.com) ------ joshmanders Location: Dubuque, Iowa, USA Remote: Required, but willing to travel periodically. Willing to relocate: Can't due to responsibilities. Technologies: Node.js, React, React-Native, GraphQL, Vue, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Docker, Microservices, Kubernetes. Résumé/CV: Available upon request. Email: josh@joshmanders.com ------ jsta2020 Location: San Francisco Remote: Yes, flexible Willing to relocate: No Technologies: C/C++, Python, ML (Tensorflow), Java, SQL, Go Resume: On request Email: bbjobsearch20@gmail.com I've spent the last 7 years at BigTechCo working on serving ML models at scale. If you're a midsize company with growing pains, I'm here to help :) ------ brian-b Hello! I'm looking for work as a remote iOS engineer with 10 years experience on many broad and complex apps. Location: Kansas - Central Time Zone Remote: YES Willing to relocate: Not right now Technologies: iOS, iPhone, iPad, Objective-C, Swift, Architecture, C++, C# Résumé/CV: on request Email: brian.barn.hart+hn@gmail.com ------ solathecoder Location: Lagos, Nigeria Remote: Preferred Willing to relocate: Not yet, still studying in Lagos Technologies: Javascript, Node.js, React, MongoDb, PostgreSQL, Python(intermediate), C++(I use it for solving programming challenges) Resume: available on request Email: olusola.samuel.oluwatobi@gmail.com Github username: olusamimaths ------ sfmike Location: San Francisco, Taipei Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Media Buyer, Growth Hacker, Product Marketing, CMO, VP of Acquisition Résumé/CV: Email: mr.obrien.michael@gmail.com ------ zwizzyy Location: Warsaw, Poland Remote: Yes, preferred Willing to relocate: No Technologies: * Web Development - Spring, Java, Angular, Typescript and learning React * Software Engineering - Domain Driven Design and other architectures * Deep learning - Python, Pytorch, FastAI * Other - C++, SQL, Docker, Flutter Resume: On request Email: luk (dot) kawka (at) gmail (dot) com ------ jeremija Location: Europe Remote: Preferred Willing to relocate: No Technologies: JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Go, Java, Docker, MySQL and PostgreSQL Resume/CV: [https://rondomoon.com](https://rondomoon.com) Email: hello at rondomoon dot com ------ DataAF Location: Oakland, Ca Remote: Yes, Please! Willing to Relocate: No Technologies: General ML & Data Science; Python, SciKit Learn, Keras, SQL, MongoDB, Flask; NLP tools like BERT, WordPiece, etc. ; AWS; Enough DevOps to run an ML pipeline Resume: On Request Email: bn.rn.99@gmail.com ------ save_ferris Location: Austin, TX Remote: Open to remote opportunities Willing to relocate: No Technologies: * Ruby on Rails * Go * Python * Docker * Kubernetes * Postgres/MySQL * Redis Résumé/CV: Upon Request Email: sh.hackernews@gmail.com Back end engineer with 6 years of total experience at all levels of the stack. Dabbling more in devops and platform engineering these days, I'm always looking to learn something new. ------ maa5444 Location:EU Remote: yes Willing to relocate:no Technologies:scala spark hive Résumé/CV:data eng for the last 4 years before used to be BI and etl developer Email:obar1@pm.me ------ averylamp Location: Cambridge, MA, USA Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Swift, Objective-C, Python, C Resume/CV: [https://averylamp.me/Resume.pdf](https://averylamp.me/Resume.pdf) Email avery at maelabs.com ------ supr_strudl Location: Europe Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No. Technologies: Python, TypeScript, JavaScript, SQL, Django, Vue.js, Angular, Docker, Scrapy Résumé/CV: [https://your-remote.dev](https://your-remote.dev) Email: see CV ------ DreamScatter Location: North Carolina Remote: yes Relocate? possibly Tech: lots of mathematics, Julia, Fortran Matlab, Linux, etc Resume: github.com/chakravala [https://grassmann.crucialflow.com](https://grassmann.crucialflow.com) ------ _1tan Location: Southern Germany Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Ops guy, well versed in Excel. Quick learner, especially interested in regulatory topics. Lead teams of up to 10 people. Handled big accounts. CV: On request. Email: phil@philippnagel.com ------ arkanciscan Location: Portland OR Remote: Why not Willing to Relocate: Nope Technologies: Most Web Platform Adjacent (see resume) Resume: [https://jessehattabaugh.com](https://jessehattabaugh.com) Email: arkanciscan@gmail.com ------ bradleykingz Location: Nairobi, Kenya Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: React, VueJS, NodeJS, Java, MongoDB, Postgres, Redis, Resume: available via email Email: bradstarart@gmail.com I'm a full-stack developer but prefer working with frontend technologies. ------ cedivad Location: Dublin, IE Remote: No Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Software > Hardware > ? Résumé/CV: [http://cedivad.com/cv.pdf](http://cedivad.com/cv.pdf) ------ cooperk1 Location: Colorado Remote: willing Willing to relocate: yes Technologies: python3, webflow, pandas, jupyter, APIs, aws, SQL Résumé/CV: email for resume Email: cooperkernan@gmail.com ------ taprice Location: Toronto Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: PHP/Laravel, Vue, GCP Certified Professional Résumé/CV: Available on request Email: pablo@cbrz.com ------ reroute1 Location: Chicago Remote: Yes Relocate: Maybe Tech: Javascript + D3, Perl, Linux (RHEL 6.10), Css, front-end and server side mostly, but doing more backend work all the time. A lot of AJAX and Jquery work on a small data viz app for the United Airlines IT security team. jrjeffreyrice [at] gmail.com Resume: [http://www.jeffreyrice.net/](http://www.jeffreyrice.net/) and completed CS certificate at Loyola Chicago	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Let's Buy CNN - solray http://www.letsbuycnn.com/ ====== solray Some background — [http://time.com/3023062/jon-stewart-kickstarter- cnn/](http://time.com/3023062/jon-stewart-kickstarter-cnn/) ------ mpnordland ha, I'd add a tier where you get to change the name	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Show HN: A short game to know if you're good running 1:1s - soneca https://www.oneonemeeting.com/choose-your-own-adventure.html ====== porphyrogene Asking them an esoteric question will make them uncomfortable but a personal question that addresses specific members of their family by name is going to put them at ease? This reminded me of the episode of The Office where Dwight steals Micheal's Rolodex to get information on his clients and it leads to him asking, "How's your gay son? ... Tony? The homosexual sophomore?" If you don't know someone intimately don't try to fake an intimate connection. The very next part of this quiz encouraged me to be upfront and honest instead of hiding behind excuses and managerial tricks. What if he were upfront and honest in response to the personal question and told you that his wife calls him a poor father and insults his manhood, are you ready to pivot to that subject? Can you reasonably expect him to answer that question dishonestly and if he needs to do so in order to avoid an awkward conversation then hasn't the question failed its purpose of opening an honest dialogue? What if this is a performance review and the result is somewhat negative? Is he to understand that his poor relationship with his wife had some bearing on his negative performance review? If not then why would you bring it up in that context? A relationship can thrive on one of two things: complete honesty or respectful boundaries. Maybe I am too sensitive about personal questions but that question doesn't seem appropriate. Also, esoteric conversation starters are great. I would much rather talk about why I would want to be a sunchoke than give a generic response without actually thinking about my answer. ~~~ soneca I understand, but in this fictional situation, I added an explanation why that question was ok (because Sancho mentioned his family often, implying that is regular subject in their conversation). Maybe I should also make it clear that it is not always ok, depend on the relationship	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Maersk and IBM aim to get 10M shipping containers onto blockchain - prostoalex http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/maersk-ibm-aim-get-10-million-shipping-containers-onto-global-supply-blockchain-by-year-end-1609778 ====== Hermel Crazy, the paperwork around the shipping often is more costly than the shipping itself: > Maersk had found that a single container could require stamps and approvals > from as many as 30 people, including customs, tax officials and health > authorities. > While the containers themselves can be loaded on a ship in a matter of > minutes, a container can be held up in port for days because a piece of > paper goes missing, while the goods inside spoil. The cost of moving and > keeping track of all this paperwork often equals the cost of physically > moving the container around the world. ~~~ blowski I'm no expert, but I have friends who work in docks in the UK. I'm aware that when paperwork goes missing, it's often not an accident. ~~~ zrth Would you mind sharing some of the various reasons why the paper work goes missing? ~~~ blowski Two typical scenarios - unions are holding things up until they get a bribe, or there is contraband on board and the holdup enables people to get it off. ~~~ imglorp So that sounds like at least two parties who would be opposed to an unrevokable ledger. Govt officials awaiting their bribes to let a container pass would be a third party opposed. Friction as usual. ------ ianpurton They are using a private Blockchain. This means a blockchain where to participate you need to be approved by a single party or a consortium. In my opinion if your blockchain is private then you might be better off using an existing database technology centrally controlled and allowing people to participate via an API. Expecting people to install Blockchain nodes locally to participate in this scheme might be expecting too much. The problem is that when software updates are required, which they will be, you have the job of coordinating updates across a node infrastructure installed in many companies and locations. If it goes wrong you have a chain split. Another problem is that the people who recommend or buy into the Blockchain hype might not have the skills to properly asses it's appropriateness to certain business cases. ~~~ INTPenis Are you saying that the very use of a block chain is too complex to be deployed by one IT-operational department at a large scale without issues? Just trying to clarify what you mean. ~~~ tdb7893 I'm under the impression that he was saying that it's harder to manage and has little benefit. I'm sure they could but it seems kinda silly ------ PhilWright What is the advantage of using a block chain for storing the information rather than just having a database? Is there some intrinsic benefit or is it just marketing hype? ~~~ phil21 I'm not in shipping - but wild speculation could be once you sign the blockchain it's now your legal responsibility - no dickering over timestamps, is that really our guy's signature, forged paperwork, whatever. You signed it now it's yours until someone else does. Implementing that may be somewhat more difficult though, and I have no idea if this is really that large of a problem or not. ~~~ zhte415 It is incredibly tough. The manual steps in trade, down to scribbling a note on the back of a single original piece of A4 paper, are tedious and tediously documented, UCP for example [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Customs_and_Practice_f...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Customs_and_Practice_for_Documentary_Credits). Maersk will be implementing a new standard of implementation here, replacing a standard that's been bootstrapped over centries. Expect an ISO or similar to be created to define it, with a lot of reach into the workflow of insurance companies and banking (LCs, etc). This would be an interesting area to 'disrupt' if you could catch early wind of the emerging standards and ride on the back of a new standard coming into implementation. ------ dzdt As usual, I like Matt Levine's take on this : [https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-03-06/cargo- blo...](https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-03-06/cargo-blockchains- and-deutsche-bank). _The problem to be solved here is not chiefly technological: It 's getting all of those agencies to agree to a single messaging protocol. That's hard! They have long experience of using their own protocols (e.g., paper), and little incentive to switch to Maersk's. Calling the new protocol a "blockchain" makes it sound sexier, and so more likely to be adopted._ ~~~ fragmede I'm inclined to agree with the premise, that "blockchain" is just what the cool kids are using, and adoption is piggybacking on that. Unfortunately the article fails to go into any detail as to why that is or is not the case, it merely quotes from the press release and then Matt points out that central banking exists. Shipping, especially on Maersk's level, has all sorts of challenges that I'm sure I've never even contemplated, but Matt Levin's piece doesn't mention any details that leads me to think he's working off any more details than I. Large shipping container docks are horrible environments for electronics and wireless technology. Long distances, lots of big metal things, lots of water present - large bodies of water block and bounces radio waves and salt water is corrosive to electronics, concrete everywhere, so laying cables is expensive, and there may not even be power in a lot of places. Add multiple layers of IT contracting on top of that and I'd be surprised if there's anything Internet except at the main office, miles away from everything else. While blockchain doesn't address problems with networking technology, I can easily imagine the blockchain, as a solution for the Byzantine Generals Problem, addresses practical issues when you need to give write access to the database, to multiple parties, some of which cannot be trusted. ------ askmike I think it's very interesting/strange/scary to see what started out as a Cypherpunk dream come true is now being experimented with / used by the industry it was meant to replace. While I think Bitcoin (et al.) is extremely interesting and definitely has it's use on the internet, it is becoming clear that it is a lot harder to replace money than it is to replace media supply chains (torrents): Everywhere from the political situation (blocksize discussion) to current usage cases (a lot has to do with circumventing either capital controls or AML/KYC for a number of reasons). disclaimer: I do a lot of work in Bitcoin but am currently employed by a bank for a project very similar to this one. ------ mark_l_watson I have become a bit of an IBM skeptic, what with excessive IBM Watson hype, but this seems like a really good idea. A distributed and secure blackboard type system seems like the way to go, rather than using a database that one of many parties is trusted to maintain. I just looked at the Java SimpleExample code in the repo and it did not look too difficult to use. ------ qznc Is there some more technical description somewhere? They probably do not use the Bitcoin Proof of Work technique? ~~~ bbrks The first paragraph mentions it's using Hyperledger's Fabric[1] blockchain implementation. I assume they're building their own smart contracts on top of that. [1] [https://github.com/hyperledger/fabric](https://github.com/hyperledger/fabric) ~~~ merrickread The hyperledger equivalent of ethereum's smart contracts is called chaincode. I'm playing around with it now - so far enjoying it much more than smart contracts. [https://github.com/IBM-Blockchain/learn-chaincode](https://github.com/IBM- Blockchain/learn-chaincode) ------ kirykl bad news for customs brokers ------ fiftyacorn Stories like this make me think of Season 2 of the Wire ~~~ jrockway Because it was set in a location with shipping containers? ~~~ fiftyacorn they use the software as part of the wire to determine which containers went missing - a block chain would ruin that	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: Education is broken, how do you fix it? - GroupRefer For the past few years, there has been a worrying trend in education. Bill Gates has even blogged about it just last week. While everyone agrees we need a departure from the rote memory method of learning to one which involves critical thinking and decision making, how would you go about implementing this in a real life class format? Do away with text books and work with Case Studies like Harvard? What other methods could work? ====== alid Hey man! Nice question. Our current system of education was designed for 19th century industrialism, yet today we’re preparing our kids for jobs that don’t yet exist, using technology that hasn’t been invented, to solve problems we can’t yet imagine. We need to gear learning towards the 21st Century Set of Literacies: how well we can find information, validate it, synthesize it, leverage it, communicate it, collaborate with it and problem solve with it. And we need to be developing self-driven learners who are confident thinkers, socially mature, engaged in their communities, resilient in the face of life's challenges and adaptable to change. How does this play out in the classroom? With a greater focus on critical reflection, teachers need to be Socratic and philosophic in their outlook. Teachers need to act as vital facilitators and motivators, reflecting the move towards a focus on self-directed learning. And they need to be highly trained in emotional intelligence, reflecting a greater focus on behavioural and non- cognitive skills. I've written an essay about this on my personal blog if you're keen (thecreativefiles.com) ------ stevesearer The high school I taught at for several years was working to lessen the usage of textbooks and primarily work with literature and primary source materials. In the history department, we delivered facts using lectures or a textbook reading. Basically, the idea was to give the students enough facts that they could then interpret and critically think about literature and the primary source materials. My testing was mainly essay based as it gave me the best view of whether or not the students actually understood the material. It also gave them the opportunity to learn how to better communicate what they knew, as opposed to only what a teacher was asking. For instance, students might completely know the circumstances and events surrounding the War of 1812, but forget things like the names of forts or specific battles or dates. That student could perform poorly on a multiple choice exam, but do tremendously well on an essay test. Scantron test = easy as hell to grade. Essay test = you actually have to know what you're teaching. I also believe that teacher credentialing has backfired. Credentialing programs are basically made up of $10,000 of busywork and make it so anyone that can put up with doing busywork can get through (exceptions exist). If I were in charge, I would have some sort of apprenticeship system where new teachers learned from the best teachers. End note: it is also kind of silly that you need a college degree and a credential to teach elementary school. Shouldn't everyone be proficient enough at elementary school concepts when they graduate high school that they could then teach the basics to others? ~~~ japhyr _it is also kind of silly that you need a college degree and a credential to teach elementary school. Shouldn't everyone be proficient enough at elementary school concepts when they graduate high school that they could then teach the basics to others?_ This is a really important issue to understand. Good teaching is difficult, even at the elementary level. Good teaching includes: \- responding to each student's learning style; \- answering questions in a way that sets students up for deeper learning in later years; \- meeting each student where they are at, and allowing them to progress at their own pace each year; \- dealing effectively with students who come to school hungry, abused, neglected and so forth; \- a host of other situations that are difficult to deal with effectively, but for which solutions have been developed. This ties in well with one of your other observations: _I also believe that teacher credentialing has backfired. Credentialing programs are basically made up of $10,000 of busywork and make it so anyone that can put up with doing busywork can get through (exceptions exist)._ In my experience as a teacher, I have seen this consistently. There is one local teacher ed program where I live, and the administrators pride themselves on running a "challenging" program. It is challenging in the volume of work required, not in the intellectual effort required. There are so many bad effects of this approach, and so many potentially good effects if an intellectually rigorous and challenging program took its place. I have also had an incredibly frustrating experience dealing with certification. I started teaching in one state, and taught there for 7 years. When I moved, I was granted temporary certification based on having held full certification in another state. I have hosted student teachers, and generally been recognized as an effective teacher. But after a few years in my new state, I was told I had to go back and do a student teaching program because the paperwork from my old state didn't fill in the right boxes on the paperwork in my new state. Utter BS, and this is exactly the kind of stuff that drives good teachers out of education. I chose to stay in education and not let myself get pushed out by stupid bureaucratic issues. I resolved to do my part in addressing these issues, though, and I am grateful to be working with a staff that is tackling hard education issues effectively. ~~~ stevesearer I agree that there is more to teaching than simply knowing and understanding the concepts. My overall message is more that credentialing is not the best way to train new teachers. I'd also argue that credentialing is also used to limit the number of teachers entering the field to keep wages higher, but I suppose that is another matter entirely :) ------ EMRo See Harvard Graduate School of Education report "Pathways to Prosperity: [http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news_events/features/2011/Pathway...](http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news_events/features/2011/Pathways_to_Prosperity_Feb2011.pdf) Some interesting strides have been made by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills in changing how we learn and also how we measure learning success: <http://www.p21.org/> Even Apple threw its hat in the ring with Challenge Based Learning: <http://www.apple.com/education/challenge-based-learning/> Without doubt the current models being used in the US don't work. We aren't teaching the right skills, we aren't measuring skills the right way (uniform class-wide tests EOY) and the funding structure for schools encourages bureaucracy and corruption at times. However, the problems are all tightly intertwined in one ball. I would caution against thinking that 'modern tech' is a cure all. Going from paper to iPads won't solve all of the issues in a day. That said, some really cool companies are killing it. Take a look at Edmodo. Wish I had more time to get into this, alas, back to my code cave. ------ saurabhpalan Everyone keeps saying Education system is broken, and to some extent it is. Here's some reasons why... 1\. with advancements in technology, education too needs to evolve, but we are still stuck in the era of printed books and expensive text books. I remember seeing a computer for the 1st time in grade 7. It took me few years to understand the complete potential and how I can use it. Now, kids in pre- school are hooked to iPad games and have figured out ways to watch cartoon on demand. Thus going to school to learn about animals from textbook pics is not very inspiring and interesting. 2\. For higher education, the school text books are still stuck in the 90's technology. School needs to engage students with more hands-on work, rather than lectures. Hands-on project building and training is a very useful tool for learning and has proven to be more engaging among students of all ages. [Shameless advertisement : checkout my workshops on robotics at workshop.iroboticist.com] ------ moonsoonmenu I think some of the others may agree with me...just teahch through technology. Make more places like khanacademy etc. Technology will disrupt the current system and through it people will be able to meet and stabilize a new system since it'll show people that learning is in new ways is possible. Bill and Melinda Gates foundation are funding Khanacademy and are excited about many sites like them, with technology we can answer more questions faster and help teachers focus on answering important questions while not repeating menial ones. ------ jfaucett speaking for myself as a learner, the only things I've learned to a very high level (foreign languages, computer science, maths, etc ) have all been things that I've had an immense amount of self interest in and have dedicated tons of time to. In the us educational system I think one of main problems is that you take a lot of subjects you don't need and another is that most subjects are not presented in a problem solving approach manner. It might just be my opinion, but I don't think sociology, anthropology, or even anatomy have any reason for being on a high school curriculum. It seems much more important to me to give students in this age group a really solid understanding of core areas: math, physics, literature / writing (i.e. the analytical thought and expressive process), and foreign languages (for today's world I'd also add computer science). If you know and comprehensively understand the above areas there's nothing stopping a high school student from majoring in any field imaginable. As far as the second area is concerned I think this just has to do with less busy work and more active thought and problem solving engagement. For instance, force students to come up with their own formulas for finding the area of a square BEFORE you show them the formula and steps for sovling the equations. I think this helps engrain knowledge and internalize it, also this is how everything in the real world works anyway, and prepares students for their future career choices. Those are just some of my thoughts... ~~~ stevesearer Your comments makes me wonder if educators are too focused on having students memorize specific information they deem necessary as opposed to being obsessed about equipping students with the necessary skills to learn anything. School can also be incredibly boring for students with interests outside the narrow scope of the specified curriculum. I found that many students that 'didn't like history', just hadn't found a topic they could really sink their teeth into. Once they did -let's say food in a particular time period- we could then build off that interest to learn about that time period as a whole (politics, society, wars, economics etc...) ------ cambo01 There is so much hype and talk about this it's making me sick. Too much tunnel vision. We need a drastic innovation. As in a streamlined system built for our age. It needs to be agile. We do education like we build products but we all know that after a four year degree more often than not we don't have 'product/ market fit'. We should train, test and iterate in small time frames. ------ mathteacher1729 > how would you go about implementing this in a real life class format? Allow experienced professional educators to shape education policy. ~~~ barry-cotter Indeed, letting teachers decide what to do on the basis of what's rasiest and most convenient for them is bound to have a 1:1 correspondence with the best way for people to learn. ~~~ mathteacher1729 > Indeed, letting teachers decide what to do on the basis of what's rasiest > and most convenient for them is bound to have a 1:1 correspondence with the > best way for people to learn. I consider myself a professional educator, so I will treat this statement as if you were aiming it directly at me. I'm not yet 10 years into my career, but I daresay I have a solid understanding of what facilitates effective learning among my students. I can quickly, accurately, and individually asses and guide my students on a path which best suits their needs. There is nothing a standardized test in my subject area can tell me about my class that I don't already know, and there is much that a standardized test will not reveal about the individuals within my class that I and my colleagues already know. I would like to see my students freed from wasting their valuable time preparing for absurd tests which do not serve them in any useful or meaningful fashion. My admins know how my students are doing because they receive reports directly from me. They know my word is good because I am a professional. The implementation of my wish to eliminate meaningless standardized testing and have more control over my curriculum would not earn me one more cent than I currently make. (I make less than 45k / year and I'm 6 years into it with a masters degree.) I love my work and seeing my students succeed is why I do it. ------ GroupRefer how about involving actual companies to come in and let them interact with the students? For example, the marketing department of an FMCG company could ask students to prepare a marketing campaign when students take up a marketing course. ~~~ apoorvsaxena this should be accompanied with the government providing tax benefits to the organization that indulge in this initiative, which would not only help in advertising and marketing, but will also catch the eye of organisations for their own benefit.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Picking the right customer support tool - ringolo https://medium.com/@scffld/picking-the-right-customer-support-tool-25674898bbf0 ====== hw "Because better customer service creates better businesses." It's amazing how that doesn't resonate very often with businesses. Robo- replies and being assigned ticket numbers tells me quickly that the support organization in a company already failed. What pisses me off the most is when I get a robo-reply with a ticket # and I don't hear back till 2 days later, via an obvious generic templated response (with some variables like my name added in) - and more than likely the response is way too generic and doesn't solve my problem.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: Written a book for devs, now what? - franze ====== hnyk Put it on the web under a CC license! ------ PaulHoule Describe the book. What are your goals?	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Rapidly Prototyping Rockets - palish http://media.armadilloaerospace.com/misc/sas07_high.mpg ====== tlrobinson That's pretty awesome. I guess this is what John Carmack is doing with his fortune from Doom and Quake.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Tracking friends and strangers using WhatsApp - robheaton https://robertheaton.com/2017/10/09/tracking-friends-and-strangers-using-whatsapp/ ====== antirez A few weeks ago there was a similar discussion, and I commented the following: If you think there is no problem, you are wrong. The blog post does not show all the information leaks that this implies. Example: I can modify the script to monitor all the numbers I've in my phone, so that based on the online/offline status in a few weeks I can be able to guess who is having conversations together, discovering cheatings, work affairs, ... EDIT: Practical example. After collecting enough data about user X I create a table about the probability of this user being online in a given few-minutes time ranges. Then I check the online frequency of that user compared to the online statuses of another user Y. If the difference compared to the expected probability is significant, than I can suspect the two are chatting. Another thing I can use is that attivation delay of the online status, since often X sends a message to Y and this results in, a few seconds after, Y to be online, and then the contrary. [then an HN user said she/he was not sure this was serious because maybe the users casually had similar patterns, so I replied:] If you check the model I described in my comment, it should filter the "bus problem", since it will detect a chat only if, compared to the standard "bus time" probability of the user A chatting, it is chatting more if in the same range also B is chatting. If you add to this that people on Whatsapp usually do not talk to the exact minutes, it is definitely possible to create a robust system for guessing with good probability of two have often conversations. Also note that the phone numbers in input are not random, are the ones of a connected circle of persons. Add to this the fact that we can split the ranges even, potentially, by few minutes, and you can even detect interesting stuff for people having continuos chats with multiple persons like teenagers. Another thing that is possible probably is also "groups detection", since at new messages a set of users will activate at the same time. [And the attack can be refined a lot with more powerful mathematical approaches] ~~~ anilakar Once I hacked together a similar program to log the terminal activity of fellow students on the university UNIX and Linux servers: [https://github.com/andyn/actspy/blob/master/actspy.c](https://github.com/andyn/actspy/blob/master/actspy.c) The main objective, however, was not to stalk innocent users but to catch an anonymous IRC troll who was using an identless shell server in order to hide their real account name. Every time the troll wrote to IRC, the activity logger program showed typing activity from a certain user. After a few message exchanges during quiet night hours I was able to reliably pinpoint them. ~~~ whamlastxmas So what happened after finding out who it was? ~~~ anilakar That'll be the boring part of the story. I just /msged her primary nick and asked nicely if it was possible to stop. Apparently the threat of losing anonymity is enough to turn trolls back to normal people. ~~~ inetknght This is, in a nutshell, the secret of the internet. ------ jimmies If you trust those """services""" to be secure and trust that they care about your privacy, then you will be betrayed sooner or later, in ways you can't think of -- just like in the article. Fun fact, years ago I accidentally found out that my girlfriend at the time cheated on me on Snapchat, without me actually exploiting anything. She told me to join it with her, telling me that is going to be fun. Snapchat kept track of useds' activity and gamified it to incentivize you by scoring your activity then. Each person has a public activity score when you tap on their profile. One day, I noticed that her Snapchat had more than twice the score that I had. So I clicked on her profile and there it is some strange dude having a score higher than me, it turned out that was her """"ex"""" (I actually never asked her even for his name before, I found out only after that). I never consciously looked for anything, I trusted her 100%, the score was just there on my screen. Thanks Snapchat for their stupid gamification efforts, otherwise I would have wasted more time on her. But since that accident, I never trust proprietary shit that has money to make, ads to sell, governments to please, and incentives to grow, even it says its selling point is to protect your privacy, like Snapchat. It's not about the "end to end encryption" or "finer privacy control" or "only allow when app is in foreground" or "restricted sharing" or "MIT open sauce license" or "export your data" or "only listening to hotwords" or "open APIs," it's about the intent. If the intent was to expand and make money, then all those techs won't be the magic pill that suddenly cures the ill intent. Anyway, privacy my ass, man. ~~~ rconti Wait, when you view her profile (as a friend), it shows who has the highest 'score' in terms of contact with her? Wow, that IS a lot of data if they break it down by contact pairs. ~~~ jimmies Yep. It was called Snapchat score or something. It had a list of top 3 people or so and how much score they had with each other. It was unreal. This was back in spring-summer 2015. ~~~ ReverseCold Now it shows you the live current location of all your friends, no one I know has it turned off. Wth people? ~~~ komali2 This setting doesn't seem to be enabled by default, at least on Android. I just scrolled into settings > Who can... See My Location > Found it to be on "ghost mode (only me)." I never touched this setting before. ~~~ jimmies Only log me, but don't let my friends know: You know your privacy is respected jack shit when the _least_ intrusive setting is letting the service know and log you, but not letting your friends know. The real question isn't that what it sets by default, the question is why that chat app needs to know and log your location in the first place? Why does it not only get it and send it when you choose to share? What kind of enhancement does it give to your fucking """experience""" when it logs your location like that? ~~~ jimmies @cassowary, geotagging your photos can be done without logging your location on the server. It can be done locally. Plus, I thought that Snapchat does not keep the pictures you've taken? (I have been out of that since then, so I don't know.) ------ squigg I loved this article. It is beautifully written, given both the hacking curiosity on display as well as the real-world privacy impact it demonstrates. Most of my family use whats-app and would be mortified if they actually understood most of this. Not saying they would stop using it, as the trade-off is a great social app, but it would make them think more broadly about how the world is changing. ~~~ tcmb Nobody has to stop using WhatsApp, the scenario described in the article can be prevented simply by changing the app's privacy settings. ~~~ polote Wrong, if you deactivate the feature 'last seen at' it doesn't change anything because you can still get the same information with the feature 'is online now' and this feature can't be deactivated ~~~ NasKe What count as "online"? Using the app? Does the web app also track that? I don't think this is disclosed by facebook, it would be nice to experiment to check it. ~~~ Tijdreiziger AFAIK, having either the mobile app or web interface in the foreground. ------ janwh Nevermind the clever writing but the issue has been known for years—and beautifully exploited with the selfhostable ready-made solution WhatsSpy Public since Feb 2015: [https://gitlab.maikel.pro/maikeldus/WhatsSpy- Public/](https://gitlab.maikel.pro/maikeldus/WhatsSpy-Public/) It's not actively maintained anymore but Maikel deserves some credit for it. ~~~ kevingrahl Do you happen to know if it’s still working without heavy modifications? ~~~ gsich Probably not, it used Chat-API [0], but the developer is kind of an asshole. But I admit, people just post stupid issues all the time. However I don't share the developers opinion that this was abused. My friends and I haven't received spam messages on Whatsapp. I admit that may be a small sample size, but still. [0] [https://github.com/mgp25/Chat-API](https://github.com/mgp25/Chat-API) ~~~ dedmen I did the same about mid 2015 using yowsup (Python API to Whatsapp). But it's was a private project because of legality concerns of hoarding so much data. ------ option_greek Of course, the elephant in the room is that all this info and much more is with WhatsApp, Facebook, Google and what ever garbage app is installed on your phone. I agree that the article is more about targeted surveillance towards certain users but that is where NSA and secret letters come in :). ------ sqren Very well written article - and I love your drawings! I did a similar story a while back on how you can track your friends sleep patterns using Facebook Messenger [1]. I'm sure there are lots of other services that have this problem, and most users are blissfully unaware. [1] [https://medium.com/@sqrendk/how-you-can-use-facebook-to- trac...](https://medium.com/@sqrendk/how-you-can-use-facebook-to-track-your- friends-sleeping-habits-505ace7fffb6) ------ colanderman > Facebook sends data to your browser using straightforward HTTP requests that > you can easily write a program to mimic. Shameless plug, I wrote a plugin for Chrome [1] and Firefox [2] to do just that. (Facebook is the opposite of WhatsApp – you can disable your online/offline status, but not your idle time.) [1] [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/social-network- cha...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/social-network-chat- idle/ngjiolhcdneedkjhdpeokdahhgohnogo) [2] [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/social- networ...](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/social-network-chat- idle/) ------ jesperlang When stuff like this happen I wonder if we can try to trick the system, overloading it with information, faking things. Couldn't we just somehow make sure we are online all the time (some script pinging the app), then the data would become meaningless.. ------ cl289 Just to clarify as a non-user: there's an online status, and a 'last seen' data point, and both can be queried by any user for any user given their telephone number, as often as the querying party likes? And the online status is when the app is open on the phone? ~~~ itsyogesh AFAIK If you have them in your contacts and they haven't blocked you, you can access both those data points. If they have disabled last seen, you can still get the the 'online' and 'typing' status. ------ Havoc I suspect a fairly small percentage of users is active enough that you get usable hourly data. ~~~ polote I agree with you, whatsapp is not like Tinder or Facebook you don't open it every 2 minutes to check if there is something new. ~~~ raarts That depends on the country. In the US, people still tend to text a lot, but in most of Europe, Whatsapp totally replaced texting. ~~~ rconti Is this because of their still-utterly-broken roaming model? (supposedly to be remedied soon) ~~~ morsch Soon was June 2017. But I doubt it has anything to do with roaming. Maybe more people paid per SMS for a longer time than in the US? I know I still do; I could add unlimited messages to my monthly contract for 1 EUR or so, but what's the point. ~~~ rconti Interesting. My assumption was that Europe was much more okay with pay-per-use than the US was. It was always strange to someone in the US that a European would pay different amounts for a call depending on what kind of phone you were calling, where in the US both parties simply paid for their airtime if they wanted to use mobile phones. SMS took off faster in Europe than in the US, but we've had bundled packages for so long that the individual cost per text wasn't such an issue, and now on many plans they're unlimited. I guess the differing cost structure depending on who you're texting and from where may have spurred the adoption of WhatsApp, whereas in the US, even if you WERE paying per text, it was the same across a territory of many thousands of miles and hundreds of millions of people. And, the same way that many folks in the US do not even have a passport, they tend also not to have a reason to text internationally. The size and homogeneity of the country benefits the adoptions of some technologies, but hinders the adoption of others. ------ diegorbaquero I made an MVP 2 years ago: [https://www.producthunt.com/posts/whatsapp- tracker](https://www.producthunt.com/posts/whatsapp-tracker) ------ kzisme Maybe I'm in the minority, but I haven't ever used WhatsApp. Is there a huge benefit to using it over SMS, or something similar? ~~~ zaat * SMS delivery isn't guaranteed. * SMS don't have read receipt. * SMS depends on cellular connectivity. * SMS and MMS have very limited media transfer support. * SMS don't have feature similar to groups. ~~~ hnaccy >* SMS don't have read receipt. I feel like this is a pro. ~~~ zaat While I can see your point, it really depends on usage purpose and taste. For many this is the most valuable feature of the app. ------ throw2016 People avoid thinking too much about things that are working as advertised. How many people wonder about how exactly their cars work or the global financial system works yet they are impacted by both of these. They may reserve curiosity for other things depending on their interests. And here the problem begins, a lot of software engineers seem to conflate this disinterest to stupidity and think this gives them a right to do whatever they want with other people's data. There is a fundamental lack of understanding and respect of other people rights and privacy and an easy dehumanization that is disconnected from human society and the evolution of fundamental rights like like the right to privacy. Regulation will catch up and eventually address this as more people become aware but is a troubling reflection of a large part of the software ecosystem. ------ salqadri Huh; why on Earth does WhatsApp make the default visibility of your "last seen" to "everyone"?! Also, speaking of 'tracking', I'd love to be able to track the sources of fake news forwards, but I assume such a technique would not work for anything like that. ------ abcdabcd987 I think I did almost the same thing three years ago. See: [https://www.v2ex.com/t/121272](https://www.v2ex.com/t/121272) (in Chinese only, sorry. I should translate it to English when I'm free) ------ youeeeeeediot Always wondered what would happen if someone was to happen to have every valid US/CAN number in their contact list (all 3-4 billion), since WhatsApp doesn't validate you actually _know_ the contact just that you have their phone number. ~~~ carroccio They ban your IP. Anyway with some effort you can deanonimize a lot of numbers (eg: status/name/profile photo). ~~~ CommentCard Is there a known upper limit on the number of #s one account can have? I suppose you could use that limit to set up enough WhatsApp accounts on proxies to effectively have access to all registered #s? ~~~ tcmb There's another startup idea. ~~~ ballenf The idea being you incentive WhatsApp users to install your app that then harvests all their contacts and collates the "last seen" info on all of them. If they delete your app, you setup a proxy to imitate their device and continue the monitoring. Have a privacy policy that is super strong but has a couple "loopholes" that one can drive a truck through. Is that the idea? Seems doable if you're not too risk averse, have no family and live in a country with weak extradition laws. Kidding, there's nothing illegal about any of this stuff or FB, Google and lots of other companies would not be in business. FB would have a civil claim against you -- they paid several billion dollars for the legal right to all that user data! ~~~ CommentCard You wouldn't need an app or other WhatsApp users beyond your distributed proxy accounts. You'd be running the monitoring through these proxies. Creating an app with the sole purpose of backdooring WhatsApp on a user's phone seems like it'd open you up to a lot of lawsuits. Ethically its a mite more questionable, but the original article is still unethical in that you're monitoring people without consent. Like I said above, I'd do this just so that they'd crack down on it. It's still a "means justify the ends" argument, however, so you have to be quite comfortable with moral relativism. ------ dedmen I don't see why people suddenly panic about it.. That's not a new thing. I wrote my own Tracking app over 2 years ago. I still have the code and database laying around. I was using [https://github.com/tgalal/yowsup](https://github.com/tgalal/yowsup) back then. Back then you could even see when people requested your online-status. Meaning you could see when they opened your chat. Back then I used that to see if my message have been read because the message-read notification didn't exist back then. ------ thanatropism I'm increasingly inclined to keep my phone on airplane mode for most of the day. Now, I just need to train people into calling me only between x:00 and x:05. But I don't get many calls anymore, everybody texts... ------ samfriedman Similar "online status tracking" has been used for Facebook messenger in the past. I know Facebook removed send-location by default, but I'm not sure if the API still allows pulling online status. [https://defaultnamehere.tumblr.com/post/139351766005/graphin...](https://defaultnamehere.tumblr.com/post/139351766005/graphing- when-your-facebook-friends-are-awake) ------ j_s Stalking Your Friends with Facebook Messenger \| [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9609286](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9609286) (May 2015, 185 comments) _when you send a message from the Messenger app there is an option to send your location with it_ _the mobile app for Facebook Messenger defaults to sending a location with all messages_ ~~~ chis Facebook doesn't do this anymore. [http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/04/technology/facebook- messenge...](http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/04/technology/facebook-messenger- location-tracking-fix/index.html) ------ anfogoat The only issue here is that WhatsApp lets you see the status of people who don't have you as a contact. The rest is utterly underwhelming. One thing I loved about ICQ-esque IM services was that you could clearly see whether a contact was online or not. I still feel weird starting a conversation on WhatsApp because of the lack of clear visual cues of the contact's status. ------ JamieF1 Reminds me of an article I wrote up about tracking who's talking to who on WhatsApp: [https://medium.com/p/finding-out-if-2-people-are-chatting- to...](https://medium.com/p/finding-out-if-2-people-are-chatting-to-each- other-on-whatsapp-7f13448be665) ------ mnafees A few days ago I tried to track people on WhatsApp even if their "Last Seen" was hidden. [https://hackernoon.com/uhoh-did-i-break-whatsapps-last- seen-...](https://hackernoon.com/uhoh-did-i-break-whatsapps-last-seen-feature- dbde54ecf79b) ------ antoaravinth I might be wrong here, but what if I change my settings to "not show the last seen status"? I guess in that case this doesn't work. Yes, I believe checking "Online" status frequently does give some information about my activity. Correct me if I'm wrong here. ~~~ helloindia I was thinking the same. I haven't seen any of my friend with last seen status enabled. ~~~ slig If you disable on your account, you can't see the last seen status of your friends, even if they have it enabled. ------ jagjotsingh Loved the article. The increasing pace with the article gives you a rush which was amazing! Very well written. ------ collyw Just turned that "feature" off in mine. I am glad people point out stuff like this. Is Facebook still spitting out similar crap? I checked the console and there is a reassuring looking message there, but I am not up to date. ------ KamogTechs Nice and very well written article,most of my friends use whatsapp and would be mortified if they actually understood most of this. ~~~ RobertoG Even without, unfortunately (I'm sure they are wonderful), knowing your friends, I bet you a cookie that they don't care. ------ kyranjamie Enjoyed the article, but my favourite part is the reference to Garth Marenghi's Darkplace in the description. ------ bikamonki Whatsapp's opening an API for businesses soon. More abuse on your data. Wait for it. ------ kinnth Brilliantly written Rob Heaton! Bravo! ------ nebulos Well written. ------ rajesh004 isn't this privacy breach? ------ marindez What I don't like about WhatsApp is that even if you hide your last connection time, everybody gets to see whether you're online. ~~~ arunc I was exactly thinking about this last night. It's bad that WhatsApp doesn't hide the online status. ------ aecorredor Just turn off last seen. Duh. ~~~ mnafees [https://hackernoon.com/uhoh-did-i-break-whatsapps-last- seen-...](https://hackernoon.com/uhoh-did-i-break-whatsapps-last-seen-feature- dbde54ecf79b) ;)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ohio State University Gets Armored Military Vehicle, Dodges Questions About It - trysomething http://reason.com/blog/2013/09/19/ohio-state-university-gets-armored-milit ====== greenyoda Q: Why do colleges cost so much these days? A: All that military hardware is sooooo expensive! ------ westicle I'd be interested to know more about the actual uses and capabilities of the vehicle. For example, the article states that the military has had problems with using the vehicles off-road and that the vehicle is prone to flip. Elsewhere it is described as resistant to mines and ambush (how exactly?). I'm wondering what situation a university campus is likely to encounter where this vehicle would be superior to, say, a four-wheel drive. ~~~ Moto7451 My understanding from some of my Iraq war veteran friends is that Humvees lack adequate undercarriage armor and they aren't designed for/can't be properly modified to carry the proper armor. There are newer ones with beefed up engines and suspensions but it's kinda like deciding you want to jump ramps/obstacles in a vehicle and trying to supe up your pickup truck rather than building a race truck[1]. MRAP is not a single vehicle but a class of vehicle[2]. The name kind of says it all: Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected. My friends were stationed in bases inside Iraq and never really had to do any "off road-ing". They had to convoy between different installations within the country. Typically on poor roads but roads none the less. They worked with the Iraqi Defense Force to transport prisoners, supplies, etc. This[2] is the kind of stuff that they were scared to death over and why they wanted MRAPs. Apparently Humvees don't take kindly to those sort of explosions or rockets, mines, IEDs, etc. [1]My buddy and his friends do this with their Tacomas and regularly blow out suspension and drivetrain parts. CVs especially. This is no fault of the Tacoma, they are NOT designed to jump large gaps at speed like a Trophy truck. [2][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MRAP](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MRAP) (GRAPHIC)[3] [http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=02b_1189545597](http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=02b_1189545597) (GRAPHIC) Edit: That said, I have NO idea why they'd want these in a city other than the bling/super Ninja Robocop ego factor. Using the same SWAT vehicles as the local PD seems like a better choice since the support network would already exist. ~~~ westicle Interesting, thanks for the info. It still leaves me wondering: 1\. Why a university would be expecting vehicle mines or even IEDs on campus; and 2\. What value an armoured vehicle responding to that situation would have anyway. My understanding is that a vehicle mine is pretty useless once you know it is there. This seems like a vehicle designed for regular trips over highly contested or hostile (but reasonably well-maintained) roads. ~~~ Moto7451 Another commenter mentioned the police's vehicles get flipped by rowdy sports crowds. The vehicle is probably surplus from the Iraq wind down. Some of LAPD's helicopter fleet is, apparently, military surplus. I would think that even if their MRAP is free the logistics would make it more expensive that whatever vehicle SWAT is using. I would think that an Armored car (like a bank would se) would also be a good choice if they're just looking for a heavy and protected vehicle. Realistically, it seems like if the crowd is that ugly, the local PD should be called in. I don't think riot dispersal is really a great responsibility for campus police. Re the mines: I'm guessing you don't get much of a chance to check for mines, especially on convoy routes. Car bombs at checkpoints (like the video I linked) are probably impossible to detect before someone is in the blast zone. ------ anologwintermut Colleges of OSU's size have had problems with riots after games and at the end of frat parties ( in fact, I believe OSU has had both, I know they have had football riots [0]). Vehicles, including police cars, get flipped and set on fire. Since this is likely surplus military equipment from the US draw down in Iraq bought for cheap, perhaps it was a cheap way to get a vehicle for riot control? Certainly, they aren't expected to drive across IEDs on campus. Keep in mind, the police forces at large state schools are actual sworn law enforcement officers who carry guns, arrest people, and are responsible for crowd control. OSU is more than 56k people, well past the point where a town would have it's own police force. Of course, this says nothing about whether any police forces should have this type of equipment. [0][http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIHxDZwxloY](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIHxDZwxloY) ~~~ gcb1 when 5+ people are going to pacifically hold signs in some park they have to inform the authorities so they can provide public "protection". why a game of that proportions is different? i take it that more than 5 people are guaranteed to show up. ------ runarb To their defense: there has been a worrying trend recently where the perpetrators of thus shootings have been much better equipped. Until recently thus shootings was mostly done with 9-mm semi-automatic weapons. But for example both the batman theater shooter and Anders Behring Breivik her in Norway did use at least some bullet resisting equipment and assault rifles. It is totally possible that the next shooter will have full tactical armor and a fully automatic assault rifle with drum magazines. When this happened first responders has to be prepared. They shouldn't have to wait on SWAT while someone is going around shooting others. (This was what happened during the Utøya attack in Norway. The police that first reposted did not have the capability to stop the perpetrator, so they was set to direct traffic instead, while they waited on the national counter-terrorism unit to come to aid them. In the meanwhile Breivik could go around executing children.) ------ reycharles I remember a discussion on HN where this came up. IIRC someone suggested that it was more about the price - for some reason there was / is a surplus of this kind of vehicle. Unfortunately I can't find the thread again. I wouldn't call this a tank, though. ~~~ trusche Might have been this one: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6186569](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6186569) Radley Balko discusses this at some length in "Rise of the Warrior Cop", cited in the article. Fascinating, scary read. ------ gcb1 at reddit when this showed up weeks ago, ppl in the military were commenting how driving those are the worst thing they did on service. that its dangerously jumpy to the point they would question driving over speed bumps or crosing over sidewalks. seems that some company developed something for military no-price-limits market that turned out so bad that they started a bargain sale to civilians. ohio was just the first sucker that had to spend last minute budget to not lose it next year. and knowing how prevalent is this, expect a lot more to pop up. ~~~ cynwoody > _ohio was just the first sucker that had to spend last minute budget to not > lose it next year._ Spend it† or lose it was my first thought, too. †And then decide what, if anything, to use it for. ------ benologist For definitions of 'tank' that include 'armored truck' and exclude a cannon, treads and other features you kind of expect on a tank. ------ andymcsherry Riots after Ohio State/Michigan game get pretty intense, there's usually a fleet of helicopters out already. ~~~ dagw Why does campus security have to deal with that? If it's really as bad as you claim, shouldn't it be up to the state or city police departments to deal with. ~~~ montitro The campus security IS the police department. A lot of large state schools have fully-fledged police departments, not private security. ~~~ BrandonM Not true. There are two separate groups in Columbus: OSU Police and the Columbus Police Department. ------ dllthomas I assume the intended use is an invasion of Michigan. ~~~ yareally Happened once before (sorta) in a dispute over state boundaries. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledo_War](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledo_War) Ohio ended up getting the area around the Ohio/Michigan state line and Michigan got the upper peninsula. ~~~ dllthomas Yup. Was intended as a nod at both that, and the ongoing UM/OSU rivalry. ------ davecyen Always keeping it classy in Columbus. Go blue ------ zero_intp Ah, shades of Kent. Four dead in Ohio.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
I'm completely demotivated to work; what can I do? - iyra72 I'm two years before heading off to university, but I have no motivation to learn the things that are being taught at college. I chose to study the subjects that I thought I would enjoy, but sadly this isn't true. I'm assuming that if I had made other choices for subjects, I'd be in a similar problem. Maths is one of the subjects I'm studying, and although I enjoy maths itself, I'm not enjoying what I learn in school. I can't be motivated to put the work in, so that I can get good results at the end of the year. I spend my free time programming or researching instead, but I can't continue doing this if I want to get the A-levels I need to enter a half-decent university.<p>Are there any ways by which I could motivate myself to study more? ====== bane I'm going to say something that's a little tough but it's meant as advice coming from years of mistakes before I finally got my head on the right way: Part of growing up is learning to prioritize what you need to do, even if it isn't fun, over what you like to do. This is how the real world works, and it's what you'll spend the rest of your life doing. Learning to do it when you're young, when mistakes are smaller, will make the rest of your life so much better. When you get your needs out of the way, the fun stuff you _can_ do is all the better, and you'll know more about the fun stuff that you're doing enabling you to open more worlds of enjoyment later that you'll never be able to conceive of without putting in the hard work to start. Doors will be open to you that you'll never even imagine if you put in the work to build the foundation of your life right now. Digging the metaphorical ditches and laying the metaphorical concrete for your foundation sucks, but that's how life is. Lots of sucky boring shitty work, for a few profound moments of bliss. I know this sounds just like words right now, but I wish this was a concept that I had truly grokked much earlier in my life before I had to spend years fixing all the bits and pieces I needed to do that I had deferred. Nobody gets to do the fun stuff for long, without working out all the dreadfully boring bits a head of time. Want to be an explorer? Spend months raising money and building schedules and looking at maps and buying equipment. Want to be a rock star? Spend years learning to play an instrument, playing in dive bars and making demo tapes. Get a break then play the same 4 hit songs for 20 years. Want to write awesome code and run an awesome business? Spend years learning computational theory, business management and leadership, raising funds, and last but not least, writing thousands of lines of boring boiler plate, edge case handling and plumbing code. Want to be an author? Spend a few years writing a couple hundred pages on your topic then get rejected by 99 out of 100 publishers. Then do an endless book tour where you read the same passage from your book 300 times. Learning to do the boring, dreadfully dull, uninteresting stuff...learning to just muscle through it...is _the_ most important life skill any human being can learn. It's the marshmallow test magnified by a million. ~~~ greggman I feel incredibly blessed that I never had to do any of this. I enjoyed computer programming. I learned to do all the stuff because it was fun. Learned to read and write files, learned to sort, learned to write languages, etc etc. All of it was almost always in pursuit of some goal. I want to create ABC I needed to learn about DEF. etc.. Very little of it was just learning for the sake of learning. I can't remember ever doing a boring thing related to programming off the top of my head. I can remember automating repetitive things but even that was fun. I remember working lots of overtime but I don't remember disliking the work. I don't know what to take from that. I've kind of assumed it's been the same for all the programmers I respect. I see them code as a hobby just like me. I assume they keep doing because they love it. Maybe if you don't love it you're doing the wrong thing? Maybe if you don't love anything then your advice is true? ~~~ lgieron Do you code for a living? If so, I think your experience ("no boring task ever") is pretty unique. ~~~ rudasn I'm in a similar situation. I got into writing code because the things I thought were cool required writing code to have; websites, irc bots, web apps, etc. I have been learning new things about code (and in the process software engineering) for about 10 years and I find it more exciting than ever. I do have a a lot of boring tasks to complete but I often play around with them a bit, finding new ways to do an age old task and then it's cool again. On a related note, I see qualified people my age working jobs they don't really enjoy for peanuts and it really sucks. I consider my self very lucky for having a full-time hobby that is rewarding and can pay the bills. ------ kirillzubovsky Dude, whatever you choose to do, please do yourself a favor and ignore the bullshit advice that starts with - "this is how the real world works..." That nonsense only comes from people who had settled for the average. Life works in any way that you want it to work. Look, if you don't want to do the shit work, don't do it, but don't bitch and moan and complain about it. Instead, find a way to still get shit done, while not doing the work you don't want to do. You don't like doing homework? Nobody does. It's a waste of time and you will not use 90% of what you've learned. Spend the bare minimum time you need to pass high-school on work that you have to get done, devote the rest of your time to the work you want to get done. If that means learning computer programming, do it. I had friends in high-school who managed hosting companies, while at high-school. Guess what, while the rest of us were solving stupid problems and learning history, those guys made money. It's not a bad skill to learn. Anyways, this discussion could go back and forth... Get off your ars, close HN and just f'ing do something! ~~~ psc Great post. This is the kind of perspective you want to have. This reminds me of PG's high school essay: "The important thing is to get out there and do stuff. Instead of waiting to be taught, go out and learn." \- PG Before I quote the whole thing, the OP (and anyone in the same position) should read the whole essay: [http://paulgraham.com/hs.html](http://paulgraham.com/hs.html) If you want the real world to be (quoting from the other post) "lots of sucky boring shitty work, for a few profound moments of bliss," that's fine. But if you don't want to accept that, you don't have to. What Kirill said above is totally right; life works how you want it to. It's normal for someone in high school to feel like the OP, especially someone who's a hacker at heart. School limits you in a lot of ways, but you don't have to let it stop you. You just have to realize that the boundaries are self imposed. You can do real things. So treat school like a day job, get it out of the way, and do what's interesting to you. ------ billyjobob So you don't like school work. You could get higher grades if only you were more motivated... i.e. you are exactly like every other 16 year old I ever knew. Most of them because more motivated once they started university and were able to focus on what they enjoyed studying. I'd be more worried if you _were_ motivated at 16, because then you'd probably burn out, or grow up to be an obnoxious brain box. Also, since you sound like you are in the UK, you should realise that grades don't matter here. No-one will ever ask what you scored in your maths A-level. Your success in life will mostly be determined by the connections your parents have. The only thing you can do to improve your chances is network and make some more connections of your own at university. Plenty of top jobs go to those who graduated with the "gentleman's third" because they spent their time networking rather than studying. ~~~ cjfont > Your success in life will mostly be determined by the connections your > parents have Sorry but this statement doesn't ring true to me, because I know of several cases where two brothers have had divergent success outcomes based on their personalities and the choices they've made. There's also MANY ways to forge your own connections in life. ~~~ coherentpony You're completely right. It's not true. Your success in life will mostly be determined by the connections _you_ make. ~~~ jwdunne It's also likely you inherit the connections your parents make - provided you maintain a good relationship with them. Everyone once in a while, I'll heard about a guy by mum knows who needs some work done on his website. Since my mum is an assistant in Tesco, these are not stupendous opportunities (though not to discredit, I can use the money). If my mum or dad was an investment banker and I was still a web developer, I imagine they would still send leads my way. There just may be more in quantity or monetary value or both. ------ DanBC You have a temporary hurdle to jump over. Get good grades. The aim of getting good grades is _only_ to get good grades. There's a bunch of stuff that you can do with good grades, and if that motivates you it's great. But at the moment you just need to get the good grades. So, perhaps when you're studying you put in 30 minutes for school work, and 15 minutes for what you enjoy, then have a break. Then repeat that. This allows you to get the good grades, and keeps you interested in the subject. You'll have a bit more freedom in Uni, and you'll so you can see your current task (get good grades) as also being "learn some discipline". There will be some people who want to get better grades than you. Thus, you should get best grades you can just to stick one in the eye of those people. ~~~ marvin This is very good advice. If you get nothing else out of high school, make sure you learn the discipline it takes to study something that's not immediately rewarding. Not only is it important right now in order to have choices for the immediate future, it's a skill that will serve you well throughout life. ------ allworknoplay Fuck school, it has no intrinsic value. It's not an end in itself, and it's not built for everyone. If it's not built for you, find something you DO like and dive into it hard. You're on hacker news for some reason -- what is it you're into? Learn how to do it yourself, get technical, build skills around that. Also, make friends who are likewise into it. I promise you'll be a lot more engaged. Do the school work but do it with something else in mind. Also: the guys suggesting drugs know nothing about you and are probably not doctors. I love drugs, but I'd never suggest them without knowing more about you. It's absurdly easy to build a serious amphetamine dependency that will leave you feeling a lot worse than you do now. ------ nulagrithom Do you have a job? Go push a mop for a couple years. It will motivate you to do well in school and has the added benefit of giving you some money for university. ~~~ jmtame I actually second this. I worked a bunch of odd jobs starting at 15 years old (you were supposed to be 16, so I had to get consent from the principal to flip burgers). As I was taking the garbage out while working at a grocery store, it just hit me: I can't do this for the rest of my life. I believe I was around 18 years old, so maybe a little older than the OP. I joined the local chamber of commerce and started consulting that summer and made more money than the previous 3 summers, and I enjoyed the work I was doing. It's good to work awful jobs. It builds healthy character and eventually it'll probably hit you that you really want to be doing more intellectual things, which conveniently pays more money than most physical labor. ------ ef4 > Are there any ways by which I could motivate myself to study more? Probably not, if you're asking the question. But I don't think you should study more. I think you should program more, since it's already something you enjoy enough to do for fun. It's a question of playing to your strengths. Put in the 10,000 hours of sustained effort that it takes to truly become great at it. Prove your abilities through open source. You will have no problem finding an interesting and well-paying career, _if_ you push yourself hard to always keep learning both about programming and about the business of software. If that sounds like a lot of hard work, well yeah, it is. There's no shortcut. Either suck it up and do your homework and color inside the lines, or summon the guts to blaze your own path. Or do neither and let the path of least resistance take you where it wants. Which path are you more likely to regret 40 years from now? ~~~ msutherl I'm not sure it's advisable to encourage somebody not to do well on their A-levels. It's not like the US where you can get low marks in secondary school and be fine. He won't be able to attend a decent university, ever. Correct me if I'm wrong. ~~~ ef4 The same logic applies in the US. You won't be going to a good college if you have bad high school grades. But my advice was to consider eschewing academia entirely. I've worked with too many well-paid, respected developers without degrees to take the value of credentialing very seriously. It's not a panacea, of course. It takes a lot of sustained work and learning whether you do it in school or not. Some people just find it easier to learn outside of formal schooling. ~~~ msutherl I think it's better to make that decision when you're 18, not 16. Always best to keep your options open because you don't know how you or the world will change, even in the near future. ------ yuxt Open a map, close your eyes and point randomly. Pack you backpack, buy tickets and go there without any reservation. Spend at least 1 month away from home, comfort and routine. When you are back you will know exactly what to do. ~~~ discostrings > Open a map, close your eyes and point randomly. Pack you backpack, buy > tickets and go there without any reservation. Spend at least 1 month away > from home, comfort and routine. This sounds like an interesting and exciting life-changing plan and everything, but I don't think it's particularly actionable advice for most sixteen-year-olds in today's world, and I don't think it's likely to help with the question at hand. The submitter isn't asking /what to do/; the submitter is asking /how can I be more motivated in what I'm doing/! I think better advice is to focus on how the things you're learning relate to the things you like to do. So try to focus on how math can improve your programming, research, and other interests. Also, keep in mind that you're building a foundation--things are more interesting once you get to the stage where you're building on top of it. Even if you decide not to use it in a few years, it's a really nice thing to have that will give you a lot of flexibility. ~~~ scarecrowbob I think we can abstract the advice you're commenting on to "if you don't feel motivated to do what you're doing, do something else", which seems okay. It's quite possible that continuing to do things you are not enthusiastic about doing may be a bad idea. I see your point that it's not a very actionable bit of real advice. Pragmatically, if you told my 16 year old to pack a bag and leave, I'd want to smack you :D ~~~ jotm Sixteen is old enough - especially when he can always return. Being away from _everything_ for a few months really puts things into perspective - why are you doing what you're doing, why you were so afraid of some things, whether you're on the right path, and more. ~~~ discostrings The weakness of the advice isn't that it might not be helpful and mind- expanding. It falls short in that most sixteen-year-olds probably don't really have the option to do it: 1) The plan takes more than a trivial amount of money. Most sixteen-year-olds cannot afford this sort of plan. 2) Many parents, if not most parents, are unlikely to support this idea. There's of course a spectrum of what parents might do to stop it if they're not supportive, but it's easier to just save up money and wait until you're done with school. 3) It can only be done in the summer without causing a lot of problems, and perhaps not even then. It's a potentially helpful suggestion for someone who's over eighteen, but for many sixteen-year-olds it's probably a pipe dream or something that may bring more problems than benefits. The suggestion assumes a certain type of parents and a certain level of privilege that I would estimate are the exception and not the norm. I would have been extremely frustrated if someone gave me advice that presented this as a serious option when I was sixteen. Advice that makes these sort of assumptions may end up decreasing motivation. I think more universal advice that addresses the actual question is a lot more helpful. ------ mistercow If you spend your free time programming or researching, and aren't motivated by academics, then you might want to reconsider academic direction you're going in. For someone who has the motivation to learn programming on their own, I seriously question the value of a formal education in anything like CS or math. You already know you can learn that stuff more easily outside of a classroom, so I would argue that taking that academic path is a waste of both your time and money. Instead, I would consider studying something totally different. Programming is a wild card - you can play it to improve any hand you have. Keep honing those skills, but go to university for something you _can 't_ so easily learn on your own. This is the advice I wish someone had given me before I went and wasted time in college. ~~~ danpat > Programming is a wild card - you can play it to improve any hand you have. This is the truth. Every success I've had has been where I've applied my computing skills to an environment where no-one with those skills had yet appeared. The efficiency gains you can make to mundane, non-computing tasks by applying a bit of programming knowledge will often knock the socks off people who've been doing things the same old way for years. ------ dhughes They way I think about it is you can work a dead end job for 80 hours per week making $8 an hour to make enough to survive and not have any free time to socialize, go to the gym or be with family. Or study for and try to get a decent job you like that pays half decent so you don't have to become a human eraser and wear yourself down doing the work of others. Having many skills to fall back on is great but trying to learn everything losing focus and never finishing anything isn't much help. Or realize you need to focus and find a career that you like and is wanted by employers. I recall years ago they mentioned "The fear" and it is a great example of suddenly realizing shit I better start getting good at this life thing, now! Time is shorter than you think your health can suddenly rapidly fail, saving for retirement is a constant worry. Time is so short it's as if nothing you do can be done soon enough. Realizing that early in life is fantastic. A big part of life I think is having mentors who are examples to follow it's good to have a person who you can think "What would Bob do?" as an internal guide. It's easy to say all that but hard to do, I haven't mastered that yet. ~~~ msutherl I've found this fear to be my greatest motivator, but it has also lead me down false paths. Truth is, your dichotomy is a fiction. There are plenty of people who live fulfilling lives without ever having consciously focused on learning skills and meeting qualifications wanted by employers. However, nobody gets anywhere by being lazy – one then needs to find another motivator. One I have in mind is: repulsion toward injustices in the world. Rather than fearing drudgery, you can hold yourself personally accountable for evils and optimize for effecting change. Of course this is also a fiction. An individual is most likely incapable of effecting significant change in the world. All motivations are irrational, but you still must have one. If you haven't found one, keep looking. Watch documentaries, travel, read books. You will find things to care about. ~~~ dhughes I shouldn't say or at least didn't mean a lot of money is the only way to be happy, yes finding something you love to do and your family is able to live a good life is the goal. Education is a great character builder I often see educated people in stressful situations far more calm than someone who worked all their lives wit no education other than high school. It's not a science it doesn't apply every time but education gives you options, if you lose your job at a sawmill where you worked since age 16 you're going to be stressed. Sooner or later we all figure this out but it's better to discover that at age 18 than 49. ------ loceng Exercise. Relatively new discovery that lactic acid, that comes from muscle use, is a "pre-cursor" for motivation. ~~~ timmm Counter-example: Me, I don't work out. I work 9-5 at a tech job and then spend the weekend working on my own products. I don't struggle with motivation as I literally enjoy what I do. Always question advice that people like to rattle off - humans are very good at perpetuating bad memes without a second thought. Like that running a marathon (26 miles) in one go is somehow healthy, without ever questioning why a healthy activity would make them shit their pants and nipples bleed. In fact exercising would probably decrease the probability that I would be productive as it would consume more of my time and energy. My 0.02 ------ JamilD I know it seems like what you learn in school is boring, and perhaps even trivial, but it provides an important foundation to what you'll learn in University. When I was in high school, I'd attempt to apply the stuff I was learning in math to more interesting problems that I was actually interested in – for example, using the simple calculus I was being taught to start to understand some aspects of machine learning. The truth is, a lot of high school math is rather fascinating – you just need to find a place to apply what you're learning. I still use that technique now; I find a lot of the electronics courses at university extremely dull, so I'll write a program to solve, say, a diode circuit using the exponential model. And I end up learning so much more than I would just studying. So studying high school math and learning interesting things doesn't have to be mutually exclusive :) ------ alexkus Sounds just like me at 16. Wasn't very motivated despite studying the A-Levels I wanted to (Maths, Physics, Computing). Spent all my spare time stealing Internet access at the local University (this was back in 1992/1993). I got decent grades (AAB) and got into my first choice University, but the motivation to do well still wasn't there. Ended up getting a 2:2 where everyone expected me to get a 1st. After that I was lucky and ended up in a good job where degree result didn't matter. Looking back I wish I'd talked to someone (not my parents) about it at the time. So I'd recommend finding someone to talk to at your college; your form tutor (depends, I didn't get on with mine), careers advisor, pastoral care reps, etc. Just remember that they should be there to help you do your best, not bollock you for not putting your full effort in. ------ Goladus One way to overcome a lack of motivation is to ruthlessly eliminate distractions. Tailor your environment and to be (and practice habits that are) maximally conducive to studying. If you have a hard time "taking a step back" to take an objective look at your habits and lifestyle, you might find yoga and meditation helpful. Exercise can also help keep your energy up, but in my experience exercise doesn't magically solve motivation problems and sometimes gets in the way. Working a hard labor can give you good experience but I think the motivation that comes from that sort of work tends to be vastly overstated and wears off very quickly. Do you spend time programming because you're motivated to program? Have you produced anything of value? What sort of research do you do? What motivates you besides programming and research? Who is paying the bills right now? ------ Aqueous It's nice to chip away at programming but if you don't have an academic basis to guide your studies it is going to keep you out of a lot of jobs when you get out. Take it from someone who knows - I've programmed useful things in just about every language, but because I didn't major in Computer Science (Physics/Philosophy instead) I'm unable to compete for the top tier of jobs. Hopefully this isn't permanent, as I'm teaching myself computer science now, but I could've saved myself a lot of work if I had just chosen a concentration more suitable for the jobs I was interested in. You may be a confident auto-didact but even auto-didacts tend to have large blind spots. You don't know what you don't know, and school is there to tell you. ~~~ matttheatheist As a Computer ENGINEER, I can easily tell you that Computer SCIENCE is essentially a liberal arts degree. Seriously, they don't know s __t about technology, unless it comes safely wrapped in an API. And by the way, studying Physics is orders of magnitude more difficult that learning CS. And for that alone, I would hire a Physicist over a CS guy any day of the week. Ask any recruiter, and they'll tell you the same thing. Physics is a higher pecking order than CS. ------ cognitiveben Drop out and find something that motivates you. It's harder than the standard path, but if you're bright and industrious it can be a much more interesting ride. Also, university is always there later. I did the above, got bored in my second successful career and am now finishing up a Ph.D. that I started, as an undergrad, at the age of 27. I think I got more out of the program than my younger counterparts, and thanks to a decade of making money and connections, I did it in significantly better style. No regrets. ------ RivieraKid I tried couple of anti-procrastination techniques and the only one I had moderate success with is the "no internet mode". When I have some project to finish, I make a decision that until it's finished, I won't use the internet at all from the morning to 8pm (except for work-related things and email). What's really important here is that you have to decide _firmly_. This usually lasts couple of days but I'm thinking about doing this every day. ------ alecco Some things that help me: Visualize goal: close your eyes, imagine your acceptance letters When stuck, go for a little walk or physical exercise Do goal-oriented studying (e.g. Pomodoro technique) Understand the education system wants you to comply, this is wrong, but the faster you get over it the faster you'll forget about it. It's better to keep your mouth shut, don't complain or antagonize, they are not going to change for you or anybody (they haven't in centuries). Give them the little self importance they crave for and _get from them what you want_ (grades, diploma). Of course, keep your mind critical but keep it to yourself until they give you what you want. Also don't overwork yourself, perhaps this is not the best time to spend many hours doing unrelated programming or research. It can be a distraction to your education goal. We have limited willpower, try to avoid depletion. Only when you achieve your studying goals for the day you get to do your own thing. Study in the mornings, play in the afternoons. Modifying your routine takes a while, do it in baby steps. Remove all temptations that might get in the way to your goals until you achieve them. But keep a good chunk of the day to clean up your head. Of course, YMMV. ~~~ alecco It might help to go study to a special quiet and motivational place, a library or your aunt's house. ------ sillysaurus2 Step back and ask yourself: What are my assumptions? Why do I believe these assumptions to be true? What if they aren't true? You have at least 50 years ahead of you. That's a long time. But the next 5 years will profoundly shape your next 50. If that feels like too much pressure, then simply don't worry about it. It's more important to relax than to optimize your life if you're the type of person who doesn't react well to a lot of pressure. ------ gqvijay Wow, you sound like me 20 years ago. And I am quiet surprised at "that's life, shape up" responses. Knowing what I know now, I wish someone would've told me: \- Try to get into top schools like Stanford, Harvard, etc. \- If you don't have the financial means or the grades or whatever, don't get discouraged one bit! \- Since you enjoy "programming or researching", stop stressing over colleges. In my humble opinion, most colleges are overrated. They are designed for drones and will suck the passion out of what you are majoring in. (note: may not be true for all) \- In my opinion, typical educational institutions in our country is broken. \- Instead, start interning. Do small projects that you can showcase on your passion. Join programming groups, meet ups that are related, etc. \- In short, make a living in doing what you love (programming). When you find a job and love what you do, you are no longer "working". Finally, watch this: [http://new.ted.com/talks/larry_smith_why_you_will_fail_to_ha...](http://new.ted.com/talks/larry_smith_why_you_will_fail_to_have_a_great_career) ------ zacinbusiness Get a shit job. Get shot at by a thug. Clean up other peoples shit and piss all day for minimum wage. That's what worked for me. ------ usablebytes First thing - don't search for motivation or don't try to get yourself motivated. You'll end up looking for things that will make you feel good which will in-turn promote procrastination and thereby take you away from actions. The truth is motivation doesn't last. It's a push mechanism. You'll have to focus on things that pull you towards it. If you keep going like the way you are currently, how would your life be? Definitely you understand the problem with it and this post is the proof. But ask yourself - "why do you want to get A-levels at school?". If programming and researching keeps you going, by all means, you should focus on it. Make sure you put the best possible efforts in it; the rest will follow automatically. ------ linux_devil Take it easy, there are lot of options available online if you are not enjoying what is being taught in college but you have interest in particular subject. For e.g.: When I was in college I felt my profs. are boring , so I always used to take online courses , like algorithms , operating system through ocw.mit.edu or stanford.edu or coursera , It helped me a lot to maintain interest in subject , and at same time participate in discussions online , there is always a big community somewhere which will be happy to help you . ------ jahewson I went through this phase of the British school system some 14 years ago, just as the AS/A2 exams were being introduced. I'm a very technically minded person, but I found school's treatment of these subjects to be intensely boring. I found it hard to pay attention and not be distracted by some more interesting or immediately rewarding passtime such as programming. While much of the A-level material is presented in a tedious manner, there are other books and sources available beyond your curriculum and I encourage you to seek these out. Applied topics such as computer science and engineering simply assume that you have a good grasp on the fundamentals. Books such as The New Turing Omnibus give you a taste of lots of topics, find some you like and dig deeper. Try and find some exciting, applied use of the boring school math, or chemistry, or phyisics. Find books and resources which guide you through learning rather than just reading Wikipedia. In summary, try to find the cool things that can be accomplished with the fundamentals you learn at school and you'll be more motivated to work through the tedium. Don't be afraid of "degree level" texts. Try to stay away from any programming that involves drudgery and focus on enlightened, mathematically- inclined tasks: learn Haskell, implement fundamental algorithms, find hard problems like SAT, fourier transforms, optimisation. Find something which requires the skills you learn at school but which is exciting enough to hold your attention. Do lots of little things. ------ lallysingh It's not the material, it's not you. It's the rest of your life. You have to find a way to recharge. I didn't do that for too long, and my grades dropped. My GPA dropped by 50%. I finally took a semester off. I traveled. I got out of the grind and away from family and work and actually tried to explore life a bit. <i-am-obviously-projecting> When you're young and out of high school, you're mostly trying to figure out who you are independent of your parents and upbringing. Sometimes being out of your folks' house for a while and not figuring that out leaves you empty. </i-am-obviously-projecting>. After that, I made recharging a normal part of my week. I gave myself a small music budget (a new album a month, that can't be top-40), looked into other activities (martial arts, motorcycling), and made a point to study different sub-topics of computer science at different times. The same classes that were boring me out, I read their textbooks on the train to work. ------ forgottenpaswrd "Are there any ways by which I could motivate myself to study more?" You told us, the answer is no. You already dedicate your time to programming, because you need it. I also needed it when I was your age. In my case I started programming while also studying engineering in Europe. I made a company with the code I accumulated over this time, with the knowledge of programming being really useful to manage other people(and identifying who is really good or not at it and so on). People consider me rich now(there is always someone else with more money, but I have more than what my family needs), but I went through very hard times before it(my family wanted me to get a good job instead of risking so much). If you force yourself to study more, you will regret it. My advice: Focus on learning to study more efficiently, the idea is to use the time you already use to study faster and get better grades while also giving time to programming. Learn from the masters, read the Audiobook "The Now habit", learn aabout mindmaps and mnemonics, and always go for the best. Use software for remembering stuff. ------ brador Researching? Tell me you don't mean reading random wikipedia articles and browsing the web here. You're at the stage of life where you need to develop deep skills in subjects. At the early stages of that process it can be hard to motivate yourself. You're gonna have to power through and realise you're doing this for future you not current you. ------ irremediable Hey there! From the sound of it, you're about sixteen years old and live in Britain. A few years ago, I was your age and in a similar position. What grades are you getting at the minute? A-levels might be easier for you than you realise. As to how to motivate yourself to study for them... study the cool things you can do with maths. Try to solve problems. Calculus, linear algebra and statistics are the fundament of the maths curriculum, and they're all hugely useful. Figure out how to prove things. Figure out how to solve mechanics problems with calculus. Program some statistical analysis stuff. Frankly, if you're a smart kid and enjoy maths/programming, I expect you'll do fine at A-level. And if not, it doesn't mean much. Some of the best programmers I know didn't bother going to university. ------ chegra Ok let me play some mental games with you. Ask yourself would you rather pay $10/$100/$1000 or study for 5 hours? Find the amount where you rather do the studying then pledge to donate that amount to charity. Do this everyday. I find this works for. I estimate you are doing 4 a-levels. That's about 2000 pages of work. A 500 pg book for each subject. If you study 20 pages a day and do all the exercises, I guarantee you will get an A for whatever course(oh yea and do the past papers). In a hundred days or so you could be finished studying for A-levels. Enjoy the days of where you have if/then reward structures. If you study hard you get good grades then you go to a good university then you get a good job. After this, there is hardly any guaranteed recipe for success. So, take the success while you can. ------ unobliged It sometimes helps to study the history of whatever subject you are working towards in school. For example, the history of mathematics can provide a lot of inspiration for what can be done with the knowledge. Focus on the outcomes you want and see the schooling as a means to an end. ------ gmantastic Being 16-18 and studying for your A-levels can be a horrible time - it was for me. Relationships with your friends start to change as you grow up at different rates (I don't know whether this applies to you), interests change, and you have so little energy it feels like an effort to get out of bed before noon. Some things that worked for me were hanging out with some different, more studious people, and learning the course material from books in the order I chose rather than following the course (I missed a lot of classes, but I would't recommend that). Make a game out of getting the grades that will be your ticket out of there! On a serious note, if you think you might be depressed, talk to someone (a doctor or counsellor) about it. ------ reledi > but I can't continue doing this if I want to get the A-levels I need to > enter a half-decent university. Not sure where you're from, but in Canada you don't need all A's to get into a half-decent university. However, if you want to get into a top university, you'll need good grades and more (e.g. extracurricular activities). I'm sure any university you will get into will be just fine. During your time at uni, you get out what you put in. Don't stress about getting into your dream university. You'll do fine wherever as long you like what you do and you get involved with stuff happening around you. Grades are just a means to an end, don't focus on them too much. ------ betadreamer University and school is very different. I was a B~C (even D & F) student in high school because I hated what I was taught in school. I enjoy Math but somehow was not motivated as well. I went to the _okay_ university afterwards but things started to change. Everything what I learn there somehow made sense and was not boring anymore. It might be just the fact that university have better teacher but it was more motivating. Somehow I turned my self from B~C student to a A dean list student. I went to CMU for grad school after graduation. The point i want to make is that university is different from school and you can always climb up the ladder as long as you try hard at some point. ------ fit2rule Get a job. Plain and simple, this the best way to motivate yourself to study more. Fact is though, you don't need to study more. You should work a lot more. Working is the only really effective, motivating, way to take what you've learned through your studies and apply it to the real world. Without actually doing something for someone, a lot of what people learn in school is useless. It isn't until you actually have a user that you become a developer. ------ brianbarker I had a rough time getting through my Computer Science degree, despite loving software. I still find things I hate. Currently, I've done web apps for a few years and now I'm fucking sick of them. Time to move on to a new area of CS that challenges me. That's pretty much how it goes. You'll do stuff you hate, but you have to use that as a foundation to do the things you love. ------ WWKong Yes. By changing your attitude that 100% of what you do should be "enjoyable". Try and strike a balance. In real world you will find that most everyone puts up with stuff for safety net around basic needs like house, car, raising family etc. Right now I would enjoy 2 weeks off in Maldives. But I'm here working on this presentation to make my boss look good. ------ mamuninfo This is very common situation for most of the people and it is also general for all fields. Many colleague around me who are also not interested about their daily work. Mind set is important factor to do something. Just sharing a video with you.... In youtube [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc) ~~~ romanovcode Can't stop but think that title of this video sounds like some super-cheesy self-improvement BS. "The Power of Belief" ------ sosborn > spend my free time programming Sounds like you enjoy programming. Assuming this is a correct assumption, go all in on it and start contributing to open source projects. If you have the talent then you might be able to get a good job out of high school. At the very least, you might want to look into Computer Science programs in University. ------ bayesianhorse Sounds a lot like an onsetting depression. Seeking medication now might save you a lot of time and suffering. It's very important to recognize that your judgement about what interests you is probably distorted, currently. So think twice about making any rash decisions that relate to emotions or relationships.... ------ tobinharris Keep programming and researching. Then use your skills to make cool things. Then show them to potential employers. You'll do great. Try and get to uni anyway. But take the pressure of yourself. If you're making cool things and learning loads you're ahead of the pack. ------ romanovcode If you want to be professional programmer you don't really need university. In this profession recruitment doesn't lie when tell things like "BS in CS or similar experience.". Just go and work, then pick up and study something else, like Mathematics or Physics. ------ ISeemToBeAVerb Pick up a copy of Cal Newport's book "So Good They Can't Ignore You." Read that book and then think about your situation some more. Cal brings up some very interesting observations, and you're at the perfect point in your life to read it. ------ poobrains It could be depression. Google "depression test" to give you an idea about it's symptoms. If you think you've got depression, get medical help ASAP. There are some treatments that can make a big difference in your quality of life. ------ undoware Your soul is probably waking up. That's the black lung of coding. You have three, maybe four choices. Visual arts, music, and writing, with performing with an asterisk (it's not for everyone.) Get used to being a lot poorer, but happier. ~~~ FLUX-YOU Take it from someone who fucked up and went for arts: You get demotivated there too. At least with math and programming jobs, you have some money to fix things. ~~~ scarecrowbob But, as someone who also went towards the arts (I'm a regularly gigging musician) and letters (I have a BA in Philosophy and dumpped my PhD during my dissertation), I can say that it wasn't super hard to get back into a technical position coming from a high-school and early college education where I learned a lot of logic, math, and programming skills... since leaving my PhD program I've been consulting doing PHP-based development for the last 4 years, and I'm on track career wise as I would have been if I was teaching at a university somewhere. This is wholly a un-based feeling, but I feel that it has been a lot easier to pick up new and professionally useful technical skills in my 30s than it would have been if I had done well in my 20s with a technical career and had to pick up the useful philosophical and musical skills I enjoy using in my 30s. ------ wildpeaks If you're a gamer, think of it as Skyrim: you have to craft a lot of iron daggers before you can make dragon armors, but it's worth it :) (that or install a mod, but I haven't found the editor for RealLife yet) ------ ehutch79 Wait, your two years from going to college? That makes you what, 16? ------ jbcurtin2 You're depressed, mate. I bike 10 miles a day( 4 - 6 times a week ) to keep myself in the saddle. After that, I have no issue with this kind of stuff. Eating right is huge, too. ------ briantakita Adopt continous improvement for everything you do. This makes a game where you can improve your thinking, skills, and processes. It won't be boring because you can always do it better. ------ gte910h Lots of people hit depression in college. See a doctor. You may not be sleeping enough, drinking too much, sleeping irregularly, etc, all which can cause depression ------ SixSigma Go and visit your local big council estate. Poor futureless unfortunates should give you some mojo. Or even just watch Benefits Street ------ Geee You don't need motivation or inspiration, and most of the time you don't have these. Just do what you have to do. ------ negamax What do you seek? Minimizing pain, maximizing pleasure. That's what we all are programmed to seek. You find that and associate it with the studies. E.g.s Maximizing pleasure: \+ Do you want to work in another country/place. Your studies can get you there. \+ Want to have interesting conversation with people. Study. \+ Want to understand and have a say about a topic. Study. Minimizing Pain: \- Don't set yourself for failure few years down the line or make it tough \- Avoid getting into a meaningless job \- (Works for Asians) Think of peers getting ahead of you. ~~~ timmm > Minimizing pain, maximizing pleasure. Too reductivist, so do I eat the ice cream sundae and get pleasure right now? To the detriment of my long term health or do I eat the kale forfeiting short term pleasure and gaining long term pleasure? Your model has no predictive power. ------ orasis Travel the world. Ignore these asshats that try to guilt trip you into working through your slump. ------ clipityclapity Here's my story. Two years ago, I dropped out of a mathematically oriented master's. Let's say I quit because I wanted to found a company. That's what I tell everybody. And that's what I did. I can get into the details of why it didn't work, but I'll tell you something here, something which, until now, I have only written down in places nobody would read it: I might have been running from reality. Using the company as a hide-out. "Maybe this will give me a purpose?" We pulled the plug when we were forced to realize that it was a dead end. Pause six months. Rethink life. Winter, not a good time. Moved to another country and tried again. It went better, but still not good enough. Again, six months of nothing. Winter. Travel. Maybe languages are my thing? Different cultures? Get lost. Come back. Winter. This time, I'm not letting it steal six months. I'm trying for another project (Show HN soon), I'm going on another travel, and I'll keep on looking, because I know one thing: an office will be the death of me. Unfortunately, programming is generally done in offices. But there's always that doubt. Got some freelance jobs to make ends meet. Flipping burgers, for programmers. Can't continue this way. Stability, future, kids, wives, divorces. So listen, I can't give you a straight advice. I still don't even know where I went wrong exactly, or if I went wrong at all. I don't know if I would've been happier in another place. I sometimes lovingly think back about academia, then I see what happens there and I want to run even farther away than I already am. Motivation is still a problem for me, at times, but it's getting less. I have no regrets (yet), just doubt. A shred of what I would've had, had I not tried for that first company. On the upside: I feel free. Every day. Alive. I can decide to drop everything here and emigrate within a week. And I'm doing it. Because I can. Because it feels like the right choice. If you tell me where you live I can drop by if I'm ever around :) Good luck with whatever path you choose. No matter what you do, do it with pride, son. I believe in you, as long as you do. Sorry I couldn't give you real advice. Oh wait that's not true I totally do have some! Got so caught up in the story.. listen if you really want to tackle this: TALK TO PEOPLE. In terms they can understand. Don't say, "I have doubts." Say: "Can I study with you next Friday? If you FORCE me to be there and do it, I will cook dinner for you." Tell a girl, if she asks why explain here you have trouble concentrating alone, joke that maybe she will make it worse but you're willing to try, and tell her that it's definitely absolutely not a cunning ploy to get a date with her (it's not). If she rejects you ask someone else until you have a girl. Then choose a guy for a different subject (not a close friend, high risk of fucking around), and somebody you really don't know for another one, and a buddhist for the next, and an atheist, and and and make sure you surround your study-self with as many different styles of living as possible. You will be able to draw inspiration from them. Solitude is what's killing you. Your life will mix with theirs and your energy will combine. I'm not even half joking here; the energy you draw from linking your progress to someone else ("teamplay") can amaze you. I'll be your first contact if you want, no problem. Drop me a line on Skype and we can work / study for an hour every Thursday afternoon. (send me your skype though, not leaving it here :P) Peace out, stranger! ~~~ clipityclapity Edit in a reply: And whoever else wants to join: feel free! We can make like a Study / Work group session where nobody talks for an hour and we just work all together in a video conference. Why, that would be just the ding-dang-diddly! (how do I edit the original post? click "edit", append that paragraph, click "update" button.. nothing happens; edit page reloads and I lose changes.. wut?) ------ Theodores The problem with education is that it always has a different take on a subject to what personally fascinates you about the subject. Subjects that might have floated your boat personally for many years will be taught differently to what you expect, killing your interest in a subject. There is an adage about teaching - if you cannot do then teach, if you cannot teach then teach Geography. If we take Geography as an example, you might think of geography as being about places on a map, be able to name all U.S. state capitals and know where Dhaka is and Dakar isn't. Then, in a geography class, you might find that knowing where anywhere is does not matter in the least. 'How flood plains are formed', 'how a volcano works' will be what is taught, without any mention at all of physical places. The geography example is an example of how expectations of a subject can be wrong at the basic school level, you can live with a mis-match of expectations in geography syllabus, however, go to university and it is another kettle of fish. You might think politics would be a useful thing to study, be passionate about the subject and be knowledgeable about current affairs. Again, none of that would matter. Computer science is another area of concern. You might be good at programming and be up to date with whatever is on HN. Yet, at university you might get taught languages and methodologies that are a world away. There might actually be reasons why the university teach what they teach that are not readily apparent. The military might have some link up that means that stuff that matters to designing jet fighters gets taught. Clearly none of it - 'ADA' \- for instance - might have no relevance in the real world. Returning to your subject of maths, in the real world you are doing pretty well if you have problems that require secondary school stuff - trigonometry, calculating prices with tax, differential equations. Actually you could probably go a long way on getting a man on the moon with secondary school maths, yet there is a whole world of maths beyond that. Triple integrations, anyone? Even if you do find a real world use - electronics with Gauss's theorem - there aren't many uses for that real world use. It is all too convenient for maths to be taught in such a way that it is abstract and not practical, e.g. teaching a program to do it for you, or working on a large dataset in a computationally efficient way. Even reading the data in is not something that would be taught. It is a bit like how you can do a degree in electronics and never touch a soldering iron or know how to fix a fuse. So my suggestion is to not head off to university so hastily. Work somewhere for a little while then go to university because you know why you are going. You can actually learn useful stuff at university rather than go there to just get a bit of paper. ------ Codhisattva Exercise. Lots of it. ------ winstonx > I'm two years before heading off to university, but I have no motivation to > learn the things that are being taught at college. Personally, that was a really tough time for me in my life. > I chose to study the subjects that I thought I would enjoy, but sadly this > isn't true. That happened to me too. > I'm assuming that if I had made other choices for subjects, I'd be in a > similar problem. Maybe; it's hard to know where other paths would have led. > Maths is one of the subjects I'm studying, and although I enjoy maths > itself, I'm not enjoying what I learn in school. I had that same experience. That's why I studied maths on my own, outside of school (I consider programming a subset of maths.) > I can't be motivated to put the work in, so that I can get good results at > the end of the year. Same thing happened to me. > I spend my free time programming or researching instead, That's also what I did. Studying philosophy also helped alot :-) > but I can't continue doing this if I want to get the A-levels I need to > enter a half-decent university. I found my high school to be very oppressive, so instead I went on academic strike and programmed for fun. I almost flunked out of high school, and only got into one university that has a tradition of accepting everyone. It was all for the best. I'm not saying __you __should do that. But, it was the path I needed to take. You can live a wonderful life regardless of what academic success you achieve or fail to achieve. Older people have a bad habit of advising younger people they need to do very specific actions in order to achieve very specific goals. In this ancient tradition, I will now offer you very specific advice ;-) (1) Ask yourself: do you desire the goals you are told to desire. What are __your __goals? What do __you __actually want from life? (2) Once you have your goals in mind, your advisors will usually be __conservative __. That is, their advice usually describes __one path __to your goal --- not the only path. For example, if you want to go to a half- decent university and an advisor tells you, "you should try to get straight A's" \--- then your advisor is being conservative. Yes, if you get straight A's it will be easier to get into a half-decent university. But it's not the only way. Furthermore, younger people are often more creative in finding ways to sidestep tradition. (3) Ask for lots of advice, but only listen to advice skeptically. (4) Don't be afraid to "Go ahead and fail." [http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-20/go-ahead-let- your-k...](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-20/go-ahead-let-your-kids- fail.html) > Are there any ways by which I could motivate myself to study more? I would caution against trying to coerce yourself into being more motivated. Follow your own path. When people give you advice it's up to you to take it or leave it. Even this advice. ------ rando289 Endeavor to make these things a habit. Every day or 5 days a week etc. Write down some realistic things you want to do today that you might avoid. Do this as early in the day as possible. Before you make a decision which will avoid doing one of those things you wrote down, stop, think about it for 60+ seconds. Usually these decisions are done just like instincts without thinking: "hit next episode on netflix", "read this HN link", etc. In that 60+ seconds, suggestions: 1\. Decide to start on the thing you'd rather avoid for just 5 minutes, then you can quit if you want. 2\. Imagine your future self looking back on your decisions. 3\. Remember how this thing ties into long term goals. 4\. Plan a reward for yourself if you do the thing. 5\. When negative thoughts or feelings happen, accept them, don't believe them or give them any more power, see them from the outside. ~~~ timmm Sorry but little tricks and magic bullets like this do nothing in the long term to alleviate the issue. Primarily because you won't stick to the habit. OP you will have to decide whether doing work and being productive is something you want for yourself, you will not be able to fein an answer for any substantial amount of time. Your answer is also subject to change. My guess is if you completely gave in to your de-motivated mentality you would quickly realize how bankrupt it is and be driven back to working. ------ aaron695 People seem to be misreading your question. You seem fully aware that the subjects you're studying are very important and you need to do well at them. As someone once told me most motivational speakers just lend you motivation. Once you've left the room pumped you quickly go back to square one. So it's hard to know what works, there's a lot of crap out there. I've had moderate success with the Pomodoro Technique [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique) But if it doesn't work for you, or as often happens it only works for a while, make sure you go on to something else. ------ almosnow There are none, if you don't feel it then it's not there. Or you could follow the advice other people had leave here... and eventually you will come back to this same situation but when you are 50 and tired... Seriously dude, my advice, if you don't feel it leave it; and if you don't feel nothing anywhere then do nothing, many cool things happen when you are "doing nothing". ------ nemathode Aniracetam (or Oxiracetam, if Aniracetam doesn't work for you) + DMAE. Don't forget to balance your blood pressure, use venous or arterial drugs to enhance whole body blood flow (don't use drugs that work only locally). If you don't want to use blood-related drugs, then just exercise regularly (try to focus only on resistance-oriented exercises). Try to sleep on a hard bed without any pillows. Also, increase your metabolism and energy by drinking a cup or three of coffee in first half of day and eating a big (300+ grams) portion of boiled grains + a good piece of meat, but with small amounts of fat. And don't forget to eat a lot of fruits - primarily oranges, apples, bananas and pears. ~~~ WizzleKake If we are suggesting drugs, may as well throw in a suggestion for amphetamines. But personally, I would recommend intense and sustained cardiovascular exercise. ~~~ frodopwns Adderall would make anything fun. ~~~ 910138391 modafinil. your solution, for dire needs ofcourse	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
@Israel People Want a Fair Fight - jboydyhacker http://www.blindreason.org/2010/06/people-want-fair-fight.html ====== quizbiz This isn't the place.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
InkWell: A Creative Writer’s Creative Assistant [pdf] - bootload https://www.dreamsongs.com/Files/InkWell.pdf ====== jawon This is just an advanced madlibs generator. As a copywriter who dabbles in creative writing I see nothing here that would help me. It's just too "dumb". ~~~ wwwdonohue Which is the whole point, really: it doesn't facilitate the actual "writing" so much as the "thinking," at which stage you're still developing ideas and seeing how they fit together. Several generations of writers (and other artists) have found great results cutting their work up and rearranging it to find deeper insights into the work they might still produce: Burroughs, Bowie, and others! Anxious for the day I can give this thing a spin. ~~~ jawon Aleatoric processes are more interesting than the results, in my opinion. Too easy and too disconnected from the human to resonate (beyond the isolated snippets that get trotted out, like photos of parking meters that look like faces). And that disconnection is why software like this doesn't interest me. If you know what you want to write you don't need this. If you don't know, there are better, richer, more fulfilling ways to come up with ideas than randomly permuting text. ~~~ wwwdonohue That's fair. Part of anyone's acceptance of the method would have to do with their acceptance of this tenet: _Producing a work of written art requires constant discovery and guessing—because all works of art are works of exploration and discovery._ Thus InkWell merely seems (to me) like it would be useful as a kind of servant --a tool to show you other plausible variants of your text, and thus spur the creative process. But if you already know what you're going to write and how, then godspeed-- you're in a much better situation than most writers :) ------ _pmf_ Don't let Dan Brown see this ([http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10049454/Dont-make-fun- of...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10049454/Dont-make-fun-of-renowned- Dan-Brown.html)). ------ vikingcaffiene I feel like I am missing something here. Is this a program that actually exists or something that they are currently working on and will be available at some later date? I don't see any way to try it out. Its a compelling idea though. ------ loteck It takes your original text and makes it easy to execute different drafts of that text based on stylistic templates calculated from famous authors. Kind of like Hemingwayapp.com. _Creativity in writing takes a couple of ingredients: being prepared to notice, wide ranging and non-judgmental production of drafts, and a selection and revision process guided by aesthetics. In a sense it’s like serendipity. With InkWell we’ve tried to explore writerly creativity in a creative way—by letting the program emerge from a haze of half-known ideas_ ------ amelius The most irritating aspect of creative writing is that one constantly needs to find synonyms for things that one already has a perfect word for, but which cannot be used out of fear for sounding repetitive. If this tool can solve that, it is already a huge win. > Some of this work was supported by DARPA I wonder how the DoD would put such a tool to use :) ~~~ delish In this talk (software as creative partner, European Lisp Symposium 2014), rpg mentions the DoD's interest. I enjoyed the talk: [http://medias.ircam.fr/x03b42f](http://medias.ircam.fr/x03b42f) I'll spoil it: the DoD wants natural language generation that would influence people on social media, like Twitter. Say the DoD doesn't want resistance fighters (like you) to meet somewhere. They'll generate a barrage of tweets about how that's a bad idea. Those tweets don't influence you directly, but they influence people you follow on twitter, who do influence you (because by nature of twitter you follow those who influence you). You don't meet, because your friends--who have your best interests at heart (because their your friends)--told you not to. When this works as intended, the DoD is able to influence people without being easily traced. It's a little horrifying, which makes it _fascinating_. One more comment about the talk: rpg shows his humor, strong opinions, and software wisdom in this talk. Again, I recommend it. ~~~ seanmcdirmid A cheaper wumao for the US! It is horrifyingly fascinating, like watching a building burn. ------ crb3 > With InkWell we’ve tried to explore writerly creativity in a creative way—by > letting the program emerge from a haze of half-known ideas The half-known ideas (templates) presented were not the author's own, instead they were borrowed from other writers. This isn't writing, it's sampling. ~~~ seanmcdirmid RPG is an accomplished poet himself, one of the few computer scientists with an MFA. He presented some of these poems at a poetry workshop, and they were retrieved well enough. ------ api This is not writing. Not in the conventional sense. It's a new art form. ~~~ loteck When you take an original piece created by another source, and suggest modifications for strength, clarity or other qualitative values, I believe we simply call that editing. ~~~ TeMPOraL So that would make it a... text editor? :).	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Semantic UI - jhund https://semantic-ui.com/ ====== jameslk I've always found it ironic that this library calls itself "Semantic UI" but doesn't follow the practice of semantic HTML/classes[0]. W3C suggests[1] that classes should be used for semantic roles (e.g. "warning", "news", "footer"), rather than for display ("left", "angle", "small" \-- examples taken from Semantic UI's docs). So instead of giving a button the class of "button" it would be better to give it a class such as "download-book." The benefit of this is when it comes time to redesign parts of a site, you only have to touch your stylesheets instead of manipulating both the stylesheets and HTML. That is, so we don't fall into the old habits of what amounts to using <b> <font> <blink> tags. 0\. [https://css-tricks.com/semantic-class-names/](https://css- tricks.com/semantic-class-names/) 1\. [https://www.w3.org/QA/Tips/goodclassnames](https://www.w3.org/QA/Tips/goodclassnames) ~~~ jasim The concept of 'semantic classnames', even if propagated by w3.org has caused as much grief as the concept of 'separation of concerns' between HTML & CSS fad. The reason we need semantics in HTML is to make the markup accessible for screen-readers, and no screenreader considers the class name of an element when reading it out. What we instead need are semantic tags like article, section etc. and aria tags like role. CSS classnames are purely for the developer's benefit. Not the user's. And as developers, forcing ourselves to find semantic meaning for every element we write leads us to component-oriented CSS like BEM. Which is a fine thing, but we can also use purely visual classes - like `bg-red bold border-solid` if it helps (and it does. check out tachyons.io) The class names of elements in Google's homepage for example reads like 'tsf-p', `oq`, `gsb` etc. I suspect these are machine generated. Same with Facebook. One of the best libraries to do this currently is styled-components ([https://github.com/styled-components/styled- components](https://github.com/styled-components/styled-components)). Consider reading [http://nicolasgallagher.com/about-html-semantics-front- end-a...](http://nicolasgallagher.com/about-html-semantics-front-end- architecture/), [http://mrmrs.io/writing/2016/03/24/scalable- css/](http://mrmrs.io/writing/2016/03/24/scalable-css/), and [http://johnpolacek.com/2016/06/17/atomic-css- movement/](http://johnpolacek.com/2016/06/17/atomic-css-movement/) for reasoned perspectives. ~~~ jameslk I think this is missing the point. For me, semantic class names have lead to very maintainable websites/apps that I've been able to completely redesign without touching much of the HTML, which is usually much harder to change in larger dyanmic applications. It's also made it much easier on teams I've worked with because the designers could quickly dig into the styles to make tweaks in a central location (single source of truth) without rummaging through our entire codebase to modify appearances of things (separation of concerns). When I first discovered csszengarden.com, I realized the point of CSS and its power. HTML was made for hypertext and semantic content structure and CSS was made for appearances. Either one could be completely replaced partially or wholly, separate of each other. Classes are like interfaces[0] which allows for HTML to remain dumb and decoupled from presentation. When the HTML and CSS are hardcoded to specific design concepts themselves, then the usefulness of CSS as in "cascading style sheets" is nearly eliminated. These concepts aren't a fad, this is good software architecture brought to you by an international consortium who's been thinking about it for decades. 0\. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dependency_inversion_principle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dependency_inversion_principle) ~~~ andrewingram There's flaw in reasoning here, but I'm glad we're at least focusing on the maintainability arguments. Ultimately it comes down to how your CSS is authored, and how your teams works. If you develop in a heavily document-oriented way, and make big use of the cascade, you're most likely to benefit from semantic (rather than presentational) class names. This is because when you make full use of the cascade, markup changes tend to be more expensive (you can't just move a block of HTML from one place to another and not expect its appearance to change). These days though, we're increasingly building things in a UI-oriented way. What you see on the page is a composition of a number of components. If I move a component from one place to another, I expect it to look the same (with a caveat for responsive layouts) assuming it's still rendered with the same input properties. So now i'm authoring CSS that is bound to the structure of this component, naming becomes a lesser issues. The other thing worth pointing out is that it's not too difficult to built a document-UI (like say a magazine) using app-UI patterns, but it's rather challenging to do it the other way around. If the goal is maintainability, then there should be zero industry-wide dogma. Best practices are going to be coupled to the methodology of the maintaining team. Personally, I did document-oriented CSS for 15 years, now i'm doing component-oriented CSS, and the results are _much_ better. Obviously this is just an anecdote, but i'm not alone in this. This idea that design is a "layer" on top of structure is somewhat offensive to the designer in me. Visual design is (and should forever be) coupled to structure and behaviour. Design is not a higher abstraction, it's something that pervades everything. ~~~ nailer > If I move a component from one place to another, I expect it to look the > same (with a caveat for responsive layouts) assuming it's still rendered > with the same input properties. What's preventing you from doing this with your presentation login in your stylesheet, and what about this requires you to split your presentation logic between a stylesheet and HTML? We use components everywhere. We style in stylesheets. Handily we even keep the stylesheets in the same component as the module, thanks to npm-sass / sass-npm. ~~~ andrewingram Sorry, i'm struggling to follow what you're asking here. Whether you style in stylesheets or by some other means (CSS-in-JS?) is an implementation choice rather than something that affects the fundamental pattern. If your components are truly portable, you're already doing things the way I suggest. If they inherit things like fonts and colors from their parent _via the cascade_ rather than via explicit properties, then you don't have truly portable components - their appearance will change when you move them around. ~~~ nailer > Whether you style in stylesheets or by some other means (CSS-in-JS?) We're specifically talking here about putting styling logic - "left" "shiny" "big" etc - in HTML. > is an implementation choice rather than something that affects the > fundamental pattern. Sure, you can still use a component pattern with styling split into HTML and stylesheets - it certainly doesn't effect the pattern. The issue is: when you want to change the appearance of your component, do you want to modify styling logic in two places or one? ~~~ andrewingram One, that's why I style inline :) ~~~ nailer Do you mean inline in CSS / style tags, avoiding visual HTML classes (in which case we're in agreement - there's one way to edit how something looks, though style tags have other issues) or combining either of those with visual HTML classes like this library uses? ~~~ andrewingram Okay, I think we're in agreement and are just crossing wires a but. The main reason i'm loosely okay with Semantic UI is that I just see it as using HTML fragments as building blocks rather than using JavaScript components. I wouldn't advocate it for anything elaborate, but I think it can work well within a certain problem space. ------ jwr I use Semantic UI in production on [https://partsbox.io/](https://partsbox.io/) and can list some upsides and downsides. On the positive side: * very complete, with good form styling, and lots of widgets you will use often, which is especially important for larger apps, * the default theme is mature and has good usability, without the crazy "oh, how flat and invisible our UI is!" look. * the class naming plays well with React (I use ClojureScript and Rum) and looks good in your code, On the negative side: * the CSS is huge and there is little you can do to trim it down, * the JavaScript code is not Google Closure-ready, so it's a drag compared to my ClojureScript codebase: large and unwieldy, * there is a jQuery dependency, so I have to pull that in, too, * the build system is… well, strange, let's put it that way. I'm used to typing "make" and getting things built, while this thing here insists on a) painting pretty pictures in the console window, b) crapping node_modules in a directory _up_ from the one I'm building in, c) requires interactive feedback. I still haven't found a way to automatically build Semantic UI from a zip/tarball, and others seem to struggle with it, too. Overall, I'm happy with the choice and it has been serving me well. ~~~ tzury FYI: The React version - is jQuery free [http://react.semantic-ui.com/introduction](http://react.semantic- ui.com/introduction) ~~~ espresso_enigma I'm trying that out, and it seems that jquery is installed when you include the Semantic UI CSS. According to the docs: [http://react.semantic- ui.com/usage](http://react.semantic-ui.com/usage), you need to install the CSS separately with $ npm install semantic-ui-css --save and with that I get ├─┬ semantic-ui-css@2.2.10 │ └── jquery@3.2.1 Plus a whitescreen because jQuery is not defined...bummer ~~~ espresso_enigma Sorted it, thanks to this: [https://github.com/Semantic-Org/Semantic-UI- React/issues/114...](https://github.com/Semantic-Org/Semantic-UI- React/issues/1143#issuecomment-284625478) import 'semantic-ui-css'; should have been import 'semantic-ui-css/semantic.min.css'; Documentation of how to actually import and use the CSS would be nice...might be obvious to the creators, but not to hardheads like myself. ------ jlukic For people who are curious about theming here is classic GitHub done entirely in Semantic UI. [http://semantic-org.github.io/example- github/](http://semantic-org.github.io/example-github/) (Click the small paint icon in the top menu to swap themes to see in native SUI) I did a meteor dev night where I talked about some of the ideas behind Semantic UI, which might clear up some of the linguistic origins for the library and it's ideas about language: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86PbLfUyFtA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86PbLfUyFtA) And if anyone wants to dig really deep, there are a few podcasts as well [https://changelog.com/podcast/106](https://changelog.com/podcast/106) [https://changelog.com/podcast/164](https://changelog.com/podcast/164) ~~~ flashmob For a minute I though I was looking at the real github and they finally got rid of that black bar. Well done! ;-) ~~~ xiaohanyu haha, yep, this example shows the power of Semantic-UI, I was attracted by this---I was really amazed by the power of Semantic-UI. Besides, I don't like github's black navbar. ------ TomFrost Semantic recently adopted my team's React adaptation as their official React port. It's lighter weight, eliminates jQuery, and all components are standard React components that can be extended or dropped in as-is. [https://react.semantic-ui.com/](https://react.semantic-ui.com/) ~~~ bpicolo I might have to try this out, too bad I didn't see this yesterday. Settled out with trying [http://ant.design/](http://ant.design/) which has actually been pretty nice as well. Seems most React components libs are material design and I can't stand the look. ~~~ Simorgh Ant looks really good as well! It has a nicely designed DatePicker [1]. Semantic UI doesn't currently have an official implementation of a Date Picker (although there are unofficial versions on GitHub). [1] [https://ant.design/components/date- picker/](https://ant.design/components/date-picker/) ------ xiaohanyu Hi, guys, We have spent hundreds of hours build a new website with Semantic-UI for Semantic-UI: [http://semantic-ui-forest.com/](http://semantic-ui-forest.com/). Semantic-UI is my favourite front-end CSS website, I have built several websites with Semantic-UI, and I love it, feel delightful when developing with Semantic-UI. But compared with Bootstrap, the ecosystem of Semantic-UI is small, so we have semantic-ui-forest for you: [http://semantic-ui- forest.com/posts/2017-04-05-introducing-s...](http://semantic-ui- forest.com/posts/2017-04-05-introducing-semantic-ui-forest/) . In this website, we have ported 16 themes from bootswatch(bootstrap) to Semantic-UI ([http://semantic-ui-forest.com/themes](http://semantic-ui- forest.com/themes)), and also, we have ported 18 official bootstrap examples ([https://getbootstrap.com/getting- started/#examples](https://getbootstrap.com/getting-started/#examples)) and reimplemented in Semantic-UI ([http://semantic-ui- forest.com/templates/](http://semantic-ui-forest.com/templates/)). Not advertising, however, we think this maybe helpful for people who are interested in Semantic-UI and want to give it a try. ~~~ NicoJuicy I hate to say this, but when I opened this with my smartphone, the layout was not responsive. So I closed it again ~~~ du_bing Co-worker here, yeah, truly some pages of the site are not yet quite responsive, sorry for that, we plan to improve it in the future. On the site there are some particular templates designed to show the responsiveness or non-responsiveness, you could open them on smart phone or desktop computer to see the differences: [http://semantic-ui-forest.com/templates/bootstrap/grid/](http://semantic-ui- forest.com/templates/bootstrap/grid/) [http://semantic-ui-forest.com/templates/bootstrap/navbar- fix...](http://semantic-ui-forest.com/templates/bootstrap/navbar-fixed-top/) [http://semantic-ui-forest.com/templates/bootstrap/non- respon...](http://semantic-ui-forest.com/templates/bootstrap/non-responsive/) Semantic-UI gives more freedom for features like responsiveness, theme customization with 3000+ variables, although the default configurations are also very good. ~~~ NicoJuicy I think it's not detecting my mobile as mobile. Motorola Play X here in Android, chrome ~~~ du_bing Oh，yeah, it's set to be like so in the HTML's header, so you could see the whole webpage's layout like on a computer, we are going to improve the responsiveness soon. For developers who want to apply some themes and templates to build their websites, it may be useful. Thanks for visiting! ------ sheeshkebab This doesn't work well on mobile - on iOS at least... scrolling is funny, flickering screens, jerky inputs. Loading feels slow too - and I'm on wifi. ~~~ dawnerd It feels like they added their own smooth scrolling in. I barely scrolled and it shot to the bottom of the page in iOS. ~~~ djs070 Gosh that irritates me - does that mean that the "tap just above the clock to return to top" doesn't work? Edit: just checked, and yes it does. Also breaks the pattern where iOS shrinks the address bar and navigation bar when you scroll down. Completely unacceptable for a UI library to break these OS-level patterns ~~~ cdubzzz > tap just above the clock to return to to Didn't know about that. Thanks! ~~~ jlukic Author here. Fixed the scroll issue in the docs. Should be glorious normal iOS scroll. ------ franciscop When I started Picnic CSS[1] there were few CSS libraries out there and the ones that were available were severely lacking. They didn't have either :hover or :active states, no transitions, etc. Now with new libraries or modern versions of those, including Semantic UI, I wonder whether it's time to stop supporting it and switch to one of those. They are still different but with somewhat similar principles (at least compared to others) such as the grid: <div class="flex two"><div></div><div></div></div>. What I want to say, kudos. As I see jlukic answering some questions, how do you find the time/sponsorship to keep working on it? Is it a personal project, company project, funded through some external medium, etc? I see there's a donate button, does people contribute there a lot? [1] [https://picnicss.com/](https://picnicss.com/) ~~~ dvnguyen Sad I am considering to use picnicss in my next project. What you would recommend besides Semantic UI? ~~~ franciscop I haven't really seen Picnic CSS in the wild (only here [https://gyshido.com/](https://gyshido.com/) and in my own projects) so I actually have no idea on adoption, which is one of the main decision points. I will probably keep using Picnic for most of my projects. My two main alternatives are Materialize CSS for mobile because of the styles ( [http://materializecss.com/](http://materializecss.com/) ) and Semantic UI for quick mock-ups/prototypes because of how complete it is (while looking way better than Bootstrap). Another " _alternative_ " (not for CSS but for the type of projects I do) is [https://html5up.net/](https://html5up.net/) since they are really well designed when personalization is not so important. ------ tbabb > Design Beautiful Websites Quicker * "...More Quickly". Quicker is an adjective, used to describe nouns. You could say "design quicker websites", "quicker" in that case describing an aspect of the website. If you wanted to describe the manner in which you will do the designing, you have to use the adverb "quickly"\-- "design websites quickly". Adding the adverb "more" to modify the adverb "quickly" is the proper way to make it comparative. ------ malloryerik Might also check out Ant Design. [https://ant.design/](https://ant.design/) It's integrated with React and there's a separate mobile UI for it. Ant is Chinese, with docs translated into English. Like China, it's huge^^ I've just been fooling around with it today for the first time in create-react-app and seems good so far. Haven't tried on mobile. ~~~ crucialfelix I like that you can import just the css you need for a component. Semantic ui should do this too. Some mobile glitches with Ant, but I'm considering trying it. I only need a few components ~~~ enobrev Semantic-UI does allow this. If you look in the build folder, it has CSS files for every component, and you can include whichever you need. ------ JusticeJuice I've done a few projects with Sematic UI. I think it's great for desktop based business applications. It looks slick, and has great animations. Plays nice with heaps of frameworks, I was using meteor.js However, don't use it on mobile - it will destroy performance. ~~~ lawik Curious about this. Any clue why? Too much animation, heavy JS-use? Not familiar with how the framework does its stuff. ~~~ tmikaeld Only the size is an issue, the performance otherwise is great. There is even performance debugging built in, so you can monitor how your app performs. If you ignore the debugger and just build insane things, of course it's going to be slow... ------ tomelders Please stop with these things. They're never fit for purpose, and now there's another thing that looks - to non technical people - like a panacea for all development woes. Designers will never follow your constraints. Managers will never understand why this hasn't magically reduced our estimates by 90%. And yet again, it's just "developers being difficult" because there's a bunch of guys in India who say they CAN work with this for half the price. This sort of stuff is worse than useless. ~~~ pedalpete Nobody is forcing you to use it. I don't use these libraries anymore, but that doesn't mean they don't have a purpose. And no, people shouldn't 'stop with these things'. You shouldn't be the one telling people what they should and should not be doing. You don't have to like it, but there are many developers who are really bad at styling. They don't have a good eye for design and they're trying to build a usable product, or they have an internal need, or want to learn. Libraries such as these have many purposes, even if you don't like them. ~~~ tomelders But people will be forced to use it. That's my complaint. ------ aphextron 32,000+ stars is insane, how have I not heard of this? Does anyone have production experience with it? ------ nkkollaw It looks great. However, I've used it in the past and the CSS size is _HUGE_, with no way to reduce it. We're talking about > 500KB of CSS (in my case, at least). The JavaScript is extremely bloated as well. Honestly, being that heavy I wonder how anyone can use it. If your site is to be viewed by mobile users, adding 500KB just to style a few elements is unacceptable. I'd much rather go with Bootstrap. It has the added benefit of having the majority of front-end devs know it, and you can buy or use a theme for free and make it look great. ~~~ dreyfiz A custom build with only the components you're using cuts the CSS size dramatically. You also get to specify your supported browsers, which can cut down the size as well. Finally, you don't have to use their javascript, and not every component requires it. ~~~ nkkollaw Somehow we were unable to reduce the file size to a sane level and we switch to another framework. I guess we needed some components and we had to load jQuery as well. In any case, wouldn't it make sense for the default configuration to be suitable for the average project? 500KB is really something... ------ dandare Sidenote: the [https://en.bem.info/](https://en.bem.info/) website (mentioned in the first paragraph of text about Semantic UI) totally irritates me. Would you be so kind and explain with a single sentence what is the purpose of your website/platform/framework? ------ constantlm I recently dropped Bootstrap early in a project and switched to Semantic. I've been using it for a few months - so far it seems fantastic and much more "natural" to work with than Bootstrap. The gigantic set of components, and integration with both EmberJS and React make it even more amazing. ------ flukus Wouldn't a semantic UI have things like a <menu> tag that was up to the browser to render? ------ inputcoffee What is the best way to think of this. Is this like Twitter Bootstrap and Zurb Foundation, or is this like something else entirely? ~~~ ukyrgf This is the step between making prototypes with Bootstrap/Foundation and turning those classes/mixins into a final working application. You don't want your final build to have a bunch of 'col-md-6' class names. ~~~ enraged_camel >>You don't want your final build to have a bunch of 'col-md-6' class names. Why not? Who cares what your class names are? ~~~ karmajunkie Nobody, except the individual that has to change them all when you need to swap out frameworks or upgrade to a version that breaks compatibility or the product team decides on a new layout across the app... ~~~ enraged_camel Okay, no one has actually explained how Semantic UI overcomes this. What if in the future you decide to switch from Semantic UI to something else? ~~~ karmajunkie Fair point, but I'm with you on it—I'm not proposing Semantic UI is any better, just that ".col-md-12" has its own set of problems. I suppose in theory what would be the best is using application selectors (i.e. class names your application owns) with the sass version of bootstrap/semantic/etc to extend the selectors with appropriate styles. However, I've done this, and while I'm no CSS expert so I probably was doing something wrong, my stylesheets became ginormous. Now, I just kind of live with the ".col-md-12" business... ------ taeric I alternate between thinking this sort of thing is merely misguided, or merely a waste of time. I want to like it, a lot. But I can't help feeling that this ship sailed years ago. Simple UIs that are easy to interpret are a thing of the nineties. We left them because we evidently didn't realize what we had. Also, people like flashy things. A lot. ------ ssijak Why is bootstrap 4 taking so long to get to a final version? All that waiting is pushing me towards other libraries. But me, being primarily backend engineer, want a library that has a large community because I am not so skilled with frontend UI and want the possibility to find the help easily. ~~~ jpkeisala I wonder same as well. I am building something right now with v4alpha and I have not found any problems. Therefore it is a bit weird why don't they just call it 4.0 and be done with it. ~~~ Omnius It's alpha meaning the API will change most likely just be aware to check release notes as breaking changes are expected to happen. ------ cknight I chose Semantic UI for my project: [https://suitocracy.com](https://suitocracy.com) if anyone wants to see another live example, it also uses the default theme. Like others, I was somewhat concerned about the bloat - over half of my front page's total file size. But at about 250KB all up, I realised this was only around a tenth of what the average website throws at people these days. [https://www.wired.com/2016/04/average-webpage-now-size- origi...](https://www.wired.com/2016/04/average-webpage-now-size-original- doom/) ~~~ splintercell Pretty neat looking and interesting site. ------ cyberferret I've been a Bootstrap user for years on all my web apps, but thinking that perhaps instead of re-learning things for v4, I look at expending a similar amount of time and effort to learn something new. I came across Semantic-UI last year and remember being impressed by it, but for some reason it just slipped my mind until I saw this post today. I seems it could work for another small project that I am thinking of starting. Just to clarify - No reliance on jQuery with this framework, right? Has anyone else worked with Semantic-UI using Umbrella.js and/or Intercooler.js ?? ~~~ Zitrax Semantic-ui does require jQuery. See [https://github.com/Semantic- Org/Semantic-UI/issues/1175](https://github.com/Semantic-Org/Semantic- UI/issues/1175) ~~~ cyberferret Ah, thanks for the clarification... A bit surprised that libraries written within the era of mobile devices etc. still have that dependency. Not a put down of jQuery per se - it was a great toolkit in its day. ~~~ jpkeisala Is jQuery still a problem with mobile devices? I would image devices are faster now and isn't jQuery already in version 3. Haven't they optimize it? ------ keehun Am I the only one that passionately dislikes the menus that require clicking on the hamburger icon? I'm okay with it in phone apps when used tastefully, but it seems like too many websites are adopting it now for no good reason. This trend is especially evident among the online Wordpress/HTML template communities and creators... ~~~ alphapapa The worst is when, if you maximize the browser window, the hamburger menu expands into actual menu elements, but then if you resize the browser window to, say, half the width of your screen, it turns into a hamburger button with enough whitespace around it to display the hidden menu elements. Really, really hate that. The web was more usable 15 years ago. ~~~ dguo I'm not a big fan of the hamburger menu either, but web developers also didn't have to worry about mobile 15 years ago. ~~~ alphapapa That's beside the point. That mobile exists doesn't excuse extremely poor non- mobile UI. ------ debacle Seems like a next evolution of Bootstrap components. The trick with this type of stuff is _always_ in how it plays with other frameworks. Can I drop into jQuery if I need to, and still interact easily with controls? Is there some obscene DOM skeletons in the closet that's going to bite me in the ass later? ~~~ jfarlow We use an Ember library of Semantic UI [1] and it's pretty much a drop-in install to get a visually coherent front-end up and running with a minimal amount of redesigning a wheel. It's themeable and pretty extensible on the CSS side (and is all prefixed with a 'ui' class), and on the javascript side Ember lets you get right to it's hooks with Ember.$.component(). It may be a little on the heavy side, but it's been designed to be severable when needed, by component, by css, and by javascript-requiring components. I've not felt hemmed in or constricted by it's design mechanics. I've had a few javascript 'settings' fail to make it all the way to my Ember components, but in general these were bugs that were promptly fixed in newer versions. Docs are pretty good too. I kind of like it. It's been pretty nice to just have a dropdown, a button, a label, a whatever out of the box without me having to figure out all the CSS tricks for mobile or various browsers. And the more I've used it I've been able to craft my own visual components upon its foundation that conform to a consistent style. [1] [http://semantic-org.github.io/Semantic-UI-Ember/](http://semantic- org.github.io/Semantic-UI-Ember/) ------ ludbek I have been using Semantic UI for a while now. Overall I love this framework. It has lots of essential components. I highly recommend it to lean startups who dont have enough expertise for designing and developing their own UI components. But I do hate it for having weak and restrictive responsive queries. ------ Mizza Semantic has replaced Bootstrap as my go-to web framework. I find it more natural, and the default components are nicer. I think it needs a larger theme ecosystem and more consistent documentation, but I appreciate all the work that has gone into it. ------ tabeth Is it possible these days to have a fully interactive mobile application with just HTML and CSS? Have CSS animations gotten good enough? I'm talking things like pure CSS accordians, modals/pop-ups, tooltips, etc. Semantic UI is something I personally use for a few projects, but I really wish some of this stuff didn't require so much javascript and was more encapsulated like Tachyons [1]. The main problem I've encountered when using Semantic UI is that it becomes difficult to change the prebuild components significantly. [1] [http://tachyons.io/](http://tachyons.io/) ~~~ pitaj It may be possible, but it would be very difficult to make it accessible for screen readers, etc. ~~~ tabeth Can you elaborate? I was under the impression that HTML and CSS were by default already accessible and Javascript is likely to break things (an instance I've encountered is not properly setting tabindex, for example). ------ mybrid "Semantic is a development framework that helps create beautiful, responsive layouts using human-friendly HTML." Claims made without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. I'm not singling out Semantic UI here except to say that usability studies validate beautiful, responsive layouts using human-friendly HTML. Has anybody done a usability study to confirm any such claims? Again, not singling out Semantic UI except to point out an opportunity. Semantic UI could be the first to quantify this by providing usability study support rather than just putting it our there. [https://www.nngroup.com/](https://www.nngroup.com/) ------ alexjv89 We use semantic-ui at Highlyreco ([https://www.highlyreco.com](https://www.highlyreco.com)). Semantic is a CSS framework that we absolutely love. Cant recommend it enough. Semantic made it possible for 2 developers(non of us are front end focus engineers) to build out a fairly complex ui at Highlyreco. Semantic gives us the ability to iterate really fast on UI. We probably would not exist without semantic. For earlier projects I used to use bootstrap. My opinion is that Bootstrap is good for designing landing pages and semantic is good for building user interface pages. ------ tmikaeld My company has been using SUI in production the past 3 years and it's been absolutely great, sure it is big, but that translates into flexibility and speed of development as well as having a production-ready framework that we know can handle anything thrown at it. I've seen some mentions of jQuery, I don't think that's a bad thing at all - the framework uses the plugin system so fully that without jQuery, I'm sure the framework would be even bigger and less flexible. The added advantage is that other jQuery plugins work without adding anything. ------ vinayakkulkarni Just FYI, [https://www.zomato.com/](https://www.zomato.com/) one of the biggest in it's industry uses Semantic-UI :) Love the Framework and Jack + all contributors effort in it :) ~~~ BilalBudhani Whoa! This is interesting. Just curious to know \- how did you decide to go with Semantic UI? \- what all frameworks did you compare? \- which preprocessor are you using? ~~~ vinayakkulkarni I ain't working in Zomato :P Got the info from this thread: [https://github.com/Semantic-Org/Semantic- UI/issues/2449#issu...](https://github.com/Semantic-Org/Semantic- UI/issues/2449#issuecomment-280293760) ------ wishinghand I love the style and components of Semantic UI, but it's really heavy in terms of CSS file size, even once minified. I'd recommend running UnCSS or something similar on it before deployment. ------ Finbarr We used Semantic UI for Startup School ([https://startupschool.org](https://startupschool.org)) and it has been awesome. Really happy with the choice. ~~~ cyberferret Nice! I am actually IN this round of Startup School, and I never noticed that it was built with this framework. Good work. ------ dmoreno I love semantic UI. I'm using it now with my new project (serverboards.io) and it really was a huge time saver. I would prefer it using sass, but the is a 'port' ([https://github.com/doabit/semantic-ui- sass/tree/master/app/a...](https://github.com/doabit/semantic-ui- sass/tree/master/app/assets/stylesheets)) ------ nwmcsween I guess it's as good of time as any to plug my project s.css[1], it tries to be the exact opposite of semantic ui. Class names are simply abbreviated properties such as .di-bl { display: block; }. It isn't meant to be used as a framework, but something that other frameworks can build upon (I will soon be releasing something that build on it). [1] github.com/nwmcsween/s.css ------ Too > Intuitive javascript: $('select.dropdown') .dropdown('set selected', > ['meteor', 'ember']); Please no...just use React, Vue, Angular or some other sane data binding framework already. Don't mix logic and presentation. Your javascript code should never know about CSS classes, and ids and preferably not DOM-states either. ~~~ always_good Not every project needs to use React. Sometimes you just want some quick JS for your one dropdown component that comes with the framework you're already using. ------ chenshuiluke Semantic UI is really great! I suck at frontend design and it really helps me to make decent looking websites :) ------ karimdag Personally I have chose Semantic UI as my go-to css framework over bootstrap. While bootstrap performs better on mobile, SUI is way nicer/cleaner it therefore eliminates the need to customize anything which I think is one of the reasons that someone would use a css framework in the first place. ------ kbr Checked it out, and it looks quite nice! Congrats on making such a nice tool. I'm a fellow CSS library author here, of Wing[1]. Everything seems fine, but as others have said, the scrolling is jumpy. Might want to fix that :) 1\. [http://usewing.ml](http://usewing.ml) ------ daurnimator Anyone able to help explain to me how to use this with e.g. a simple static site? i.e. hand written HTML (perhaps compiled from markdown) with no JS? The manuals for semantic UI seem to jump strait into integrations with other frontend frameworks and build tools; but I don't want to use them. ------ baby I use it for small projects/pages just because it looks so good :) [http://cryptologie.net/links](http://cryptologie.net/links) but I found it harder to get into compared to bootstrap/foundation. ------ nwmcsween There seems to be some sort of impedance mismatch CSS is _for_ developers give me .di-bl { display: block; }, make it easy to understand by just looking at the markup instead of having to having to dig into other files. ------ voidhawk Anyone else find the pages jitter when scrolling? At least on Safari (iPhone) ------ ndarilek As a blind web developer, I want to like Semantic. My usual mode of developing HTML, once it's at the "I need to make this look good" stage, is "show it to my girlfriend and ask her various questions." She says things like "I wish X were a bit larger," or "Y should be blue," and pulling that off in Bootstrap is challenging. I can drop down to lower-level CSS, but have no clue how my changes interact with Bootstrap's defaults, or indeed if they take effect at all. I mean, I can tweak font sizes and hex codes, but at the end of the day they're all numbers, when what I _want_ to do is say "No really, make this thing larger relative to these other things," not "make it 125%, with this hex code I scraped out of some color list and hope looks nice." But, gods, buttons as divs. Maybe they're easier to style, but if I had a dollar for every time I couldn't use someone's site because they used a div as a button, then didn't do the several other things that <button/> gives you for free that make all the accessibility difference, well, I'd not worry about money ever again. I'm glad to see that the homepage example at least uses <button/>, but then the rendering of the example isn't keyboard-focusable or actionable. Then, when I look at the actual code they're rendering, it's back to divs. So they're not even rendering their example code. Can I use Semantic with the actual HTML elements that the divs are meant to style, so I can use the CSS class names some folks hate and derive their benefits to me, but still get the accessibility benefits of the tags? I'd read their docs and check, but I don't know if they're linked from the main page. I see links to 1.X/0.X docs, but I can't find a link to 2.X docs. There's a "Menu" link which may pop up more links, but I can't seem to trigger this with Enter. I seriously spent 10-15 minutes on this page looking for docs using only my keyboard, before deciding that I really had better ways to spend my day. I hate to advise people to avoid projects because I'm not so arrogant as to think my language/stack/framework/whatever is anything other than _my_ favorite, and I do _want_ to like this one, but every time I look at it the accessibility story is disappointing, and given that it's a framework, that means _other_ sites will likely inherit disappointing accessibility stories too. And now it's back to drinking, which seems to be the only fix for this[1]. 1\. Not really, but damn am I tired of a) fighting the same battles again and again and b) answering the same questions about said battles again and again. All of this stuff is exhaustively documented by folks who are smarter than I am, so it isn't obscure, nor is it something I need to (or am even highly _qualified_ to) answer. ~~~ du_bing Incredible, thanks for sharing your unique experience, I don't know the difference of <div class="ui button"> and <button class="ui button"> when I use Semantic-UI, because they show the same thing. According to your declaration, I think from now on I will better use the latter one. ~~~ ndarilek 1\. The div is not keyboard-focusable by default, so you need to add `tabindex="0"`. 2\. By default, the div does not trigger click on Enter/Space, so you need to add a keyup handler to make it do so. 3\. Screen readers won't report the div as a button because they can't identify widgets based on how they look, so add `role="button"` as per the ARIA spec (only on first cup of coffee now, so I'm not providing a link.) Yes, it isn't super complicated, but a) most don't do it because they _look_ identical and b) multiply that by any other widget where the HTML version is replaced with a div and suddenly things get complicated. If you're not a keyboard user, you may not understand how the web works without a mouse. All that is lost when switching to divs. This says nothing about how OS/screen reader combinations differ in key handling, nor about how complex widgets such as multiselects include similarly complex key handling. Also, the above ARIA is super simplistic. It doesn't handle situations where, for instance, you have multiple roles and have to toggle some of them based on what item is selected, what item is focused, etc. So, TLDR: It's _so_ much better to use the HTML elements specifically designed for a certain task because you get a lot for free that is taken for granted. That said, I like how Semantic specifies how my UI might look, an wish I could have the best of both worlds. ~~~ mwcampbell And a custom button is certainly not the worst offender, though it's probably the most commonly cited example. A blind friend just needed sighted help to complete a purchase, because the process included a custom checkbox with no ARIA support. At least with a button that's not identified as such, the user can figure out that it's a button from the name and context, and use their screen reader's ability to simulate a mouse click. Unless the buttons are implemented using spans rather than divs, and there's more than one of them in the same block element. ~~~ du_bing Great sharing, it seems that HTML tags are safer and more robust. ------ mark_l_watson I have been using bootstrap exclusively for years. I will give this a try on a small throwaway project. I am concerned by the apparently large size of CSS and JS, based on other comments here. ------ symboltoproc I work for quite some time now with Javascript and I must say: $('select.dropdown').dropdown('set selected', ['meteor', 'ember']); Is the most unintuitive Javascript I've ever seen. ------ aecorredor Does anyone else feel that the documentation does not clearly explain how to create responsive layouts? I see the visual examples, but no clear code like in bootstrap's docs. ------ xyproto Sounds great in theory, but the dropdown box on the front page is a list where only half the height of the letters are shown, instead of a proper dropdown box. ------ jff All this and it still looks like Yet Another Bootstrap website. Guess that's the modern meaning of 'beautiful website'. ------ jv22222 There's a pretty bad bug on that website. When you open it in Safari on iPhone 6 it jitters badly as you scroll the page down. ------ macca321 I'd like to find a framework like this that comes with platform-neutral (handlebars or similar) templates for each component ------ kuon I am starting a new project, and I am considering semantic UI and grommet. Anybody has experience with grommet? ------ zeeshanu The interface looks good but it is like a nightmare to remeber every single class. ~~~ dmoreno I actually think the opposite. The names are very logical and once you know some the rest is quite logical. Bootstrap on the other hand never made sense to me. Anyway many times I need SUIs documentation open for reference. ------ 5_minutes I'm fine with Bootstrap though... another day, another framework ------ rfw1z What makes the Internet so exciting is the direct opposite of this. ------ notliketherest I love semantic UI React for my teams internal tools. So easy to drop in an use without having to think about css	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: Linux family vs. Mac OS X family for Development? - haidrali I am full stack developer spend about 10 hours programming daily. I have been using Ubuntu for last 3 years and have never used MAC neither for development nor for daily use. I want to have developers opinion about development on Linux based OS vs MAC OS X ( though both are UNIX based ). my development stack is Rails,Angular and somewhat Android<p>THanks ====== duncan_bayne My history: 1995: started using Linux as a hobby dev OS 2000: switched from Windows NT 4.0 to Linux at work (C) 2002: moved to .NET, used Windows at work and Linux at play 2006: mix of Linux and Windows at work 2011: abandoned .NET entirely; mix of Linux and OSX at work, Linux for play 2013: entirely Linux 2014: mix of FreeBSD and Linux for work and play So it's fair to say I've solid experience in both, plus a fair amount of dev environment automation under my belt. Linux vs OSX: Linux wins hands-down unless you're happy hitting a wall when it comes to customisation and automation. Mint is in my experience the equal of OSX out of the box, and just gets better as you start automating things. Productivity with a decent keyboard-driven WM and editor (StumpWM + Emacs in my case) is great. Recently I've become a bit concerned that some of the design directions taken by the Linux community aren't aligned with my priorities, so I've been trying out FreeBSD. It's awesome, and my current OS of choice, but hardware support is more limited and the desktop / laptop experience isn't as polished as Mint. ~~~ duncan_bayne Check out my dev environment setup scripts here: [https://github.com/duncan-bayne/mint-setup](https://github.com/duncan- bayne/mint-setup) Nothing fancy (no Chef or similar, just a few shell scripts) but may give you some ideas. I most recently used them a few days ago to provision an old MacBook Pro as a spare dev machine at work. I've a similar thing (more of a work in progress than the above Mint stuff) for FreeBSD: [https://github.com/duncan-bayne/freebsd-setup/](https://github.com/duncan- bayne/freebsd-setup/) ------ smt88 Linux, hands down. 1) You probably write code that targets Linux. That means using Linux as your dev machine is going to reduce complexity. 2) The latest OS X is an absolute mess. It's incredibly slow as well. 3) Docker support on Linux is far better than on OS X. ------ vladimir-y I am also curious what are objective reasons to use OS X (apple laptops) over Linux for code developers? For code developers Linux is better, it's free and open, all sorts of trendy things more convenient to test and use on Linux, there is everything could be configured (and you will have to configure everything :)) Even for not code developers but picture/3d it's better to use laptops with pro graphic cards (FirePro/Quadro) than apple laptops. Also OS X is proprietary, so if you are conspiracy theorists it's probably not the best choice. Currently I'm using Dell E7440 (FHD IPS screen (no touch) and SSD is essential) and Arch linux + Gnome shell (there is also win 8 as second system, just for case), and I'm happy so far. ~~~ ptype Because time 'configuring' is time not coding... ~~~ vladimir-y Actually some significant configuring is required only for non standard features, standard features usually are available of the box at least for popular Linux distributive (ubuntu, etc). Today, Linux is available variety, and for housewives as well. ------ jackgolding It is interesting that this is the most Linux sided Linux vs OSX discussion I've seen on HN. I personally just got a iMac which has boosted my productivity compared to working on a Macbook. Could have been the effect of cleaning my desk though. ~~~ smt88 I despise OS X for many reasons, and I have for years. However, I used to be pretty silent on discussions like these. My issues were (mostly) subjective and personal. With the release of Yosemite, I'm now vocal about my dislike of OS X. It is objectively an inferior OS. I believe many HN readers are in the same boat now. There have been quite a few threads about the decline in quality control for OS X/iOS in the last few years. ------ factorialboy For development, Linux for sure. OS X just annoys the hell out of me. The MBP hardware is good, but for the last few years there are some very good high-end Linux laptops as well. I personally use the Dell XPS 15: [http://amzn.to/1EOPJtB](http://amzn.to/1EOPJtB) ~~~ sreenadh When I checked the link, it showed that the laptop comes with Windows. How is the driver support for Linux(esp. fan)? Which flavour are you using? ~~~ factorialboy It's very good. I'm making this comment from a Dell XPS 15 purchased last week. I go rid of Windows 8 and installed Debian + XFCE. Everything just works, no hardware driver hacks. ------ perfectspr Both Linux and Mac OS is good for web development. I think it depends on hardware and tool chains you are using. Usually, Linux and Mac OS have the same tool chains, like Eclipse+Rail+Gulp+Bower+NodeJS. So OS is not a problem, hardware is what you should be concerned about. It will save lots of time if you have a high performance computer. and I think the hardware of Mac Book is better that most of other PC/laptops. I have a Thinkpad E420 laptop which has Windows 7 preinstalled. I upgraded its memory to 4GB. But it is still not enough in windows 7. so I installed Linux Mint Xfce. It is really fast and takes up little memory. But the CPU and disk is not good enough, I still have to wait a time when opening Eclipse or Firefox. So now, I'm planning to buy a Mac Book. ~~~ haidrali Thank you for much valuable response i also have problem with opening Eclipse, Chrome on Ubuntu, 4GB RAM, Dell Inspiron N5010 ( though a good machine) now planning to have Mac Book heard of its awesome battery timings ------ akbar501 This is obviously a personal preference question. I use a Linux laptop and a MacBook Pro daily. Most days I spend more time on Ubuntu. In case it matters, the MBP is brand new top end. I run Ubuntu on an older Dell Precision, yet its still what I prefer. Since you're already on Ubuntu, I'd stay with it. Linux is just great for development. 1.) I find the shortcuts on Linux more natural (for me). 2.) I use a lot of open source software and everything I use targets Linux. 3.) I find it easy to develop on the same OS that I deploy. 4.) I'm super used to Linux. As for the Mac, the hardware casing is amazing...it's so thin and nice. As for RAM, CPU, its definitely very good, but not the highest end configuration on the market. ------ loumf I am an iPhone dev primarily so I have to use OSX, which I am fine with. I also do webdev in Django and that's fine too, but sometimes OS X likes to play with my python and mysql versions (especially on OS upgrades) -- since I don't have to do this every day (or even every month), I often spend the first few hours of a new task with it trying to figure out how to fix them. I haven't switched to using vagrant for all server dev, but if I had to do it a lot, I would put my dev environment inside vagrant and isolate it from OS X. I deploy to Linux anyway, so there's no point in making it work on OS X. ------ informatimago Stay with Linux. It's really a personnal question, and depends on your preferences on user interface. For example, I prefer the emacs user interface and I use emacs with ratpoison as window manager on X11 on Linux. I also use emacs on MacOSX (and [http://www.emacsformacosx.com](http://www.emacsformacosx.com) is a very good GNU emacs distribution), but I miss the rest of keyboard interaction allowed by ratpoison (which if you stay inside emacs, is not a big deal). I also use X11 on MacOSX. In my situation, Linux is quite preferable. On the other hand, since I'm currently working on a MacOSX application, while I could (and actually did during a period) edit and compile it from the Linux box, I'm currently using the MacOSX box to work on it (and therefore accessing my Linux workstation thru X11 on MacOSX, since it's more convenient than moving around to the Linux box). This later note, to mention that you can have a setup where "the network's the computer", that is, you actually use the workstation at hand just as a window on the whole network. With a window system like X11, you really get a smooth experience having processes on the various computer on your network displayed on your screen. Then it doesn't matter what OS your current computer runs, you are just using X11 apps, running all over the place. And if this is your approach, if you're using more a network of computer than a single isolated computer, then consider that (while NeXTstep DisplayPostscript system provided such network independance and indirection), the only window system nowadays providing it is X11 (which you can use on unix as well as on MacOSX or MS-Windows). Also, and for somebody who uses the keyboard 12 hours a day, I notice that I can more easily configure the layout of the keyboard with X11 than with MacOSX (or worse, MS-Windows), and furthermore, I find that the keyboard is more responsive when processed by X11 than by the MacOSX system, notably in the handling of modifier keys (and that, with a DasKeyboard-3 keyboard, which has 6-key rollover (thru usb)!). So when typing some kinds of text, I really prefer to use Linux than MacOSX. On the other end of the computer system, there's the persistent storage, and on this side, there's some justified criticizim of the MacOSX file system (HFS+) compared to the much better Linux (or other unix) file systems. This may be a reason to want to use a Linux workstation, but you may also just store your file on a NAS (or just a NFS or Samba server on your Linux box), so again, the network's the computer, and the choice of OS on your workstation is not so relevant. There's the question of the hardware, with multiple considerations. Ignoring the question of price, there's the question of ease of use. MacOSX seems to provide a "it just works" experience, which is good, but on the other hand, if it fails, you may have a harder time than with Linux, where you can usually repair it. For example, sleeping a laptop, or switching to new wifi networks, are no-brainers with a MacOSX laptop, but I've spend hours configuring linux laptops to do that. Perhaps there's some hope and light at the end of the tunnel, in the form of the Libre15 laptop? [https://www.crowdsupply.com/purism/librem- laptop](https://www.crowdsupply.com/purism/librem-laptop) Now, perhaps you will have to test your web development on a Safari browser. Then you will need a MacOSX box to use it, and happily, MacOSX can also run Firefox (and Chrome, etc). ------ haris4063 Stay with linux. Its better and free :p ------ SwellJoe "10 hours programming daily" Gods, man, get up and take a walk now and then! ~~~ perfectspr That's right. Maybe you like this [http://www.amazon.com/The-Healthy- Programmer-Pragmatic-Progr...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Healthy-Programmer- Pragmatic-Programmers/dp/1937785319) ------ hasenj I use OS X because of the better hardware and nicer GUI/UX. After installing homebrew, MacVim, iTerm, and Chrome, I can't think of anything major I miss from Linux/Ubuntu. I'm mostly doing front-end development. No "Docker" stuff or anything fancy like that. ~~~ smt88 Nicer GUI/UX is subjective. I find that the OS X GUI kills my productivity, but others may feel the opposite. Linux is highly configurable, at least, so you could get near-perfect OS X UI on a Linux machine. As for the hardware: I'm running Ubuntu on my MacBook Pro laptop, and it runs great. It boots much faster than my clean Yosemite install. In fact, Yosemite's performance was abysmal compared to Ubuntu. ~~~ Someone1234 This is a little off topic, but how is the battery life on your Macbook Pro when running Ubuntu? Last I looked Ubuntu ran fine, it just cut your battery life in half (actually both Windows and Ubuntu cut your battery life in half, when ran natively/bootcamp, and not via VM). So has that improved at all. It certainly hasn't on Windows on a Mac (the Apple bootcamp drivers are really unoptimised). ~~~ smt88 Battery life is about the same, but it was never great (13" 2013 MBP with HDD). When I'm using my laptop (at a client, in a meeting, at the airport) I always have a power outlet, so my productivity is much more influenced by the OS than the battery life. Your lifestyle might be different.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
David Lynch’s TV commercials (2017) - prismatic https://lwlies.com/articles/david-lynch-tv-commercials/ ====== pmoriarty David Lynch also made a little known TV series called _On the Air_.[1] At its best it was full of black humor and characteristic Lynchian weirdness. Here are a couple of my favorite episodes: [2], [3] [1] - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Air_%28TV_series%29](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Air_%28TV_series%29) [2] - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtCMq1IKYTs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtCMq1IKYTs) [3] - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueL4ebNq6mU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueL4ebNq6mU) ~~~ viburnum I haven’t seen that for 25 years. Thanks for posting. I loved it so much back then. ------ pgreenwood David Lynch Cooks Quinoa is one of my favorites: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSP- ewdJYJc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSP-ewdJYJc) ~~~ rdtsc The description of the train at night, stopping in Yugoslavia, was amazing. So many details, you can almost see him imagining a movie scene right there. "Moths were flipping and flying like frogs. Frog moths, were pulling themselves out of the earth..." Those who watched Twin Peaks: The Return might recognize the connection between the 8th episode and the frog moths. ------ partiallypro The "Parisienne cigarettes" ad is near identical to parts of Twin Peaks Season 3, "got a light?" ~~~ barbecue_sauce Yeah, I was about to comment about this one. The set is very similar to the "convenience store" as it appears in The Return (if not exactly the same). ------ gordon_freeman I still remember the vivid and strange experience when I watched Lynch's masterpiece TV show 'Twin Peaks'. Just an amazing experience! I have also enjoyed his films such as 'Blue Velvet' and 'Mulholland Drive'. When watching Lynch's shows and movies I feel his creations are similar to that of Stanley Kubrick. ~~~ crispyambulance Mulholland Drive, hell yes. The diner scene was unforgettable! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UozhOo0Dt4o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UozhOo0Dt4o) So ridiculous but so good. ~~~ aasasd “I think that horror following technology in its development is a dead end. We had horror films about TV, now there are films about the web, but in fifty years only scholars of culture will look at them. Meanwhile, people who want to be scared will still watch the scene from Mulholland Drive with the bum peeking around the corner. But that scene could equally be filmed in 1930 or 2030.” (Alexey Karaulov) ------ jahlove I was going to say that "Opium" wouldn't fly as a perfume name in 2019, but apparently Yves Saint Laurent still sells it: [https://www.yslbeautyus.com/fragrance/womens- fragrances/opiu...](https://www.yslbeautyus.com/fragrance/womens- fragrances/opium) ~~~ grandsui I own one of their Opium cologne for men. It smells _really_ nice. ------ xenospn Fun fact: George Lucas approached David Lynch to direct The Return of the Jedi, and was turned down. [1] - [https://lynch.fandom.com/wiki/Return_of_the_Jedi](https://lynch.fandom.com/wiki/Return_of_the_Jedi) ~~~ aazaa > Shortly after, Lynch directed his own version of a space opera / sci-fi > film: Dune (1984) ~~~ codesushi42 So it was for the best. ------ aasasd Lynch's ads actually made me understand his style much better. For all his otherworldly weirdety and teasing of Hollywood, his 90s work looks rooted in 90s tv. It's like I watch tv dramas or ads, but with Lynch's twist—just like Pedro Almodóvar's films are 80s/90s tv with Pedro Almodóvar's twist. ------ TrackerFF A key component to the "feel" of Lynch is the music by Angelo Badalamenti. He really ties up the work.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Facebook earnings gain as ad sales surge 82%; CFO is stepping down - Kopion http://www.marketwatch.com/story/facebook-earnings-gain-as-ad-sales-surge-82-2014-04-23 ====== ENGNR They've actually pulled a bait and switch on small business. First the pages were free and great, then they started to reduce the number of people who'd see your posts (fair enough, not everyone can see every little thing) Then they reduced the % of people seeing posts to 3% and less, and really focussed on getting those page owners to buy ads to maintain their previous view numbers. Maybe page owners are paying for now, potentially reliant on traffic, but I don't think they're going to be happy paying forever when free alternatives will crop up again. The traffic quality is reported as being low (many mis- clicks on mobile). If the profit isn't there then business won't be able to afford to pay in the long run. Maybe I don't want to see posts for 'Jim's oil change' every three seconds, but good content is getting cut away also making FB far more boring. ~~~ Silhouette I don't know if I'd call it a bait and switch, because you never really knew exactly what you were getting with Facebook anyway. The kind of auction system they use is practically designed to avoid transparency (and they're obviously not alone in that among on-line ad platforms). It always comes down to the numbers, though. If we're advertising a small business on Facebook, and it generates more in revenues from sales than it costs in customer acquisition, it's still a net win. Is it the best place we could have invested those advertising funds? Maybe, maybe not, but it certainly becomes less attractive as their cost-per-whatever figures go up, and no matter how much they fudge the presentation, we still know how much we paid overall and how much revenue we got in return. In any case, every time this comes up there are plenty of posters who have small businesses and make the above argument, but generate revenues in the 100-200% bracket, i.e., they're at least breaking even and maybe doubling their investment, but no-one's buying the private jet and yacht any time soon. It doesn't take anything shady-sounding like a bait and switch for Facebook to lose all of that business, it just takes increasing cost-per-whatever a bit more until the return on investment is no longer a safe bet. At that point, they lose to other options with either generally better returns (so you don't care about the odd few percent, because you know you're still comfortably winning overall) or a more predictable model (so you can still run it on tighter margins). ~~~ mrtron I think the details matter here. The bait and switch being referred to is in regards to engaging with followers, not the ad platform directly. Businesses grew their followers on Facebook over the years with the intention of growing a user-base they could engage with. Now a substantially lower number of your followers see content you post due to algorithm changes. The way to increase your reach to your followers is by paying for ads to basically recapture the engagement you were once getting free. It would be like if Twitter started charging businesses to display tweets to their own followers. ~~~ Theodores Or if Google started to only show you in organic search results 3% of the time. ~~~ dchuk Well Google has basically done that by filling up the search results with additional pieces like ads, images, news, maps, local results, etc. Organic results practically don't exist anymore above the fold. ~~~ GenerocUsername Yeah, I can never find what im looking for on google /s ------ johnvschmitt Facebook Ads are a real shakedown scam, & getting worse. After reading up on other's experience, I ran an experiment last week: I started a stupid comic blog ([http://omgcmon.com](http://omgcmon.com)). I made a facebook "page" for it too. I posted an link from my stupid comic blog to the facebook "page". I posted the same link to my personal status. The posting didn't even show up in my OWN news feed, unless I changed it from "top stories" to "most recent". (All other posts from me, show up in my "top stories" at least.) My friends & family didn't see it either. But, when I took the same image in the blog post, & put it in facebook as a "Photo", then people saw it, commented, liked, etc. So, it sure does look like Facebook knows that the link was on a "page", & then used it's secret algorithm to suppress it, as it knows that will, over a large population, cause more ad dollars to be spent to boost "pages". So, the money/profit will flow well, but not forever. Run your own experiments if you doubt it. It's not hard to get this data yourself. ~~~ nyrulez I don't see this is completely weird. If I was designing the news feed, I would give way more importance to personal posts (especially photos) than non personal posts, as I would like to preserve the personal nature of Facebook and not pollute it with non-personal info. However, if a business (a non personal entity) wants to gain entry (and potentially pollute the experience to some extent), there is a price they have to pay. And that constitutes facebook's business model. The fact that they introduced "Free" business pages which allowed free entry to people's news feeds before ads has skewed the perception of their intentions. But if I were to design it from scratch today, my design would probably be somewhat similar. ~~~ johnvschmitt Good point. Yes, let's prioritize personal things on a personal platform. However, ~30% of the "top stories" in my newsfeed (anecdotal of course) are public URL's that my friends share. And, those don't look like ads or promoted posts, but they sure could be! That said, in the past, we'd promote a business by trying to get email signups, then trickle monthly updates to our users to engage them more. (That still works!) Now, email is seen as "unsexy" & we're told to go social to get viral, & make everything have a Facebook share (+pinterest/etc). That's just not as effective as email, sorry. I just wanted to share my experience about what works best for startups. ------ bertil I have reasons to believe that Facebook earnings correspond to unstable practice: namely, both brands and games have bad metrics (i.e. uninformative) of their activity, and both are re-considering how their price fan- and user- acquisition. There is a stunning lack of understanding of social network dynamics among Facebook client companies. I have been through a lot of interviews lately, and no one to whom I talked seemed to know basic things like the Friend paradox, avalanche thresholds, or that the first fans are naturally more engaged -- Facebook ad purchase interface doesn’t really help either. Nothing about game session duration, rhythm? Nothing about the thousands of odd Pakistani accounts liking the page of random family restaurants in the North of Ireland? Some people at Facebook know those very well, but as far as I can tell, no one has connected that issue with a Wil-E-Coyote moment: strong sales out of momentum, filling an inflated inventory but widespread skepticism. There is indeed far more ads in the Facebook mobile thread, but almost exclusively for miss-targeted offers (I recently moved to a different country, twice, and I keep seeing things for local apps in a city 2,400 miles away) and for mobile games with Zynga-like gameplay: pay or… well, you can pay too. I’m not sure Facebook is aware of that; I am sure however that Zynga wasn’t, or at least that the people in charge of the financial stability of the company dealt with that issue in an unethical manner. Seeing both a trend and someone to chosen to reinforce it scares me. ~~~ prostoalex 59% of their advertising revenue is off mobile, where their main products are app installs and click-through ads. They don't break it down, but an ad product boosting likes to a business page that you're describing as highly susceptible to fraud is probably not a best- seller, and isn't even offered on mobile. ~~~ bertil Those are two distinct manifestation of potentially different issues. Mobile is over-invested because there is a presumption of high user value that isn’t adjusted with history. Organised click-farms use non-commercial links to avoid detection. There is a lot to be said about Facebook detection technology there. ~~~ prostoalex What I'm saying is that desktop like ads are non-essential for Facebook's revenue figures, because hardly anybody buys those ads. YouTube had a similar issue when they started paying out content producers based on views, and all of a sudden "view farms" appeared out of nowhere, generating required thousands of views. It's a big deal if you buy ads on YouTube and get charged per views, but in the grand scheme of things it's a drop in the bucket for Google Inc. ------ chollida1 Certainly not related to the numbers. They killed it this quarter! They had a NON-GAAP EPS of 34C while estimates were at 24C. That's pretty incredible considering that mobile advertising contributing about 59% of their advertising revenue. That's been the one area that analysts were worried about. ~~~ pbreit And while revenue was up 72%, income nearly tripled! This is why you invest every penny you have into growing a software company and push profits out as far as possible. ~~~ ZenPro Facebook is not a software company. [http://www.forbes.com/sites/joemckendrick/2012/06/29/rip- sof...](http://www.forbes.com/sites/joemckendrick/2012/06/29/rip-software- companies-hello-data-companies/) ~~~ dredmorbius In terms of what actually directly provides value, it's less data and more social lock-in. Arguably software is a large driver of the company's value. This is all pretty much an angles dancing on heads of pins argument, though. ------ ZenPro I fully imagine the descent will even more rapid than the rise. When people congregate; advertisers follow seeking the _staggering_ ROI of the early marketers on the platform. The platform, under shareholder pressure, will accept as many ads as it can until the platform is so saturated the customers leave and the ad ROI plummets. Advertisers are normally last to arrive at the party and also late to leave... I recently saw a photo that demonstrated Facebook has an 8/1 content ratio. For every 1 meaningful piece of content a user is subjected to 8 ads including sidebar + newsfeed. If you include the horizontal scrolling for mobile adverts it rises to 13/1. I think this party just hit it's peak. I deleted my FB a month ago, have not really missed it and a few of my friends have followed. Anecdotal evidence admittedly but no one did it in the usual "I am out!". The deletions were more of a _shrug_. Personally I find that the most emphatic indictment; when people have just grown bored of your platform. ~~~ SDGT Every single week that I sit down and stare at my newrelic monitor, I think the exact same thing: "This is all going to collapse soon." After almost two years of staring at six figure weekly revenue values on the analytics and tracking applications I've built (I obviously am not making this much), I begin to question my inherent concerns on FB's long game. ~~~ ZenPro From a quantitative perspective I cannot fault them _right now_ but from a qualitative perspective...something is rotten in Denmark. Facebook is not the platform we need, it's the one we deserve right now ;-) ------ gcb0 i sent a link over their newly acquired IM service... and now all my ads are for the company owning that link. for one side I'm impressed at their speed in incorporating that new window into my privacy. ...or maybe the selling price was so high because that was already a feature? anyway, on the other hand, I'm unimpressed by either their inventory of ads or ability to classify the content they know i know. if they showed me things relevant to that link it would be interesting. they just flooded me with ads for something i might even own already. its like the cheap ad networks on desktop. see one item at amazon, now all sites in the world will show you that item. they just spent billions to race the mobile ads to the bottom from the get go. ~~~ Encosia Isn't it more likely that the page you visited to get the link had a Facebook "like" button on it that tracked your potential interest at that point? ~~~ gcb0 nope. typed it on my phone. it was a service i use 2 months ago and a friend asked me about it during the chat ------ pyrrhotech I am short, but congrats on a great quarter! Enjoy it while it lasts. I still doubt the company will exist by 2025, but I've been wrong before so who knows. ~~~ jpeg_hero That's a long time to be short. From my trading days, I've learned the importance off only short term trades when betting against a stock. ~~~ pyrrhotech I don't plan on shorting to $0. I went short the day after the Whatsapp announcement at $67. Originally planned to cover around $50, but may cover at any point now. They are definitely rolling and investors are enthused in the short term at least ~~~ Gustomaximus What method did you use to short them? ~~~ pyrrhotech regular short sale, no options or anything. In Interactive Brokers, just selected 'sell' instead of 'buy' before placing order ------ waps What I don't understand. How do these figures justify a $70 share price ? Companies tend to be valued at 15 * revenue, on large aggregate. With these earnings their PE ratio will go from 72 to 57, assuming the stock price doesn't increase. If this stock deleverages at the same speed as google stock did, over 2 years, the share price will be $35-$30 by the end of the year ... If the pe ratio gets in line with S&P 500 "normal" pe ratio of 15 (actually more like 10-15, but recently it's been nearer 15 than 10), facebook is only worth $17 per share. Now the default argument is "but growth", so I fit a third degree curve to their earnings. So I fit a second-degree curve to their eps (this assumes it's on an exponential growth trajectory, quite generous I would say), and at what point would their valuation become justified at standard S&P 500 ratios ? Q1 2017. This is assuming FB's exponential growth holds up. That's not as bad as I feared it would be, but still it's pretty bad. EPS curve for facebook: 0.005 x^2 - 0.0015 x + 0.12 (x is measured in number of quarters since Q2 2012. Data from streetinsider.com) ~~~ stormbrew If share prices were determined by a simple mathematical formula based on earnings reports, there'd be very little profit in buying and selling stocks. People (and organizations) who buy fb believe it is undervalued in the long run. They may be wrong or they may be right, but you can't math that perception out of existence. ~~~ lutusp The tl;dr: anyone who thinks equity valuations are based on rational decision- making are going to be taken to the cleaners. ~~~ stormbrew Well, for a certain definition of rational. I think the operative definition in this subject amounts to roughly "not random," though. People (or nowadays trading bots) have _reasons_ , they just aren't necessarily _good reasons_. ~~~ lutusp > Well, for a certain definition of rational. I wasn't going too far afield -- by "rational" I meant on the basis of P/E ratios and other conventional sources of information, rather than mass psychology or hunches. As to trading bots, depending on how much capital they move, they can twist a small market until it cries uncle, and in a matter of minutes in the worst cases. That's rational by some definitions. :) ------ 001sky _The world’s largest social network has been on an acquisition tear this year, effectively moving to transform itself into a tech portfolio company._ >Interesting take on things ... ------ ghx The headline should read, "Facebook earnings gain as they insert 82% more ads". There's got to be a point where it just gets too saturated for users, just like Myspace did. Maybe not this time? ~~~ encoderer Nope. Try again. They're making higher CPCs and CPMs. ~~~ ZenPro To be fair, those figures have been disputed and also called outright fraudulent by a number of parties. An advertiser recently had an $800,000 invoice struck off because he threatened to sue Facebook. They decided just to let it slide instead of have the public debate.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Nginx dev version proxying WebSocket - calico http://nginx.org/en/docs/http/websocket.html ====== calico I'll test that very soon !	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Programming Language Implementation – Part 0 – Tools and Setup - marcofiset http://marcofiset.com/programming-language-implementation-part-0-setup ====== marcofiset Hi guys, this is the follow up post of a new series I introduced 2 days ago: A Beginner's Guide to Programming Language Implementation. Today we'll be setting up our development environment, and get started with the actual programming next week. ~~~ mamcx Damm, in php ;) But still great. I'm in the same boat (to build a language) and this is a bit closer to it (I will add -hopefully- pattern matching, union types, a relational algebra). Suggestions (I have read now dozens of things like this): \- Something that is not made clear with interpreters is: I need a garbage collector? What happened with memory? \- I haven't see how manage imports/modules. Look like all the toy interpreters are for run everything at once. \- Any hint in how improve error messages at parsing, if possible.. That depend in what use to parse it.. \- Know how do math is nice, but I have wonder, what are the minimun necessary of functions to lift from the host language to make possible to build the standard library from INSIDE the interpreter? So, print is built-in, but maybe map and list? \- I see the introductory post, and think could be nice to support at least List/Arrays (ie a container of things). \- The interpreter code I have seen, in the AST processing have the tendency of be hard to read (with single letters vars and things like that), so consider that too. Looking forward to your series! ~~~ marcofiset I had a feeling that people would pick at the choice of PHP as an implementation language, but hey, that's part of the game ;) The code structure will be exactly the same as if I had implemented it in C# or Ruby, so not following the tutorial simply because it's PHP is not a very good reason IMHO. I will be completely honest with you, some things your asked for are beyond my current knowledge. I began to think about how the standard library could be implemented, but not experimented with this yet. Fortunately, it will be a long time before we get to that point in the series, and I will have figured out how to do it ;) Same thing for modules and imports. Don't worry about the code, I will try my best to make everything as clear as possible. Your input is greatly appriated, don't hesitate to give me feedback like this all along the way :) ------ krapp Looks interesting. Do you already have a working implementation and if so can we see it? ~~~ marcofiset I wouldn't want to spoil it for you ;)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Why Windows 10 Sucks or Everything Wrong with Microsoft Windows - dadt https://itvision.altervista.org/why-windows-10-sucks.html ====== brianpgordon I'm no Windows fanboy but there's a lot of misinformation here. In the spirit of bullying the reader with a big list of points, here are some examples of incorrect claims in TFA: 1\. It's not hard to disable Cortana and internet-assisted start menu search completion. I assume that's what they mean by "keyboard scanning and voice recording" because I don't think there's anything else like that in the OS. It is possible to disable telemetry. In general Windows 10 does come with a ton of cruft but it can be disabled with e.g. [https://github.com/Disassembler0/Win10-Initial-Setup- Script](https://github.com/Disassembler0/Win10-Initial-Setup-Script) 2\. Disk fragmentation hasn't been an issue for awhile. Defrag runs as a scheduled task in all versions of Windows 10. 3\. I like UAC. The article claims that giving users a dialog box to permit admin access is good for malware, but the alternative is taking admin away from users altogether on their own computers. I don't think this is an acceptable tradeoff. 4\. Windows has arguably the _best_ plug-and-play driver support of any operating system. It's not hard to find drivers as the article claims. 5\. The article claims that it's difficult to figure out why your startup is so slow, but task manager has a "Startup" tab now which tells you which startup items are consuming a lot of CPU at login. 6\. The article claims that you can't disable Windows Store apps, Windows tips, and ads in the start menu. That's untrue. I don't even have Windows Store installed as a Windows component, I have no idea what "Windows tips" even is, and my start menu is devoid of ads [https://i.imgur.com/xy69BWe.png](https://i.imgur.com/xy69BWe.png) I think Windows is pretty bad and most users would probably be better off running Lubuntu or something, but there's no need to resort to exaggeration to make that case. ~~~ itvision I'm not a fanboy of any OS in existence but 1\. Most tech-illiterate people are afraid of using regedit and/or GPO to disable Cortana so the point is valid. 2\. Disk fragmentation has become an even bigger issue since Windows 10 doesn't defragment SSD disks. 3\. It's not an argument. 4\. The article talks about laptops specifically and the issue is still there and it's huge even for Windows 10 which often installs Microsoft drivers which do _not_ work. 5\. You must be joking about the startup tab of the task manager. Looks like you've never had this issue or you've only used SSDs in your life. Also discover Autoruns by Mark Russinovich. 6\. The Windows Store app canNOT be disabled. Read carefully. Also after each major Windows update all apps are reinstalled. There's no exaggeration - the author is an IT specialist with a lot of experience. ~~~ ebg13 > _Disk fragmentation has become an even bigger issue since Windows 10 doesn > 't defragment SSD disks_ Defrag on SSDs in Windows 10 runs Trim. And it does do that automatically on a schedule if you don't change anything. Actual defragmentation on an SSD is way less useful because SSDs don't have killer seek latencies like spinning rust plates did, and it would be small-scale harmful because of write wear. And your SSD's onboard controller would likely thwart your efforts _anyway_ , because of wear leveling. ~~~ Retric That’s 1/2 right SSD’s do have fragmentation issues, but it’s about IOPS not latency. [http://www.dbta.com/Editorial/Trends-and- Applications/Does-F...](http://www.dbta.com/Editorial/Trends-and- Applications/Does-Fragmentation-Hurt-SSD-Performance-105652.aspx) TRIM is also important, but it’s a different issue. ~~~ Klinky That article makes claims of 25% reduction in perf with no data to back it up, then mentions fragmention leads to system instability, requiring reboots... What? Again no data given to back up these claims. It's also SAN/Enterprise- centric. Even if you lost 25% perf, you're going from 200,000 IOPs/sec to 150,000 IOPs/sec. This is still plenty fast. ------ partiallypro I actually really like Windows 10, a huge portion of this list could easily apply to any modern operating system that isn't Linux, and even there some of it applies. So OSX, Android, iOS, etc. The section "Now the second kind of issues is intrinsic to Windows 10 only" is full of things that are literally applicable to all the OSes I listed above. I had some laugh out loud moments reading it. Are people just blinded by rage against Microsoft? I don't see how anyone could type that section in particular out with a straight face while knowing about all the other major modern OSes. ~~~ itvision MacOS doesn't have 95% of the listed issues. And we don't have any other desktop OSes which are ready for prime time. ~~~ Silhouette _And we don 't have any other desktop OSes which are ready for prime time._ People keep saying that, but how often is it really true these days? As a professional software developer, the tools available on UNIXy platforms are already much _better_ in many cases than the Windows ports. For a typical home user who is mostly interested in things like email and social networking, and maybe needs to write up some notes or do a quick household budget spreadsheet or basic photo editing, there is capable software available on any serious desktop platform today. It's true that gaming lags behind, though there has been useful progress there in recent times, but lots of people game on dedicated consoles or on their mobile devices anyway now. Are you sure you're not just repeating dogma that is well out of date by now? ~~~ drankula3 I'm a systems administrator for a small MSP. I've used Linux as my primary OS for 9 years, despise using Windows, and I can tell you with 100% confidence that nothing but Windows is ready for prime time, and for one major reason: _ease of administration_. Think of the growth cycle of the vast majority of businesses. Almost all businesses are started and run by non-IT people. They buy Windows machines because they're simple(don't have to worry about OS installation, chosing a distro, etc), have Microsoft Office, and work with any and all enterprise software they use. This gives them a key advantage for small businesses. Like it or not, Linux is just relatively hard. Where Windows _really_ shines, though, is when a small business transitions to being a big-small or medium-sized business. If you have a couple dozen computers and a couple dozen users to manage, do you think it would be worth it to have a linux admin spin up an LDAP server with kerberos and all the bells and whistles needed, then be hired to manage that infrastructure? No, they're going to contract someone to spin up a windows server to manage user logins, create a network share, and call it a day. The infrastructure is super-stable, and when the cost of labor is considered, it is considerably cheaper than letting the system be the plaything of a local Linux zealot. It's only when you consider big and massive businesses that Linux can really be viable, and even then it ain't cheap. Most big businesses grew in a Windows environment, and switching the core of your IT infrastructure sure as hell better be worth it to warrant the massive labor costs, IT fire fighting, and drop in employee productivity that will result. No, Linux infrastructure and desktops really only make sense for companies that are either highly technical, need absolute control of their hardware, are _extremely_ price sensitive, are (or hope to become) massive, or a combination of these. ~~~ ninkendo Why do your employee's systems need to be "Administrated" in the first place? Why do you need Active Directory or LDAP? Why do you need group policy or anything else? Why are your endpoints not as close to vanilla simple desktop/laptops as possible? Is it that employees can't handle using a computer? I've worked in one of the largest businesses in the world for many years now, and I don't think we even _have_ an IT department that manages desktop installations. I've certainly never interacted with them. You either figure out how to use the computer they give you, or you don't, in which case why should they employ you? Computers are a basic skill. ~~~ drankula3 > Why do you need Active Directory or LDAP? Primarily authentication, authorization, and accounting[0]. Setting up a new user account on every single computer that an employee may at some point sit at gets very expensive. Many businesses (if not immediately then eventually) have security concerns that require Administrators have the ability to immediately lock users out of the system or be able to audit recent activity. AD/LDAP facilitates this. It can also automate standard settings like network drives, screen lockout settings, homepages, and all sorts of other settings. > You either figure out how to use the computer they give you, or you don't Standardization of processes and training can reduce training time considerably. For industries with high turnover, this can make a difference. You've gotta remember, not everyone is a knowledge worker. Tons of people are more like cogs in the machine of the company, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. [0] [https://www.techopedia.com/definition/24130/authentication-a...](https://www.techopedia.com/definition/24130/authentication- authorization-and-accounting-aaa) ~~~ ninkendo > Primarily authentication, authorization, and accounting[0]. Setting up a new > user account on every single computer that an employee may at some point sit > at gets very expensive Why are people using more than one machine? > Many businesses (if not immediately then eventually) have security concerns > that require Administrators have the ability to immediately lock users out > of the system or be able to audit recent activity. Why are the network services tied to login sessions on my machine? I mean, login token invalidation is an interesting problem in general, but every place I’ve worked in the past 10 years, my desktop is not the place where secure things are stored, the services I access are. (And those services are increasingly SaaS and use something like SAML with the directory server for the company.) None of which needs a login token associated in any way with my desktop login. Perhaps a better phrasing of the question is, why is the demarcation line between the untrusted world and the things you’re protecting on the _desktop_? And not at the services themselves? > It can also automate standard settings like network drives, screen lockout > settings, homepages, and all sorts of other settings. Sounds like a bunch of solutions to problems you’re creating for yourselves. Why even do any of these things? Perhaps an analogy would be helpful: Say you required all your employees to have smart phones so they could (for instance) get email, log into the timecard/accounting service, etc. You’d need a pretty huge justification to require all of the phones to be managed centrally by your company. Why are desktops different? (Or perhaps you’d defend even the central management of my iPhone too, in which case I think our perspectives are so far off, I don’t think there’s much convincing either of us can do at this point.) I used to be an AD administrator for a university and had to manage hundreds of lab machines (maintaining a central hardware-independent image, group policy, tons of settings), so I’m aware of what tools are available for Administration, I’m just saying 9 times out of 10, the best way to administer lots of systems is to not administer them at all. ~~~ kyriakos > Why are people using more than one machine? Ever been in a meeting room? Most companies have shared PCs for meeting rooms. Logging in gives you access to your documents so you can hold your meeting and take your notes back to your workstation. I'm really surprised you worked in a large business and haven't experienced any of this or the need for standardisation. We use a bunch of systems that all work with AD, it's really a solved problem in a Windows based environment. ~~~ Silhouette _Most companies have shared PCs for meeting rooms._ Are you sure that's not overgeneralising from your own experience? After all, most companies don't even have dedicated meeting rooms, because they aren't big enough. Of the ones that do, I have rarely seen a dedicated PC in there, and that spans the full range of businesses from five guys in a single office through 200+ person medium enterprises right up to some of the largest companies in the world. Most people just take their own laptops, IME. So while I don't doubt that you may have come across this often, it's not necessarily the way everyone else does it. In any case, basic AAA for organisational user IDs is hardly rocket science, whether you're running on Windows or Linux. ~~~ kyriakos The OP mentioned working in one of the largest companies in the world I find it hard to believe they have no conference and meeting rooms. I think you are over-generalizing using startups as a prototype; the enterprise world is a different beast. ~~~ Silhouette As I wrote before, I've also worked in some of the largest companies in the world. Obviously those do have meeting rooms in their offices, but IME people typically just bring their own laptops/devices to a meeting. I can't remember the last time I saw a dedicated PC that stayed in a meeting room, other than maybe ones used to run projectors and such in a conference centre that was hired out. ------ blackrock Plus, the confusing control panel. Everything is flat, with no color distinction, that I must scan every single stupid grey icon, and memorize or guess, what the icons mean. Before, some of the icons would have colors, like the defrag program, where I can quickly identify the program, because the icon has a touch of red in it. This slows me down, and it increases my cognitive overhead to look for things in Windows. And often times, the icons no longer have names on it, so it's a total guessing game what this flat abstract icon even means! The on and off buttons look alike! Often times, I can't figure out which it is. Light switches in the real world, is up and down, so this is easy to remember. But side switches, left or right, are confusing. Was it left to turn on, or the other way. I can't figure it out. Also, this problem plagues the stupid new iPhone designs too. I miss the skeuomorphisms. ~~~ jotm Fork that "control" panel. Use the old one. ~~~ zamadatix Most things in Settings aren't in the Control Panel and a lot of what is in the Control Panel opens the Settings app (e.g. Control Panel -> Default Programs -> Set your default programs) ------ suby It's worth a mention just how buggy win10 has been for me. I don't spend much time working in windows, but every time I do I encounter one issue or another. File explorer freezes / crashes. There is that one empty folder on my desktop that I cannot delete because it is in use, but there is nothing in the folder and no program is conceivably using it. There are occasional glitches with git. It wouldn't let me clone a git repo somewhere because it said the folder already existed. No such folder existed. Changing the destination name did nothing. Restarting fixed it. There was a bug which kept rearranging the order of desktop icons, which was actually pretty annoying. There is a bug that they seem to fix and then break with every other update. Basically, if I go fullscreen with some programs and two monitors set to mirror, the resolution zooms in and it's unusable. This is currently broken in the latest stable release. Installs from the windows store almost always fail for no obvious reason. I updated to 1909, or w/e the latest is, hoping that some of the isues I've encountered would be fixed. I've reinstalled the driver and tried fixing it but the USB wifi adapter that I have now no longer works (still works fine in Linux). I could go on. That is with me going out of my way to not install much at all on the pc, because I know that installing things like tweaks to stop telemetry like the author suggests will lead to even more issues. Contrast this to the experience I've had with Linux the past few years. It never crashes. Core programs like nemo (file explorer) do not freeze / crash. It updates without issue. I cannot think of a single issue i've had. The computer does exactly what I expect it to do. Stability is vital if you want to be productive. I'm sure other folks have had the opposite experience. For me though, I am done with Windows. ~~~ mehrdadn > File explorer freezes / crashes. It's been happening to me too, but it's unclear to me if it's one of my shell extensions or Windows itself. Do you run any shell extensions? > There are occasional glitches with git. It wouldn't let me clone a git repo > somewhere because it said the folder already existed. No such folder > existed. Changing the destination name did nothing. Restarting fixed it. That's mind-boggling. Were you using WSL at all, or just vanilla Windows git? WSL can have these types of issues if you try to mess with its file system (I think due to POSIX deletion semantics), but they shouldn't occur on your desktop... ~~~ jcelerier > It's been happening to me too, but it's unclear to me if it's one of my > shell extensions or Windows itself. Do you run any shell extensions? only shellex here is 7zfm integration and I get occasional explorer.exe crashes. Also I had an install where edge just wouldn't start. At all. ~~~ mehrdadn Good to know, thanks for the info! I do have 7-zip too, so I'll try to see if it might be related if it happens again. ------ intrepidhero I've started a list since getting my Win 10 machine at work: 1\. Sometimes when I select the titlebar of a maximized window to move it to my second monitor it somehow selects the window under the one with focus. 2\. For some applications (including MS Office ones) text is blurry when I move from laptop screen to external monitor. 4\. Windows 10 ships with a python.exe in the path that opens the MS Store. Figuring out which part of the path to fix to disable it was non-obvious. 5\. VirtualBox is broken because of some Hyper-V settings. I still haven't figured out how to fix this one. MS somehow shipped an OS with problems I've never seen before in _any_ OS... The first time I did an upgrade from 7 to 10 and I saw the horrible anti- patterns in the "opt-in" screens, I shut it down and switched to Debian Buster. No looking back. ~~~ zamadatix How on earth are you avoiding things like #2 on Debian? The only OS I've found that properly handles arbitrary DPI since day 1 has been Android. Also you skipped #3 in your list ~~~ intrepidhero :-) #3 is me complaining about the Ribbon and I figured that discussion has been done to death so I left it out and forgot to renumber. ------ _bxg1 I've come to accept that there is no good OS (maybe iOS, but not really). You're just picking your poison. Want to be spied on and have your system slowly accumulate cruft and grind to a halt over the course of a few years? Use Windows. Want to be constantly fiddling with your system just to keep it running on a day to day basis? Use Linux. Want to be _constantly_ spied on and probably also hacked? Use Android. Want to pay a bunch of extra money and still deal with a decent number of bugs¹ and _atrocious_ default settings/annoying user-protection features you have to turn off? Use macOS. ¹All of them are riddled with bugs ~~~ kardos > Want to be constantly fiddling with your system just to keep it running? Use > Linux. This may have been true 10+ years ago; the amount of fiddling required is pretty low these days. ~~~ Aardwolf I actually remember myself having to fiddle more with Windows than with Linux, in the Windows XP days. Windows would always invent some reason to require some reboot, or get random corrupted system files, or vcredist incompatibilities, or failed attempts at auto updates, or reinstall drivers for the mouse you just unplugged and plugged in a different USB port, or I don't remember what else it was with it all the time. Linux (at least Archlinux) doesn't require much once you install it, are happy with the set-up and regularly update it. Unless you're the kind of person who likes tweaking their Linux and trying out many distros, but if you do that means you like fidding with your system :) I personally just like an Archlinux installation that stays stable for 5+ years and actually use it. ~~~ _bxg1 > Linux (at least Archlinux) doesn't require much once you install it, are > happy with the set-up and regularly update it. Using Archlinux presumes you already know your system intimately and have taken the time to hand-craft it. That would make solving problems down the road much easier. On the other hand, if you're like me and you want to just drop standard-issue Linux (i.e. Ubuntu) on a computer and then just _use_ it, you quickly encounter gaps in the defaults/automatic setup and have to dig in and try to figure out where things went wrong. Your graphics driver gets confused when you plug in a second monitor. Your WiFi card isn't detected. There's no sound. Little things that kill your workflow in a death by a thousand cuts. Windows has just as much intrinsic fragility, if not more, but through sheer economy of scale nearly everyone's real-world problems have been addressed by layer upon layer of defaults and automatic checks. That's how Windows manages to "just work" most of the time. ------ alphachloride Windows 10 is can be infuriating. But I can't find any other OS that is a good alternative. It's the worst OS, except for all the other OSes out there. 1\. Best in gaming. 2\. Engineering applications (CAD/Matlab/LabView) are usually windows-first 3\. Good software development ecosystem. Now with Windows Subsystem for Linux, the need for having another OS is diminishing. 4\. User interface is great. A lot of customization options (official and third party). It is not bare-bones like Linux but also not user-proofed like macOS. ~~~ lallysingh #1 true. #2 yes but slowly moving to the web. #3 Linux is way ahead. #4 There are quite a few distributions, I think you should look around. I use KDE happily. I frankly find Windows rather bare bones in what you get. It seems everything needs another app, and they're all a pain in the ass. ~~~ elteto I don't know about moving to the web on #2. From what I have seen the web alternatives of those products, if they even exist, are tailored to the hobbyist, semi-professional market. Things like Siemens NX _can't_ move to the web, since we are talking about entire development platforms, not just applications. ~~~ lallysingh I was thinking about OnShape cad, Mathematica, and Matlab. Pretty major ones. ------ ogre_codes Apple hasn't done a great job of supporting MacOS over the past few years. Catalina in particular has been a bit rocky, but every time I look seriously at Windows as an alternative it falls short. It's quite sad to me that my choice of OS has essentially boiled down to "Sucks less, costs more". It's been a few years for me, but maybe time to start seriously looking at Linux on the desktop again. ~~~ ravenstine I don't see how Apple hasn't done the best job in terms of operating systems. macOS hasn't changed significantly in the last decade; it's essentially the same interface, but less skeumorphism. The only bug I've experienced that's close to being serious is the touchbar freezing(seriously wtf). Windows, on the other hand, has changed significantly. Sure, it runs 32-bit programs, but the interface difference between 7 and 10 is ginormous. Linux, as much as I love it, is probably the worst offender. At one point we had GNOME and KDE as dominant desktop environments, and then we had Unity, GNOME 3, Cinnamon, MATE, etc. Now after years of forcing Unity on everyone, Ubuntu has switched to GNOME except now GNOME is in a worse state than it was back in GNOME 2. Most distros are still using X11, graphics card support is lousy, and horizontal display tearing is still a problem that every commercial OS has 100% solved. macOS has at least remained fairly consistent compared to all the other competition. ~~~ Wowfunhappy > macOS hasn't changed significantly in the last decade See, my problem with macOS is that it has changed _far_ too much in the past decade. Mac OS X circa-2010 was stable, intuitive, robust, and beautiful. There was no need to re-architect anything. I wish Apple had gone into maintenance mode. Patch security holes, add new drivers, and update your hardware. That's all I want. New features are okay _if_ they address a real need, _and_ if they can be fit into your (at the time) very strong interface metaphors and guidelines. As a tradeoff, your users won't have their apps suddenly break, and your developers won't have to spend stupid amounts of time keeping up with unnecessary system changes. This is what's most grating about the deprecation of 32 bit support—as a user, I don't feel like I'm getting _anything_ out of it. Catalina is all downsides. In exchange for broken apps, I get an OS which is more buggy than ever and a bunch of ported cell phone apps. Just what I always wanted! I am by no means against change, but I am 100% against _unnecessarily_ change. From where I'm standing, the tech industry right now is _full_ of unnecessary change. Why does Windows have two control panels? I'll admit the new one looks nicer, but I'd much prefer having just one, even if it looks slightly dated. Maybe that's Microsoft's goal, but why should we all have to deal with a UX downgrade in the interim? ~~~ mixmastamyk > Why does Windows have two control panels? Two? Try three. If you did deep enough the original System control panel from old will come up. I prefer those actually, easy to understand and a lot less wordy. I don't come to the control panel to read a novel. ------ zionic >Truth to be told it's not a problem with HiDPI monitors but few people own them. It's almost 2020. Apple began shipping HiDPI in 2012. It's absolutely shameful that vendors are still shipping 1080p. ~~~ Scramblejams Lots of Windows apps don't support HiDPI correctly, and on many of them no matter what combination of workarounds you use you'll end up with some text being huge or some text being tiny. Heck, even Perforce, a constantly updated app in use on millions of machines, just recently fixed this. Where I have to use Windows, I always specify low dpi displays so I don't have to deal with all of that garbage. ~~~ NathanKP It's honestly not that bad in my opinion. Most apps work fine, and those that don't are usually old games or something like that. I've found an easy fix for them: Right click the executable and click "Properties" then go to the "Compatibility" tab you click the checkbox next to "Override high DPI scaling behavior". Then select the "System" option. This way Windows 10 does the scaling itself. The app will just look a little less sharp because it will use a larger virtual pixel instead of the real display pixel size but the app will work normally and all text and interface elements will be a reasonable size. ~~~ Scramblejams Tried that, found the result gross to look at. ~~~ oceanswave It’s sad when a 5k monitor works flawlessly under macOS and then you fire up a windows VM with the latest version of SQL Server Management Studio and then needing to squint at the text ------ Wowfunhappy If at all possible, use Windows 10 LTSC/LTSB. LTSC was exactly what I wanted from a Windows OS. No Windows Store, no Candy Crush, and—most importantly by far—only security updates. It's the Debian model. Your OS stays secure, but the software will _never_ change in a user visible way, unless/until you specifically choose to install a new LTSC release, which comes out around once every two years. It's perfect. ~~~ toast0 LTSC sounds nice, but licensing it is not simple or inexpensive if you're just a normal person with a few computers at home. ~~~ Wowfunhappy Completely agreed, that's where the "if at all possible" part comes in. :( And it's ridiculous! The next time Microsoft PR says basically anything about being dedicated to consumers, stop and consider: a significant* subset of consumers have been clambering for a product which Microsoft already makes anyway, but refuses to sell. * (We'll never know _how_ significant minus millions of dollars in market research. But it's clearly enough people to warrant adding some buttons to your checkout page. Again, this is a product that Microsoft already makes.) ------ nvarsj One positive point as the article points out is compatibility. This is the single reason Windows remains the staple of industry software, across almost all industries. It's particularly relevant in light of recent Mac OS X dropping 32-bit support. There are a lot of professionals whose livelihood depends on these older apps that either will never be updated or will take a very long time to do so. ~~~ zozbot234 I bet Wine is actually more compatible than Windows itself. Especially if you just look at software up to the Windows 7 era. Can you run Windows 3.1 programs on a modern 64-bit OS? With Wine it can be done. ~~~ oaiey I think a bet you would loose :). Wine is an awesome project but 100 devs vs 10.000 devs is not fair on an API surface as big as Win32. ~~~ majewsky The Wine devs don't have to spend time on stuff like telemetry and ads. And they only need to replicate a tiny sliver of Windows' UIs. ------ folkhack Windows 10 is/was the slap in the face it took to finally migrate all of my development workflow to Linux, and my Adobe workflow to OSX. ------ softwaredoug Something small I like about Windows: when I plug in Ethernet, it actually shows an Ethernet connection in the system tray. OSX seems to have a special icon for tethering to iPhone, but not Ethernet of all things. It just show the wifi icon, even when Ethernet is connected. Grr. ~~~ kwhat4 It is physically plugged into the computer so you obviously don't need an icon cluttering your UI. This is the Apple design philosophy you paid extra for. ~~~ MereInterest I'm glad that I can always see the other end of the ethernet cable, and therefore do not need a way to determine if there is an active connection. ------ pxeboot Very valid issues here. Although it has improved, Windows Update is still shockingly bad compared to any decent package manager used on Linux in the past 10+ years. ~~~ cpach Is there anyone who can explain why Windows Update is so much slower than running »apt upgrade« and similar? ~~~ Arnavion Part of the reason is what I described in [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20812142](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20812142) and its child comment. ~~~ cpach Interesting! Thank you for writing this up. ------ Neil44 Windows 10 is a service, i.e. where will Microsoft get its recurring income from. a) Marketing data, b) start charging monthly fees for OS features. ------ neurobashing Surprised no one linked to his similar Linux list: [https://itvision.altervista.org/why.linux.is.not.ready.for.t...](https://itvision.altervista.org/why.linux.is.not.ready.for.the.desktop.current.html) ------ 3fe9a03ccd14ca5 > _The most egregious, of course, is a total abandonment of any form of > privacy and control._ This is an issue for me, and it’s an issue you, but it is emphatically _not an issue_ for the vast majority of windows users. Do bloggers simply choose to ignore this fact when writing swan song posts about the “end” of this or that? ~~~ Silhouette _it is emphatically not an issue for the vast majority of windows users._ There is no way to know that unless they have been presented with a viable alternative that they understand. I had a fascinating conversation a little while ago with some slightly younger friends who are very much of the digital native, smartphone-since-birth generation. They couldn't live without their social media and always-online everything. They still thought it was creepy that when they went travelling they started getting all sorts of ads about places they were going and so on because they realised it meant something on their phones was spying on them. They didn't _like_ it, they would just _tolerate_ it because they had no other way to stay connected to what is, for that generation, a normal life. ------ viraptor > but the truth is that the built-in antimalware protection in Windows is > simply horrible (according to various AV comparisons, Microsoft Essentials > misses over 20% of in-the-wild malware) AV comparisons have to be normally taken with a pile of salt. There's rarely an independent one. And even once you start looking at 3rd parties, it turns out they enable attack surface on their own. Then there's a number of 3rd parties which rely on cloud scanning aka "submit it to virustotal". Here's some more context for why the comparisons are tricky: [https://www.mrg- effitas.com/research/stop-using-virustotal-t...](https://www.mrg- effitas.com/research/stop-using-virustotal-to-measure-how-av-sucks/) ------ poisonborz At this point I'm not sure that a desktop OS with this wide hardware compatibility and backwards compatibility can be written any better than Windows 10. The thing is, if you are an experienced user with willingness to search for solutions, you can fix most of the problems. Disable updates completely, disable cortana, stop 99% of the telemetry, use alternative utilities instead of the built-in ones, fix security issues with network rules etc. It takes time and patience, but in the end you get a good work environment that is relatively stable, compatible with literally every hardware and also has the absolutely widest selection of software available. That is all I want from an OS. ~~~ devwastaken The fixes you've listed get overturned by Microsoft. Just because you _can_ hack around windows to make it temporarily do the things you want, doesn't mean it's a resolved problem. Microsoft only does this because they've been able to reduce consumer expectations. Being a part of that means the next version will be worse. ~~~ poisonborz But this doesn't really matter as you can disable updates (group policies through WinPro). By the time someone is pressed to update for compatibility, there is already a solution to fix what the update broke. For the sake of enterprises, Windows will always have a switch to disable updates. And since it is hugely complex, and it needs to keep large portions compatible, there will probably be always ways to hack around. Of course this state of things is far from ideal, and it's not easily available for everyday users. But I think an open source desktop OS could have never achieved the things that Windows is respected for. ------ dotnetcore it's funny to read a rant from a ex-Microsoft and sad that he doesn't know why Microsoft still have a vast market share. I've been in the IT game for 10+ years. small/mid companies doesn't have the budget or man powers to leave the MS's lala land and they can care less. IT is a money losing dept and they need to make money by focus on what they do best. Windows is a platform where most of their software work and their employees know. do you think small/mid or heck the giant corporation have the money, staff and time to move their employees and operation out of Windows. ~~~ thisisnico IT costs money yes, but it's not like there is ZERO ROI. Just because the value isn't immediately obvious doesn't mean it's not helping the business and it's bottom line. I agree that certain aspects of IT you should try to minimize cost because the value add is minimal, or because throwing more money at that aspect of IT does not help the business. But other aspects of IT that improve efficiency of the organization or even multiply the capabilities of the business will give you a significant ROI. Just to put it into perspective, is Marketing your business exclusively lose you money? Obviously not. There is an ROI, but it's not always immediately measurable. I'm sorry whatever education or experience had failed you in seeing this. The successful business will recognize the value of every department and attempt to maximize the return where it makes sense. I agree with your other points. The entire business industry is on Windows. Almost all applications work on Windows or integrate with Windows. Most employees are experienced with Windows. the cost of retraining, the loss of potential talent, the cost of not being able to integrate fully with other businesses that are on Windows are some of the reasons why they are entrenched. I have a finance degree, business degree, comp sci degree, and run my own business plus have worked IN IT at successful multi-million dollar orgs and the most successful focus on IT as well as other departments to push value add investment in those departments. ------ JohnFen Wow, that's a very comprehensive list! I think it covers pretty much every item that makes Windows 10 unacceptable for my personal use (unfortunately, I'm required to use Win 10 in my workplace.) ~~~ LinuxBender My workplace is the same. Windows or Mac. I was on mac, but enterprise support for mac is awful and was limited to 16GB ram. I moved to Windows and installed Hyper-V so that I could have Linux VM's and have 64GB ram. That is where I do all my work. Hyper-V still needs a lot of refinement, but it works. ~~~ gotoeleven How do you keep windows from rebooting when it feels like it to install 'critical' updates? Id like to use windows as a linux VM host but every couple weeks my linux server is taken down because automatic reboots can't be disabled. Microsoft seems to actively prevent every workaround people find to disable this rebooting, no matter how difficult and arcane. ~~~ LinuxBender At work we are on Windows 10 Enterprise. Updates are installed by the business. I've only ever been prompted for a reboot once and it was for a 0-day mitigation that was deployed as an emergency change. ------ makecheck I see a few comments trying to forgive Windows 10 “now” because certain things aren’t true “anymore” or lousy features can technically be turned off, etc. but those excuses do not hold up: \- The initial Windows 10 launch and forced-update scheme was _completely botched_. It _directly_ caused major problems and cost users incredible amounts of money that Microsoft didn’t have to cover at all! (Examples: Business interruptions. Personal data losses and/or broken apps. Data-plan costs for downloading and re-downloading bloated updates over slow and/or expensive connections. Buying replacement hardware if things are broken and people don’t know what else to do.) \- Terrible defaults are inexcusable. Most people will not know that they should change things, or know how. Windows Updates can reverse settings anyway so even if you get your friends and family to fix an obnoxious setting once, it may not persist. \- This was produced by a massive company that had the resources to spend to do this properly. They should have spent those resources. ------ _wldu When Win10 came out, we had several meetings about privacy concerns. I did not understand the concern. Smart phones spy on their users all the time, and no one really cares. Why, all of a sudden, is it an issue when desktops/laptops do the same thing that phones have done for almost a decade now? No one gave me a good answer to that question. ~~~ TazeTSchnitzel I believe iOS phones give users a lot more control over their data than Windows PCs do now. ------ mixmastamyk Windows had the best GUI and kernel in the 2000/XP/Classic timeframe. God it sucked hard in many little areas though. BUT, they've been knocking things out in the last few years. Windows is getting tolerable again: \- Better security \- Windows Terminal \- ExFat specs \- Dark theme Too bad I'll never use it with telemetry and cortana etc. :-/ ~~~ Fjolsvith > \- Dark theme Worst thing to happen was their elimination of color customization of the user interface in Windows 10. I don't know why Microsoft had to eliminate the viewing ease of their ENTIRE user base. ~~~ mixmastamyk Totally agree, yet they weren’t the only one. Think it happened as early as Win 7. ------ drewg123 I have a windows 10 laptop that i keep around for the few things that need windows (updating an old remote control, that kind of thing), and the odd/annoying behavior is that the fonts will go insane after updates. There will be no fonts at all for the desktop icons, or traditional windows apps. Even cmd.exe doesn't show any fonts. However, web browsers (chrome) will work (with some fonts being weird), as will the new-ish windows 10 style control panel things. I've finally figured out that logging in as a different user, logging my account out, and then logging back in as me will "fix" the font issue ... until the next update. ------ pier25 I'm mostly a macOS guy but I built a new music production and gaming machine a couple of month ago with Windows 10. Other than the ugly UI and confusing UX it has been running flawlessly for me. ------ thrower123 Most of these issues are solved if you can manage to get your hands on a copy of the LTSB (or whatever they are calling it these days, I believe the name has changed slightly) version of Windows 10. I would actually pay good money for this distribution, but it's only available through MSDN subscriptions or enterprise licensing. It's a rock-solid, stable, garbage-free version of Windows. You don't get any half-borked feature updates, only security fixes. No Cortana, no Store, no Candy Crush. ~~~ itvision Sadly not legally available for SOHO users in any shape or form. ~~~ interrealmedium You can get a volume license by buying a bunch of licenses for stuff that's $5-$10 per user. You'll still end up with a total of ~$300 (Including one LTSC license), but it is entirely legal and supported by Microsoft. ------ thelazydogsback > You may probably want to know why Windows 10 feels so buggy I'm not sure why all the hate -- I have had zero stability issues, it boots amazingly fast, and if you get rid of all the default crap on the start menu it looks ok and search finally works like a charm. > In certain cases it's extremely difficult to find or update drivers for your > hardware devices ( Except that it's more difficult everywhere else - if you can even find a driver... ~~~ ertecturing I like to have themes installed & windows update (which 99% of people will not be able to figure out how to fully stop) always breaks my computer requiring me to roll back to the previous update until I get another update notification which force-ably breaks my computer again. I now use Sledgehammer 2.6.0 to absolutely crush windows' update attempts every time I boot up. Microsoft deserves hate for not giving users simple permissions over their own systems. ------ tasogare It took almost 5 years for Apple to recognize and fix the butterfly keyboard, which was an obviously bad design. Microsoft is 5 years in with Windows 10 but they are no sign of awareness at all about how crappy it is. Which is sad because Windows has some good points and advantages (I love Visual Studio, notably), but it's not useable as a daily driver anymore since Win8. ------ fuu_dev "Most malware writers target Windows as the most popular desktop OS, so it has the biggest number of viruses among all other OSes (over five thousand new viruses daily)." I thought the article had the aim to showcase solvable issues. Yet it seems to more often just point out the same issue (e.g. privacy), minor issues(inconsistency in legacy apps) and even suggest harmful practices (disable security software, never upgrade...). ------ nojvek I just bought a new MacBook Pro. I don’t like it but I couldn’t think of a better alternative. I like OSX, been very used to it. I worked at MS and still hate windows (the default track everything philosophy is a big deal breaker). Linux for the desktop may come next year. I really wish Microsoft listened to its customers and stops the track everything crap. ------ ksbakan Been using win7 since forever. Win10 is such a huge step back that I just install win7 even on new PCs. Even hidipi works almost as well on win7. Probably the only thing I miss that I care about is hdr and ble. The fact that ms wants you to use win10 so badly is a big hint that it's full of antifeatures. ~~~ gustavorg Can you please, because I'm terrified, 2-3 reasons why win7 and no windows 10? I need to make a decision soon (1 week or sooner) ~~~ zamadatix Windows 7 goes end of life in 2 weeks. Unless you're using an old computer your hardware (e.g. CPU) is probably not supported, even if it does run it won't run properly. With EoL approaching Nvidia/AMD will stop publishing driver updates and new GPUs won't be hardware accelerated. The security model in Windows 10 is as big a jump as XP -> 7 was. It often takes manually loading additional drivers to even get the installer to recognize your disks/hardware. ~~~ foe5424 > Windows 7 goes end of life in 2 weeks. No it doesn't, for two reasons. Chromium Edge will support windows 7, ironically the release date it's just one day after Win7 supposedly goes eol. and of course Windows 7 ESU support will end in 2023. ~~~ zamadatix And they released a patch for CVE-2019-0708 on Windows 2000, that doesn't mean Windows 2000 isn't EoL as of 2019 it means a one off decision was made. ESU is for businesses not end users and requires professional or higher. ------ jstewartmobile Wine however, is awesome. For UI apps on Linux, I think Wine is a better platform than Qt/GTK/etc. ~~~ techntoke Wine is okay, but for me it generates lots of errors and overall is much slower compared to a native app. I'd much prefer a native Qt app than a Wine app. ~~~ jstewartmobile PS2 emulator works at full frame rate under it--ordinary GUIs should fly. There's something else going on there... ------ java-man Missing from the list: Win 10 periodically resets the "default applications", completely ignoring previous user preferences. Starts opening PDF files with Edge (argh!) or TXT with Notepad (double argh!). Does anyone know how to prevent this? ~~~ justaman I'm not sure I've ever heard of anyone having this problem aside from that large server update a year or two ago and their "desktop experience". Can anyone tell me more? ~~~ java-man Literally today it opened a PDF file with Edge for me. And, of course, file association page does not have a searh box to help find .txt among hundreds of useless and unassigned extensions. ~~~ jodrellblank See: [https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20170517-00/?p=96...](https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20170517-00/?p=96175) for an explanation. " _A customer reported that each time they restart their Windows 10 PC, the file association for PDF documents keeps getting reset to the default, which is Microsoft Edge._ [..]" ~~~ java-man This is not a case of Program X messing with registry. This is the __user __explicitly setting Program X to be the default application. I guess there is no way (given the current registry design) to differentiate between the user modifying the registry and a program modifying the registry. Again, coming back to the original message - the case scenario is not that some program is changing the preferences. It the user changing the setting, and Win10 silently discarding the user input (after a reboot or some automated update). ------ lowmagnet 10 is the most usable version of Windows, hands down, and it's where you go if you have even remotely modern hardware. Why are people still arguing that it's bad? ~~~ mixmastamyk It still has a _long_ way to go for a company with the resources of MS. They are now developing/not-finished-with a color terminal app to catch up with the 80s. There are three layers of control panels. See the article for a longer list of complaints. ------ TwoNineFive It's not your computer. An OS by Microsoft for the benefit of Microsoft Forced Updates Forcible information disclosure Changes without consent Dark patterns Your privacy, their profit Advertisments Microsoft may be collecting more data than initially thought [http://www.ghacks.net/2016/01/05/microsoft-may-be- collecting...](http://www.ghacks.net/2016/01/05/microsoft-may-be-collecting- more-data-than-initially-thought/) Windows 10: data collecting all for the greater good [http://www.ghacks.net/2015/09/29/windows-10-data- collecting-...](http://www.ghacks.net/2015/09/29/windows-10-data-collecting- all-for-the-greater-good/) "data collection cannot be turned off fully on all but Enterprise editions of Windows 10" What Windows 10 is actually monitoring (regardless of privacy settings) (self.Windows10) [https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3gm1e3/what_wind...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3gm1e3/what_windows_10_is_actually_monitoring_regardless/) [GUIDE] How to disable data logging in W10. (self.Windows10) [https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3f38ed/guide_how...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3f38ed/guide_how_to_disable_data_logging_in_w10/) Can I completely disable Cortana on Windows 10? [https://superuser.com/questions/949569/can-i-completely- disa...](https://superuser.com/questions/949569/can-i-completely-disable- cortana-on-windows-10) "passive-aggressive authoritarianism" [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16383577](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16383577) So, my home server was hijacked... (self.Windows10) [https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3zu8au/so_my_hom...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3zu8au/so_my_home_server_was_hijacked/) Windows 10 Personality is kind of like a manager that pretends to be your friend, but always comes across snarky, and still uses their position to force you to do things you otherwise wouldn't do. (self.Windows10) [https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/41pr62/windows_1...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/41pr62/windows_10_personality_is_kind_of_like_a_manager/) Tablet view is showing saved porn images (self.Windows10) [https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3f5won/tablet_vi...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3f5won/tablet_view_is_showing_saved_porn_images/) Windows: "We have some new features we are excited about" \- proceeds to not tell me what these features are.. How do you keep up with updates? (self.Windows10) [https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3yyx78/windows_w...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3yyx78/windows_we_have_some_new_features_we_are_excited/) My frustration with Windows 10 is reaching a boiling point (self.Windows10) [https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3ynyvf/my_frustr...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3ynyvf/my_frustration_with_windows_10_is_reaching_a/) Gotta love how Edge switched to my PDF viewer without any action on my behalf (t.gyazo.com) [https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/42l2k5/gotta_lov...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/42l2k5/gotta_love_how_edge_switched_to_my_pdf_viewer/) Calculator now freezes and nags for reviews? (i.imgur.com) [https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/4195rl/calculato...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/4195rl/calculator_now_freezes_and_nags_for_reviews/) Warning: Windows 7 computers are being reported as automatically starting the Windows 10 upgrade without permission. (self.technology) [https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/4a0asv/warning_...](https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/4a0asv/warning_windows_7_computers_are_being_reported_as) Microsoft hits a new low -- sneaks Windows 10 advertising into an Internet Explorer security patch [http://betanews.com/2016/03/09/windows-10-advertising-in- ie-...](http://betanews.com/2016/03/09/windows-10-advertising-in-ie-security- patch/) [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11262037](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11262037) [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11276322](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11276322) Microsoft is using an Internet Explorer security patch to shove more 'Upgrade to Windows 10' nagware at Windows users [http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-embeds-nagware- into...](http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-embeds-nagware-into-ie- patch-2016-3?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter) Microsoft is using 'malware tactics' to trick people into upgrading to Windows 10 [http://www.businessinsider.com/windows-10-pop-ups- tricking-u...](http://www.businessinsider.com/windows-10-pop-ups-tricking- users-into-upgrading-x-2016-5) One wrong click could get you Windows 10 — whether you want it or not [http://www.businessinsider.com/windows-10-upgrade- popup-2016...](http://www.businessinsider.com/windows-10-upgrade-popup-2016-5) Microsoft re-releases KB 3035583 Get Windows 10 installer -- again [http://www.infoworld.com/article/3048152/microsoft- windows/m...](http://www.infoworld.com/article/3048152/microsoft- windows/microsoft-re-releases-kb-3035583-get-windows-10-installer-again.html) PSA: Windows 7 computers are being reported as automatically starting the Windows 10 upgrade without permission. [https://www.reddit.com/r/pcgaming/comments/4a5edx/psa_window...](https://www.reddit.com/r/pcgaming/comments/4a5edx/psa_windows_7_computers_are_being_reported_as/) Windows 10: Microsoft launches intrusive full-screen upgrade reminder [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/04/microsoft...](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/04/microsoft- windows-10-full-screen-upgrade-notification-pop-up-reminder) [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12030257](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12030257) [https://techreport.com/news/30351/microsoft-final- windows-10...](https://techreport.com/news/30351/microsoft-final- windows-10-upgrade-prompt-goes-full-screen) Sick of this shit (Windows 10) (self.sysadmin) [https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/7d68rg/sick_of_th...](https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/7d68rg/sick_of_this_shit_windows_10/) Hey Microsoft, Stop Installing Apps On My PC Without Asking [https://www.howtogeek.com/342871/hey-microsoft-stop- installi...](https://www.howtogeek.com/342871/hey-microsoft-stop-installing- apps-on-my-pc-without-asking/) [https://tech.slashdot.org/story/18/02/15/1720243/hey- microso...](https://tech.slashdot.org/story/18/02/15/1720243/hey-microsoft- stop-installing-apps-on-my-pc-without-asking) Microsoft again forced upgrades on Win10 machines specifically set to block updates [https://www.computerworld.com/article/3261969/microsoft- wind...](https://www.computerworld.com/article/3261969/microsoft- windows/microsoft-again-forced-upgrades-on-win10-machines-specifically-set-to- block-updates.html) [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16582231](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16582231) Windows Update shutdown is threatening to eliminate a many hours-long project by shutting down [https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/8am914/windows_u...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/8am914/windows_update_shutdown_is_threatening_to/?st=jfxrvd54&sh=7f0e763a) Windows 10 automatically re-creates pre-installed bloatware game shortcuts on start menu. [https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/8g6v0j/god_damn_...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/8g6v0j/god_damn_itstop_it_pls/) Why does the Windows 10 Update screen only show uninformative messages, they're a little creepy IMHO [https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/8mbzi4/why_does_...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/8mbzi4/why_does_the_windows_10_update_screen_only_show/) More forced updates, even when the system is configured to NOT update [https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/8num0w/good_grie...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/8num0w/good_grief_microsoft_windowsupdatealwaysfindsaway/) Search is crap [https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/8psaq9/we_have_r...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/8psaq9/we_have_reached_peak_ux/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/8qucfq/what_is_t...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/8qucfq/what_is_the_purpose_of_store_search_if_you_have/) Hey, Microsoft, stop installing third-party apps on clean Windows 10 installs! (windowscentral.com) [https://old.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/9ibj5i/hey_micr...](https://old.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/9ibj5i/hey_microsoft_stop_installing_thirdparty_apps_on/) Need to disable as much windows 10 spying as possible without breaking windows update. Where do i start? [https://old.reddit.com/r/privacytoolsIO/comments/8bg75f/need...](https://old.reddit.com/r/privacytoolsIO/comments/8bg75f/need_to_disable_as_much_windows_10_spying_as/) Microsoft Broke Windows 10’s File Associations With a Botched Update [https://www.howtogeek.com/fyi/microsoft-broke- windows-10s-fi...](https://www.howtogeek.com/fyi/microsoft-broke- windows-10s-file-associations-with-a-botched-update/) Is Windows 10 still telling Microsoft what you're doing even if you don't want it to? [https://www.zdnet.com/article/is-windows-10-still-telling- mi...](https://www.zdnet.com/article/is-windows-10-still-telling-microsoft- what-youre-doing-even-if-you-dont-want-it-to/) [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18673482](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18673482) Does anyone have an exhaustive list of IP ranges for MS Telemetry? [https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3j8909/does_anyo...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3j8909/does_anyone_have_an_exhaustive_list_of_ip_ranges/) 534 Ways that Windows 10 Tracks You – From German Cyber Intelligence [https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2018/11/534-ways-...](https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2018/11/534-ways- that-windows-10-tracks-you-from-german-cyberintelligence/) Microsoft store installing apps without my permission and can't be disabledDark Pattern (i.redd.it) [https://old.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/cjnpgq/micro...](https://old.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/cjnpgq/microsoft_store_installing_apps_without_my/) What the hell is this shit getting installed without my permission? [https://old.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/d6aspy/what_the_...](https://old.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/d6aspy/what_the_hell_is_this_shit_getting_installed/) MS has removed the "use offline account" option when installing [https://old.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/daim1y/ms_has_re...](https://old.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/daim1y/ms_has_removed_the_use_offline_account_option/) [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21103683](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21103683) Microsoft Starts Showing Non-Removable Ads In Windows 10 Mail, Calendar Apps [https://mspoweruser.com/ads-in-windows-10-mail-and- calendar-...](https://mspoweruser.com/ads-in-windows-10-mail-and-calendar- app/) [https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/12/17/2249238/microsoft-s...](https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/12/17/2249238/microsoft- starts-showing-non-removable-ads-in-windows-10-mail-calendar-apps) ------ Avery3R Some of the author's points are right, however in my opinion a lot of them are wrong, and seem to be coming from the perspective of "it's not linux so it sucks" >The user as a system administrator (thus viruses/ malware - most users don't and won't understand UAC warnings). How is this different from sudo? >No good packaging mechanism (MSI is way too fragile). In all of my years using windows I've had msi fail only a handful of times. >No system-wide update mechanism (which includes third party software - to be fair there are third party applications which offer this functionality, but then such applications don't support core Windows updates). Microsoft update will update some third party software, like flash. There is so much software on windows that a centralized update system isn't really tractable. >In certain cases it's extremely difficult to find or update drivers for your hardware devices (anyone who's tried to install a fresh Windows onto their laptop will testify). Problem with the oem, not with windows. It's up to the hw manufacturer to publish drivers in easy to find places. >Windows is extremely difficult to debug (e.g. try finding out why your system is slow to boot). While not as easy as debugging with source Microsoft provides debug symbols for all major kernel components. This makes getting a kernel stack trace and examining structures very easy. >Windows boot problems are too often fatal and unsolvable unless you reinstall from scratch. Only if you don't know the correct utilities to use. Most boot issues can be fixed with a combination of bcdboot, bcdedit, and repairing the dism image. On the rare occasion that those don't work you can go even deeper with a kernel debugger. >The Windows OS installer doesn't give a damn about other OSes installed on your PC and it always overwrites the MBR. In case of already existing Windows installations, it sets the newly installed Windows as the default OS - no questions asked. In case of UEFI, booting of other non-Windows OSes is unsupported and Windows actively prevents this. This was true back when MBR was used. It is now extremely difficult to use MBR with windows, and almost all other OSs support UEFI by this point. Saying booting of other non-Windows OSs is just wrong. This person's source is a technet post, which you can consider the microsoft equivelant to stack overflow. The accepted answer is from a community moderator. In my experience if it's not a Microsoft employee replying, then there's a 90% chance that the answer is wrong. Windows does not wipe out any other UEFI boot application binaries or the boot nvar entires. It just adds its own binaries, adds a nvar boot entry, then set's that entry as the default. Hitting your boot menu key when you boot will allow you to select any of the other entries, and your firmware setup utility will allow you to change the order in which they boot. >Windows anti-virus products oftentimes make your PC less safe - so if you want perfect security and privacy, stop using Windows and migrate to Linux right away. OEM updaters make your PC wide open for attacks. For most power users, it's true. AV products do increase your attack surface for only a small benefit. However, in a corporate enviornment with less tech savy users, they are extemely needed. People will just click whatever links and download and run anything. >Microsoft has recently decided that you will no longer be able to download certain Windows updates manually. You'll only be able to get them via Windows Update. That is 100% not what they're saying. They're just saying they used to publish the update files to two places, and now they're going to reduce redundancy and only publish them to one, the update catalog. You can visit the update catalog in a browser and still download all of the updates. >"sfc /scannow" is offered as a solution to most Windows Update Service and Microsoft Installer Service errors, yet in absolute most cases it's totally ineffective. This is commonly offered as a solution on community forums, but I rarely see it offered as a solution on official Microsoft documentation. >Windows does not automatically clean temporary files ever, however it must do that for every reboot/power cycle - partially solved in Windows 10 1809. This seems like personal preference to me. I'd rather keep %TEMP% around and only clean it out with cleanmgr when needed. Several browsers store their cache in %TEMP% and I'd rather not have that wiped out across reboots. >Windows keeps a large number of databases of the applications which the user runs: Windows Activity History, bam.sys, Prefetcher, Program Compatibility Assistant and others. The only one you should be upset about is Windows Activity History. BAM is used to help determine when the machine is idle and background maintenance tasks can be performed without impacting the user. The prefetcher is used to speed up the initial start of applications. The compatibility assistant is used to help increase backwards compatibility with older software. >Safe Mode has become impossible to access unless you've booted into ... the running OS, which totally defeats its purpose. Also Safe Mode is hidden behind almost a dozen of steps vs. a single F8 key press on boot in every Windows version from 95 to 7. True that they've made it much harder to access by default which I think is the wrong move. If you reset the computer while windows is in the middle of booting several times you'll be brought to a recovery menu which will let you boot into safe mode. ------ Hackbraten > updates mean nothing for security because over 90% of infections happen due > to the user's actions That’s mixing up cause and effect. It’s a bit like saying vaccines are useless because 90% of people die from cancer and heart conditions. ------ collsni This is outdated. There is misinformation in the article, but it does hit some highlights. ------ Dirlewanger Anyone have experience with the LTSC? ~~~ itvision I love it. It's a stripped down to the bare bones Windows 10 which doesn't include UWP apps (except the core ones, like the start menu and PC settings) and which allows to disable pretty much all the telemetry. Also, it's rock solid, doesn't get reinstalled every 12 months and is supported for 10+ years. In short, it's what Windows 10 should have been. ------ LoSboccacc > Disable all apps from the Windows Store. damn I hate this. did the mistake to try Skype from the app, in a period where Skype for desktop had issues with for transfers, only to discover it's worse in every way, and now I'm stuck, unable to remove it out prevent it from start ~~~ ragequitta Strange I was able to right click -> uninstall the skype store app from the start menu no problem. ~~~ LoSboccacc did that and also tried from the power shell and as soon as I reboot is back ------ npo9 I remember a time in 2012. I was installing Windows on my computer to play a video game. It was the first time I used windows in about 2-3 years. I started installing some utilities. A web browser, steam, a music player, etc. One of them asked me to install the Ask Jeeves toolbar. I became very angry. Of course I didn’t want to install the Ask Jeeves toolbar. No one wants the Ask Jeeves toolbar. What a dark pattern to try to get me to misclick and install some crap. What a clear lack of user focus. This angered me. Tbh, I couldn’t tell you if it’s common for install wizards to try to shovel in crapware these days, because I avoid most situations where I have to use Windows. So much of the common user experiences in Windows are dark patterns. ~~~ ragequitta Wouldn't you be able to say the same about literally any OS that doesn't have a completely walled garden? I'm positive I can find software on linux that bundles the askjeeves software as well. And probably MacOS. You blame the software developer for that and never use their product, you don't blame the OS. ~~~ Aardwolf Never saw that in a package for Ubuntu or Archlinux, not even AUR packages. Maybe it's just not the target audience of such toolbars, but if there were I'd also expect package maintainers and user comments would deal with the issue.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Rogue Dairy Queen has been ignoring corporate HQ since 1949 - curtis http://nypost.com/2015/07/23/rogue-dairy-queen-has-been-ignoring-corporate-hq-since-1949/? ====== torgoguys The tldr is that that are not rogue nor ignoring corporate HQ. They are just operating under a very old agreement (dating to the 1940s) which offers the local owners more flexibility. That allows them to offer their own menu items, close during winter, and make standard DQ items in nonstandard ways (which my local DQ is happy to do as well, FWIW). ------ Someone1234 Honestly it sounds like corporate has their head up their own butt. I understand why uniformity sells, DQ becomes a "known quantity" and if you're driving in an unknown area you can hop in and know exactly what you're getting. But you can accomplish that AND allow individual stores to excel by allowing them a few bespoke/store specific items. Just call them "store specials" or something. I think DQ HQ sounds too arrogant, instead of trying to bring this store in line, they should be looking at what they're doing that makes them so popular and try to replicate core elements of that across other stores. DQ as a brand, to me, is one that is slowly dying or at the very least has hit a growth stall. They may not be struggling, but the storm clouds are off over the horizon, and around here places like Menchie's are much more popular for desert. ~~~ jinushaun I wish the franchise model allowed this. You can have a minimum level of service, but allow some locations to customize their experience or provide other services as long as it goes above and beyond the minimum. For example, a Starbucks in the big city can standardize around fancy latte art, but a location in th country could compete more directly with Dunkin Donuts. You can have a local McDonalds with furniture and decor that more resembles Shake Shack or Chipotle than McDonalds from the 90s. ------ at-fates-hands This DQ is pretty famous in the area and is located at a busy intersection in Moorhead. You can get a decent lunch for around $6 and be totally full, which is hard to do these days. A foot long chili cheese dog, an order of fries and a 20oz drink for $6? Unheard of these days. With all the fast food places (including DQ Grill and Chill restaurants) starting to reduce their portions while increasing prices, this place hasn't done that yet - a simple reason people keep coming back. In the summer, the lines are long because all the landscapers, lawn crews, and construction guys flock to this place for lunch because you get a ton of food almost nothing. ------ ebbv There's nothing rogue about this DQ at all, this is just a corporate press release that has unfortunately gotten picked up a bit. If you look at their "local items" that are supposedly rebellious, it's just hot dogs like every other DQ that serves hot food serves. My local DQs close for the winter too, there's nothing special about that either. It's typical of DQs with no indoor seating in northern states.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Court documents claim Kim Dotcom ratted out competitors - padseeker http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-12/23/kim-dotcom-destroys-rivals ====== padseeker I know in the past there seems to be a lot of sympathy for Kim from most Reddit/HN. A lot of this comes from the rightful animosity toward the Film/TV/Music Industry as well as the governments who advocate for SOPA like legislation. But this guy is such a weasel, I don't think he deserves to be the poster boy for electronic freedom. This guy is such a parasite whose sole purpose was to make money at all costs. At least the Pirate's Bay seems to have some degree of principle. Kim is just a whore.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Night-before-opsmas.txt - hartleybrody https://gist.github.com/anonymous/8109885 ====== emiunet Happy holidays to you! I am still on ops duty right now :) ------ narsil That would be me right now, minus everything breaking (otherwise I wouldn't be on HN of course). Merry Christmas! :) ~~~ sounds Here's to hoping you get some time off in the next day or so! Cheers!	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Sequence: A High Performance Sequential Semantic Log Parser at 175,000 MPS - zhenjl http://zhen.org/blog/sequence-high-performance-sequential-semantic-log--parser/ ====== lsh Another alternative to regular expression based message parsing that has native support within syslog-ng: patterndb ([http://www.balabit.com/network- security/syslog-ng/opensource...](http://www.balabit.com/network- security/syslog-ng/opensource-logging-system/features/pattern-db)) Very fast and a bit complex to setup, but well documented and well tooled. Mature. It could do with some more community love, tbh. ~~~ zhenjl Thanks for the link. Do you have any info on the performance of this parser? ~~~ lsh I'm sorry to say I do not. I've only very recently got a stable monitoring configuration in place with this as a key piece, parsing up messages and sending them to downstream programs. I welcome the move away from regular expressions though - they are just not necessary in this particular domain. We'll see if PatternDB's coarse grained approach comes back to bite me. I'm happy to help as I can if you decide to use PatternDB - you can find me at l.skibinski at elifesciences dot org. I have some notes for getting started quickly I really should publish ... ------ biot As this appears to have been submitted by the author: the site is very difficult to read on an iPad. The font size toggles between small and large every few seconds. Easily reproduced in both Chrome and Safari. ~~~ zhenjl Thanks for letting me know. I hadn't realized that. Will have to figure out why. ------ brazzledazzle What's the key differentiator between this and logstash? Obviously logstash has this beat on the number of patterns simply because it's been around for longer. If this is truly different (superior and/or faster) than logstash's grok parser, I wonder if this could be implemented as a sort of meta-parser in logstash, possibly useful in cases where someone would have instead resorted to building a grok definition. ~~~ zhenjl I don't have any first hand experience, but it seems like grok [might not be that performant]([http://ghost.frodux.in/logstash-grok- speeds/](http://ghost.frodux.in/logstash-grok-speeds/))? ~~~ brazzledazzle Sequence seems very fast. What format do you output to? Have you fed the resulting data into anything like a database?	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Developing an Android Version of an iOS App? - Morgan17 Hey<p>I'm in the process of building an app on iOS similar to a dating app (it's not a dating app) we'd like to start the android version. So far the iOS build is 6 months. Will an Android version take the same amount of time or less as we have the initial research/ features and user journeys complete? Does anyone have any experience with building one app and taking it across to another OS? ====== alc90 As an Android developer who worked on a fair share of apps for both Android and iOS I can tell you that it depends on a number of factors and it should take aprox. the same time as for iOS if: 1\. The feature set is already defined and the flow of the app understood 2\. The design you're using is clear and does not have iOS elements that you want to be replicated on Android (I've worked with a couple of different clients that have a design created with the iOS guidelines in mind and it's a bit of a hassle if you want to reproduce it on Android). So clear designs and Android compatible. 3\. The OS version - if it's below 4.0 it will increase the dev time ~~~ Morgan17 Thanks! I don't think we have specific iOS features in the app. There is a search algorithm, geo-tagging and contacts sync. ~~~ alc90 A search algorithm I don't think it should take more on iOS than on Android, geo-tagging can be done relatively easy on Android also and contacts sync it's pretty straightforward also. So I guess it shouldn't take longer on Android. P.S. If you need help on the Android part - I would be glad to help out. ~~~ Morgan17 Thanks for the info. Whereabouts are you based? ~~~ alc90 I'm from Iasi, Romania ;) ~~~ Morgan17 Cool, how long have you been working on Android development? ~~~ alc90 For almost 3 & 1/2 years now (1 & 1/2 as a freelancer and 2 at a company). ------ dottrap My experience has been Android is about 4 times as hard as iOS. You might be able to reduce this by reducing the number of older OS versions you plan to support, and if you don't have performance sensitive content or content with high memory requirements, you completely avoid the NDK (but usually needed for the aforementioned high performance/memory situations), and write off certain hardware configurations. ~~~ Morgan17 Thanks that's what I thought, we are actually outsourcing all development but had hoped that it wouldn't be as long as the iOS build.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Python from scratch- RegEx - hodbby http://go.hodspot.com/2012/03/python-from-scratch-regex.html ====== reuser I applaud your effort. Regex is a valuable skill (really, language) which you will use across languages and programs as it gives you access to an efficient and pretty general method for scanning and extracting things from text. And if you study fundamentals of computer science (like the Chomsky hierarchy) you will also find that regular expressions are important there too. ~~~ tikhonj But, to make life more exciting, the regular expressions you'll see in actual CS/math are strictly less powerful than the Perl-style regexes you see in Python. E.g. the language accepted by /(a+b+)\1/ is clearly not regular. ------ lutusp > I would expect Repetition to act like Wildcards but ' + ' is not a wildcard. The meaning of the term "wildcard" may be ambiguous. The plus sign, called a "repetition operator", is used to modify what precedes it, like this: \w+ will match one or more word characters. Word characters are usually in the set A-Z, a-z, 0-9 and the underscore. In much the same way, \w* will match zero or more word characters. And \w? will match zero or one word characters. If you want to use one of these repetition operators in your search, preceded it with a reverse slash: "true\?" will match "true" followed by a question mark, while "true?" will match "tru" optionally followed by "e". ~~~ hodbby Thanks for your answer. I wrote it to show example of my confusion. Anyhow. I read your words and will code it later tonight. Thanks man. ------ aristus For a good nerdy time, check out the first implementations of glob and regexp. 20 years on they still work in modern Pythons. Soon after Guido decided to make globs a special case of regexp, and his elegant recursive code was no more. [http://svn.python.org/view/python/trunk/Lib/glob.py?revision...](http://svn.python.org/view/python/trunk/Lib/glob.py?revision=2268&view=markup) [http://svn.python.org/view/python/trunk/Lib/sre_compile.py?r...](http://svn.python.org/view/python/trunk/Lib/sre_compile.py?revision=14919&view=markup) ------ js2 In case you're curious, here's what I consider a modern pythonic solution - <https://gist.github.com/1995010> ~~~ hodbby Looks shorter, i need to learn what you wrote and tell you if it is OK or with bug. Anyway thanks for dropping your comment ------ rhizome31 PEP8 recommends 4 spaces for indentation. At least you should try to make it consistent. ~~~ hodbby Somehow it looks easier and clearer to use TAB over Spaces. Now that you linked me PEP8 (First time i see it) i will start using 4 spaces. Thanks for your comment ~~~ rhizome31 You're welcome. There's a pep8 package on PyPI that implements validation against that recommandation and plugins for most popular editors that make it easy to check your code. Editors can also be configured so that pressing the tab key actually inserts 4 spaces.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Why the NYC Startup Scene is Hot (Hint: Not Fred Wilson) - MediaSquirrel http://www.metamorphblog.com/2010/03/why-the-nyc-startup-scene-is-hot-hint-not-fred-wilson.html ====== mtalantikite Do we really need to see these 'This is why NYC is awesome for startups' posts every week? I mean I'm getting sick of these and I live here. I can only imagine how non- New Yorkers feel about them. ~~~ dnsworks Living in Seattle was the same thing. Tons of people who had a chip on their shoulders about the Bay Areas's startup scene. It was a constant onslaught of locals trying to prove that Seattle's was just as vibrant. ~~~ cmallen NYC here, and I am _really_ sick of hearing about this. I just don't care anymore. ------ jfi I think a big factor of "why now in NYC?" was the recession: with firms collapsing, job security at an all time low, and dismal salary and bonu$ prospects, all the talented individuals that had flocked to Wall Street and hedge funds were now leaving or forced out. This yielded two things: smart, networked, tech savvy individuals that had monetary padding (via a few years of pulling down salaries and bonuses back in the gilded era) to bootstrap an idea and the network to tap into AND investment oriented folks looking for opportunities that offered a better ROI than the dismal public capital markets'. ~~~ pw0ncakes There's some truth to this, but it's probably overstated. Almost all of the smart people on Wall Street are quants and, except in large-scale layoffs, they aren't likely to be let go. Also, the deciding factor regarding whether New York can become an innovation/startup hub will be if the rents come down fast enough. So far, signals are mixed but more negative. ~~~ btilly There are a _ton_ of smart people on Wall St who aren't quants. And I personally know startups being started because of exactly what the parent said. Incidentally based on my experience of NY, a seldom noticed major drag on startups is that by default if you create a startup while working for someone else, your employer can declare it a work for hire and just take all of the associated intellectual property. (Said default is reinforced by the standard employment contracts.) In California your right to own what you do in your own time with your own property is protected by state law. This is huge. How many startups never happen because people have been burned by this, or know people who have been burned by this? ~~~ pw0ncakes _There are a ton of smart people on Wall St who aren't quants._ I'm including the smart traders who aren't considered quants now but would have been classified as quants 5 years ago. _How many startups never happen because people have been burned by this, or know people who have been burned by this?_ I haven't heard of it, but it may happen. ------ MediaSquirrel Just to be clear, I'm not hating on investors. I just think that often they get a disproportionate amount of credit and glory as compared to the founders who slave away in anonymity for long periods in an effort to create something of value. VC's have their place, but it is not at the center. ~~~ apu Sure, but when you're talking about what makes a place better than another for startups, what matters is not who's more important, but what the limiting factor is. And to me it seems clear that in NYC it's investors, not entrepreneurs. Sure there might be tons of smart & innovative hackers here. But if most of them aren't going to get funded, then they're gonna move to the Valley. (I realize more investors could move here/get started here, and it does seem to be happening, but they have much more inertia and are rich, so they don't _have_ to move, unlike most cash-strapped entrepreneurs looking for the next bit of funding that will allow them to really expand.) ------ matthewer Name ten startups that are awesome from NYC off the top of your head. Ten with products you use at least once a week? I live in NYC, and am happy to see things growing, but NYC is not 'on fire.'	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: Pivotal Tracker SSL Error? - hellbanner Pivotal tracker isn't loading for me in browser. "Chrome: this webpage is not available". I got an SSL error a moment ago. Pings fine, fast response in terminal. ====== sfsdfsdf dfgdfgdfg	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Iran blocks encrypted messaging apps amid nationwide protests - snake117 https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/2/16841292/iran-telegram-block-encryption-protest-google-signal ====== jozzas Mesh networking apps get around this, and there are a few of those available now. Signal even has an offline mode that does this.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Cracking a System in Which Cheating Ran Rampant in Atlanta Schools - px http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/18/education/18oneducation.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all ====== wisty Cheating seems to be like fraud, if state funds (or state-backed loans) are going to be awarded for it.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: How remote is your job? What is missing for 100%? - pengwing A software developer can easily perform 100% of his tasks remote. A retail employee can perform 0% remotely.<p>I am interested in the 70-99% remote spectrum. What do you need to achieve 100%? ====== rkx1 1\. I find that a good office environment combined with an easy commute is way better for my productivity and mental health than working from home. 2\. Having _some degree_ of in person communication with your team makes everyone's work better. This isn't an argument for meetings or small talk, my point is that _some_ meetings and conversations can only be done well in person. 3\. I live in a big city, rent a single room and can't afford a home office - working, relaxing, eating and sleeping in the same space isn't my ideal lifestyle. So to be willing to work remotely all the time, I need to have an employer who is willing to pay for me to set up a productive home office environment - separate room, good desk, screens etc. Only to make me 80-90% as productive as I would be if I had a good office environment and got to meet my colleagues. In a previous role, the office environment was great and my commute was a 20-minute walk - I never took the option to work from home even though I could have. ------ iSloth Whiteboards - I still find that no software can beat a room of people and a shared whiteboard for talking through certain things. It’s such a simple yet effective tool for so many things. ~~~ efrafa Unpopular opinion: I think whiteboards are overrated. I have been software engineer my whole life and never needed a whiteboard to do my job. ~~~ recursive That doesn't help. What do you use instead? For multiple people designing a system with many related components at the same time, I've never encountered something that works as well. There are probably other ways _possible_ , but I haven't seen one as effective. I also use the to explain such systems to other people interactively. ------ dagw I can easily do 100% if I want to (and I am at the moment), but doing so means working at 70-80% efficiency. The difference is not a technical thing, but purely a mindset thing. At work I have my work space with my work things and can work distraction free. At home I'm surrounded by Not Work people and Not Work things which are always competing for my attention. ------ dbartholomae I have never had a video call that had less friction then sitting together with someone. In my experience this mostly comes down to UX: almost everyone working is trained on how to behave in an on-site meeting, but not everyone knows how to behave in a remote meeting (e. g. muting and unmuting etiquette). In my experience there is also a bunch of jobs in the technical field that in principal could be done remotely, but suffer due to lack of technical knowledge of the person you are interacting with. An example I think everyone can relate to is tech support for your parents. In my experience that is a lot easier when standing next to them. And a lot of tech jobs are about explaining technology to people who don't have experience with that specific tech yet. ------ Spooky23 Probably better end user tools. Better software, microphones, cameras, situational awareness. I can do everything remote, but 30% is slower because the tools get in the way. In my team, things are arguably better. Crossing team boundaries sucks. ~~~ pengwing Is this a culturual issue or a tool issue? Mic and cam can be bought in decent quality. Shared slack (no affiliation) channels can cross team boundaries. ~~~ Spooky23 A little bit of both. My team of 40-50 is going from a 20% occasional telecommute model to 100%. So we’re learning and adapting. ------ rubidium I’m design equipment and automation for biology labs. Much of my work is done at a computer and now I’m 90% WFH. Takeaways so far: \- Remote meetings are better than 10 years ago. But still room to gain. \- remote design reviews of physical products are lacking engagement from the team. Being in the same room helps a ton. \- running actual chemistry needs a lab of course \- managing a team of software engineers, hardware engineers and scientists is ok in JIRA, but nothing beats in person discussion for a diverse team. ------ caseyf7 Making sure everyone has broadband and a strong WiFi signal In the room they are using for videoconferencing. One person dropping audio and glitching can dramatically reduce the quality of a meeting. ------ _spoonman I can never be 100% remote in my current role. I’m a DoD contractor and perform some of my duties on networks I can only access from secure facilities. I can do the rest remotely.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
VS Code without Microsoft branding/telemetry/licensing - max_ https://github.com/VSCodium/vscodium ====== cercatrova Note that this doesn't work with VSCode's Remote extensions, such as for SSH, Docker containers, and WSL. Those extensions are closed source and explicitly check that they're running on only VSCode. I thought of using this but since I mainly use WSL, this doesn't work for me. Still, a laudable effort. ~~~ hardwaresofton Forgive the kneejerk reaction but it sounds like we've come full circle back to closed source IDEs. For what reason are any of those extensions closed source? Why are people using and championing tools with closed source extensions that check what they're running on (in order to force you to use/buy the original thing) in 2020? You can pry emacs/vim from my cold dead hands -- Microsoft is trying (and succeeding) in google-chrome-ing it's way into the productive developer space. If that's true, I wonder what the Firefox in this analogy is? Atom? Emacs/Vim? ~~~ ohthehugemanate See [https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/remote/faq#_why-arent- the...](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/remote/faq#_why-arent-the-remote- development-extensions-or-their-components-open-source) I love that post, because it encapsulates exactly the kind of internal logic that traps not-fully-open organizations. MS can't open source the remote Dev extensions, because the service that runs it (and much of the client code) comes from other, proprietary offerings and codebases. More concretely, they come from other teams that aren't used to open source, are discouraged from getting used to it, and/or don't have approval from legal to release code in the open. This is not an EEE trap, this is normal bureaucracy for an organization the size of MS. Consider that for almost all of VSCode's lifetime, the OSS version has been perfectly full featured, only missing telemetry and copyrighted brand marks. Remote Dev extensions are less than a year old. They have the same problem with the C# debugger: owned by a proprietary team, can't get permission to open source it. It is extremely hard to open source "some" or "most" of your code, especially in a company whose USP is tight integration between pieces. The legal quagmires are horrendous. A tool that crosses so many lines, like an integrated IDE, are backed into positions like this. Disclosure: I work for Microsoft in a totally unrelated department. Also, fwiw i'm a lifetime vim devotee... used it as my primary IDE for a long time and still use it daily. But vscode won me over exactly with the remote code extensions. Now it's the only proprietary software on my toolchain (apart from my BIOS). ~~~ johannes1234321 I assume that it depends on old code. With old code opensourcing can be really tough. One reason of course is "embarrassment" as it's "ugly" code and you want to run a full review and audit and eventually cover private APIs from other modules. That's however solvable. More complicated is another reason: Legacy software often contains code contributed by contractors and acquired from external vendors, where there is no license for making it open source. Sometimes such third party code is even deeply webbed in and legal review is a pain as you have to figure out the origin of essentially each line of code. This can be a lot of work. I observed how Sun did this with Solaris and over multiple years managed to bring it down to a handful libs with third party code (some internationalisation thing comes to mind, meanwhile replaced in the illumnos sphere) ~~~ giancarlostoro > One reason of course is "embarrassment" as it's "ugly" code and you want to > run a full review and audit and eventually cover private APIs from other > modules. That's however solvable. Make sure there's no offensive variable names and comments left over from _that one guy_ who used to work here. ~~~ syshum Everything is offensive today so that is probably a fools errand ~~~ keeganpoppen all the more reason for me to be terrified about some of my comments and commit messages... lol ~~~ syshum All the more reason me not to care. safetyism is destroying society IMO "It's now very common to hear people say, 'I'm rather offended by that.' As if that gives them certain rights. It's actually nothing more... than a whine. 'I find that offensive.' It has no meaning; it has no purpose; it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. 'I am offended by that.' Well, so f'in what." \--Steven Fry ------ kgwxd It'd be really cool if all open source was just designed with this in mind by the original coders. branding/telemetry/licensing should be explicit compile- time parameters that, left unspecified, exclude it completely. ~~~ nojito Opt out means devs get crappy data. Only way for software to improve is to get usage data. Would you rather be stuck with crappy software dictated by the needs and wants by the minority? ~~~ thelittleone Apps in the 90s didn't have user data. I was approximately as productive on apps from the 90s as I am in modern apps today. I am more frequently frustrated by modern apps. ~~~ vxNsr I think this is something we need to study somehow even if it feels very true. I often find myself wondering why they’ve made something worse than it was a few years ago. Many parts of iOS and windows 10 have degraded from what they were. ~~~ thelittleone I agree totally. It could also be that user data is being used to make more profitable products not necessarily better products for the users. ~~~ vxNsr This rings true. We have experts in funneling people to open their wallets but a dearth of ppl who are good at delighting, unless they see it as a way to make you open your wallet. ------ cachestash Can anyone explain to me why I should be concerned about vs code telemetry? I have zero personal information in the IDE and all the code I work on is already in the public domain with an open source license, so why should I care? ~~~ nightowl_games I value silence in my network traffic. ~~~ DoingIsLearning It's interesting, if we look at the size of webpages in everyday browsing, which can go from tens of megabytes to a few kilobytes when blocking tracking/analytics scripts. I wonder what would be the back of the napkin calculations for network traffic and energy savings (local and server side) of regulating tracking and telemetry? Is there an environmental case to be made against modern web practices on tracking and telemetry? ~~~ luckylion I've really come to dislike Google over the past decade or so, but I do like that their Speedtests, Lighthouse etc don't hide this fact from you. Pretty much all sites I've been asked to look at were getting low scores because of Google Tag Manager, Adsense and the like. It has a very measurable impact, and yeah, removing it speeds up the page. The environmental case will probably not fly for regulation, but it just might in public shaming of large companies. "Hey, $company, your usage of $trackingTech uses as much power per year as an average family of four. Is that really in line with your green approach?" ------ kekebo How does this differ from disabling telemetry in VSCode's settings? The documentation doesn't seem to include a comparison ------ arsenalist Isn't there already an OSS version of the Code - [https://flathub.org/apps/details/com.visualstudio.code.oss](https://flathub.org/apps/details/com.visualstudio.code.oss) Or is this Linux only? ~~~ commoner That's a Flatpak version of Visual Studio Code, which only works on Linux. Unfortunately, it's unmaintained and stuck on version 1.41.1 (December 2019). Arch Linux users do have access to a fully open source version of Visual Studio Code in the community repository, which includes access to the Visual Studio Marketplace: [https://www.archlinux.org/packages/community/x86_64/code/](https://www.archlinux.org/packages/community/x86_64/code/) ------ chenzhekl Not sure if it's still possible to access the vast extension marketplace from Microsoft, which is the true value. If I remember correctly, that can only be accessed from the VS Code released by Microsoft. [https://cdn.vsassets.io/v/M146_20190123.39/_content/Microsof...](https://cdn.vsassets.io/v/M146_20190123.39/_content/Microsoft- Visual-Studio-Marketplace-Terms-of-Use.pdf) ~~~ kova12 Extension marketplace access it might, but I wonder if the .NET debugger will work with it. I remember it was specifically prohibited to run on the non- microsoft built vscode. Without this extension, the .NET coding experience is very meh ~~~ vxNsr Why would you code .Net in vscode vs VS Community Edition (or one of the premium editions)? I find vs ce much better than vscode for .net stuff. ~~~ Kipters Full-blown VS is not available on Linux ~~~ vxNsr Fair. I was gonna ask why do .Net on Linux but then I remembered they OSS’ed it ~~~ Kipters Yep, it also works fairly well. I'm maintaining a couple services at my day job that are designed to only work on Linux. VS Code is also involved because we're heavily using the Remote Development feature (which only works in MSFT's VS Code, not in VSCodium, because of licensing) to run the IDE core inside the container, so the dev environment is well standardized and portable across devs/host OS ------ floatingatoll This is the right way to lay out a fork. It can be clearly traced and reviewed in a short amount of time. I’ll still use mainline VSCode but it’s nice to see someone handling the “just one purpose” approach without throwing in a lot of other unnecessary things. ------ fgonzag Why would you remove the MS branding? Does it somehow hurt your privacy to acknowledge who the developer and sponsor is? ~~~ tech_dreamer I didn't post the original link. MS collects analytics - which I am not comfortable with. Capability matters and intentions can change later. :) ~~~ packetslave You could always just set `telemetry.enableTelemetry` to false and continue to use the official builds. ~~~ Silhouette But only if you trust Microsoft to honour that setting indefinitely, and not for example to just change it back later or hide something shady behind another option instead. At this point, a lot of people understandably don't. ~~~ xeromal It's open source. You could see for yourself. lol ~~~ Silhouette Sure, and then you could check again every time there is an update. But why bother, when there is already an uncontaminated version readily available to solve this problem for you? ~~~ eknkc How do you know it is uncontaminated without looking at the source code? ~~~ Silhouette Technically you don't, just like any other software, but the risk is surely significantly lower since everyone _including Microsoft_ is saying that what Microsoft is doing is taking that same code and then adding its contaminants on top. ------ chickenpotpie Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure Amazon recommends using this to their employees to prevent Microsoft tracking. ~~~ itsbits You don't need to remove branding to disable tracking for corporates like Amazon. For example, They might have some firewall in the network which blocks tracking API. ~~~ whatshisface You need to remove branding to be allowed by Microsoft to distribute an unofficial build. You need to distribute an unofficial build to make sure that the application isn't trying to find holes that might have been accidentally left in your firewall. (Quick, without googling, which ports and dest IPs do you need to block? Which ports/dest IPs will you need to block in the next version that hasn't been released yet? Yeah, a losing battle.) ------ dastx Note that this only includes Microsoft's telemetry, and it seems that Microsoft uses the built in telemetry tooling within their extensions. However, community extensions can still use their own telemetry, which this wouldn't prevent. ------ blackoil Is there a listing maintained of all the telemetry info. sent? I personally am not in principle against telemetry, if they do not leak any private info. and are not to chatty. ------ mister_hn this is at least the 10th HN post about VSCodium.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Typists who clear 70 wpm can’t even say where the keys are - shawndumas http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/12/typists-who-clear-70wpm-cant-even-say-where-the-keys-are/ ====== dredmorbius If I need to sort out key locations on a keyboard, I usually type out the alphabet and note where the keys fall (I know the sequence, I couldn't tell you many key locations straight off without reconstructing them). Recently doing some keyboard maintenance (cleaning out cruft), I'd managed to reassemble things _almost_ perfectly, though I swapped the 'I' and '0' keys. Didn't realize this until I was trying to hit some specific application options and realized that what I was typing (by looking at the keyboard) wasn't what was appearing. When typing whole words I was working from my typing training and hadn't bumped into the problem. It's an example of muscle memory and ingrained knowledge. Having to think _explicitly_ of the actions you're going to perform is a great way to freeze someone up (I've heard this said of baseball players and other athletes). You _do_ want to work through things consciously early in practice, but once you've developed a talent, the trick is to find the right cues (often counterintuitive) to improve movements or skills. ------ cyberjunkie Haha! I did just that 2 weeks back, dredmorbius. At first with a completely blank keyboard, I struggled a bit. I decided to fit in the Ctrl Winkey Alt the left row of keys first and it all happened naturally after that.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
The Case Against Microsoft and GitHub - UkiahSmith https://sneak.berlin/20200307/the-case-against-microsoft-and-github/ ====== politelemon This is incredibly narrow black and white view, it's full of mental gymnastics, leaping to conclusions and putting words in their mouths. I know that HN is collectively biased against MS, but this particular piece is poorer than usual. The original premise for getting away from their services is the PRISM slide. Microsoft is one organization in that list. The others are Google, Yahoo, Facebook, PalTalk, YouTube, Skype, AOL, Apple. To focus on one and pretty much leap into blaming them for ICE's abuses is unobjective and incredibly biased. ICE does not exist in a technological vacuum devoid of FB, iPhones, and Skype. If author truly cares they should either drop all companies mentioned or do the civil thing and be objective in their assessment. I predict that the likely conclusion will be: all large companies are complicit and that it's entirely a gray area. It's entirely possible to be good and evil at the same time. Large companies often work as a loose collection of departments most of whom don't know what anyone else is doing (the nature of growth), so they end up with situations where leadership has certain focus topics and some management has other focus topics. What changes over time is marketing and the narrative that companies want to push out. ~~~ zzo38computer I have no problem with Microsoft selling PowerPoint to the military (although it does not mean I endorse Microsoft, or PowerPoint, or the military; I merely mean that if someone is selling a product and some customer wishes to buy it, then they can do that). It is not the provider's fault what the customer is doing with the products, I should think. But, their collaboration with NSA for illegal mass spying, is certainly a bad thing to do. They have "been letting the feds read whatever they like out of it without a warrant for the last dozen years", which is no good, and especially if their terms of service does not mention this. (But even if they mentioned in their terms of service, this still doesn't make it good.) "It's entirely possible to be good and evil at the same time." Yes, I believe that, and unfortunately, too often people ignore this. ------ smitty1e > providing Windows NT to aircraft carriers like the USS Yorktown. Navy vet here: USS Yorktown (CV-10), an Essex-class aircraft carrier commissioned in 1943 (museum ship since 1975) You mean: USS Yorktown (CG-48), a Ticonderoga-class cruiser commissioned in 1984 (awaiting scrapping) Via [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Yorktown](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Yorktown) ~~~ brownbat > Navy vet here Article blithely suggests that support to the Navy is tantamount to mass murder. Vet calmly ignores that nonsense and simply provides an update for accuracy of ship and hull designation references. By the way, thank you for, among other things, keeping shipping lanes safe, which in turn makes global trade a possibility, which in turn has lifted millions out of poverty worldwide. ~~~ smitty1e When the basic facts aren't checked, the rest of the argument collapses. And you and everyone who gave far more than I are welcome for all of the joy received. ------ saagarjha I'm actually fairly undecided on the GitHub/ICE thing, largely because it doesn't make logical sense to me as something we should be doing in general (this is an open invitation for someone to provide an explanation, if they're so inclined…) The crux of my issue with it is that even if we assume "ICE is bad" GitHub makes software that is generally useful to everyone. Why are we asking for _this particular contract_ to be cancelled? Will doing this help improve the situation in any way? Why are we mad at GitHub specifically, and not e.g. McDonalds which ICE might order food from, or Staples which ICE buys office supplies from? I fail to see why we should just arbitrarily ask certain companies that provide generally useful services to stop interacting with entities we disagree with… ~~~ sneak > _Why are we asking for this particular contract to be cancelled?_ We are asking for there to be negative consequences in general for companies who decide to operate with no moral or ethical compass. It's not about this contract: it's about sending a message to companies that collaboration with those who torture and murder is not okay, and will cost them business and retention. Taking on customers entirely uncritically should not be without market risk. "I dunno man, I just sell hosting" is not an acceptable position. Censorship isn't okay, but freedom of association is, and companies need incentives to exercise it to fire particular customers doing evil, and disincentives to turning a blind eye to how their products and services are being used. To say this is just about "entities we disagree with" is to miss the point, I think. This isn't about "problematic speech", or the standard left/right claims of bias or censorship, or any other kind of the routine partisan tribal complaints you read about regularly. This is about _concentration camps_. Right here, in the United States. ------ onyva Main points since the article renders strangely for me on the iPhone: Collaboration with US military for conducting mass murder Collaboration with NSA for illegal mass spying on innocent people Collaboration with ICE who runs concentration camps Drop Microsoft. Drop GitHub. Drop LinkedIn. Drop Azure. Drop Windows. ~~~ sjroot Bummer. I was hoping for a more feature/engineering-oriented article. I recently started the switch from GitHub to GitLab, both for myself and my company. Generally boiled down to a wider feature set for a better price. ------ stareatgoats If the facts check out then this article might be what is needed to reboot the anti-MS movement. Well written and adequately furious. Problem: is there are list of companies that are not providers to the US military and/or ICE, i.e. companies that do not take such jobs because of moral stances? If there are none then what are we left with? ------ pergadad I agree on most/all points. There are many more suspicious issues about MS and how they treat you data. A small inconsistency worth pointing out: the author has a linkedin link in his bio... ~~~ sneak Click it: the link target points to the post you just read. I decided to update it to the rationale given here instead of just silently removing it, so that people who use LinkedIn can read why they won't find me there. The profile at the link's text is getting removed this week, once I migrate my contacts. ------ tzs From the footer:> Unfadeable, so please don't try to fade this. What does that mean? ~~~ zzo38computer I am curious too. I don't know what "Unfadeable, so please don't try to fade this." means either. (The best I can find is that it appears to be song lyrics, although I don't know what is the significance of that, nor why it is written there or what it means there.)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
IBM has more employees in India than in the US - twunde https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/09/28/technology/ibm-india.html?action=click&module=News&pgtype=Homepage ====== Arnt Effective immediately, the I in IBM is short for International.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Cars took over because the legal system helped squeezed out alternatives - pseudolus https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/07/car-crashes-arent-always-unavoidable/592447/ ====== dalbasal Another way of stating this could be "transport is a policy question." How cities are built and what transport infrastructure they're built around. Im fairly sympathetic to the overall aims of this article. I think a transport system more similar to those in the Netherlands makes for better urban landscapes. But... this habitual style of treating everything as a conspiracy, built around a personified enemy ("They gave legal force to a mind-set—let’s call it automobile supremacy—that kills 40,000 Americans a year)... this way of thinking isn't doing us any favours. In day-to-day political conversations and articles, it's mostly just formulaic and lazy. Name the conspiracy, point to vested interests that have been influencing policy, find a link to established personifications of evil.. big oil and segregation, in this case. I'm not saying we should never think in abstractions... but there is a formulaic pattern here that's old, paranoid and harmful. ~~~ tomohawk No conspiracy required when a lot of people are acting according to a common view. People see the real advantages of owning a car and the freedom it brings, and that activity builds industries and has an impact on policies. Of course, GM really did conspire to put the trolleys out of business. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_consp...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy) However, this is the kind of thing organizations (companies, government agencies, non profits) do when they get to a certain size or have accomplished initial goals and are looking to conquer that next frontier. Just look at the overreach of the SV titans, for example. For better or worse, we have a car based society now, and pining for the good old days is backwards looking. The next thing should preserve the immense freedom and flexibility that cars brought. Prescribing a top down solution that gives even more power to the state at the expense of the people is a non starter. ~~~ salixrosa Can you give me an example of the immense freedom and flexibility that cars brought? Can you give me an example that doesn't involve driving to the middle of nowhere, that isn't solved by a good public transportation system, and doesn't involve bringing home large amounts of groceries, or furniture, etc? ~~~ nec4b Daily routine for people who do not live, work and socialize exclusively in the city center. Things like going to work, piking up kids, shopping, visiting other people, having hobbies, outdoor activities, returning borrowed stuff,... ~~~ salixrosa A city center isn't required for public transportation to be convenient. I've taken public transit through suburbs and tiny towns and out to the countryside. It just so happens that most of the public transit in the states royally sucks -- even in the city centers. ~~~ nec4b It is not a matter of quality. By definition public transport cannot connect all the dots on the map. It is simply impractical or rather impossible. The car gives us freedom of movement that nothing else can currently match. You personal anecdote of taking public transport doesn't invalidate other people use cases and needs, because what works for your situation doesn't necessary work for everyone. If I may use a CS analogy: public transport is like a collection of linked lists and a car is like one giant dictionary. Totally different use cases. ------ dredmorbius Corollary: the biggest impacts to energy consumption lie in land use and building code changes, secondarily in consumption habits. See LLNL's 2018 energy flow chart: [https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/content/assets/images/energy/us/...](https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/content/assets/images/energy/us/Energy_US_2018.png) (PDF: [https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/content/assets/docs/2018_United-...](https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/content/assets/docs/2018_United- States_Energy.pdf)) Of 101 quads, 28 go to transport. Industrial use. is dominated by relatively clean natural gas (methane), with a large chunk likely being ammonia and other chemical production (I'd like to see breakouts). Dense and local-first construction enables public. transit, walking and cycling, localised services, shared facilities, and numerous other mechanisms of increased efficience Denser residential spaces and more cimate-appropriate construction hugely reduces ~~~ Pamar _hugely reduces_... ? can you please complete your message? Also, do you mean that places like Japan, or the central, older parts of European cities are more efficient? ~~~ radres He's taken by CIA ------ tmux314 There is no doubt that we are over-reliant on cars. We (Americans) spent the last century towards developing automobile infrastructure. Now with global warming, it will take many more years to undo the damage. We can agree over that. But focusing the blame on car companies and the wealthy one-percenters is historical revisionism. It undercuts the fact that these policies were eagerly supported by lower-middle class and middle class people like my family, as well as by many working class people from the countryside. It expanded our agency. It allowed us to vacation to beaches and parks. It allowed us to visit faraway families and pursue work in faraway places. In short, it provided us physical and economic mobility. We didn't know the damage we were doing. And even if we did know, we probably would have done the same thing. But passing the blame doesn't solve anything. ~~~ oefrha Having grown up without a car in a country with good public transport, I never had trouble vacationing to beaches and parks, visiting faraway families, or pursuing work in faraway places (well that last point didn’t apply to me, but certainly did apply to e.g. my parents). Now, having lived in the U.S. for many years, I still hate driving, but I’m basically crippled if I don’t drive. ~~~ agumonkey "Modern" times attracted people into wanting faster for less. You can do a lot without cars, but you have to unplug your soul from not walking. Also society shifted, cars meant larger but further shopping centers, and job areas. ------ em-bee living in a big city in europe i was able to live without a car easily, but when i got a job in the US i fully expected that i'd have to learn to drive and get a car to get around. BUT, i managed to get an apartment 10 minutes walking from the office. this was in san diego, of all places, a city which is very spread out. a few months later i moved in with friends and we found a place far north. most of my roommates had a car, but i took care that i had a bus going directly to work. it ran only once in 30 minutes, so missing it occasionally was a pain, but it was fine otherwise. it also provided for some memorable displays of humanity. another few months later the company moved to los angeles, and again i found a place with a direct bus to work. i figured that if i can manage to live in sandiego and LA without a car, then i can do that anywhere. sure enough, a few years later i achieved the same in auckland. another city that is quite spread out and has a lackluster public transport system that rivals the US in lack of options. not everyone is going to be able to achieve this. as a young programmer i could afford the higher rent in the areas close to the office. (i was a stone throw from hollywood boulevard, and crossed it every day on my way to the office :-) ~~~ dannyw Now try going carless in Montana :) ~~~ vonmoltke There are plenty of similar places in Europe. I don't see how this says anything useful. ~~~ em-bee well, i did claim that if i can live without a car in san diego i can do it anywhere. dannyw does have a point about places like montana likely being a lot worse. i can't think of any places like that in europe. european cities are simply not that spread out. so unless you live on a farm far from everywhere, you should be fine. ~~~ DocTomoe In Europe, urban centers are prohibitively expensive to live in if you want to avoid living in a slum. Imagine if every city was San Francisco, especially in realtion to income. In the end, I can live somewhat comfortably if I commute, essentially trading my time for lower crime rates and nicer surroundings. ~~~ em-bee which countries/cities are you talking about? i didn't make that experience in germany for example. ~~~ DocTomoe Germany is kind of a mixed bag here - situations are getting weird quickly if you search for Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg or Stuttgart, they get somewhat acceptable when you consider Berlin (but listen to them complaining about rent!), and in some areas, living is almost free (most of the Ruhrgebiet). Also consider that if you are reading HN, you are likely to work in IT, which gives you a skewed idea on average income levels. ~~~ em-bee fair point. i did go by gut feeling, and haven't actually done any thorough comparison. and yeah, i can totally see that working in IT won't let me feel the pain of above average rent. berlin is indeed interesting, one would think that with it being the capital city, the demand would rise, but i guess that east berlin is less popular, and that berlin also suffers from the overall reputation of east germany. ------ zimbatm Jaywalking is also a notion that was created by the car industry, with regulation and a PR campaign to shift the blame from cars to pedestrians. [https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26073797](https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26073797) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaywalking#Origin_of_the_term](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaywalking#Origin_of_the_term) ~~~ u801e Perhaps this wouldn't be an issue if more intersections had a pedestrian scramble [1] phase. [1] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedestrian_scramble](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedestrian_scramble) ~~~ caconym_ Where I live there is not a signal at every intersection. In some places there are not even any marked crosswalks anywhere nearby. However, every intersection that's not signaled/marked has implicit "unmarked crosswalks" and according to the law drivers must stop for pedestrians in these crosswalks. The vast majority of drivers seem to be ignorant of this law, or they just don't care. Enforcement is nonexistent. When I step out into the road, I'm sure most of the drivers think I'm "jaywalking". More often than not they do not stop. I am not "jumping" into the road, nor am I generally walking about in low-visibility conditions. Maybe fancy urban planning can help, but it's a band-aid on a deeper problem, at least where I live: drivers are ignorant and have bad attitudes not suited for the responsibility of operating motor vehicles. I guess it makes sense that enforcement is nonexistent, because "ignorant and have bad attitudes" is also an apt descriptor of police in America in general. Of course, I _have_ been stopped for jaywalking... because obviously that is _so much worse!_ ~~~ dsfyu404ed >Maybe fancy urban planning can help, but it's a band-aid on a deeper problem, at least where I live: drivers are ignorant and have bad attitudes not suited for the responsibility of operating motor vehicles. Which is more likely? a) everyone is irresponsible b) your definition of "responsible" is not in line with everyone else's ~~~ caconym_ Given my observations of how frequently and flagrantly (and _objectively_ ) drivers (and other road users) break laws put in place to keep _all_ the users of our public infrastructure (including themselves) safe, I'll have to go with a). If your definition of being responsible explicitly allows for breaking such laws, you may want to re-evaluate it. I'm not interested in hearing the word "anecdotal", either. Check out DUI statistics if you want bite-size proof that vast swaths of the population are fundamentally unfit to be driving, or show me data to back up your own point that the roads are _not_ full of irresponsible drivers. Oh, here's another good one: "In 2017 alone, 3,166 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers." (from NHTSA: [https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/distracted- driving](https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/distracted-driving)) ~~~ dsfyu404ed Oh quit your puritanical hand wringing. Average people can drive in an average manner and go years or often decade, sometimes entire lifetimes without screwing up badly enough to attract law enforcement attention or get in a crash. We as a society have determined that is mostly good enough. Most people are satisfied with the current level of risk/reward of driving and unless improvements come with minimal trade-offs people are for the most part not interested. Society at large does not demand the same religious adherence to traffic rules as you do. More people were killed by fires (a hazard that most people would not consider to be a Big Problem(TM)) in 2016 than in crashes related to distracted drivers. [https://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/fire_death_rates.h...](https://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/fire_death_rates.html) ~~~ caconym_ > puritanical > religious Nice. Your point has regressed from "most drivers aren't irresponsible" to "most drivers are irresponsible but it's fine". If you can support the former with hard data, great, let's see it. The latter is an opinion; it's one I do not share, and it's not something I'm interested in discussing because there is zero chance of that discussion bearing any sort of fruit. ~~~ dsfyu404ed There's no regression whatsoever. I am telling you, your definition of "responsible" (and by implication irresponsible) is not shared by society at large. I have told you this in several ways. Since apparently my last way of phrasing it wasn't easy to deflect now you're trying to straw-man me. What sort of citation do you want? You said ~3k people are killed by distracted drivers and implied that it's a regular occurrence and a Problem(TM). I pointed out (with citation) that that's about the same number killed in fires, something infrequent enough that it's generally considered Not A Problem(TM). Make no mistake, preventable deaths are tragic but preventable deaths as a result of motor vehicles are not the epidemic you portray them to be. Of course further discussion will bear no fruit. Your mind is made up and will not be changed. ~~~ caconym_ Pro tip: projection and strawmanning aren't good substitutes for reading comprehension skills, critical thinking skills, and the ability to form cogent responses in a discussion. It is my sincere recommendation that you work on the latter three, or possibly on your ability to simulate them when you aren't arguing in good faith. ------ DaveInTucson According to Wikipedia [0], the number of MV-related deaths has been right about 10 or 11 per 100,000 per year for the last ten years. Which makes the opening claim "Americans are condemned to lose friends and relatives to traffic violence" seem particularly overwrought. And while the legal system may have been of some help, I rather suspect the main reason cars took over is because they give the user a tremendous amount of freedom and agency. [0] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in_U.S._by_year) ~~~ stellar678 If you live in a small town of 100,000 people, that means 11 of your neighbors will be killed by drivers crashing their cars every year. And that doesn’t account for the deaths and health costs caused by road pollution, by inactive lifestyles forced on communities due to car-centered infrastructure, etc... Given the car-oriented status quo, perhaps it’s true that cars give owners tremendous freedom and agency (at the costs outlined above, plus tremendous financial cost). But it’s also true that many of the most desirable and productive parts of our cities are that way _despite_ cars and not because of them. ~~~ maxsilver > If you live in a small town of 100,000 people, that means 11 of your > neighbors will be killed by drivers crashing their cars every year. True. But for comparison, if we live in this small town of 100k people, then 192 people will die from Heart Disease, 178 people will die of Cancer, 47 people will die of Respiratory diseases, 43 people will die of Stroke, and 16 will die from the flu (influenza or pneumonia) every single year, according to the CDC. "Motor vehicle accidents" are not even in the top 10 causes of death (they're 13th, using 2016's data). > the most desirable and productive parts of our cities are that way despite > cars and not because of them. Which is a strong argument _for_ cars. Cars make things drastically more affordable for people. If you remove them, you increase the costs for everything (food, transportation, housing, healthcare, education, etc), to heights no regular person could ever afford. That _also_ carries tremendous costs and even carries it's own death toll. Paradoxically, making things "more desirable and productive" makes them worst for real people (because that value will be captured in a pricetag, and real people will never be able to afford it). Paradoxically, too much safety can actually be less safe overall (that safety will be captured in a pricetag, and real people will never be able to afford it, and will be forced into less safe alternatives) - [https://local.theonion.com/neighborhood-starting-to-get- too-...](https://local.theonion.com/neighborhood-starting-to-get-too-safe-for- family-to-aff-1819578182) More people died from _suicide_ (45k in 2016) in the US, than died from all automobile accidents nationwide (37k in 2016). The tradeoff here is not as simple as people often imagine it to be. ~~~ smileysteve > "Motor vehicle accidents" are not even in the top 10 causes of death > (they're 13th, using 2016's data) To your point of bringing up suicide, there is "accidental" death; where it's 1. Opioid overdoses 2. Suicide 3. Car Accidents ------ megablast Imagine if someone invented cars today? Hey everyone, we want to make you use this killing machine, that kills a million people every year around the world directly, many more indirectly. We just need to clear out the parks currently around your houses to turn into horrible bleak roads, so they can bring the pollution directly to your door. ~~~ scarejunba But in exchange you get to go anywhere in America. You aunt in San Jose you haven't seen in months because it's a day's horse-ride. Well you can pop over for lunch, and be home for dinner. You can go see Yosemite and Tahoe in the same day. Your groceries will be 10 mins away. No. If someone invented cars today, he'd be considered a hero. We'd talk about him in history books. ~~~ kranner > Your groceries will be 10 mins away. I doubt your groceries would be more than 10 minutes away even if no cars had been invented. Zoning practices would change to allow more shops distributed across residential areas. That would make more sense than requiring people to ride an hour on horseback. But yes, the supermarket would be much less 'super' with a much smaller selection of goods. ~~~ mcguire And more expensive. Like buying everything at a convenience store. ------ PaulHoule The "car-tel" didn't just make a legal victory, it made a political victory. It's nearly forgotten how much anger and resentment that Americans had against the railroad companies back in the day. Back then, railroads could decide if they would build a stop at your town, or even decide to build a new town on land that they owned somewhere along the line. Railroads were perceived as a vast private taking from the commons. The car on the other hand involves public ownership of the roads and distributed ownership of the vehicles. That leaves a strong majority of the population feeling that the status quo benefits them and encourages them to keep it that way. ------ crunchyfrog Another result of this culture that I wish the author would have addressed is how cars have changed how we raise our children. We are forced to keep our children inside because all our houses are surrounded by rivers of death. Why are we surprised that young kids spend all their time sedating themselves with screens? What choice have we given them? We have designed our living spaces to be ideal for cars, not humans. It is hard to acknowledge because it has been that way all our lives but it is a trade-off we are making. ~~~ burlesona I was aware of this in the abstract before I had kids. Now that I have them, it can be really terrifying. We go for walks even in places with big wide sidewalks and they are oblivious, they would jump out in the street at just about any moment if we weren’t holding hands and teaching them constantly to be afraid of cars. It’s really sad. Kids nature is to want to run around and burn off energy, and right outside our door it’s safe for _adults_ to do that, but it’s still not safe for young children because you still have to stay in the limited pedestrian zone and carefully cross streets. I’ve wondered a lot about trying to build a car-free neighborhood with a commuter bus to downtown. I wish that existed, I’d move there. ~~~ crunchyfrog If you build it or find it, let me know. I want to move there too. ------ anonu > Those who walk or bike to work receive no commuter tax benefit Its all about incentives. And the government is in the driver's seat. I would love to get paid to bike around - that is a brilliant idea. Not to mention the health benefits of having a population exercise to get to work. I live in NYC where the city was designed for cars. I find it a travesty that prime waterfront property on both sides of Manhattan - really all around the island - is a highway. If Robert Moses had prioritized non-car means of transport, we would have a very different city. ------ bsder "Yet the most prominent way of setting and adjusting speed limits, known as the operating-speed method, actually encourages faster driving. It calls for setting speed limits that 85 percent of drivers will obey. This method makes little provision for whether there’s a park or senior center on a street, or for people walking or biking." This statement causes me to question the veracity of the rest of the article. Practically every municipality bends over backward to slow traffic near places where children, the elderly, the blind, or even just where too many accidents occur. "Operating-speed method" is only really used for high-speed, high-throughput, limited access roadways. ~~~ bluGill Municipalities do not do much to slow traffic. The might put up a slower speed limit sign, and post traffic copes - but the cynic who says this is about revenue not slowing traffic has a good point. There are plenty of real ways to slow traffic known in traffic engineering circles, but they are rarely implemented. ~~~ bsder You are not in Southern California then. Traffic circles and road humps are quite endemic. This is sufficiently common that I could use road humps as a proxy for "Am I going the correct direction?" back before nav systems. Maybe you weren't going the completely right direction, but a road hump (or traffic circle) meant you were on a road sufficiently useful that it needed a traffic calming measure. Cities with winter have extra considerations, though. ------ achow This was a revelation. _...Even so, 85 to 90 percent of toxic vehicle emissions in traffic come from tire wear and other non-tailpipe sources,..._ So electric cars will mitigate only 10-15% of the environmental problems of the ICE cars? ~~~ mytailorisrich This is misleading. If you follow the link to the actual research paper you find that it's 90% of PM10 and 85% of PM2.5 That is, not "emissions" in general but particle matter specifically. This makes sense because modern cars have efficient engines and particle filters so that few particles are emitted from the combustion engine itself. The remaining sources are the tyres and the brakes. ~~~ achow Yes. But doesn't the point still stays that contrary to the popular belief electric cars would not bring about much change? Research paper: _..it could be concluded that the increased popularity of electric vehicles will likely not have a great effect on PM levels._ ~~~ mytailorisrich Electric vehicles will bring about significant changes. As said, and as your quote highlights, this focusses on particles. But the main emission of internal combustion engines is CO2, and other nasty stuff like CO, NOx, hydrocarbons, etc. These are eliminated by electric vehicles. ~~~ sokoloff They are _moved_ by electric vehicles to some remote place (where they might also be more efficiently handled), but even as an electric car driver, I don’t think of them as eliminated. ~~~ mytailorisrich They are eliminated and electricity production does not have to produce any of them: The short term goal is total elimination across the whole chain. ~~~ gavia1 I think the parent was referring to the mining and manufacturing of lithion ion and other components that go into a car. ~~~ sokoloff That's a secondary effect. Primary effect I had in mind when commenting was the movement of the emissions from the local tailpipe to the electric plant (which is very far from 100% emission-free today). ~~~ mytailorisrich As said this is so only on 'backwards' countries ;) and certainly it should not last. Claiming that electric vehicles only move emissions to the electric plant is unfair at best. ~~~ sokoloff I think it's more accurate than claiming they are eliminated. ~~~ mytailorisrich It's not but it helps some narratives... ~~~ sokoloff OK, I'll play along. Suppose I drive my electric car an additional 450 miles. That will consume an extra ~100kWh of energy from the battery, which will require me to buy an extra 115kWh of energy from my electric utility, which will require them to generate (or procure) an additional 125kWh or so. Are there any emissions associated with that additional 125kWh of consumed electricity? If so, where? If not, why not? ------ mikorym > Even so, 85 to 90 percent of toxic vehicle emissions in traffic come from > tire wear and other non-tailpipe sources, which electric and hybrid cars > still produce. First of all, this person meant to say "particulates" [1] and so we are not talking about CO2 _at all_. Secondly, the source that he links to has this table in it for PM10 (the table for PM2.5 would be analogous) [2]. Almost all of this argument is based on "resuspension". Basically, the car's slip stream. _Seriously?_ By the way, these values are (virtually) calculated all on acount of EVs being heavier. Well done I guess for assuming that braking in EVs won't have PM emissions _< nod to regenerative breaking>_. It's a pity that an argument based on traffic accidents and cars has to reference such a random and irrelevant article. I agree that Americans like cars too much. [1] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particulates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particulates) [2] Table 5 Comparison between expected PM 10 emissions of EVs, gasoline and diesel ICEVs (mg/vkm) (Vehicle technology) (Exhaust) (Tyre wear) (Brake wear) (Road wear) (Resuspension) (Total) EV 0 7.2 0 8.9 49.6 65.7 Gasoline ICEV 3.1 6.1 9.3 7.5 40 66.0 Diesel ICEV 2.4 6.1 9.3 7.5 40 65.3 ~~~ sokoloff I drive an electric; wife drives a gas ICE; I maintain both. No way is electric brake wear 1% or less of a conventional car (what it would take for it to round down to zero in that table). I'd put it at around 5-10% of an ICE, making the total particulate emissions higher. ~~~ dsfyu404ed Unless you happen to have two of the same car in ICE and electric you're going to need to do some math to account for different brake pad volume and vehicle weight. There's a pretty substantial number of variables that would go into it. I assume you're using the same product line for all your pads. ~~~ sokoloff Figuring out whether it's 25% or 50% may require that. Figuring out whether it's sub 1% or >= 2% probably doesn't. ------ cannabis_sam The whole fucking world is subsidizing this garbage by not charging people for the externalities their lifestyle incurs upon the world. ------ diminish > Since her passing (1995), approximately 1 million more Americans have been > killed in car crashes. That's a huge cost. ------ drtillberg Laws follow practicality, so the first thing to do is make sure drivers pay their full costs on a per-mile basis. Things like gas taxes being earmarked for road construction-- when I buy other miscellaneous stuff I pay a general sales tax that can be spent discretionarily by the government. Not applying that to gas is an inappropriate subsidy to cars. Where autos own the road (most everywhere) road funds should pay for sidewalks; where highways divide communities, there should be liberal allowances for pedestrian bridges. Finally, public transit needs to be professionalized in order to provide a fuller alternative, in the sense that transit organizations can't be run with a 'politics as usual' approach-- the point of the system _cannot_ be simply to kick the can down the road on historic pension obligations. If government wants to require public transit to be _better_ in certain respects-- handicap access and perfect safety come to mind-- these desires should be evaluated against the counterhypothetical of, "if you make the system less useful by only opening one set of doors at the stop (for safety) x number of people will die as a result of being forced back into cars." ------ ThomPete I am unconvinced about this claim. The legal and political and taxation system in Denmark is anti car and pro public transportation and have been for decades. We are talking 200% taxes on the cars and constant reduction of roads in the big cities, constant expanision of public transportation. Yet cars for most people in Denmark is very important. Cars are the perfect balance between flexibility, scaleability, speed, utility etc. This is why cars win, not because of some conspiracy. ------ baybal2 The increasing legal requirements for crashworthiness are self defeating: making vehicles to withstand more energetic collisions requires making cars more heavy — more heavy cars then cause even more energetic collisions. ------ gumby There's a pretty good book on the origins _and_ consequences of the car culture called, not surprisingly, "The Car Culture by James J. Flink. It was written in 1975 so doesn't speculate on the future of self driving vehicles but part of what made that book interesting is it took an oil shock to really get some attention on the problems. (let's not forget that one enormous benefit of automobiles was that they _cleaned up the cities_ which used to be full of horse manure. Of course we know now that they pollute in other, destructive, ways). ------ joshuaheard People drive cars because they are the most efficient mode of transportation. Laws and policy followed. Anything else is a moronic conspiracy theory. Let's just take the two examples in the article. First single family zoning. I would argue that before cars (and cities) people lived on farms and ranches. Cars were not to blame. The trend has been towards smaller living areas, not larger. Second, parking requirements. I think parking requirements came after cars, not the other way around. ~~~ WhompingWindows They aren't the most efficient mode of transportation, depending on your definition. In terms of carbon, energy utilized, or even time, in many places walking/biking will beat cars. It's not a moronic conspiracy theory to suggest that bringing a 2 ton wheel-chair everywhere we go is inefficient. ~~~ joshuaheard In very few places in America is walking/biking more efficient than cars. The author is not saying autos are inefficient, which is a valid argument, he is saying there is a conspiracy ("automobile supremacy") to supplant other forms of transportation with the automobile. This is simply foolish. ------ yt3 It's also our values system that allowed the legal system to do it's thing. Cars are also a product of values that focus on "me and my personal needs". ------ coredog64 > Those who walk or bike to work receive no commuter tax benefit False. It’s possible to pay for mass transit with pretax dollars. ~~~ bluGill Is that in a theoretical sense, or is it something I could do now? If the latter can you be more specific - how do I use pre-tax dollars to pay for my bus fare? ~~~ sokoloff Not for an individual fare, but an employer can offer monthly/annual passes on a pre-tax basis (up to $265/mo for 2019) [https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15b.pdf](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs- pdf/p15b.pdf) ------ DarkWiiPlayer > traffic violence > automobile supremacy The language of this article just makes me cringe. Other than that, it's really quite reasonable though. ~~~ Lio It sounds shocking if you only travel in car as it doesn't affect you as much but if you ride a bike it's a fact of life in many areas. For example if you wear lycra, you will probably find that a percentage of people will regularly try to "punish" you because they think you "look funny". The mildest form of punishment will be them driving as close to you as they dare. That could be 50mph 12"s away. That's like standing on the other side of the do not cross line in the subway as a train comes past. That's my anecdotal experience but a quick search Youtube will turn up many examples of this. Action camera manufacturers specifically design products to document this. Worse though, you'll probably eventually have someone be more directly aggressive to you. Maybe throwing something at you or trying to drive you off the road. In that context I think that the phrase traffic violence is fitting. If someone is using a vehicle as a weapon what else would you call it? ~~~ nmeofthestate I've cycled for decades and never had such an incident of aggression from drivers. Maybe it depends on some other factors in addition to the drivers. ~~~ bad-joke To counter your anecdote, cyclist deaths have risen lately in NYC to the point of public protest: > Aster Ryan, 25, of Wingate, said “this summer has felt especially > dangerous.” In addition to the three cycling deaths that took place within a > week, Ryan said she was hit while riding her bike a little more than a week > ago on Dean Street, and also watched another rider get hit by an opening car > door recently. [https://www.amny.com/transit/cyclist-die-in-washington- squar...](https://www.amny.com/transit/cyclist-die-in-washington-square- park-1.33653749) ~~~ u801e These problems are caused by riding in areas where one is not visible to drivers of other vehicles (e.g. filtering to the right of other vehicles that are preparing to make a right turn) and also riding too close to parked cars. A secondary cause are laws that require cyclists to use bike lanes or keep as far right as practicable within the lane. ------ mfer I'm reminded of the General Motors streetcar conspiracy - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_consp...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy) ------ hi41 I was in Switzerland recently and was very impressed with how good the public transportation system was - trains, trams and buses. To top it, the water in the lakes and tap were all 100% drinkable. ------ KozmoNau7 I'm vacationing Ireland at the moment, and it really hits me how car-centric it is, and I found the Scottish Highlands be very similar. Quite narrow roads, with hedges or stone fences and very little space for a pedestrian or cyclist. Southern Germany too, although at least they usually don't put hedges/fences right up to the edge of the road. I would hate to walk or bike on those roads, despite the beautiful landscapes on display. Initially I thought there was a pressing need to widen the roads, but then I realized that the real problem is the size of modern cars and how fast most people drive. While car ownership and driving is currently vital to a lot of rural communities, we need to reclaim the roads for shared usage, and break the imagined car/driver ownership and privilege over them. ~~~ Trilkhai I've always figured that the narrow roads over there were (much like the ones in the older European cities) created long before cars, when people relied on horses or horse-drawn vehicles for transport. Roads designed after cars became common tend to be much wider. ~~~ KozmoNau7 That's sort of my point. cars are way too big and go way too fast for a lot of roads, and there is often no room to widen them. So we let the cars squeeze in anyway, to the severe detriment of pedestrians and cyclists. ------ mikeash Did this happen in other countries too? There are varying degrees, but cars are king the world over. I’m suspicious of the idea that it was due to laws or government. ------ jamesmadison66 This is generally how I think self-driving will squeeze out human-driving, through regulatory capture. Don't love it for many reasons, but there is precedent. ------ peterwwillis I'm extremely interested in seeing micro-mobility options expand. The more forms of transportation we have that aren't cars and buses, the more seriously the public will consider things like taking one lane of traffic and dedicating it to bikes, scooters, trikes, quadricycles, golf carts, and the like. If we can make it easier for people to get around this way, we can slowly push cars to the fringes of cities, and maybe with the money we save, even eventually replace them for inter-city transportation. ------ seddin i will probably get downvoted but this all thanks to the oil industry, they even knew about climate change since the 60s ------ devoply Not just the legal system but also the city planners who designed all sorts of things like suburbs, malls, etc. that favour cars and are pretty much copy- pasta all over each city on the whole continent. All these people want bike lanes, I want my horse lane. ~~~ inflatableDodo I want the majority of the road network roofed with turf into a long hill with occaisional exits, or lowered and moved completely underground. ~~~ bluGill I've concluded the opposite: leave the cars where they are. What I want is a separate pedestrian level to the city - a skyway system (though I'm fine with it being underground). Let the humans walk in air conditioned comfort while not cars to worry about. This is much cheaper than the underground roads. ~~~ inflatableDodo How about air conditioned skyways for pedestrians in cities and underground roads everywhere else? ~~~ bluGill Underground roads are orders of magnitude more expensive, so it isn't worth creating them (with some exceptions). With unlimited resources we could create as many as we want, but I have better things to do with my time/money than build roads. Skyways are significantly cheaper than bridges. It would still be cheaper to make the ground level of your city a building, but not having to support the mass of cars and trucks means skyways can be significantly cheaper. In the modern world trucks and buses are far too useful to ban completely from cities where people live. People need their stuff delivered, and need to get longer distances once in a while. Thus I'm saying reserve the ground for those uses and get humans away from them. It is a compromise, but I think it is a good one. ~~~ inflatableDodo Not worrying about the humans in particular. Uncovered ground level roads are just death traps and fencing them off is even worse in many ways. ------ methodover “Given New York’s lax enforcement record, the Freakonomics podcast described running over pedestrians there as “the perfect crime.”” I was driving in Oakland when the car in front of me didn’t slow down for a pedestrian in the crosswalk. The pedestrian disappeared in front of the car. I stopped my car, got out, found the struck young woman trembling and bleeding in the street. The speed limit was 30 miles per hour. I don’t think the driver was going quite that fast — maybe 20, 25 at most. The woman driving the car was elderly. It’s tough to gauge her age — pushing late 70s, maybe 80? She said she didn’t notice the girl in the crosswalk. I was upset. I stayed the entire time, talked with the cops at length, gave a statement. I wanted to see the lady’s license taken away. Or a ticket at least. Or heck, even a talking to about if maybe she’s no longer fit to drive. The cops let the old lady drive away. No ticket. No talk. I was stunned. Surely if you hit someone with your car at that speed, in fucking crosswalk, you at the very least need to prove to the DMV that you’re safe to drive. Especially if you’re an elderly person. But nope. They said they had no grounds with which to take any action at all. Still bothers me. I hope that lady hasn’t killed anyone. ~~~ ChuckNorris89 Wait, what!? In Europe if you strike a pedestrian on the crosswalk you'll definitely loose your license and be looking at manslaughter charges too while your insurance company will murder you after paying the victim's medical/disability/court bills. ~~~ systemtest I have hit a pedestrian. Instead of using the nearby crosswalk she walked in between the cars and when she walked in front of me it was too late for me to brake. She flew a couple of meters and landed on the crosswalk. In the police report is was stated that I hit the person on the crosswalk as I couldn't prove otherwise. The woman was taken away in an ambulance due to a broken leg. I was 16 at the time. Really shaken up about what had happened. But after collecting myself and fixing the dangling headlight I was able to drive home. I got a ticket for not giving way to the pedestrian (€45 I believe) and insurance covered everything regarding the woman. Didn't even get a letter other than one that they would take of everything. So yes it happens here too (The Netherlands) ~~~ pindab0ter How were you driving when you were sixteen? ~~~ pixl97 Because that's when you can get a license in many states. ~~~ patriot1911 But not in The Netherlands, which he explicitly stated he was from. The real answer is that he probably wasn't driving a car. ~~~ Broken_Hippo Has it always been that age? We do not know how old the poster is, nor whether or not he had a regular lisence or a permit. ~~~ patriot1911 It hasn't been less than 18 since 1934, if not further back. Since last year it's possible to get a provisional license at the age of 17 (no earlier). ~~~ Broken_Hippo Ah, ok. I truly didn't know. ------ lazyjones Yet another fantasy article that tries to suggest roads were built for "the car loving 1%ers of the 20s" and not for public transport and all kinds of other infrastructure needs, including the army's. ~~~ icebraining What public transport used roads (not streets) in the early twentieth century of the US, when much if them were built? According to [1], by 1929 the private car was doing 175 billion passenger miles, while the bus was doing just 7. As they write, "Although intercity bus travel climbed from nothing to over seven billion passenger miles in 1929, it was always the choice of a relatively small number of people." And of course, trains don't use roads. What other public transport is there? [1] [https://eh.net/encyclopedia/the-bus-industry-in-the- united-s...](https://eh.net/encyclopedia/the-bus-industry-in-the-united- states/)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: What's a Good Business for a College Student to Run? - movingtohawaii I'm going into my second year of college, and I'm looking for any suggestions on what would be a good business to run at school. I'm not necessarily talking about startups with revolutionary technology (I already have something to that effect that I've been slowly working on), but something that can hopefully help pay for school. Something where if I work 5x as hard, although perhaps not 5x as long, I can increase my profits by a similar factor. Any advice or ideas are appreciated! ====== tiffani If you can hustle up a few beefy guys, start a moving service. A friend of mine started school in EE, but left school with the moving company supporting him full-time. He started it around his second year as well. Edit: We went to school in DC, so having several universities around definitely did help him. ------ Goodbizidea Are there things that you donkt like to do? Like laundry or cleaning. Make a simple business doing the things that other students don't like doing. That is the whole premise of business, solving problems or doing things that other people don't want to do or can't do on their own. People will pay for services they don't want to do. So what are some of the things you don't like doing at college? ------ iliketosleep something cool which can be developed FAST. brainstorm with some buddies for specific ideas. you wanna be able to take something to market ASAP so you can get feedback and learn. but be aware that for better or for worse, the payoff will be disproportionate to the amount of work. a lot of people work really hard and make nothing. whereas others can work work equally has hard and make millions.... for steady predictable income... job. ~~~ movingtohawaii I'm not really looking for a new technology or idea, more of a tried-and-true business model that fits well on a college campus/in a college town. My school has around 14,000 students and I'm sure there must be some service I can provide them that they would pay for, but I can't think of what exactly. ------ chrisclark1729 Helping people move.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Introducing Accelerated Mobile Links: Making the Mobile Web App-Quick - michaelmior https://blog.cloudflare.com/accelerated-mobile/ ====== cdata AMP is fast and that makes it really nice when reading news on my phone. I just wish it was less centralized / dependent on Google's cache. It seems like it should be possible to build something similar to AMP - possibly even with a smaller runtime - and self-host the content. Then, throw in a transparent, geo-distributed caching layer like CloudFlare to get the same insta-load qualities. The main downside I can imagine is that the centralized gatekeeper (Google) won't treat the optimized content the way it treats AMP content today. But, we are locking ourselves into Google's solution if we let that stop us from exploring better alternatives. ~~~ wmf [https://wicg.github.io/ContentPerformancePolicy/](https://wicg.github.io/ContentPerformancePolicy/) ~~~ cdata Script execution time is a major source of jank / lag on mobile devices. What if I don't want any script to be executed beyond what is needed by a lightweight runtime? AMP actually has a lot of really neat technical approaches to enabling rich content, based on open web standards. CPP seems like a nice tool for the toolbox, but it doesn't seem like a satisfying 1:1 alternative to AMP.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Annoyance-free web surfing - giis https://adblockplus.org/en/ ====== nakedrobot2 I actually don't mind Google Ads because I rather often see ads for obscure products that I find interesting and wouldn't have otherwise come across - that's almost the textbook definition of what advertising is _supposed_ to do. But then there are the obnoxious, foul, impolite ads full of auto-playing videos, sound, mail order brides, scammy fake "download" buttons next to the "real" download button.... and because of these things that pollute my consciousness, I'll forsake the google ads as well. ~~~ pedrogrande If you right-click the AdBlock Plus icon in your browser and choose options, the first option on the General tab reads "I like the text ads on Google search results; show me those." That's what I do. ------ antihero What does this offer over Adblock? ~~~ giis I haven't used chrome's adblock, so I got no idea too but there is this FAQ [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/adblock/gighmmpiob...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/adblock/gighmmpiobklfepjocnamgkkbiglidom/details?hl=en) FAQs: 1\. This is AdBlock: the original Chrome extension written from the ground up to be optimized for Chrome. I was inspired by the excellent Firefox "Adblock Plus" project (which is a fork of an old Firefox "Adblock" project -- confusing, I know), but I'm not related to those, nor to "Adblock Plus For Google Chrome", to which the old "AdThwart" extension was recently renamed.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Quantifying and Time Tracking My Reading - cflynnus https://cflynn.us/posts/2020-03-27-quantifying-and-time-tracking-reading ====== lukevp Maybe I’ll sound like an old fogey for saying this, but... I enjoy reading and I feel like this level of analysis would take all the joy out of it. With exercise you are competing against your past self to gain strength and endurance. With reading, what is the goal to optimize against? I think it would be more valuable to summarize and annotate thoughts as you read the book rather than measuring your progress through it by page count. ~~~ akashtndn I do find some value in quantification but I resonate with your thoughts. I am curious about ways in which people summarize and take notes when reading books. Do you have any specific quirks or methods for doing so? ~~~ cflynnus I've somewhat shifted my focus from plain note taking to making spaced repetition flashcards (using Anki). I find it to be a lot more effective in aiding memory retention of details. ------ Oneiros512 I've always had a fascination with tracking things myself. I remember daydreaming when I was younger about wishing I had some kind of way to see how many of some particular food item I'd eaten over the course of my life, or how many words I'd ever spoken. I never got too heavily into making my own spreadsheets, but I got into tracking running and walking with apps like runkeeper, using a site to track every movie I watched, tracking each video game I owned and whether I had beaten it yet, and when I couldn't find a good site for tracking the TV shows I'd watched I did make a very simple spreadsheet for that. Over time I've pulled away from the practice somewhat as I've started to think the obsession with tracking my activities was detracting from the experience somewhat. I'd end up thinking more about adding to my total miles walked on my tracker than enjoying the walk itself. On a level as granular as tracking 10-page chunks of books you must be getting distracted on some level from the actual content, I would think. I still use that tracking site for movies and I do use Goodreads for books, and I find them great resources for figuring out what to read/watch next, but those are now more secondary to the actual enjoyment of the experience itself. ------ michalu Good stuff. One thing you are missing though. I like to measure my reading by quality too. I simply keep a manual tally counter by my side while reading and every time I catch myself reading mindlessly or my mind drifting away, I count one distraction. Similar to some forms of meditation. Ultimately, you want to bring up the quality by minimizing the number of distractions per unit of time. The good thing about it is that you actually build up your focus and concentration "muscle" (in prefrontal cortex) as opposed to amping up the volume alone. I too got inspired by gym :) ~~~ cflynnus That sounds like a good idea, currently when "zoning out" or getting distracted I don't record it I just try to jump back. For quality, the best thing I've come up with is making spaced-repetition flashcards w/ Anki. My confidence is higher that I've actually retained the information.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: How to write a Top Grad School Personal Statement - Tzeentch99 I'm in the process of applying to grad school. Are there any specific sites or resources you'd recommend for how to write a top grad school essay?<p>Also any tips from the community would be appreciated. ====== cperciva Assuming you're going into a research program (MSc, PhD) rather than a professional program (MBA, MD, LLB): Focus on research. Admissions decisions at the graduate level are almost always made by individual departments, and the top-of-mind question for the person reading your submission will be "could this be a future co-author?"	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Journey to Python Part 2: Input, Output, and Documentation - noor420 http://www.tuxtips.org/?p=14 ====== dazzawazza python with 'end of scope' comments looks totally alien to me. I hope they are there for educational reasons rather than for a coding 'style'.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
The time displayed on most Android phones is wrong - Garbage http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/the-time-displayed-on-most-android-phones-is-wrong/19387 ====== kalleboo Do "most Android phones" really get their time automatically GPS? On all the ones I've used (HTC Hero, Xperia X10, Xperia Arc), I had to set the time manually (and ended up using ClockSync) edit: the bug tracker issue linked in the article seems to suggest it's a problem with Motorola phones only <http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=5485> ~~~ nerdtalker I have a bunch of Android phones here (developer/reviewer) and none except for Motorola phones (Droid 4, Droid Bionic) seem to set the time 15 seconds ahead checking using <http://time.is> For example, the Droid 4 was 14.6 seconds off, and Droid Bionic was 14.8 seconds off... This seems to be a vendor specific issue, as none of the non-motorola phones (Galaxy Nexus GSM/UMTS, Galaxy Nexus CDMA/LTE on VZW, Nexus S, Galaxy Note, Tab 10.1LE, a Qualcomm development MDP) are anywhere near 15 seconds, all are +/- fractions of a second, like you'd expect. ~~~ bad_user I have a Galaxy S (the first one) and it's only 0.9 seconds off. ~~~ viraptor My GS2 is also 0.9 of accurate time according to time.is, I wonder if it's just a coincidence or something common... (UK network time being off slightly?) ------ brunnsbe Interesting. But doesn't most phones get their time from the operator via the cellular network and not via GPS? ~~~ lini Yes, they do. Unfortunately, the time my (GSM) operator sends is off by 2 minutes when I compare it to GPS data or the NTP synced clock on any desktop. So this feature is not very useful and I will be very happy if I see NTP sync in a future Android version. ~~~ joelhaasnoot This is a known (Android?) bug apparently, have had Vodafone here in NL confirm it. They don't know what it is either... I've had drifts of up to 4 minutes. ------ rogerbinns To be accurate the time is not set from GPS. Turning on the GPS uses a lot of power. All that is happening is that some phones when converting times into the local timezone are not accounting for leap seconds. (The number of seconds since Jan 1, 1970 or the 1982 epoch of GPS is unchanged - it is just our human foibles with timezones and arbitrary rule calculations that are messed up.) And only for some phones. My iPod Touch and Android Phone (HTC) have exactly the same (local) time and both are set to automatic. ------ knurdle Good to know when I'm trying to disable the bomb the super villain has planted and I think I have a minute left until it blows up but I really only have 45 seconds left. Oh wait, maybe the bomb timing mechanism is built on the android platform and I really do have a minute left. ------ spindritf I was always convinced that "network-provided" time means provided by the GSM operator over GSM. FWIW time on my phone is off by 1.4s according to time.is so it seems to be unaffected by the bug. ~~~ wccrawford I just checked my stock Galaxy S2, and it was almost 2 minutes out. After enabling the automatic time setting, I checked again and it was like 1.9 seconds out. Doesn't seem to be a problem here, either. ------ ragmondo It also messes up 2 factor authentication as well. I've raised this on the google developers, android developers plus groups but I guess if you aint a googler, then it's like p*ssing into the wind.... ------ rosser This doesn't appear to be the case on ICS. My Galaxy Nexus tracks with the clock on my MBA, which is synced to Apple's NTP server. ~~~ nooneelse Another Galaxy Nexus reporting in here, according to time.is, 0.7 seconds behind. ------ chmars Interesting. I had always assumed smartphones would use NTP servers. ------ webjunkie Check <http://time.is/> in your phone's browser. My Android is 1 minute fast :( ~~~ rolandboon Can it be that the bug is fixed in Cyanogen? My Nexus One with Cyanogen is 0.2 seconds off according to time.is. ~~~ webjunkie I'm running Cyanogen... so at least for me it's not fixed. ~~~ toomuchtodo My Nexus One running CM7 is also 0.2 seconds off. ------ dlokshin On a somewhat related note, the GPS on lots of Android phones is more seriously broken than this. For AlpineReplay (app that tracks skiers and snowboarders) we routinely get visits that happen in the future. GPS timing is often off by 24 hours, 12 hours. Most common on Samsung phones but we've found it on HTC and LG as well. ------ sp332 It's not _just_ GPS. Any time source that has added the "leap seconds" will be misinterpreted by Android, because Android doesn't compensate for leap seconds. So if your cellular network or other time server has leap seconds, your Android phone will be wrong even it never sets the clock via GPS. ------ chulett The site says "Tyson talks about the issue at the 15m 20s mark" but it's actually at 56m 20s. ------ InclinedPlane This is really odd, I'd expect on a cdma network for the clock to of necessity be slaved to the network clock, seeing as that is required to be in the network. Is there another internal clock or some other mode of operation going on? ~~~ JoshTriplett CDMA radios do that internally. ------ kelnos _It seems like an easy bug to fix..._ People who haven't looked at the code aren't allowed to suggest that. Period. _... so I’m surprised it’s been ignored for so long._ Because 15 seconds doesn't really matter in any practical sense? Pretty much a non-story. ~~~ jamesaguilar Disagree. If something like this is hard to fix, there is something wrong with the way the code is designed. ~~~ Someone I do not know the code; nevertheless, I disagree. The moment you allow for leap seconds, you need to visit your apps. Can they display x hours, y minutes, 60 seconds? (IIRC, 61 seconded can occur, too). You also need to consider how and how often you update your 'current number of leap seconds' store, you have to add 'across leap seconds' checks to all duration calculations, in addition to 'across DST change' checks, etc. You also will have to decide, on a per call basis, what the programmer intended with a call ('one day later' or 'same time on the next day' or 'about 24 hours later, also on the whole hour'?) oftentimes, the programmer will not even have realized that these are different options. And heaven forbid if somebody does a calculation now for a future date, and some time later a leap second is announced for some moment before that future date. I do not think a really nice design is possible here. There just are too many idiosyncrasies in time handling. ~~~ jamesaguilar You are talking about display issues of leap seconds. That's a different problem from the one we're talking about, which is that the clock itself is wrong. ~~~ Someone It is a different problem, but it largely disappears if the system does not do leap seconds. ~~~ jamesaguilar Yep, you can get rid of UI problems by not having a screen too. ------ dpres The best part of the video in my opinion [http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=e...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ekc3uRPlILU#t=16m50s) ------ kapupetri I'd just compared my Android galaxy S2 to NTP synchronized clock and they change minuter indicator about the same time. So this is not a bug in all devices... ------ NameNickHN My phone gets its time via the carrier network. It's, nevertheless, not accurate though. ------ yoblin Looks like it's fixed in cyanogenmod, at least on my phone. The app clocksync can show you how off you are. ------ ktizo Getting an android phone was what finally convinced me that Google is a brilliant marketing company. Before getting one I was convinced that Google were able to write software. [edit] I want text messaging to work properly. Without doing a system upgrade. Text messaging should not be a hard problem. :(	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: What is your favorite Javascript code snippet? - donohoe Any useful gems or ways to overcome common hurdles? Would love to see and compare insights. Preferably framework/library agnostic if possible. ====== donohoe Some of these assume you have Firebug or similar for console output. Quick and easy browser sniff: var browser = (function x(){})[-5]=='x' ? 'ff3' : (function x(){})[-6]=='x' ? 'ff2' : /a/[-1]=='a' ? 'ff' : '\v'=='v' ? 'ie' : /a/.__proto__=='//' ? 'safari' : /s/.test(/a/.toString) ? 'chrome' : /^function \(/.test([].sort) ? 'opera' : 'Unknown'; Round to Nearest Multiple var roundThis = 54; var closest = Math.round(parseInt(roundThis)/20)*20; // output = 60 URL Paramaters var parts = window.location.search.substr(1).split("&"); var params = {}; for (var i = 0; i < parts.length; i++) { var temp = parts[i].split("="); params[decodeURIComponent(temp[0])] = decodeURIComponent(temp[1]); } console.log(params); URL Hash Paramaters console.log(window.location.hash.substr(1).split("&")); ------ jashkenas I'm partial to keeping a "bind" function handy. (Function#bind will be in ECMAScript 5, but it's not quite here yet). It's crucial for keeping your sanity when trying to use "this" with callbacks, Ajax, or async. var bind = function(func, context) { var slice = Array.prototype.slice; var args = slice.call(args, 2); return function() { return func.apply(context \|\| {}, args.concat(slice.call(arguments))); }; }; ------ keville for (var i=0, node; node=parentElem.childNodes.item(i); i++) { // iterates over an element's child nodes; 2nd statement in for loop returns undefined when out of items } ------ seasoup for (var a=0, len = arr.length; a < len; a++) { // looping for speed, cache the length and save an access } ------ smarterch1ld jQuery	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: Nature or Nurture - ricberw Simple question, but a complicated answer. I’d love to get your thoughts on the matter. ====== MAXPOOL Almost always both. Environment triggers changes in gene expression and reverse is also true. There are multiple ways of how nature and nurture interact. Take for example stress during childhood. It seems that stressful environment leads epigenetic changes an behavioral changes like lower impulse control, aggressive or more promiscuous behavior. Is the change in behavior damage caused by the environment, or is it evolutionary adaptation to uncertain and dangerous environment? It's possible that dangerous environment triggers different epigenetic survival strategies? Breed faster, be more aggressive and do quick decisions. Differentially Methylated Genes in Saliva are linked to Childhood Stress [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-29107-0](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-29107-0) ~~~ _Schizotypy I'm not even sure if we can say "almost" as I have yet to see an example where it was NOT both ~~~ MAXPOOL When you get brain damage that changes your behavior, it's for all intents and purposes 100% environment. ~~~ _Schizotypy The brain responds to brain damage, an organism is not static. There will be epigenetic and neuroplastic responses. ~~~ MAXPOOL "for all intents and purposes" ~~~ _Schizotypy quoting yourself doesn't change anything. You could easily say "for all intents and purposes" that being abused as a child is purely nurture, but that doesn't make the statement any less wrong. ------ _Schizotypy it's not one or the other but a complex interaction of both it is this in ALL cases, they are never isolated from each other ------ hunter2_ Humans: nurture. Cats: nature. ~~~ _Schizotypy wrong, its both for both	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
How Andreessen Horowitz Fumbled An Instagram Investment - joao http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/20/how-andreessen-horowitz-fumbled-an-instagram-investment/ ====== dalton Anyone reading this article needs to remember to never be afraid of putting yourself out there because you are afraid of failure. I saw the market first, I created picplz, and I went for it. I was a huge believe in the mobile photo sharing opportunity, and I went for it with all of my heart. Clearly, picplz didn't win, but I have ZERO shame or regret for doing my best. When I read articles like these, which are about myself, my company and people that I know well, I can't help but feel vitriol aimed at me for DARING to create, launch and raise funding for picplz. I am not clear on what exactly people want, an apology for trying? The fact is, I saw the writing on the wall that we wouldn't win _early_ and pivoted out of photo sharing which I had ~90% of my series A cash still in the bank. It certainly seems like that was the right move, but all of this press makes it look like pivoting was the wrong call(?) The press I read is written in such a way that it assumed that the A16Z investment is dead and my entire company should just be written off to zero today. That is bullshit. If I started to take press like this too seriously I might as well just dissolve my company and stop coming into work. I say this to the hn comminity: never be afraid of failure. No one knows what will happen. All of this arm-chair quarterbacking is a waste of time. Stop reading this kind of crap and instead put your energy into doing your best work. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose, but if you give yourself the opportunity to win enough times, you WILL be successful. ~~~ michael_nielsen I think you're reading something into the article that isn't there. I saw no vitriol aimed at picplz. ~~~ sachingulaya I read the article as being unnecessarily harsh towards picplz to bolster the 'fumble' that was Andreesen Horowitz's 4,000% return on instagram. This article is definitely a non-article and could easily be changed around to say "Andreesen Horowitz has done it again!". ------ larrys "At that market capitalization, Andreessen Horowitz’s stake would be worth $100 million — not bad for a $250,000 investment, but $200 million short of the return it could have earned had it stayed the course." Amazing that you can turn $250k into (possibly) $100,000,000 and in the eyes of a NYT writer you have fallen short. The writer will make a great parent. ~~~ redthrowaway I'm really not sure I get her beef. If I bought $1MM worth of AAPL in 2003 at $10/share, I'd have $57MM. But if I bought it in December 97, at $3.30/share, I could have _$150MM!_ What an idiot am I! AH made out like bandits here; I'm sure they feel just fine about it. ~~~ larrys "not sure I get her beef" There is a saying in news business "if it bleeds it leads". The negative angle draws in viewers and readers on certain topics and in certain situations. My guess is that that she decided this angle would get more views and interest. ~~~ redthrowaway Given how the page fared on HN, she's probably right. ------ ianterrell Extra, extra, read all about it! Firm makes wrong bet in high risk industry and still comes out with 40000% return! Epic fail! ~~~ fruchtose What a tragedy! Andreeson Horowitz only earned $100 million on a $250 thousand investment. What amateurs! They might as well go work at McDonalds. ~~~ droithomme I know, right? For his next hit piece, that NYT "journalist" should write how Andreeson Horowitz are losers because they failed to buy enough Apple stock at $8 a share. ~~~ fruchtose If Andreeson Horowitz invested in a company that produced a time machine, the New York Times would criticize them for not using the time machine to go back in time and invest in an earlier funding round. ------ tptacek It's helpful to know as an entrepreneur that, whatever "A16Z" (heh) thinks about this particular instance, venture capitalists are, allegedly, as a species, _way more motivated_ by fear of stories like this than they are of the fear that their investment in you will come to nothing. When they need to raise money for their next fund, nobody is going to hear about the investments that came to nothing, but the obvious missed opportunities are going to sting. This helps explain why they'll plow money into shoot-the-moon me-too startups that have no discernable chance of success, but might turn you down even if you have steadily growing revenue. ~~~ larrys "fear of stories like this". As a matter of fact, Fred Wilson on his blog the day after the deal was announced was asked this by a commenter: "I was looking for a lively discussion of the FB/Instagram deal today" To which Fred replied: "i'm not interested in that discussion really. somehow that takes energy from me. i am not inspired." As you said "obvious missed opportunities are going to sting" [http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2012/04/life-liberty-and-blazing- bro...](http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2012/04/life-liberty-and-blazing- broadband.html) ------ dkrich Is it just me, or does this seem like a pretty savvy investment by A/H? They got their money into both companies, and ended up getting back (if the article is to be believed), a 400x return on their investment. There was a time and place where that was considered not too shabby, some might even say quite good. Nobody can maximize every investment. How often does it happen that anybody maximizes their investment potential on any given deal? I wish I would have bought Apple stock in 1998 instead of 2005, but I wouldn't say I "fumbled an investment opportunity." When I first saw this headline, not knowing the backstory, I thought this meant that they did something to piss off the Instagram founders and lost out on the chance to put anything into the company at all. ------ rexf Was the NYT headline updated? It currently reads 'How Andreessen Horowitz Bunted on an Instagram Investment'. The piece describes how Andreessen Horowitz invested in both Burbn & Picplz. After Burbn pivoted to Instagram, Andreessen Horowitz had to choose between the two - since they competed directly. Andreessen Horowitz chose to go with the company that they put money for photo sharing. ~~~ dkrich Ha, it must have been, because the URL still says "fumbled." ------ sriramk Also tells you how difficult it is to figure out who is going to make it big. picplz had Dalton Caldwell, both an Android and an iPhone version and a several month head start. You can't blame a16z for picking them. Besides, it looks like they did the most ethical/default thing they could - back the company they had already funded for photo sharing and avoid a conflict. ------ bravura _It was a calculated bet against Instagram and it left Mr. Systrom livid, these people said. Instagram’s founders never discussed strategy with the firm again._ Curious: To what extent can you avoid disclosing information to your investors, once it becomes clear that they are competing against you. _But Mr. Systrom’s experience with Andreessen Horowitz taught him to choose his investors warily._ Why? It seems like A16Z did the most ethical thing, which was support the company that the original founded for this idea. When Instagram pivoted into a competing position, why would they expect A16Z to back them and bury picplz? _By the time Facebook acquired Instagram for $1 billion in a cash-stock deal a week ago, Andreessen Horowitz’s stake in the company had fallen to less than 10 percent._ If A16Z had half the seed round, then that means that the seed investors owned 20%, diluted. If Benchmark own 30% at the sale, that means that the seed angels must have took >30% of the company at the $500K seeding. Is this correct? ------ pcwalton I'm personally sad to see what happened to picplz; they were the main option around for Android at the time and I always preferred their low-key feel to the more showy feel of Instagram. Competition is a good thing. ------ lpolovets I'd hardly call a 400x return 'fumbling'. ------ droithomme The article failed to convince me of the truth of the thesis proposed in its headline. Seems more a hit piece than anything solid or impartial. ------ kposehn I actually find this article rather unfair to all involved. It is quite clear that the author seems to have it out for AH - after all, a $100m return is freaking AMAZING for $250,000, and Benchmark made a far lower multiple for the amount they invested. In the end, I'd say the win goes to AH - they made a mistake, but also didn't exactly lose either. ------ tzz Why didn't he just invest in both? ~~~ eternalban Because it would dilute the trust relationship between the investor and the companies involved. ... "never discussed strategy again" ... That is not a good vantage point to be in if you are investing in a company. How do you make effective decisions if you are not privy to the entire picture? "moral reasons" ... Give me a break. ------ zackattack Marc ensured the market expanded with his wise bet. I doubt he has any regrets. Who knows whether Instagram would have expanded unless they were motivated to get to a point of turning their backs on A16Z. $ talks. ~~~ zackattack oh yeah i'm sure that marc andreesen is in cahoots with paul graham and has the extension to see your downvote..... way to curry favor there champ ~~~ zackattack did not mean to imply that paul graham, of all people, would not respect privacy. i was just trying to be satirical, and i guess my attempt failed.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Silicon Valley Has Not Saved Us from a Productivity Slowdown - leothekim http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/06/upshot/silicon-valley-has-not-saved-us-from-a-productivity-slowdown.html ====== thedevil "they valued free Internet services at ... less than 1 percent of G.D.P." So Pandora, Facebook, Hacker News, YouTube, Google, Wikipedia, gmail, google maps, Reddit... all of these together are worth less than $50/month? Would any of you give up all the free parts of the internet for $50/month? And look back 30 years: everything has gotten so much better. Rotary dial landlines have been replaced with smartphones. Houses are better and bigger. Cars are better, more comfortable, safer. Children's toys, strollers, playgrounds are so much safer and more convenient. Music has changed from a few CDs to thousands of songs carried around in almost every pocket. The numbers don't seem to make any sense to me. Marc Andreessen is onto something. The economic numbers don't make any sense when you compare them to reality. ~~~ thedevil And here's an idea to explain the mismatch. Not sure if it's right, but it might explain why the numbers make no sense: newspaper -> hacker news, google news: GDP drops, but life is better. stereo + CDs -> mp3 player: GDP drops, but life is better GPS -> Google maps, GDP drops, but life is better. snail mail -> gmail, text, GDP drops, but life is better. ~~~ superuser2 >newspaper -> hacker news, google news Um, what? Google News doesn't do reporting, it aggregates newspaper content. If the traditional media outlets die, there will be no content left for Google News to aggregate. Unless you are referring the part of the newspaper industry which actually puts ink on dead trees, which is pretty small compared to the newsrooms. People write posts that go on HN to promote themselves and their business interests. Nothing wrong with a little of that, but it isn't a substitute for journalism. ~~~ undersuit Newspapers aggregate news as well. The point is you buy the newspaper for all or most of the content or you visit Google News or Hacker News. They are portals. >it isn't a substitute for journalism. _No true journalist_ would ever impinge their profession by writing for such trash as a blog. ~~~ superuser2 I am using "newspaper" in the sense of "organization which pays reporters and editors to produce a textual representation of the news of the day." So perhaps this is semantics. But Google News does not do that. Google News is sort of similar to the business unit of a newspaper which takes finished copy in digital form from the newsroom and actually delivers dead trees to people's doors. Of course the internet should (and will) kill that entirely. Journalism is a professional craft. Writing about current events for free because you are passionate about some issue, or for a salary because your benefactor has a vested interest in some issue, etc. is not journalism. Your income has to flow from the fact that _people want the news_ , and you/your bosses/your editors have to be properly incentivized to actually report the news. ------ natrius The Uber example is a great one. From 2009 to 2015, Uber didn't do much to increase the amount of value a driver could create per dollar spent. It did somewhat: Uber drivers can charge less than taxi drivers due to higher utilization and regulatory avoidance. But at the end of the day, drivers were still putting in the same amount of work to move a passenger. UberPool and UberHop are actually productivity increases. A single driver can provide 2-4 trips worth of value with about 1 trip's worth of work. However, that's just going to drive the cost of trips down. If Uber and its drivers end up not increasing their revenue per driver trip, the productivity statistics would look the same even though drivers are moving four times as many people! My layman's interpretation could be wrong, but it really just looks like we're using productivity wrong. It's useful to compare companies and countries at a particular point in time, but if you use it to compare the 2000 world to the 2016 world, it's probably not going to tell you useful things. ~~~ YokoZar >UberPool and UberHop are actually productivity increases. A single driver can provide 2-4 trips worth of value with about 1 trip's worth of work. However, that's just going to drive the cost of trips down. If Uber and its drivers end up not increasing their revenue per driver trip, the productivity statistics would look the same even though drivers are moving four times as many people! In this scenario, you need only 1/4 the drivers, and some fraction of those 3 newly unemployed people will eventually do other work. _That_ is the productivity growth. ~~~ qq66 You wouldn't necessarily need only 1/4 the drivers. The reduction in prices would increase demand for transportation by some amount. If that amount is less than 4x, you would see an industry employment decrease, but if it was more than 4x, you would see it increase, just like how auto industry employment increased as cars were able to be made for cheaper and cheaper prices. ------ digikata Silicon Valley can provide tools, or perhaps supplant some industries, but the bulk of productivity improvement is internal to companies. I think the productivity slowdown is a result of many companies not investing in internal improvement/development and instead using their capital in non-productivity enhancing financial moves such as stock buybacks. ~~~ calinet6 Ding ding ding. In fact, if anything, the increasing inequity between management, C-level executives, and employees makes companies even less able to handle the complex systems of the present world, which is only growing in complexity. The real issues are human, and human problems require improvements in management, leadership, internal systems, and knowledge and understanding. When rifts form between management and employees, what happens instead is an individual competitive focus that brings productivity and innovation down significantly. What we're seeing, effectively, is that the world is changing and becoming more complex, and management and internal systems are not keeping up, and instead in many cases going downhill. There are small pockets of hope in the Lean movement, Kaizen/continuous improvement, and in those who know and understand Deming management philosophy. For a great modern take, read General Stanley McChrystal's "Team of Teams." ------ Animats Non-paywall copy of paper, from author: [1] [1] [http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/chad.syverson/research/produ...](http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/chad.syverson/research/productivityslowdown.pdf) ------ JustSomeNobody How much more productive does the middle need to be!? Good grief, nobody is allowed to "turn off" any more. We're ALWAYS working. Edit: And please don't kill me with semantics of "working" vs "productivity". ~~~ ktRolster > And please don't kill me with semantics of "working" vs "productivity". Maybe if you understood the difference between working and productivity you wouldn't be ALWAYS working. ~~~ wavefunction The OP specifically called out the semantic difference between working and productivity. ~~~ baddox I'm not sure how that absolves OP of the actual semantic difference between the two. You can't just say "all doors are squares, and don't kill me with the semantic difference between 'square' and 'rectangle.'" ------ p4wnc6 Start-ups rally around fashion signalling through open-plan offices, and create elaborate HR codewords to rationalize unhealthy cramming of people into intrinsically unproductive physical situations. The cost effectiveness of providing private offices for knowledge workers, even in the most dense urban areas, has been well known for a long time, yet few organizations do it, and some organizations even _spend_ money to tear down productivity-enhancing privacy features in favor of wasteful open-plan fashion. Why would anyone look to the start-up world when expecting productivity? ------ Animats Most big productivity increases have been in the manufacturing and agriculture areas. Those have been so successful that they now employ only 9.5% of the US workforce. The areas with strong productivity increases shrink, while the ones with low or no productivity increase come to dominate employment. ~~~ dredmorbius There's a formal statement of that, essentially an analogue of Amdahl's Law. As you optimise labour in certain parts of the economy, you're left with the bits that cannot have their productivity increased. Unfortunately I cannot for the life of me remember what it's called or where I read it. Good odds it's in Robert Gordon's new book ( _The Rise and Fall of American Growth_ ) or related discussion. Or somewhere in William Ophuls' _Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity_ discussing technology, or Carlotta Perez's _Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital_. Light reading.… ~~~ sbierwagen Baumol's cost disease. Baumol and Bowen pointed out that the same number of musicians is needed to play a Beethoven string quartet today as was needed in the 19th century; that is, the productivity of classical music performance has not increased. On the other hand, real wages of musicians (as well as in all other professions) have increased greatly since the 19th century. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumol%27s_cost_disease](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumol%27s_cost_disease) ~~~ dredmorbius Thank you. I'd run across that elsewhere and was wondering where the hell I'd just recently mentioned it.... ------ api_or_ipa I might be late the party for anyone to read what I have to say. For the past 45 years, Canada has had limited growth in labour productivity and currently stands at $42/hour, contrasting against the US at $52/hour, measured in GDP/hour worked. It turns out that it's very very difficult to understand productivity. It is against common understanding why Canada's more numerous bachelors degree holders seemingly doesn't contribute to a more productive labour force. If investments in education do not increase labour productivity (as predicted by nearly every model of labour economics), then what measures do affect productivity? It is increasingly unconvincing that countries become more productive by mere accident. ~~~ dilemma >It is against common understanding why Canada's more numerous bachelors degree holders seemingly doesn't contribute to a more productive labour force. If investments in education do not increase labour productivity (as predicted by nearly every model of labour economics), then what measures do affect productivity? The "education system" is not an education system. It is a selection system used to choose who gets one of the at any one tine limited number of jobs. Increasing the number of people in that selection system makes it less effective, hence the lowered value of a degree, the need for internships, and increased stress on personal networks for finding jobs. ~~~ api_or_ipa Your argument is absurd. You're implying the job market for university educated workers is perfectly inelastic and each successive degree holder produces _no_ extra value on the margin. Moreover, you make the baseless assumption that competition amongst more candidates for skilled work produces no further value-- in other words, every worker is just as skilled. There are many more plausible reasons that don't have to invoke such strong assumptions on the education and skilled workforce markets. Cultural, social and political differences, a lower population density et al. ------ sbov Maybe I'm off base, but why would we necessarily expect great productivity gains? The late 90's to early 2000's was a time when computers become ubiquitous. Yes, there are smart phones and tablets now, but the difference between "by hand" and "by computer" is far larger than "by PC" and "by tablet". ------ snowwrestler Well duh; most of what Silicon Valley builds are not productivity tools. If anything they build anti-productivity tools like social media and entertainment. ------ arjie Hang on. Correct me if I'm being terribly obtuse here, but it looks like making an end goal process with a saturated market more efficient would count as a productivity loss? So say everyone needs to pay taxes. Let's say that everyone complies and pays a company $100 for software to do this. Now I make equivalent software which I'm able to sell for $50 (because I'm better at running my company, say). Now people are spending exactly half as much money, but the same job is being done. This looks like an economic productivity loss? If so, surely there are alternative models that capture the intuitive gain from things like this? Or maybe such gains are rare and negligible? ~~~ YokoZar What happens in this situation is the people who used to make the obsolete things are now out of a job, and eventually get employment somewhere else. What they do _then_ counts for productivity. If they earn what they did before, you'd measure no change in productivity -- though we'd all be better off. The studies in the article assert that the size of the productivity shortfall is so large that even if we place pretty generous values on all this free stuff we have now it doesn't fully cover the gap. ------ calinet6 Complex systems never got any simpler, only more complex. Certain circles are beginning to realize that the main issues are human and not technological (Lean, Deming, Kaizen, Design thinking, etc). So there's your answer. Increasing complexity of work, with unchanged or at best slowly increased ability to cope with it. For a great overview and insight into this shift (and how to tackle it), check out Gen Stanley McChrystal's book, "Team of Teams." ~~~ dilemma Standard Work is an incredibly interesting concept that I've just started looking into for organizational design. ~~~ calinet6 One of many concepts needed together to create a high-functioning organization. ------ baconizer [off-topic] aren't mobile phones and tablets just sucking productivity out of mankind, if not slowing it down? was watching old movies from 90s with my lady and we both noticed how interactive ppl were in the background, on streets or in cafe, nowadays every one just dives into their mobile phones ... ~~~ baddox Are you talking about economic productivity, or social interaction? Those are two questions with potentially very different answers. Also, I think the social interaction argument is pretty weak. The global connectedness that comes from the Internet and smartphones is, in my opinion, a huge improvement to social interaction in the world. I'm not that fussed if I'm at a restaurant with friends and some are using their phones. ~~~ baconizer yes i immediately realised what you meant after my reply, so I should mark my words as off topic. it did inspired me similar thinking today, before I saw this :) ------ henrikschroder The article states that labor productivity has been growing less in the last decade, but how is that measured? Is the productivity number compensated for the number of hours worked? And is it measuring only labor performed by humans? ~~~ _delirium Yes, productivity is measured per hour of human labor. ------ cowardlydragon The middle class never got any money for being more productive in the 90s and aughts. Maybe they're wising up. Also, virtually every market is dominated by cartel, duopoly, or monopoly conditions, and companies are often satisfied with that position, so investment is down. ~~~ tryitnow While I agree with your statement, it's not terribly germane to Cowen's argument. What he's saying is that all the fuss over Silicon Valley technology is not warranted when it comes to actual productivity gains. This is a really important point because it suggests two different way of conceiving of technology: 1) how economists define technology, viz something that allows us to do more with less 2) what laymen consider technology: the latest gee whiz gizmo marketed by Silicon Valley The economic definition is a lot stricter in some ways - and broader in other ways. The takeaway is that in economic terms we really haven't experienced much technological evolution. I find that to be pretty believable. ~~~ TheOtherHobbes No, the takeaway is that economic terms themselves haven't experienced much evolution. What does productivity mean when your economy is increasingly powered by data, not money? As a wild generalisation, there are two kinds of economic model - the political model, where the point is to use rhetoric to enhance power differentials between social castes, and the evolutionary model, which considers economic activity a proxy measure for collective intelligence and opportunity. We're in a transition period where the former model is peaking and about to[1] crash, and the latter model is becoming more sharply defined. In the former model an abundance of data is a bad thing, because the market value of any specific type of data crashes towards zero. In the latter model an abundance of data is a good thing, because it increases the possibility of invention and innovation. And an abundance of data refinement tools is even better. Which is a more accurate measure of productivity? [1] For very poorly defined bounds of "about to". I'm guessing more than decade, less than a century. ~~~ williamcotton Can I pay my rent in data? For humans like me who pay their rent in dollars, GDP is a perfectly reasonable way to measure productivity. What kind of "evolution" are you talking about? I think all you're pointing out is that Silicon Valley is extraordinarily bad at attributing value to data. It's not the roll of economics to fix that problem. Economics deals with real things like people buying food and having to pay rent and pay actual taxes. If Silicon Valley can't figure out a way to get translate "data" in to "thing I trade to my landlord so he doesn't call the cops", well, then Silicon Valley is wasting everyone's time. ------ oldmanjay It seems that trying to distill the activity of 7+ billion people into a line graph that you can extend naively to make predictions is a bankrupt exercise. Calling lower-than-predicted growth a slowdown is more than a bit disingenuous. ~~~ Ericson2314 I didn't read it as less-than-predicted growth, but rather simply less than previous growth. Regardless, the wording of the article and headline is wrong, and makes me sad that evidently more people didn't learn / don't remember any calculus. Derivative of productivity != productivity, NYT. ~~~ dragonwriter > Derivative of productivity != productivity, NYT. See, this is what happens with decades of people tolerating media confusion between the GDP and the annualized rate of growth of the GDP. Now its spreading to everything else.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Hacker School banning “feigned surprise” is absolutely brilliant - SoftwarePatent http://brooklynoptimist.com/2014/04/10/hacker-school-banning-feigned-surprise-is-absolutely-brilliant/ ====== awjr One of the reasons I'm leaving my current role at the end of the month is due to this egocentric development approach from the team lead. "Bzzzzzt" and "Schoolboy error" are not good peer review comments to hand out to the team. Technically the guy is very good, but it's toxic and unpleasant. Work for me is about doing cool stuff, learning new things, and most importantly, helping the people I work with to do their job better and grow as individuals (I feed them donuts on a daily basis ;) ). ~~~ awjr As an aside, if you go for an interview and notice that each person has a Fail Buzzer (I never had one) as a 'joke', you should probably not accept a role if you don't have a thick skin. ~~~ sergiotapia They sound like fratboy douchebags. Did they hi-five you and chug some beers after hiring you? ~~~ awjr I should probably write it up somewhere but the concept of the team going out and having a drink/socialising was quite alien to them. ~~~ asuffield Alcohol-centric social interaction is another form of exclusion. There are few things I find quite so unpleasant as sitting in a noisy bar with people who are getting progressively inebriated. ~~~ chollida1 > Alcohol-centric social interaction is another form of exclusion. I get that, it also happens to be a very popular form of socializing with many people. To be fair to your point, you can replace alcohol-centric, with bowling, concerts, sporting events, lunch and every single other form of socializing and you can say its a form of exclusion as I can guarantee that no matter what form of socializing you pick I can find someone who it makes uncomfortable. Honestly sometimes I think the pendulum has swung too far back the other way to inclusion that we are actually exuding people by trying to be all thing to all people and not offending people. ~~~ chadwickthebold I think the point is to recognize that some people, like the person you are replying to, my have an issue with drinking as a social activity. Not that you shouldn't have that as an option, but you should be aware if someone in the group is made uncomfortable by that. Speaking to your point though, I have a friend who - no joke - hates bowling. Like, he gets violently angry when we suggested going bowling and said he'd rather sit in the car by himself if we went. Some people... ~~~ AndyKelley > Speaking to your point though, I have a friend who - no joke - hates > bowling. Like, he gets violently angry when we > suggested going bowling and said he'd rather sit in the car by himself if we > went. Some people... I'm one of those people. ------ yanowitz There's a set of human interaction anti-patterns like this. (The article mentions another one -- excessive confidence and its inverse, ability to acknowledge ignorance and learn from others. I'd also add a variant to that--having and expressing varying degrees of confidence in your opinions. The more experience/evidence-based your opinion is, the more strongly you are likely to be attached. But every opinion in software should have error bars around it, especially given the rapidity of change.) The inverse of feigned surprise was neatly displayed to me by a coworker recently, "oh cool, today is the day you get to learn about X." I assume someone has written something brilliant about these sets of interactions. ~~~ archagon One anti-pattern I particularly hate is sarcasm. For some reason, people in many online communities seem to think that they can't do without it — even that it somehow defines their personalities. But whenever somebody posts something even remotely against the grain, and the top-voted reply is in the vein of "Yeah, because _that 's_ a real problem", there's just nothing more I can do in that thread. It's a conversational dead-end. ~~~ normloman I will defend sarcasm. Because sometimes, the only way to see the stupidity in your argument is to hear it said back to you. And yeah, it stings a bit. All the better. ~~~ danielweber The problem with sarcasm is that, when I use it, I'm not putting my own opinion out there to be critiqued, I'm only attacking the other guy's. I can change my argument at will and claim "I was only being ironic" with prior claims. ~~~ Crito > _" I can change my argument at will and claim "I was only being ironic" with > prior claims."_ This is solved by explicitly stating when you are being sarcastic, _or_ following up the sarcastic paragraph with a paragraph that non-sarcastically explains your position. > _" The problem with sarcasm is that, when I use it, I'm not putting my own > opinion out there to be critiqued, I'm only attacking the other guy's."_ I don't think that is actually problematic. There are certain issues that I do not have strong feelings on one way or the other, so I consider my opinion on those issues to be of relatively little consequence. Nevertheless, I am still capable of analyzing and critiquing the merit of arguments made by others. For instance, if the topic is tidal power stations being placed offshore of expensive private beach property _(a topic that I do not care about one way or the other)_ and somebody objects that the view from those beaches will be destroyed, I might sarcastically quip that all transmission lines near golf courses and country clubs should be razed, because rich people should never be forced to gaze upon infrastructure. I would give this sarcastic quip because, although I don't really give a shit about tidal power, I can still recognize a ridiculous argument when I see one. ------ tikhonj Ah, confidence. I tend to do the opposite: I hedge too much. If I don't watch myself, I'd probably say, "I think 3 is a prime number...". Then again, I _have_ been guilty of projecting confidence a bit too much, probably in a way unpleasant to others. In some ways, just banning a particular behavior feels a bit too much like treating the symptom rather than the root cause. On the other hand, I can't imagine how to approach this problem more holistically. More importantly, this rule is _simple_. Having a simple, strict rule like this will help people help themselves. If they actually _want_ to be nicer—and, I've found, most people do—a few rules like this will help them catch their own bad habits. And over time, it will help them be more introspective. So perhaps it actually _is_ a way to treat the underlying problem. I've been trying something similar myself, pattern matching on some of my bad habits to try to reduce them. I don't know if it's been working holistically, but at least I _feel_ like a nicer person. So that's something. ~~~ eshvk > Ah, confidence. I tend to do the opposite: I hedge too much. I never had a formal computer science education and I also tend to do that.I took enough Math, CS and Electrical Engineering courses to be utterly frightened by what I don't know. This means that I also over-estimate what other people know. Oh, Sally has a pure math degree from Harvard, let me be very careful talking about kernels around her. James studied Distributed Systems at MIT, I better over think my system design before I talk to him. What I have realized is that, this anti-pattern comes in conflict with the opposite anti-pattern. The one that comes from people who hide their insecurities by being over-confident. The one that comes from people whose deepest fear is saying "I don't know". To them, a person who says that is a person who can't code. If you want to progress in your career, you will have to deal/learn to deal with such people. Being nice doesn't really help when the other person is a "Oh, you don't know X" dick. Especially if you are working in something that is a specialized domain where the other person doesn't have the expertise to evaluate you. ~~~ gdilla That is a very interesting anti-pattern, and I see it a lot in non engineering/tech companies (because I think people are insecure about the rapid technical changes they see about them). It's called the Dunning-Kruger effect [1]. “One of the painful things about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision.” - Bertrand Russel [1] [1][http://www.spring.org.uk/2012/06/the-dunning-kruger- effect-w...](http://www.spring.org.uk/2012/06/the-dunning-kruger-effect-why- the-incompetent-dont-know-theyre-incompetent.php) ~~~ eshvk I don't want to get into the pattern of assuming that all people who are certain are stupid. :) Especially since my career involves working with enough people who are non tech but bring so much value to the table that I would be foolish to assume that. However, another interesting side effect of Engineers who are so damn certain about The Right Way is Product Owners or higher ups who have been trained by such engineers are absolutely confused by a person who expresses uncertainty. I have started learning the art of keeping the uncertainty to myself or a trusted set of people who are OK with uncertainty and project a calm, clear vision to those who don't. ------ qwerta > “Feigned surprise” (when someone gasps and says something like: “you don’t > even know about monads?”) Too often the surprise is real. There are developers who do not know basics such as loops, conditions, arithmetic and so on. I use Java for a long time, but I have problem writing 'switch' statements. In Scala it is very powerful so I use it often, in Java it is too primitive, so I always just use bunch of 'if-else' statements. I am not sure what context of previous example applies to. It could be on someone who claims Haskel skills. But I think every well educated hacker / software developer should know about nomads. ~~~ asuffield I have this unhappy experience every day, when I find people don't know things that are essential to doing their jobs. I try hard not to let it show too much or fall into the trap of acting superior, but the soul-crushing depression makes this hard. ~~~ shubb The more I learn, the clearer it becomes that I know very little. Things that I used to know fade away - a few years out of college, I can't do matrix maths anymore. Software engineering is a big job. Software engineers might know about assembly code, pointers, design patterns, UML, functional programming, algorithms, AI, statistics, reverse engineering, driver programming, SQL, NoSQL, matrix calculations and numeric simulation, control theory, cloud scaling, devops, unit testing, XML schema design... Then, if you think about the things outside programming an engineer might need to know, like marketing, sales, budget control, estimating, project management, user experience design, graphic design, human psychology. And the domain they are working in of course. That's a lot to know. Even the basics. I don't know the basics of a lot of those things. Doesn't meeting all these people who don't know things make you wonder what you don't know that you don't know? ~~~ judk Of course I don't know everything. But the stuff I don't know is irrelevant to my job. If you join my team, I expect you to know everything relevant to your new job, not whatever trivia you might have found amusing elsewhere. ------ ColinWright > "Feigned surprise" (when someone gasps and says > something like: "you don’t even know about monads?") When someone doesn't know about something it's an opportunity for them to learn, and for you to experience again the wonder and excitement of discovering something new. Don't exhibit your superiority just because you've been exposed to something they haven't, seize with both hands the thrill of learning. [https://xkcd.com/1053/](https://xkcd.com/1053/) ~~~ jerf Tone and context are everything. Let's not pretend this isn't usually passive- aggressive. (And not even very passive passive-aggressive...) ~~~ hamburglar I agree that tone and context are everything, but I don't agree that it's "usually" passive-aggressive. On my team, if someone says "oh, man, you haven't heard about X?" it's usually said with a relish that translates to "dude, you're gonna love this. Check it out: ..." I guess that means I don't work with dicks. ------ moron4hire I have tried for a long time to be understanding of people's differing experiences. Mostly because I've been on the receiving end of so much feigned surprise. I was home-schooled, but actually had a fairly normal childhood otherwise. My parents didn't shelter my sister and me from pop culture, we embraced it just as much as any other family in our podunk Pennsylvania town. It used to really put me off in college when people would laugh at me for not getting an obscure cultural reference--even if I knew what franchise it was from, just hadn't had time to watch that particular one--assuming it was another "home schoolers are so sheltered" moment. No, I'm sorry, there is just a finite number of television watching hours in a life, and when you were watching Captain Planet, I was watching Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles. Incidentally, I used to get it from my home schooler "friends", too. They would gasp to learn I hadn't read such and such work of classic English literature. Comments about how poor of a reader I must be too have not read Dickins. Will, sorry I haven't helped validate your childhood, but just because I hated Oliver Twist and read Kipling instead doesn't mean I didn't read any classics. So yeah, just be careful. Feigned surprise ids also a form of exclusionary prejudice. If you can't even be accepting of someone who is nearly culturally identical to you, then your chances are grim for when you meet someone who is really different. ~~~ jrs99 could be a different kind of feigned surprise. Like they want to express how weird they find it that you don't know about something. if someone said "What!? You've NEVER listened to this album?", and then removed the album from their shelf and shoved it in my hands, I don't know if that would be in the same class as the passive aggressive type of feigned surprise. or if someone sees a bag of milk in my fridge and says "What!? Your milk comes in BAGS???" ~~~ moron4hire When it was followed up with "told you homeschoolers are weird", I think I'm well outside of the realm of assumption. Usually, when people learn I was homeschooled, the first words out of their mouth are "really? You don't seem weird." I used to reply with, "oh? How many homeschooled kids do you know?" Now I answer, "oh, I'm certainly weird, just not for that reason." ------ ufukbay I have been in a similar situation where my "good will" caused one of my best coworkers to feel superiour than me and started to try to boss me around. For more than two years everything was fine because we worked on different projects. However for the last couple of months, working together on the same project, everything went down the drain. I talked to him about big changes and new features before implementing them to hear his opinion in order to make him feel more involved but in one of those meetings, he said something like: "You wouldn't be able to do this on your own if I didn't help you. Did you learn about this kind of stuff at school?". This was the start of a chain of events which finally led to quitting my job and taking up new one from the beginning of May. Next time I will make sure that I either won't talk about everything in detail to my coworker or make sure that people understand why I'm involving them in the decision making. ~~~ judk People at my office are afraid to communicate because they don't want other people to think they are dumb and punish them politically. Don't fall victim to that. Be the good teammate you know how to be. You will learn more and get more done than if you keep your shields up. You may suffer from insulting peer reviews short term, but you will be a hero to others who are like you but more timid, and you will learn and grow faster which will make you more impressive at your next gig. ~~~ ufukbay Yeah, with lack of communication, stress and chaos is inevitable, it's just a matter of time. At my next gig, I'll give my best to keep an high level of communication between my teammates. ------ aaronetz I am very much against feigned surprise, but this just a symptom of the underlying personality. Ban one thing - and the personality will find other ways to manifest itself. It's better, in my opinion, to just have an unspoken rule like "respect your coworkers" and make sure to help arrogant people improve their social skills (sometimes those people don't even realize that their behavior is causing grief to others). ~~~ gommm I think sometimes correcting the symptom leads the person to realize that they are doing that and correct the problem. It's easy to behave like a jerk without realizing it and a lot of people who come off as arrogant don't imagine themselves as being so. If you tell them to respect their coworkers, it doesn't have the same impact because it not actionable (they already imagine themselves as being respectful). That's why banning specific toxic behaviors work, it encourages introspection for people whose bad behavior is unintentional. ~~~ lawtguy The ban also removes some of the reward for this behavior. Some of the people are doing it to make themselves look superior and the target inferior. With the ban, they can instantly be pulled up short ("Hey! We don't do that here at Hacker School.") thus instantly removing some of the superiority they thought they had gained. ------ facepalm Why not just have a rule to be nice to each other? Personally I wouldn't like a climate of micromanaged human interaction. But of course for others it might be different. I am not saying they should change their policy, just that it would be off-putting to me. ~~~ zhemao From the Hacker School manual in which these rules are spelled out. > The goal isn't to burden Hacker School with a bunch of annoying rules, or to > give us a stick to bludgeon people with for "being bad." Rather, these rules > are designed to help all of us build a pleasant, productive, and fearless > community. To build a positive environment, it sometimes helps to have a list of specific toxic behaviors that should be avoided. ~~~ facepalm Sure, I guess it depends how you interpret the world "rule". It could just be a recommendation, or people could be expelled for breaking it. ~~~ zhemao Different rules have different punishments. It's in the nature of rules. I very much doubt that anyone at Hacker School has been kicked out for feigning surprise. ------ axanoeychron I honestly find this behaviour so difficult to understand. Why treat people like this? What advantage does it serve? If someone does not know something, it is not an excuse for belittlement. It is not an upperhand. It's an opportunity to teach and learn from teaching. This probably makes me a minority and just reinforces my perspective that human ego can be fundamentally broken and requires time to healthily construct. ~~~ leephillips "Why treat people like this? What advantage does it serve?" You seem to have answered your own question in your subsequent remarks. The feigned surprise is a habit of people with very low self esteem. They constantly seek to reassure themselves by trying to place others (usually people whom they fear are more capable than they are) into a position of lower social status. If you are on the receiving end of a feigned surprise attack, think back through your interactions with the attacker: you will probably remember something recent that revealed that you had some skill or knowledge that the attacker lacked. From that moment on, he was looking for a way to reassert his social status. ------ minikomi This reminds me of how great I thought this was: Hacker School is positive. When I had a bug that I didn’t understand and asked one of the facilitators to help me out, they would frequently say “Oh, interesting!”. The attitude was “Oh, is something not working? How delightful! A learning opportunity!”. source: [http://jvns.ca/blog/2014/02/15/how-was-hacker- school/](http://jvns.ca/blog/2014/02/15/how-was-hacker-school/) ------ octo_t What about just surprise? I've met people who claim to be 'experts' in C++, but (for example) don't know how to use STL algorithms. ~~~ sillysaurus3 I'm a C++ expert, but I've never touched std::for_each, for example. (I could learn it in about two minutes if it became necessary to know, but it hasn't ever been.) In general, #include <algorithm> is a bit worrisome, because it usually indicates someone is trying to be overly clever with C++. On the other hand, if the codebase is written in that style, then the _whole_ codebase should be consistently written in that style. The inconsistency is the worrisome part: either use it everywhere or nowhere. Anyway, STL is pretty massive, and knowing all of it isn't the same thing as being a C++ expert. Knowing what to avoid is almost as important as knowing what to use. ~~~ jcd748 You probably don't need std::for_each anymore. With C++11, you can do the following: for (const auto& element : collection) { } What's wrong with <algorithm>? I use it all the time for sort, swap, and random_shuffle comes up more frequently than I expect. ~~~ sillysaurus3 Those are all fine. Actually, I forgot that sort was in <algorithm>. I was just recalling some of the horrors I've seen due to pre-C++11 fanciness. There seems to be a temptation for C++ programmers to overuse clever tricks. Luckily, with C++11 fewer tricks are necessary. Unfortunately, the gamedev industry will probably be stuck with pre-C++11 for another decade. ~~~ emmelaich > I'm a C++ expert .. > I forgot that sort was in <algorithm> Uhm, sillysaurus3, could I see you in my office please. :-) ~~~ sillysaurus3 My brain space is limited, so I use it sparingly. Memorizing which header file provides which function is something I've left out. That's what IDEs and Google are for. ;) ------ bryan_rasmussen _gasp_ I didn't even know what feigned surprise was! ~~~ theorique I'm _amazed_ that you didn't know about feigned surprise. _Everyone_ knows about feigned surprise (or so I thought). ------ jgroome Reminds me of this article from way back when: [http://thingist.com/item/4372/](http://thingist.com/item/4372/) Not exactly the same, but talks about this attitude prevalent among tech types that encourages belittling of those less experienced/knowledgable. ------ wingerlang This seems to be the post in question: [https://www.hackerschool.com/blog/1-summer-2012-applications...](https://www.hackerschool.com/blog/1-summer-2012-applications- open) ~~~ logn Reading that post and the blog post linked, I think I see computer science programs in a better light now. At least in an automata/assembly/algebra class you're not going to find people who think they're hotshots for knowing the material. Most people struggle through and then go find spare time to learn programming. I'd be really down on myself for not knowing all the latest programming trends in hacker school, kind of like now when I read endless Javascript blogs about new tools, but the difference is I know enough now to know what's important to have a grasp on and what's noise. ------ mcguire The article might be improved if it mentioned what Hacker School was and how they had banned "feigned surprise".[1] [1] [https://www.hackerschool.com/manual#sec- environment](https://www.hackerschool.com/manual#sec-environment) ------ punkrockpolly Before Hacker School, I never realized how unhelpful this was. The naive logic is, "well, I'm genuinely surprised that this person didn't know this". But in the grand reality of things, all of us know very little. Even experts in one area, don't know basic things in another area. By removing the shaming of admitting what you don't know, Hacker School encourages everyone to move past that and help each other learn. ~~~ lawtguy I think this is exactly why they added this rule: some people didn't realize the negative effects of acting surprised when someone doesn't know something. The jerks are probably still going to be jerks of course, but for the others it's a chance to learn about how to better interact with the people around them. ------ badman_ting Oh, people who do that are terrible. But then, nerds have _so many_ terrible personality tics like that, which is why they/we are considered socially ungraceful. Another favorite of mine is the one where you take what someone said super literally, as a joke (a terribly unfunny joke). ------ jl6 This was a new term for me, though I recognise the behaviour. I think the term will help fight it. Reminds me of the phrase "false balance" which was also new to me recently. Names are so important! ------ Argorak I struggle with this anti-pattern. I used to use it, but I know how bad it is. In bad moments, it still slips. My solution has been to be more proactive about it. If I see a topic coming up, I just ask "you know about (ABC)?", which gives the other person the option to say "yes" (instead of getting something explained they know) or "no", which is a good start to an explanation. ~~~ sjtrny The problem is that sometimes the person feels under pressure to pretend they know so they say yes anyway. ~~~ Argorak Sure, but thats a different problem you have to solve on another level and inherent in all such conversations. ------ gelisam After reading the title but before reading the article, I was trying to imagine a situation in which anybody might want to fake surprise in a work environment. The only thing I came up with was as a teaching mechanism, as in: "your program is crashing when you divide by zero instead of returning NaN? How strange! Let's investigate together". I was quite surprised to see that by "feigned surprise", the article actually meant something along the lines of "really, you expected an integer operation to return NaN?". The article does explain why people might say that, but I still have a hard time believing it. Why would anybody want to say that? It's not helpful at all. I guess I must be lucky never to have worked in the bad working environments described by the article. ~~~ biscarch > Why would anybody want to say that? It's not helpful at all. The way I read the article (and think about this topic in general) is pretty close to the way I perceived the part of your response that I quoted. Essentially it often combines explicit or implicit generalized language (anybody, nobody, everybody, etc) with an assertion that something is "obvious" or in some other way "beneath" the person saying it. It's not necessarily that people _want_ to say it but more likely that they are unaware of what they're saying for whatever reason. By giving it a name Hacker School is letting people realize the topic and, hopefully, reducing occurrences. IMO "Feigned Surprise" is a bit of a misnomer but I haven't come up with anything better to call it. It may be more correlated with imperfect articulation of people's assumptions than actual surprise. ------ mathattack The "Let me find something you don't know" is almost always compensation for a problem of the overconfident. Usually it stems from them being on the receiving end of it. Perhaps in the form of, "Oh, you can't run a 7 minute mile?" when they were younger. ------ myth_drannon Here is a short presentation about Hacker School at our local Python meetup given by someone who went there. She also talks about feigned surprises [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W6yQ2dXJk8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W6yQ2dXJk8) ------ DanBC Some schools in the UK recognisd that some children do not want to look stupid by givin the wrong answer or appearing not to know something. They realised that this stops those children from asking questions, not jist from answering questions. One technique used to overcome this is for the teacher to nominate a pupil to attempt an answer. It doesn't matter iftheu don't know - that's part of the process. A side benefit is the teacher gets more inderstanding of any mosconceptions the pupils have. There are lots of subtle things happening with teaching and it's a bit worrying that we don't have much research or we don't ise the research we have. ~~~ arjie It's an interesting pedagogical technique I've seen elsewhere too. What are the results of applying it? I know that I was in a class where the teacher followed this procedure. I _dreaded_ the moment when I'd be picked even though the questions were usually simple enough if you read for the class and paid attention. It turned my insides to water every time. Absolute dread. Made an otherwise fun class scary. ------ cruise02 As always, there's a relevant xkcd. It's one of my favorites. [https://xkcd.com/1053/](https://xkcd.com/1053/) ------ AnimalMuppet The rule is a great idea. But even without it, you can counter this kind of junk. "Hey, why did you respond that way? Does your ego need the boost from acting smugly superior? Or is the problem that you don't understand it well enough to help me out by actually explaining it?" That would probably cost you someone's friendship, but if they're pulling this kind of stunt on you, I'm not sure that they were your friend anyway... ------ d4vlx When I worked at Thoughworks there were several people who were terrible for this. Many of them senior. It significantly reduced my respect for the company and I left as soon as I found a good replacement. What made it particularly irksome was that they heavily market themselves both internally and externally as being above such things. The cognitive dissonance really grated on me. ------ rmrfrmrf I combat "feigned surprise" by admitting that I don't know something and asking the person for an explanation. ------ kyberias I still think there are valid and sincere reasons to be surprised when someone doesn't know something and it's OK to express that surprise. Especially in private conversations! ------ lowglow If you've gone to a dev school, please help share your experience with others who are looking: [http://schools.techendo.co/](http://schools.techendo.co/) ------ ef47d35620c1 If I went around lording my specific domain knowledge over others, I would never learn anything new myself. What a waste of my life and human interactions that would be. ------ ap22213 I always try to remember that the most expressive (e.g. loudest) person isn't necessarily the smartest, even though my brain is built to associate the two. ------ daemonk The more you know, the more you realize how much you don't know. Feigning surprise just reflects how much of a knowledge bubble one exists in. ------ Mozai Would it be better to ban all sarcasm or intentional irony? It's sending a message by using the opposite signal. ~~~ normloman Would it be better to ban all subtlety in human communication and reduce the expressive capabilities of speech to straight forward description? ------ cool-RR _What?_ You don't know what feigned surprise means? ------ judk article seems to be a response to an announcement HS made, but source is not linked or quoted. ------ golergka This needs to be a rule. Can we make it a rule? ------ michaelochurch Feigned surprise is petty bullying by people who get their asses kicked by even nastier bullies: the business assholes who run this industry because, as engineers, we're absolutely _terrible_ at fighting for our own interests, and have let ourselves become a colonized people who mostly implement others' shitty ideas and are paid in table scraps. It's no different from the playground bully who goes home and gets the shit beaten out of him by his drunk-ass dad. Because he can't wallop his father, he takes it out on the other kids. These asshats (the ones who feign surprise) can't do anything about the VCs and product executives and idiot fuckups who make the life of a typical programmer so terrible, so they take it out on other engineers whom they perceive as marginal: women, minorities, people over or under the group's age range, and new entrants to the field. ~~~ mjolk It's pretty heavy conjecture to assume that jerks are bigots or misogynists becuase they're mad at someone else at work. ~~~ michaelochurch If someone's a member of the Taliban or the Ku Klux Klan, it's likely that his issues go deeper than "mad at the boss man". However, even your most obnoxious brogrammer is not likely to be in the Klan. He probably isn't even a bigot. He's a bully. There's a difference. Bullies attack those who are politically weak. It so happens that politically weak people are often in a minority in that environment, but I don't think gender, race, or age are explicitly part of their selection process. The archetypical bully brogrammer doesn't wake up and say, "after my 10:30 protein shake, I'm going to direct a few microaggressions at female programmers. Oh, and Mark turns 40 on Thursday, so I need to put him on my rotation." It doesn't work that way, obviously. They pick on the weak-- whoever that may be, and it often changes-- because they're picked-on from above and it's their only way to restore their battered confidence. ~~~ mjolk You seem to have a very specific anecdote in mind. ~~~ michaelochurch Actually, no. The "protein shake" anecdote was just me throwing bro stereotypes and tech-sphere complaints together. Typical tech bullies avoid and ignore me because they know I'm good at what I do, and better than most of them. The only time I face adversity from a programmer is when I make him insecure (which doesn't require that I be better, although that's often the case.) ------ zk00006 I work myself, so don't actually have much experience with this rule. But people need negative feedback which often creates big motivation for them and enforces learning. Giving only positive examples does not help to become better person/programmer/whatever... ~~~ cowls There's a difference between constructive negative feedback and trying to subtly belittle someone. Not knowing about something is not really a negative feedback point ~~~ Karunamon To be fair, the author does not successfully make their case that "feigned" surprise (how does one know enough about the mental state of another person to make that assumption anyways?) is always negative or always bad. Funny, in that an article about not making assumptions is packed with them, not the least of which is the assumption that someone who is visibly surprised when you don't know something is expressing some kind of superiority or belittling. ------ brianpgordon Another way of looking at it is that shame is a good disincentive for ignorance. It _shouldn 't be OK_ to ask questions like "what's Lisp?" or "what's synchronization?" (both of which I've heard). We can enforce that norm by rewarding such questions with a grimace. Of course, the absolute most important thing is to make sure that the environment doesn't become toxic with disdain, but I don't think it's _in general_ a sin to "feign surprise" or similar. ~~~ AndrewDucker If it's not ok then make that clear up-front and then tell people when they've crossed over into an area that you expect them to understand on their own. Doing it in a comedic fashion doesn't help, it's just bullying. ~~~ brianpgordon Playing out that scene, I can't imagine taking your approach in actual conversation with a peer. Peer: Synchronized? Me: I'm sorry, you've crossed over into an area that I expect you to understand on your own. That kind of room-silencing confrontation makes you seem like way more of an asshole than answering their question but with a raised eyebrow or feigned surprise. ~~~ AndrewDucker Nope, an arched eyebrow makes you look like much more of a dick there. Because you're implying that it's basic stuff, _and_ that it's not even worth you telling them that, because they're so beneath you at that point. In a meeting with a peer (rather than a training course/academy situation) you'd presumably tell them that that's fairly basic stuff that you don't want to derail a meeting with, and that you'd point them at some resources later. ~~~ brianpgordon > you're implying that it's basic stuff, _and_ that it's not even worth you > telling them that, because they're so beneath you at that point That's not how I'd mean it at all. Maybe I'm overanalyzing our folkways but in general it seems to be more polite to communicate something unpleasant in a way which the other person can pretend to not have noticed. Twitching your nose when you know they're looking is more polite than saying "dude you've got BO." It allows you to gloss over the unpleasantness and continue the conversation.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Soviet Santa - mr_golyadkin https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/soviet-santa ====== aasasd Even though we're behind Europe in religiosity and far behind the US, Orthodox Christianity was alive and well here after the fall of the SU, and Christmas and Easter are variously observed. It's rather notable that despite the Bolsheviks' no-nonsense and literal approach to eradicating religion, Christianity and the church have survived the Soviet era pretty well. One reason for this is said to be that in the ramp-up to the Great Patriotic War, the government dropped the anti-religious rhetoric and adopted instead the position of ‘unite and defend your motherland and the people’. Add to this the fact that in the 70s and likely later, people were still migrating from rural villages to the cities, with the whole baggage of inherited religiosity and mishmash of folk beliefs. My grandmother put in plenty of time in prayer each day. Icons or whole arrangements of them are a feature in many homes, cars and sometimes, more rarely, offices. And I still receive messages from my parents each year, commemorating birth and then the resurrection of Christ. Folk culture doesn't tend to follow an official doctrine, as exemplified by troves of Soviet jokes—and is also not big on ideological clarity, so many didn't see a problem in subscribing to both socialism and Christianity, along with crystal healing, magical powers of thought and a bouquet of other fringe beliefs. In the 90s, my home city already had a bunch of churches including at least one large temple, and one or two monasteries—and I don't think they popped up recently. Notably also, even Bolsheviks preserved old and unassuming Karelian wooden churches, recognizing them as architectural and cultural monuments—while demolishing some huge temples in Moscow. Like the Kondopoga church, built in 1774 and which somebody burned down in August of 2018: [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Church_of_the_Do...](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Church_of_the_Dormition_of_the_Theotokos_$Kondopoga$) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dormition_Church,_Kondopoga](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dormition_Church,_Kondopoga) ~~~ RickJWagner It's just my opinion, but it's not uncommon. I believe Blaise Pascal (the brilliant French mathematician) got it right when he said "There is a God- shaped vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing....." For this reason, I doubt religion will ever die. It will be with us always. ~~~ skrebbel I'd wager that most atheists assume that God is very much a "created thing", which makes that quote feel pretty awkward. ~~~ aasasd I vaguely heard some theories that in the absence of better explanations, humans gravitate to attributing weird phenomenons to divine will. Not sure if this is in any way scientific. Inventing forest spirits seems to come pretty naturally by anthropomorphizing a variety of things, but I guess it gets complicated when dealing with lightning and such, and the deities evolve accordingly. Afaik neuroscience also can induce ‘divine’ experience by applying current in a proper place. ------ andreyk As a Russian, can confirm this article is quite accurate - my family only ever celebrates New Years, it's the same as Christmas is usually in the West, and Ded Moroz is totally a thing. ~~~ dmix How do you pronounce Ded Moroz in an anglophone way? I noticed you used “Dez” instead of Ded. ~~~ firstbabylonian That’s a typo. The pronunciation is close to “dee-yet mah-ross” ~~~ izacus Yep, we called him "Dedek Mraz" in the balkans which also literaly translates into Grandfather Frost. (Although we did celebrate christmas since the anti-religion clampdown wasn't that aggressive in Yugoslavia.) ~~~ xmars Mraz, sounds like мразь, not a very good word :)) ~~~ pandaman The word literally means "something that causes chills" so it's not that different from slavic "mraz". It just had been used exclusively in a figurative meaning to describe something that is so disgusting that it makes one shake. ------ twooclock Correct artice and being from ex communist country even after more than 25 years I certainly have issues celebrating christmas. "They were able to celebrate Christmas, but they had never done it before." most resonates with me. Makes me realize the importance of traditions and how fragile they are. ~~~ m0zg You do? We (Russian Americans in the US) celebrate two Christmases and two New Years, both by the "new" calendar (Dec 25/Jan 1) and by the old (Jan 7 Christmas, Jan 13 "Old" New Year). Because, as they say in Russia, "there's no reason not to drink". ~~~ nradov Serbians also still celebrate Christmas and New Years according to the old Julian calendar. In a few thousand years they really will have Christmas in July. ~~~ peapicker It moves 3 days forward versus the Gregorian calendar every 400 years. So about 24,000 years (a little less) to hit July ~~~ ddsea Think positive: it's just another reason to drink in July in 400 years. ~~~ m0zg It shows that you're not an Eastern European. There they need a reason to stay sober. Drinking is the natural state, hence the lower life expectancy. ------ bad_user We also had "Ded Moroz" in communist Romania, translated to "Moș Gerilă". It was imported due to the soviet occupation after WWII and the subsequent adoption of communism. The word Christmas was censored in 1948. In the 80s our beloved supreme leader wanted to associate those presents with the state instead of Moș Gerilă, so things got a little weird with the state propaganda. After the revolution in 1989 we changed the holiday to the Christmas in the Gregorian calendar and Santa Claus, translated as "Moș Crăciun" (Father Christmas). ------ jimbobimbo We still don't know who was Ded Moroz's son or daughter though. ~~~ xmars Снегурочка. But she is probably granddaughter ~~~ to1y Shes not related to Ded Moroz. If anything shes depicted as his wife ~~~ xmars Wtf, she is always with him on performances and helping him. And check wiki, she is his granddaughter. She is too young relatively to him)) ------ cat199 > Santa Claus is one of several manifestations of a particular wintertime > character, probably originating with the pagan, pre-Christian Germanic and > Norse god Odin. No, 'Santa Slaus' is a distortion of st. nicholas, to which people may or may not have ascribed characteristics of previous 'wintertime characters', as attested to by the further examples of: Sinterklaas, Mikulás, which are both actually not distinct entities, but both 'St Nicholas' in their respective languages. One can make some anthropological case that these are 'manifestations', but in the case of 'Santa Klaus', the core 'identity' is still a 'nicholas figure' to which people may or may not have ascribed other attributes. Lineage and conceptual transactions are important here, esp. since this makes a less appealing narrative to spin, when one is trying to downplay the second-ranked feast day in the official state religion of an empire that viewed itself as the direct and legitimate successor of imperial christian rome. e.g: "It wasn’t really a festival exactly, but more of a somber religious holiday marked by fasting and long church services in Old Church Slavonic" This is what feast days (aka 'festivals') _are_ in orthodoxy. Followed by a 'feast'. So yes, it was a festival, "exactly". Christmas was a major day of important significance in imperial russia, and Fr. Frost was directly promoted as a secular replacement for St. Nicholas, because soviet-style communists are militantly athiest and hostilly anti- religion. The very fact that this figure exists is a testimonial to the need to provide a 'foil' for the people to accept his removal, rather than just some casual 'cultural shift' to a different 'winter character manifestation'. As for people 'forgetting how to celebrate christmas' during soviet times, please recall (whether positively or negatively) that Mr. Putin's mother had him baptized in secret from his communist father and he makes pilgrimages to monasteries regularly. The current high place of the church in russian society did not just originate in some ideological vaccum, many never gave up in the face of overt and militant religious hostility. ------ tomaszs I live in Poland. Before 89 when my country was occupied by Russia, "Soviet Santa" was forced here to replace Santa Clous. It was one of many things that was made to erase Christianity and replace it with atheism and communism. Fake Christmas, fake Santa, zero beliefs. I was young back than but i felt its shallow and dark. So for me Soviet Santa is a symbol of the occupation and Russian tyrrany Poland was under until 89... ~~~ c-smile Could you elaborate on "Poland was occupied by Russia"? Let's put alone that in 89 it was USSR so Russia, Ukraine, Belorussia, etc. all together. In any case there were no Russian troops stationed in Poland. Quite opposite, Poland and its army was one of leading members of Warsaw Pact (the name, sic!). So what does "occupation" mean in your statement? ~~~ cat199 Not OP, but see Hungary '56 and Czechoslovakia '68 for what happens to 'leading warsaw pact members' who decide they want to deviate from the soviet party line. ~~~ lucian1900 Yes, we should be so sad that fascist uprisings threatening to exterminate the poor, disabled and non-native were instead defeated with help from friendly socialist countries. Not all protests, uprisings and revolutions are good. Look at their class character and composition. ~~~ cat199 a) Thread context was communist poland being a vassal of the USSR, whose policy was subordinate to the CPSU. These examples highlight that policy was not in fact independent in these countries, and, when significant deviation occured, soviet military invasion was a consequence. Whether the uprisings / deviations are good or bad is secondary to this point. b) As for 'facism': show me the 'facism' in the key documents: HU: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demands_of_Hungarian_Revolutio...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demands_of_Hungarian_Revolutionaries_of_1956) CS: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism_with_a_human_face](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism_with_a_human_face) (yes, wikipedia scholarship, better sources welcome) while I have no doubt that facists would piggy-back on to any anti-communist movement to seize a moment of opportunity, framing either of these as 'facist' at their core is at best poor analysis. Even hard-core bolsheviks would differentiate betwean 'bourgeois-democratic reactionaries' and 'facists' since being clear in distinction is necessary for proper argument/strategy. ------ kuzko_topia Gosh, this website is one of the worst cookie consent implementation with the oath familly...	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
How Will Police Solve Murders on Mars? - xref https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/09/mars-pd/569668/?single_page=true ====== anoncoward111 This is a loaded question. The police are a relatively new phenomenon. For example, in Iceland in the Middle Ages, murders were settled privately between families. In Northern Albania, its debatable that that practice continues to this day. Humans will find a way to settle and enforce and prevent. I am not sure we will see a Martian NYPD for some time.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
2006 Apple Patent: multiple cameras embedded within LCD display - fiaz http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220060007222%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20060007222&RS=DN/20060007222 ====== car It's an application, not a patent.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Reddit launches an "about" page to help new users understand it - austenallred http://www.reddit.com/about ====== raldi That's been there for eleven and a half months. [http://blog.reddit.com/2012/06/announcing-rabout-and- reddit-...](http://blog.reddit.com/2012/06/announcing-rabout-and-reddit- postcards.html) ~~~ austenallred It's a page that drops down at the top first time you open Reddit on a device now, not just a subreddit no one will find anyway. ------ lysium Why are so many April fool's jokes listed in the history time line?	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Books all founders should read - davidcrow http://startupnorth.ca/2012/10/29/jump-into-bin-38-founder-books/ ====== davidcrow I'd like to see "Getting to Yes" or "Getting Past No" in addition. I think both of these books are great at helping founders understand that negotiations are not zero-sum games. ~~~ woohoo I second "Getting to Yes" - love that one.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
The end of cloud computing [video] - rmason http://a16z.com/2016/12/16/the-end-of-cloud-computing/ ====== clusmore So we started with centralized mainframes, because it was too expensive for everybody to have their own computer. As hardware improves, computers become cheaper and more powerful and then everybody can have their own, and we move to a distributed model. Then as internet speeds improve, it becomes practical to bring all the compute back in to centralized data centres and communicate with them over the internet from small, less powerful devices. Then as the hardware improves again, the small devices become powerful enough to perform their own computation. In the talk, he says that the reason we need to do the compute "on the edge" is because the latency between the cloud is insufficient for real-time devices. So what happens when network speeds improve again (better fibre infrastructure, LiFi, etc.)? Will we bring the compute back in to centralized data centres? Will we continue to bounce back and forwards forever, as network and hardware technology leapfrog each other? Is one model _better_ than the other? ~~~ jaredklewis > In the talk, he says that the reason we need to do the compute "on the edge" > is because the latency between the cloud is insufficient for real-time > devices. So what happens when network speeds improve again (better fibre > infrastructure, LiFi, etc.)? Will we bring the compute back in to > centralized data centres? Will we continue to bounce back and forwards > forever, as network and hardware technology leapfrog each other? Is one > model better than the other? Well, for one thing, a lot of the examples such as self-driving cars, drones, and any wearable clearly don't allow for use of fiber. Lifi may have some use cases, but again I don't see how Lifi could help something like a drone or self-driving car. But another point is availability. Wireless connections can drop in and out and our vulnerable to being slowed down by increased demand. Not to mention that the centralized service itself may fail, due to catastrophic power failure, DOS attacks, or any number of other reasons. If that centralized service or choppy wireless connection is providing you with your todo-list or family photo album, its probably not a big deal to have occasional outages. If the system is making decisions for self-driving vehicles, that will be an unmitigated disaster. Even if it is only enough logic to help an unconnected car pull over to the side of the road, a self-driving car needs to be able to operate offline, so one way or another, these cards will need powerful computers inside. And of course, distributed nodes can also fail. A single car's computer may fail, and that's not good. But the AI of every car in an entire area failing simultaneously because power to the local radio tower goes out is going to be way worse. The other thing, is that as we have with processing speeds, we will eventually hit limits in bandwidth. Using bandwidth efficiently will become a larger priority (as scarcity increases, so will the cost) and the centralized model clearly has a drawback in terms of bandwidth usage. So, all in all, I don't think it's just a pendulum that swings back in forth forever, but that the future will be a hybrid, but heavily distributed world out of necessity. ~~~ clusmore I agree that not _all_ computation would move back to centralized data centres, but then not _all_ computation is done in the cloud now (vs on your mobile phone). 20 years ago, people would have thought it was insane to send data packets over the internet to edit a document, or any number of other tasks now serviced by SaaS products. Of course there are still some tasks that are better done locally, notably real-time or life-critical tasks. And these SaaS services only became feasible when the connection reliability and speed allowed them to. All I'm suggesting is that future improvements to connection reliability and speed will give way to another round of SaaS products, perhaps then able to service real-time needs but still not preferred for life-critical tasks. As much as I hate to say it, the first example that comes to mind is surveillance/tracking. If you think very long-term, like say data-transfer-via-quantum-entanglement, then you could imagine data transfer being insignificant compared to compute time for real-time requirements, so you will naturally offload the compute to the biggest most powerful computer you can get your hands on. ------ bhauer I can't wait for the traditional centralized cloud to fade out. I've been anticipating a model I call PAO [1] for several years—personal application omnipresence. By that I mean applications that run for you personally and are available on all your devices simultaneously. We've seen gradual movement away from the traditional cloud with several models I call "proto-PAO," such as Microsoft's Continuum. And many applications provide one-off PAO-like experiences by connecting multiple clients to a central server you administrate. But there is so much more to do. I am definitely getting excited, though, that the centralized cloud will likely be replaced in my lifetime. [1] [http://tiamat.tsotech.com/pao](http://tiamat.tsotech.com/pao) ~~~ braveo strangely enough, I've been expecting that as well, but reading your blog post, I differ on how it will be realized. I think it's more likely people will instead carry identities that describe the applications they have access to, and be able to load those on devices for their identity only, down to the point of being able to walk up to a new PC, attaching the identity, and then having access to the apps on that new PC. It'll be a 90% solution that's forced to deal with DRM and safe enough remote execution, but it'll also allow you to access your documents from anywhere with a connection. I know you specifically disagree with the idea of synchronization, but that's more feasible than what you're suggesting imo. synchronizing a document is going to be as simple as saving it into the cloud and fetching a delta at the endpoints. This will necessarily not work for certain types of applications, no one is probably going to try and do actual CAD work on the go, although they may view it. But for most things it'll work well enough. ~~~ ryandamm Onshape.com - check it out. WebGL is good enough for some CAD users. ~~~ braveo The issue isn't just one of performance, but form factor and input mechanisms. ------ edblarney I really don't buy it. In every case he described current devices (cars, watches) - they are increasing in 'cpu/storage' \- but they always have been doing this. Is their something that inherently changes the topology? Not really. Cars will be able to id stop signs - which is naturally a local function, just like 'backup cameras' are a local function today ... but some things like messaging, gps services, customer data, big data - it's going to be on a server somewhere. Why would your car need to talk directly to your blender? 'The cloud' has really more to do with local/small/office servers moving into consolidated centres with virtualization. 'Logical organization' has not changed: some stuff on 'servers' , some stuff done 'locally'. ~~~ c22 If your car did need to talk to your blender why wouldn't you want it to do so directly? ~~~ edblarney "If your car did need to talk to your blender why wouldn't you want it to do so directly?" Sure. But my car does not need to talk to my blender. :) ------ eranation Very interesting and while I think the title is a bit "clickbaity" it has some interesting points. He is not claiming cloud computing is going to disappear, he is claiming that due to real-time requirements and amount of data, computing power at the edge will grow, while SaaS and central data analytics will not stop being centralized in the cloud. He claims the cloud won't handle the vast amount of sensor data and I'm not sure he is right, but can't prove him wrong. In any case it seems that cloud providers are already aiming for this direction. AWS has project greengrass for example: [https://aws.amazon.com/greengrass/](https://aws.amazon.com/greengrass/) ------ dboreham Interesting. I still remember Ben pitching me the idea of cloud services in 1999. I thought he was insane at the time. I retain this as the proof that I can't reliably evaluate a business idea ;) ------ YZF It's an interesting thought experiment but I tend to disagree overall. I don't think a self driving car is a data-center on wheels. It will not have 100(!) servers built in it. It will have one (or two for redundancy) PCBs with just the right enough of processing power in whatever form makes sense, multiple cores, ASICs, etc. (which would be less than 100 server worth). I would agree that the more compute cycles will move out to the edge. This is already have been happening with smartphones and will continue with other intelligent devices. The more computers we have in our environment the more the overall portion of cycles move to the edge. The depiction of a smartphone as a dumb terminal isn't that accurate. A smartphone can and does do a lot of things locally. My bet is there is a lot more compute power in all the phones today than in AWS EC2. (though maybe not compute $'s) The comments on machine learning don't make sense. There is a lot more data for machine learning in the aggregate of all the devices so it will naturally happen in some centralized location. While there can be some machine learning in the edge machine learning is a lot more effective on the aggregate centralized data. So data from the edge will get pulled to central large scale systems. The result of this learning can be pushed back out to the edge to be applied (e.g. in the car). EDIT: He later on modifies his statement about machine learning happening in the edge and rather some "selection" of the data will be used for machine learning in the cloud... Still doesn't quite add up. ------ _pdp_ Is cloud dead? No! Will it die? Probably not because not everyone wants to deal with some of the complexities involved with building the hardware and networks required to achieve near perfect resilience. What will certainly going to happen is that we will see more devices online and many of them will be IOT. ESP8266 can be bought for at little as the cost of a double espresso. The hobby electronics industry is booming in the face of Arduino and Raspberry Pi. It is happening. ~~~ eveningcoffee Has anybody dared to research if EPS8266 contains a backdoor? Its origin and mass deployment makes me more than nervous. ~~~ _pdp_ We will reach a point eventually where it will take a lot of investment to deduce if a hardware component contains backdoors. The firmware of the ESP is opensource through. ------ rmason While certainly thought provoking I'm not certain that he is exactly correct. What is going to happen is that there will be a lot of devices where a peer to peer model makes more sense. It doesn't mean that cloud computing is going to go away but it will instead change over time. I am more in agreement with the idea that data analysts jobs will grow. Also think that a lot of apps will have their own databases but instead of ignoring the cloud they will need to occasionally sync with the cloud as opposed to real time access. I think that RESTful data services will become more of a commodity and that most developers will need a data service, an authentication service, a telecom service and a payment service (and perhaps a few more) to construct a program. We're not too far off from it happening and the opportunity exists for an ambitious company to offer a Microsoft Office style suite of services to developers. I'd personally prefer it be Stripe or Twilio as opposed to Microsoft or Google that ends up doing it. ------ miguelrochefort The solution is obvious. Cache not only data, but functions as well. I should be able to download entire systems on local devices (a cache hub, a router, a personal cache hotspot, a smartphone), and have them work offline if necessary. However, this will require a new computing paradigm altogether, powered by a new language. This kind of seamless caching demands a language with superior semantics (API auto-discoversbility) and logic-programming influence. I imagine some kind of predicate store should do the job. ~~~ IanCal Do we really need a new language for this? We already have things that run on both server and client, javascript being the obvious one, where there's already a blending of computation for webpage rendering happening (pre- rendered on the server then the code for updating sent to the client). ------ dkarapetyan The edge is limited by power constraints. Only so much computation you can do before your phone melts. ------ dmourati Made me think of the difference between the Central Nervous System (CNS) vs Peripheral Nervous System (PNS). [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripheral_nervous_system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripheral_nervous_system) ~~~ redwood so will the internet be more like a mammal or an octopus? :) ------ zpallin "Edge intelligence" is not going to happen in place of the cloud, simply in addition to it. When storage gets smaller in form factor, maybe we will be storing 100s of TBs in a car, but there will still be a data center storing 100s of PBs. ------ tomc1985 Man I'm not even old and history is already repeating itself. Whatever. Down with the cloud! ------ joelbondurant Thank Spaghetti, AWS is making people stupid.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Do What You Love and Starve? (2006) - exolymph http://www.martynemko.com/articles/do-what-you-love-and-starve_id1380 ====== peppery This article presumes the premise that "what you love"/"your passion" is the same as "what you _can_ love"/the set of all "passions" you have not yet discovered. This is untrue. Especially for young people, the amount of time that you have been alive is small compared to your lifetime. What you currently know to be interesting is correspondingly a small subset of the number of things you can find interesting over a lifetime, and an even smaller subset of the things which you could find fulfilling to work on with many lifetimes. (For those who have lived longer, your life experience makes it even more likely you can identify fulfilling connections/facets of the universe to study.) The challenge is to find the intersection between what you can be riveted to work on, and what society values (in whatever its flawed wisdom) or can be invited to value. This is not trivial, but the statistics of the universe are on your side. What sort of society would we be if e.g. Nikola Tesla/Jame Clark Maxwell/Mozart/etc. had followed this advice? To aspire is human, powerful, fulfilling. To eat is practical. It is possible to do both. Society needs people who persist in that pursuit. ~~~ sametmax Also, not only will you change, but if you invest in something, your taste toward it will change as well. It's a nice trick for people looking for a passion: invest yourself in anything that has depth and you don't have, and you may end up getting passionate about it. We often have it backward, trying to "feel like it" to do things. But it's one of the tricky things in life: you may very well have to do things so you can feel like it. ~~~ Regardsyjc I started learning how to program so I could automate some of my business processes. In the beginning I hated every minute of it. I would avoid working on the project because it sucked but as soon as I made up my mind that I would do this or die trying, it took being in the right mood off the table. It now became, OK what's the next problem I need to solve to complete my project. I ended up falling in love with the process and now I'm consistently "programming" (more debugging?) for hours until I find a solution. I used to hate that there was so much to learn, now it excites me that there are so many new ways to improve. ------ hprotagonist _Where to find a business to copy? Drive around to find a simple business at which customers are lined up out the door. For example, see a successful burrito shop or espresso cart? Open a similar one in a similar neighborhood. Your chances of success will be a helluva lot higher than 20%._ ... says the man who has obviously never done business in the food service industry. The failure rate of restaurants is shockingly high. ~~~ D_Alex Plus, I don't think you can build a great society on the back of burrito and espresso shops... ~~~ sooheon Why not? We have 8 billion people to build a great society with, I think 1/8 billionth of human effort could be directed to a great local burrito shop. Great societies are built by people doing their part and loving their lives, not by everyone trying to "change the world". ~~~ D_Alex >I think 1/8 billionth of human effort could be directed to a great local burrito shop. But... that is not what the article was about - it suggested imitating an already successful business. Whether you love that or not, by the way. Now if a lot of people followed that advice, you'd get kind of what we have in my home city, an oversupply of coffee shops, all trying desperately to stand out, and nearly all struggling and being miserable. ------ faitswulff > we’ve been sold a bill of goods when we’re told to “Follow your passion, “ > or “Do what you love and the money will follow.” Fact is, if you do what you > love, you’ll probably starve. I started thinking this somewhere around halfway through college, when my parents were telling me to do what I love and I was trying to figure out what to do for a living - especially when my parents were struggling, themselves. I feel like "do what you love" was a really compelling pipe dream for my parents because they had always done the opposite to get by and improve their circumstances, and it sucked. They wanted better for their kids, but at the same time, it is easily some of the worst advice I've ever received. ~~~ gh02t It's give and take. Maybe not "do what you love no matter what" but "try and do something you at least _like_ " is still good advice. If you force yourself to do something you hate just because you think you'll make money not only will you spend your life miserable, but you also likely won't be terribly successful because it's hard not to burn out. Said differently, making money matters and should be considered, but it should not override all other factors when choosing a career. ~~~ aregsarkissian Yes there is something like the intersection of three overlapping circles. One is do things you like, the other is do things you are good at doing and the third is do things that will give you income that you will be satisfied with. ------ TheMagicHorsey This is the wrong forum for this advice. I think most of the people here are not looking for a median income or a simple business. They want to swing for the fences or transform the world. Having said that, its good advice. Most people underestimate the joy you get from a good solid, routine job that pays well. And they overestimate the joy you get from a giant windfall ... such as you get when you finally take your startup public or sell it off. Also, I have met far more douchebags among the ranks of lawyers and VCs in silicon valley than I have among the ranks of small business owners (my brother owns a couple small businesses and his circle is very down to earth). ~~~ war1025 I think you underestimate the number of people that follow this site because they like the content, but are quite content to have a median income and a nice work-life balance. ~~~ rabbadabba_99 Or a 1% level income from a "lifestyle" business that's boring and never in the news. ------ throwaway84742 My experience is, stuff you love is best done as a hobby, not professionally unless you can’t live without doing it professionally. I have ended up doing what I love professionally twice, and hated it both times, because guess what, if you do it professionally you don’t get to do just the sexy parts, you have to go whole hog and do the unpleasant ones as well. And worse, you can’t lay it off for a while if you’re bored. This kills the “love” part right there and then. ------ rebuilder In the arts, the advice I've heard repeated over and over again is: If you can live without this, do something else. And it's pretty good advice in my experience. The visual arts / media sector at least has such an overabundance of desperate workers that a sane working environment seems impossible to achieve. So if you don't have an inner drive that absolutely forces you to go into a field like that, do something else. ~~~ jurassic I got the same basic memo when I was a PhD student in science, and I think I would have quit sooner if not for the emotionally coercive aspects of this advice. This advice replaces the rational question of "is this going to get me to the economic future I want for myself?" and puts it into the emotional space of "do I love this enough?". It implies that if you quit, you didn't really love it. It makes it easier for those who benefit from this exploitation to rationalize it when you leave, saying "Well, they must not have been cut out for this anyway." For the young people making these do-I- stay-or-do-I-go decisions, it means that in order to quit they must not only be ready to give up their dream but also signal to their community that they never really loved it anyway. As an external observer of course it is ridiculous to say someone can't love something and also recognize the disastrous financial implications of pursuing a particular type of career. The turning point for me was recognizing that the "expected value" outcome of the path I was not going to get me anywhere close to a middle class lifestyle. ------ clay_the_ripper Every job comes with pros and cons. I think the software engineers of the world are part of a lucky few who demand high salaries, are able to find good work/life balance and get to work on things they like (in general). For the rest of us (I am not an engineer, but have worked in tech with many engineers) I think there are perhaps more trade offs. I’m generalizing here but in my experience and those I know, you can either : -have an office job that pays well but is not all that fun, or restricts your freedom to do what you want -have a fun job that doesn’t pay well -Strike out on your own and potentially make more money and have fun but have all the downsides of entrepreneurship: stress, no security, demanding clients, high potential for failure etc etc. Choose one that suits you best. All have downsides and all have upsides. Depends on what you value. If it wasn’t work, no one would pay you to do it. No job and unlimited money seems like the best option, but unless you’re born rich that’s not really possible. Such is life. ~~~ quickthrower2 The downside of software dev is you typically need to work in a city, and then pay extraordinary costs of living. As a doctor, for example you can earn good money in a town that is no where near as expensive. ~~~ fjsolwmv Only mediocre devs in the biggest cities have trouble covering costs of living. And you aren't going to make big bucks as a brain surgeon in Ames Iowa. And doctors have to make back 4 years of lost income and 4 years of medical school tuition and 4 years of entry level wages. ~~~ quickthrower2 That's a bold statement. It's challenging to support a family, pay rent on a top 1% dev salary in my city (say $150k AUD). Sure you can make ends meet. If my partner didn't work I'd have to give up being a dev and become a project manager / BA. ------ SCAQTony Yes, you should follow your passion 100% but it does not mean you can't have a "Plan B" to fund your belly, family and shelter. It worked for me and I happily doing "Plan A" right now. Why do people believe it is all or nothing when choosing a career? ~~~ throwa_way_ If you're hedging with other plans then you're not really following your first passion 100% are you? ~~~ SCAQTony It's not hedging, it's being industrious. Imaging working on your passion just 2-4 hours a day seven days a week? You get really good, FAST! My day day job was at Nuance, (I quit the end of January) and I was UI designer there. "Plan A" is doing fine art and I got really good at it for I was always doing something art related 10-12 hours a day. [http://www.gkaustin.com/](http://www.gkaustin.com/) ------ prawn Derek Sivers had a blog entry the other year where he suggested finding a tolerable, well-paying job, then a passion. And then keep your passion as an evening/weekend distraction rather than trying to turn it into a financially viable thing you can live off. Earn money from the job, not your hobby. Otherwise you end up forcing your art/passion through a sieve of viability (struggling to sell your music, for example), or becoming disillusioned with an otherwise unremarkable job. ~~~ scarecrowbob True: I found a 30/h a week remote programming job and now I can afford to play music professionally. LOL ------ chillingeffect Time for everyone to remember Ikigai, the overlap between what you like, what you can get paid for, what you're good at and what the world needs: [https://www.hyperisland.com/community/news/feeling- drained-a...](https://www.hyperisland.com/community/news/feeling-drained-at- work) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai) ------ rossdavidh One thing rarely said: if you are trying to get into a career where more people want to do it, than the market can give jobs to, in order to get a spot you will have to kill somebody else's dreams. The harsh math is, if there were 2 people for every 1 position, and you get 1, then somebody else gets to be a loser because you got that spot. It's not your job to make that person a winner, of course. But that helps to balance out the propaganda part of "follow your dreams". If you pick a career where more people want to find someone who does it, than there are people doing it, you don't need sharp elbows to keep others out of your spot. Careers in acting, singing, non-profits that actually pay a salary, etc. tend to have harsh internal politics. This is why. ------ haZard_OS I must say I'm puzzled by the author's choice to include environmental work alongside the arts/humanities as being examples of "follow your passion and starve". As a scientist working in the environmental field(s), I can confidently say that there is far more work than there are people to do it. Unless he meant to specify NON-scientific work addressing the environment, I can't fathom what he is referring to. ~~~ dyim I think he's talking about the Blackfish-style, Greenpeace-ier environmental stuff. My dad's in the environmental field too, and that sounds about right. He spent about 20 years working as a jack-of-all-trades-CTO-type guy for a Western Widget Company, made a six figure salary, and was home every day by 5 PM. I know a lot of my friends' finance-sector parents didn't get to spend nearly as much time with their kids. There's a lot of very good advice in this article. ------ nicodjimenez Life is way too complex and it's hard to generalize. Telling people that by following their passion they will be starve is dangerous advice. So what if people fail? Why is everyone so afraid of failure? And then telling people to replicate instead of innovating! I do agree the passion thing is oversold but now people are going too much in the opposite direction, especially after Cal Newport's book. ------ hnzix ...and that is the story of why I quit graphic design to program CRUD webapps for boring enterprise customers. Now moving towards part-time consulting and setting up some passive income streams to try and create the space to work on my creative projects before I get old and die. ------ grosjona You have to work for companies where capital accumulates quickly and then find a way to sandwich yourself between where the capital is and where the capital wants to go. Follow capital and consumers will follow you. ------ mrlyc Do what you love, what you are good at and what people are willing to pay for. Sometimes you have to do the first one as a hobby and the last two as a job. ------ illnewsthat Interesting take on passion vs. money. Does anyone else think "requires a reasonable commute" doesn't fit on the list of "keys to career contentment"? ~~~ ForHackernews I think it is! A reasonable (as opposed to unreasonable) commute makes your day-to-day life much more pleasant. ~~~ illnewsthat I guess it makes sense thinking of it as reasonable vs. unreasonable. It didn't make sense to me at first, because I think working from home could add to quality of life, and it felt as if they were specifically saying you NEED to commute. But it probably just means, if you do commute, don't make it 2 hours each way. ------ mellowdream Most people don't have the IQ, psychometric personality profile, and circumstantial history (the right/rich family, friends, networks, etc.) in conjunction to succeed. Romanticism, per Goethe and Nietzsche, has always erred toward the side of spiritual sickness - it's often nothing more than an opiate to distract oneself from the mundaneness, difficulties, and responsibilities of authentic, lived experience. Say what you will of Jordan Peterson, but I believe his experience as a credentialed psychologist and counselor is worth considering as well - one is more likely to preserve his sanity by pursuing (perhaps unpleasant, but stable and providing) responsibility rather than upheaving his life with little more than a mistaken impression via survivorship bias. ~~~ yters It'd certainly be interesting to see the other side of all the success stories. ------ ggm .. except the franchise thing? It's a huge ripoff risk: you pay licence fees up the wazoo for brand value and models which can be terrible. As in any endeavour, you have to do your homework. Lots of franchise holders looking enviously at class action suits to recover ------ bitL I absolutely despise the advice about cloning; why do we need dozens of clones of the same idea, all of them executed poorly, so that somebody can build their business quicker and have safe returns? What's the point of such life? ------ nikkwong Heh, I don't know how I feel about this, at least for people who are highly talented. Intelligent hard working people at this day in age often choose practical career paths that they like, which lead to ample job opportunity. ------ nerdponx I prefer "do what you like enough to keep doing it every day, so that you can earn enough income and time to do what you _really_ love after-hours." ------ paraschopra My entire blog is on this premise: following your passion is a recipe for economic failure as economic value gets created when you help other people follow their passion. I write about this here [https://invertedpassion.com](https://invertedpassion.com) ------ JulianMorrison UBI, do what you love and prosper. ------ p3llin0r3 What a crock of crap. "Don't be ambitious: be mediocre and replaceable." He's right. Don't try to be a youtube star or a professional athlete, or an actor. Do something realistic. But I mean... do something ambitious for god's sake! Be an accountant! Be a doctor! Be a computer programmer! Hell: Be a lawyer. These are not crazy pipe dreams. Lets say someone makes $120k as a programmer a year taking out NO debt, and having NO risk invested in the company they work for. That is a damn healthy small business. ~~~ corndoge being a programmer is pretty far from ambitious these days, I am already beginning to regret my career choice just a few years into it and I make six figures doing exactly the programming I always wanted to do and more. I am already bored of what can be done with computers and the entire tech culture that I grew up in and loved. it is so repetitive. ~~~ neffy A lot of programming, especially in industry, is horribly boring unfortunately (it shouldn't be) - but computers and what can be done with them, is anything but. It's just a question of somehow keeping your imagination from getting bogged down by the job. ~~~ corndoge I work on gpl'd systems software that is very relevant to my interests but I look to the future and can't see myself doing this for many more years, software as a whole is just so depressingly mundane	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
The gear seer: analyze your bicycle drivetrain - gideonite http://www.andrusia.com/gearseer/ ====== listic Cached version: [http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.andrusia.com/gearseer/) ~~~ jws doteasy is serving a 200k "exceeded" page to protect themselves from serving about 50k of page? Maybe it's marketing, but "Look! I'll randomly embarrass you in front of your readers!" isn't much of a selling point. ------ jzwinck Here is a "competitor" which I have found extremely useful when choosing drivetrain parts: [http://www.gear-calculator.com](http://www.gear- calculator.com) These are really helpful if you have a bike you mostly like and want to upgrade the gears, or if your current bike doesn't have the gears you need. It has become especially important during the recent trends of moving from 3x front gears to 2x to 1x. ------ akgerber Nice upgrade. I still use Sheldon's site occasionally. The web in 1998 was still pretty great :) ~~~ RUG3Y I also look at his site. I discovered it maybe 3 months before he passed away, it still makes me sad. ------ neves Would someone explain to me why this information is useful? Maybe it is because English is my second language, but I didn't understand the meaning of the displayed information. I cycle a lot and it looks interesting. ~~~ keville In my opinion, this visualization is not particularly compelling if you don't already know what you're looking at, and I can relate to your sentiment of confusion. This is a tool for analyzing and comparing differences between drivetrain setups. A bicycle drivetrain is typically composed of a single gear, or two or three gearing choices "up front" (on or near the crankset) and either a single-speed "rear", or anywhere from two to 30 (!) [1] selectable gears at the rear hub. The various "output" modes from this tool are all derived from the Gear Ratio, usually simply the ratio of the number of teeth "up front" to the number of teeth "in back" for any given selected gear. By entering multiple drivetrain setups, you can quickly compare overall range between different drivetrains. You can also see the "steps" between different gears within a given drivetrain, which tells you how many pedal cadence choices you'll get within a given comfort zone for the bike's intended riding purposes. [1] SRAM's DualDrive 3x10 internally-geared hub with a standard cassette and derailleur. ~~~ keville I avoided mentioning it because I couldn't remember off the top of my head when writing the above comment, but Pinion also makes a gearbox that sits next to the crankset and offers up to 18 gearing choices! ------ cardamomo Google cache: [http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:pJh9wHH...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:pJh9wHH6cmoJ:andrusia.com/gearseer/index.html) ------ MikeNomad As of 30 Dec 2015 @ 0822 hrs US CST, the link generates a Traffic Quota Exceeded error. Heck, that's one of the reasons why I still occasionally peddle to work.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
I'm looking to buy a small SaaS business - ebellity Does anyone have side projects or products they're not working on anymore that they'd be interested in selling ?<p>I'm looking for products, preferably SaaS, making $300 to $4000 in MRR ====== ezekg Do you have an overall budget for this? And on this topic -- does anyone know of a place where profitable businesses can be sold? I know of places like [https://1kprojects.com/](https://1kprojects.com/) and similar sites but the listings are not exactly "businesses." ~~~ ebellity Yes - about $70k I know of 1kprojects, Transferslot, flippa, empire flippers and FE international but it's a bit hard to sort through everything to find quality products ~~~ codegeek The problem is that if it is a really good quality product that ALSO makes some revenue, I doubt people are looking to sell on those sites. You have to go hunt yourself. Once in a while, you may be able to find a Gem on those sites but yea, most are not worth the time/money unfortunately if you are looking for something more than a simple side project. ~~~ ezekg FWIW I have multiple revenue generating businesses that I'd be open to selling for the right price, but IMO there's nowhere to list them that warrants my attention. I don't want to list my business alongside bunch of $0/MRR side projects asking $10k. ~~~ ebellity Can you share which ones ? ~~~ ezekg Feel free to email me ------ jessehorne Have you considered funding a team to build one of your own ideas or perhaps finding a team that has ideas of their own but need funding to pursue them? If you'd like to discuss in more detail, you can find my email in my profile. ~~~ pknerd Why would he do that? He is paying for the time spend to market and building a product. ~~~ jessehorne I was just throwing it out there, just in case he doesn't find some more developed that he'd like to purchase. ~~~ ebellity Thanks but I also have my own side projects / products, the goal with this would be to invest in something to get a decent return without all of the risk associated with creating something new! ~~~ jessehorne Absolutely! ------ busymichael Hi -- I am looking for a home for dndemail.com. It offers do not disturb on your gmail inbox, across all devices. If you are interested, michael at dndemail dot com.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Reporter suspended from Twitter following tweet run-in with NBC - cooldeal http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57482320-93/reporter-suspended-from-twitter-following-tweet-run-in-with-nbc/ ====== nacorbier Twitter is stating that posting the e-mail address was "personal and private information." NBC suggests that the guy's e-mail address was not published on NBC's site. Honestly, I can see NBC's point. The outing of the guy's email looked to be a means to have the Internet Lynch Mob attack the guy with that thing they do (hate mail, spam, incoherent ranting about death and cats) in reprisal for some slight.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Brazil, Europe plan undersea cable to skirt U.S. spying - lelf http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/24/us-eu-brazil-idUSBREA1N0PL20140224 ====== brudgers It's a feel good. The US has the most sophisticated undersea capability of any nation state. Tapping transatlantic cables is something at which its intelligence organs are experienced. [http://www.zdnet.com/news/spy-agency-taps-into-undersea- cabl...](http://www.zdnet.com/news/spy-agency-taps-into-undersea-cable/115877) It is but one of a long string of sea bottom operations which include Project Azorian, the Thresher and Scorpion investigations, Palomares and probably much that remains classified. [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Azorian](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Azorian) [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Thresher_(SSN-593)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Thresher_$SSN-593$) [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Scorpion_(SSN-589)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Scorpion_$SSN-589$) [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1966_Palomares_B-52_crash](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1966_Palomares_B-52_crash) ~~~ alan_cx Not at all. If the EU and Brazil are using US cables, the US is just interfering with its own cable. Fair enough. Entirely different if the US attacks a cable it does not own. It changes the game. It could be considered a hostile act against allies. ~~~ mercurial > It could be considered a hostile act against allies. Come on. Nine EU countries are complicit in the warrantless wiretap/metadata collection scheme GHCQ is running here on behalf of the NSA. If the US is tapping an EU cable, it's just more data going in the same fetid pool. You can see how outraged the various EU governments are by how loud they have been about it. The only one who seems genuinely upset is Merkel, and mostly because the German secret services don't have the same technical abilities. I don't know how genuinely angry Brazil is, but I would be extremely surprised if Brazilian intelligence didn't have a similar setup at home. ~~~ erichurkman At _least_ nine EU countries are complicit. With as widespread as spying is, I don't think we could safely rule out the other 19 member states. ~~~ mercurial Unfortunately, you are probably right. ------ alisson I think this is great! As a Brazilian developer I would love to be able to use european datacenters, today the latency makes it almost impossible, they're way cheaper than Brazilian ones and travel to EU is easier than to the US because of the visa. This isn't the solution to privacy but solves a lot of other problems. ~~~ Ihmahr And hopefully traffic in Brazil will also become cheaper :) ~~~ HugoDias [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1tVzEs9zoM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1tVzEs9zoM) :) ~~~ Ihmahr Sorry, I don't speak Portuguese. Are you implying you do not understand the relation between internet connectivity and the price of renting a server? ~~~ speeder The guy in the video is saying "mais ou menos", that means "more or less" ------ tokenadult Key paragraph: "Brazil and the European Union agreed on Monday to lay an undersea communications cable from Lisbon to Fortaleza to reduce Brazil's reliance on the United States after Washington spied on Brasilia." It's probably a good idea to add to the existing network of transoceanic cables [http://www.submarinecablemap.com/](http://www.submarinecablemap.com/) but the technical means of monitoring international signal traffic include a lot of other methods besides just having a listening post at the cable landing point, so probably more helpful for worldwide communication privacy is building privacy by design [http://www.privacybydesign.ca/](http://www.privacybydesign.ca/) into every device and every network (and every legal system) all around the world. ~~~ ghostDancer You are completely right, but that doesn't make a good headline either for the politicians or the press. ~~~ wbracken And, not that "well, everyone is doing it" makes it right, etc. etc., but to think that only the US is spying on these communications is a bit naive. ~~~ Amezarak Indeed, the idea that routing your connections through other countries will help you is beyond naive. Nearly every industrialized country, including EU member nations, is documented conducting surveillance on comparable scales, and most of them (including Portugal) work closely with the NSA. Schemes like this, especially when government-sponsored, need to be looked at a lot more skeptically. They aren't doing it for privacy-conscious reasons. As Der Spiegel put it, the BND spies on everyone but Germans, shares that data with the other collaborating countries, and then gets data on Germans in return. (And the Germans didn't call France the "evil empire" of industrial espionage for no reason.) ------ nemesisj My previous employer collocated in a Terremark facility called "NAP of the Americas" located in downtown Miami. ([http://www.terremark.com/data- centers/north-america/nap-amer...](http://www.terremark.com/data- centers/north-america/nap-americas/)) It's a pretty decent facility. One of the most interesting things about it is that at the time (2-3 years ago) they liked to boast that more than 2/3rds of all communications traffic to South America (voice and data) passed through the building. You can bet the NSA has a nice cozy relationship with them. It was always a bit surprising to me that South America had that much of a single point of failure, so it's not surprising they might want to bolster their connectivity a bit. ------ astrodust Headline two years in the future: "US plans submarine mission to tap into undersea cable." ~~~ DasIch Which brings up the interesting question: What happens if someone is bold enough to blow up a US submarine that's spying? ~~~ saraid216 Depends. Is the submarine manned? ~~~ mpyne Yes. The submarine also contains a fully-operational nuclear reactor. ------ ericcumbee Reading things like this as an American. I think I know how eastern Europeans felt watching the Iron Curtain go up. ~~~ bas Talking to or knowing someone from Eastern Europe may disabuse you of this notion. ~~~ ericcumbee What I mean is that it feels like, the US is starting down the road of becomes economically & socially isolated from the rest of the world in some regards. More or less like eastern Europe at the start of the cold war. ~~~ happyscrappy That is pretty tepid compared to what you said before. ------ ChuckMcM So we all get how this isn't a "real" thing (having your own undersea cable won't help at all in preventing someone from listening in on that cable's traffic), but it is interesting from the point of view of "Why this headline? Why this story?" It seems targeted at making unsophisticated readers uncomfortable with the NSA's activities and how it reflects on the US in the rest of the world. I have no idea how successful it will be, but its a nice counter balance to the various "Our illegal activities had some benefit for you" stories we've been seeing. ~~~ brudgers The same reason that everyone is reporting that Facebook is paying 16 billion dollars for WhatsApp [1] - these stories write themselves so why work hard performing proper analysis? [1] Facebook would have to provide significantly more shares to sell another $12-15 billlion dollars worth of stock because the increase in supply would drive the current price down. Likewise, WhatsApp couldn't dump that much and maintain current valuation. But placing a reasonable value on the stock requires thinking and thinking makes people's brains hurt...Hell, all financial reporting is that way. The Dow Jones Industrial average keeps going up because the losers are taken off the list and replaced by winners.[2] [2] Yes the footnote is longer than the post. That's what happens when one is driven to explain. Not that the low standards for journalism require explaining to you. ------ HugoDias Most important issues in brazil this days: World Cup and NSA surveillance . Oh, how i hate this government. ~~~ gcb0 so open you window and see all the popular movements being beaten daily by the police. i think you are more part of the problem if that is all the news you care for ~~~ railsdude The only people "being beaten up" are the black blocs and rightfully, IMHO. And it's not daily. ~~~ oscargrouch and people with cameras, and everybody protesting.. the status quo dont want people protesting.. or fighting for their rights... the midia show only "black blocks", wich is always a minority, to criminalize the movement, and make people hate protests.. mostly of course.. brainwashed people manipulated by the corporate media... Your comment are really uninformed, or probably very bad informed.. i think you dont have a clue of whats really going on behind the curtains of power.. ------ jstalin As though the EU doesn't work with US intelligence. ------ ubercore Too bad U.S. citizens can't get in on it, to skirt U.S. spying. ~~~ dragonwriter I am amused by the idea that putting something outside of the USA (where US intelligence organizations aren't even in principle restricted from spying on it) will somehow protect it from US spying. Sure, there have been lots of stories recently about US _domestic_ surveillance, but those have been news specifically because there are, in theory, _restrictions_ on the agencies involved spying within the US, which create expectations and that domestic spying violates, whereas the _official purpose_ of the NSA is spying on electronic communications _outside_ of the US. ~~~ thrownaway2424 Yes, the superficiality of commentary in this thread is pretty disappointing. An undersea cable between two countries neither of which is the USA is going to be the VERY FIRST THING that the NSA taps. That is the PURPOSE of the agency. ------ rogerthis I don't trust Brazil at all. The government is a bunch of communists, friends of dictators (Maduro, Castro bros, african 'kings', iran ayatolah, etc). If you don't know, brazilians are ones of the most monitorated people in the globe. We are this time passing through a biometric registration, which soon will be compulsory. Illegal phone wiretapping is very common, and even the legal ones always end in the media, being used to character assassination. There are passed laws that will make long-range RFID obligatory in cars. How can the grazilian state be trusted? ~~~ xj9 Oh great, another dumbass who doesn't now what a communist is. I know the Cold War has turned y'all off from learning anything real about leftist ideologies, but c'mon, you know that Marx et al would be totally opposed to the totalitarian regimes that claim to espose their political theories. ~~~ rogerthis And another commy who has never read Karl Marx. ~~~ _delirium I've read some Marx, though I wouldn't say I'm an expert scholar. But I'm having trouble understanding how Brazil even remotely resembles something Marx would like. It has even larger income and wealth inequality than the USA! And large portions of the economy are controlled by finance capital, multinational companies like Banco do Brasil, Santander, Telefônica, Cosan, etc., often in an incestuous relationship with political elites. Where is the equal distribution of resources, the control of the economy by workers, or any of the rest of the Marxist programme? I mean, Sweden looks more communist than Brazil to me, and Sweden is not actually communist (it's a capitalist welfare state). ~~~ dragonwriter > I mean, Sweden looks more communist than Brazil to me, and Sweden is not > actually communist (it's a capitalist welfare state). A welfare state like Sweden's is about what you get when you start with capitalism (under its original definition), and apply about half of the program in the Communist Manifesto to it. Western European and Scandinavian "welfare states" are the closest thing in the real world to applying the Marxist program to the kind of economies that it was designed to address what Marx saw as problems with. "Capitalist welfare state" is something that people are able to say with a straight face only as a result of the Cold War idea (mostly, ironically, originating from the side that ended up _losing_ ) that whatever stands in opposition to Leninism and its descendants is fairly described as "capitalism". ~~~ _delirium True, it was initially quite a Marxist program, though at the time it was Marxist it was also considerably more ambitious: at one time the Scandinavian social-democratic parties included among their goals the eventual ownership and democratic management of the means of production by the workers. Their main difference with the Communist Party was that they believed it could be accomplished through incremental, non-revolutionary, Parliamentary means. Today's Scandinavian Social-Democratic parties have jettisoned that part of their ideological history and no longer mention it much, though, and nowadays the idea of workers owning the means of production is not so popular, and even the state doing so is less popular than it was, with many privatizations taking place over the past 30 years. Today's dominant ideology is probably something more like Poul Nyrup Rasmussen's "flexicurity" ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexicurity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexicurity)), which is the idea that in terms of economic organization and control, the society should be fully market-based, not worker-owned, with things allocated by supply and demand, hiring and firing being easy, etc. But then there should also be taxation to provide for a safety net so the lower end of society doesn't fall too far. There are a few exceptions, for example health-care is still mostly non-market-based. I think I agree that the Cold War cemented some of this, but afaik the idea of a capitalist welfare state originated considerably earlier, some of it in Marx's writing itself. He argued that one way capitalism would defend itself would be to institute reformist measures to ameliorate the worst conditions of the working class, in order to keep them from revolting (Otto von Bismarck pioneered the "right-wing welfare state" in the 1880s for precisely this reason). Thus the argument among many Communist parties of the late 19th and earthly 20th centuries that the Social Democratic parties were just helping capitalists to delay revolution, and not fundamentally leftist parties. And then later, capitalist theorists like F.A. Hayek were in favor of a kind of capitalist welfare state (basic income, free hospital care, etc.). ------ brianbarker With so much focus on the NSA, the other nations will continue increasing their spying capabilities and the game continues with more adversaries. ------ jobu Once again, the internet routes around failure. ------ AutoCorrect submarine, cable tap, plan is a waste of time and money if anti-spying is the reason. ------ scurvy What does this accomplish other than a press op for Dilma? The US will just tap and spy on this cable, too. This is nothing more than a politically motivated PR stunt so that Dilma can appear to be "talking tough" with the US to the Brazilian public. ------ ccanassa This is just a populist political move in order to gain votes. ~~~ lispm Politicians listening to their voters? What a strange concept... ------ brianbreslin How soon before we see efforts like this and in the RFQ/RFP it disallows US companies to bid because they are afraid of us companies not being trustworthy. ------ outside1234 Like cables can only be tapped at endpoints. Hilarious! ~~~ fit2rule Its going to be encrypted. And there will be submarine intrusion detection systems. Whats not to like? ~~~ rblatz I'm sure they'll just tap it and screw the submarine intrusion detection. What are they going to do? Stop using it and route it through other cables that are also tapped? And if they can't access the data due to it being encrypted end to end on that link they will either sabotage the line over and over until it's given up on. Or they will hack into the endpoints (physically or electronically) to retrieve the encryption keys. ~~~ fit2rule And yet the world will fight on against the tyranny and oppression of the powers. This is how it always has been with humans, and it won't be any different in this case. ~~~ alexeisadeski3 This plan is not an example of a fight against tyranny. ~~~ fit2rule Oh - but yes it is! Indeed there is much tyranny to be had in the undermining of foreign economies with espionage and injected turmoil, and the nation of the USA has invested _much_ in its ability to tyrannise other nations through economic means. If you cannot see the tyranny, perhaps you are standing too close. ~~~ alexeisadeski3 This plan is about increasing the amount of tyranny in the world. ~~~ fit2rule The cable will increase tyranny? I think you mean "decrease American hegemony".. ~~~ alexeisadeski3 As explained multiple times throughout this page, it'll do no such thing. ~~~ fit2rule Every little bit counts. I for one welcome the demise of American hegemony - and I don't see why this isn't a step in the right direction. Just because a bunch of Americans say "nu-uh .. we'll just hax0r your cables" doesn't mean the rest of the world needs to bend over and prepare for a greasin' .. ~~~ alexeisadeski3 If the country planning the private cable had a better human rights record than the US, I'd agree. Unfortunately, that's not the case. ~~~ fit2rule You might want to think about Americas' Prisons. The secret ones, as well as the ones being used to enslave 1/3rd of the population.. ------ gtirloni This is good network management. The NSA datacenters are too overloaded, let's divert the traffic to the GCHQ ones to load balance this thing. ------ grecy I look forward to the headline: "The European Union and countries x, y, z agree to stop using the US dollar for all transactions due to spying..." ~~~ rosser Yeah, let's _actually_ break the global economy, because NSA. ~~~ DasIch It wouldn't break the global economy at all. It would definitely have catastrophic consequences on the US economy though. ~~~ rosser With the dollar still serving as the global reserve currency, it would have implications for _everyone_. With the US economy still driving the majority of global consumption (though this is admittedly changing), it would have implications for _everyone_. "Break" is, perhaps, mildly overstating the case. But, unless you live somewhere that doesn't interact with the outside world in any meaningful way, you would without doubt feel the pain of a sudden shift away from USD like that. ~~~ mark_l_watson I don't disagree with you. Some time in the future, other tax jurisdictions will decide it is worth the short term pain to get off of the US$. I wouldn't be surprised if this happens slowly with end to end credit swaps, a few countries getting together to trade with alternative currencies, etc. It is in no one's best interest for this to happen very quickly. My personal bet is that in about 5 years, about half of world trade will be done in currencies other than the US$. ------ jpkeisala This is really great! We are getting better speed to South-America from Europe and maybe it's not even being spied. ------ ptaffs GCHQ is in Europe (UK), maybe they should specifically route to mainland Europe. (Since GCHQ is working with the NSA). ~~~ outside1234 Right, because France or Germany aren't spying on anyone. ~~~ nraynaud it's more like they are not as big, paranoid, weaponized and violent than the US, so basically they spy less and kill less people as a result of the spying. And also they have those pesky European Court of Human Rights and International Court of Justice overseeing them. (Not everything if pink tho, some EU countries don't want GMO and Brasil and Argentina bet big on it) ~~~ gnerd Explain to me, a European citizen, sitting in Europe how I am protected against any of the same measures in the US? Forget GCHQ for a second, lets pick say... the Swedish FRA law, the Swedish Titan Traffic Database, the Denmark/Sweden DNS filter (some of the systems I mention have had little or delayed scrutiny from the outside). So how does any European court prevent that from happening in practise? How do these systems throw a spanner in the works? It seems to me, perhaps I am a pessimist, that these EU systems mean about as much as the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in principle it should mean everything but in practise it means sweet fuck all. Trade treaties might have more weight but I think the US holds more cards than we do as far as that is concerned. ~~~ nraynaud [http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Cases_list_2013_ENG.pdf](http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Cases_list_2013_ENG.pdf) you are welcome. ~~~ gnerd Thanks very much but I was asking about how any systems we have prevent these things from happening, they don't seems to be your answer. No preventions, just consequences... sometimes, assuming the parties aren't too big for consequences or the issues touch on trade factors. Great, but that's the same deal everyone in a moderately free country has all over the world. Show me the case law for Sweden, the UK, NL, Germany, France being taken to court for collecting and processing information, because some of those countries have been doing this in a public fashion for years. You don't think handing over EU citizen data to the US is a violation of EU policy? Tell me again about how I'm protected again? I am protected when it comes to local issues, perhaps, but if Germany, Sweden, France, NL, UK etc. decide they are going to keep tabs on things I do online if my traffic enters their territories then European protections are just fluff. At least that's how it seems to me seeing as none of these things are going to change and there are clear violations with respect to privacy in existing European Law (and I'm not just talking about GCHQ here). It's a bit like slavery being illegal in just about every single country on earth. What an amazing achievement to have everyone on the same page on something important, except on the ground we have more slaves right now than ever before. Every second chocolate bar you've ever bought was probably tainted in slavery. Those protections don't mean anything unless the stakeholders care and the law is enforced. If it is not enforced, its not really a law. ------ caiob Because internet spying is Brazil's biggest issue at the moment. Talk about priorities, Eh?1 ~~~ fidotron Unfortunately priority #1 needs to be abolishing the counter productive import tax on any electronics, which has led to a mix of company closures and Brazilian brain drain in favour of a relative handful of less skilled factory workers. Sad, since there is a lot of talent in Brazil and this prevents making the most of it. ~~~ dcarmo Lol at you thinking that being able to import your PS4 is priority #1. I too hate the import tax, but this priority is way down the list of what the government should be tackling. ------ aubergene This article by Neal Stephenson on cable laying from around 1994 is a long but still a very good read [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.12/ffglass_pr.html](http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.12/ffglass_pr.html) ------ batmansbelt Would it stop over in Africa first? It looks like that's along the way. ~~~ amitparikh The Great Circle route looks like it just skirts past the Canary Islands: [http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=FOR-LIS](http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=FOR-LIS) ~~~ nly You're correct, it's going to land in Tenerife according to this: [http://www.submarinecablemap.com/#/submarine-cable/brazil- sp...](http://www.submarinecablemap.com/#/submarine-cable/brazil-spain) This seems to have been a popular route for telecommunications cables 'for a while' [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/1901_Eas...](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/1901_Eastern_Telegraph_cables.png) ------ falconfunction There is also BRICS cable, and I don't know how it relates to this. [http://www.bricscable.com/](http://www.bricscable.com/) ------ acd I feels like this cable will be cheddar cheese to a uboat and some skilled divers. Encryption is probably better as is opensource and open hardware. ------ kumarski Does anyone else see the inherent issue and irony in trying to monitor and protect an extremely long undersea cable across the Atlantic? ------ contingencies China should get in on this game... it borders half the planet. ------ cpncrunch Wouldn't it be simpler just to use encryption? ------ igl Says the non-democratic European muppet government? Hahaha. This cable goes directly into obamas laptop.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
“Extremely angry with the state of academic CS research right now” - zdw http://neverworkintheory.org/2016/04/26/perception-productivity.html ====== tedmiston For an engineering community manager, that was an awfully rant-y way to make the point: "It's frustrating that researchers don't publish their code." Not to say I disagree with the frustration... but it's also not something new. It's been this way for decades. I'd much rather hear about who _is doing_ work in this space and what they're working on. Here are the ones I know of: 1\. _The Center for Open Science_ ([https://cos.io](https://cos.io)) is one such org trying to fix this with the Open Science Framework [1]. 2\. _GitHub_ also recognizes the need for citable code and gives special discounts for research groups, in fact, Mozilla is one they work with [2]. Two smaller related startups are: 3\. _Datazar_ ([https://datazar.com](https://datazar.com)) - A way to freely distribute scientific data. 4\. _Liquid_ ([https://getliquid.io](https://getliquid.io)) - A scientific data management platform. Somewhat like "Excel for scientific data as a Service". Also, a related HN thread from some years ago: "We need a GitHub of Science" [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2425823](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2425823) \--- 1: [https://osf.io](https://osf.io) 2: [https://github.com/blog/1840-improving-github-for- science](https://github.com/blog/1840-improving-github-for-science) ~~~ nextos I like his rant. But at the same time, as an ex-CS grad student now doing biology, I wish my field was 1/10th as rigorous, tidy and beautiful as computer science. Code is a joke, most data is processed using "pipelines", which in reality means some irreproducible mess. People don't generally do research trying to understand how cells or tissues work, they generally write papers about "stories" they found. Only a small minority are trying to do some serious modeling using serious math. ~~~ jldugger > Code is a joke, most data is processed using "pipelines", which in reality > means some irreproducible mess. You're not wrong, and it's not limited to bioinformatics; Reinhart-Rogoff's findings were reversed when an additional 5 rows were included in a spreadsheet they used to calculate their correlation between GDP growth and debt ratios. And of course, they insist that despite the actual outcome being _twice as strong and in the opposite direction_ , they still support their original position. I wonder if one can get a CS PhD by producing enough retractions. Of course, it won't win you many friends in the academy, and would probably lead to less source code made available. But given the Perl code I've seen published who's termination condition is a divide-by-zero exception, one can argue that peer review in the information age has to include code review. ~~~ smartbit Didn't know about the Reinhart-Rogoff controversy [0], interesting! They state that they have been _careful not to claim that high debt causes slow growth, but rather that it has an “association” with slow growth_. [0] [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/16/reinhart-rogoff- aus...](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/16/reinhart-rogoff-austerity- research-errors_n_3094015.html) ~~~ linhchi I read abt this quite a bit, the refutation is attacking a small portion of the data, because that small portion is trendy and hot in politics. Judging academically, the original paper and the refuting paper is a healthy debate, but the dynamic of the society and politics ab-use them to attack a whole school of thought at large (the austrian school: less bailout, less intervention by government, less control over everything) in favor of keynesian school (more bailout, more government spending, more public debt, especially in recession and crisis). Anyway, it remains a controversy, because theoretically one can do what one wants, but once it involves policy and real life matters, it is hard to argue for what method is right and what is wrong, in the presence of so many (ready to b angry) interest groups. ~~~ Certhas Excuse me? That single attacked paper was the intellectual blanket for an unprecedented victory march of the Austrian school after the financial crisis and the recession. I agree that from a purely academic point of view this is nothing big to worry about, but this paper played a completely outsized role. And the authors stood by and let things run their course, without any attempt to reign in or moderate the debate. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth_in_a_Time_of_Debt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth_in_a_Time_of_Debt) ~~~ linhchi Fair enough, but i add that academic life is sad, one has to pursue one's endeavor at one's own cost. However, politicians and the public want too much from us researchers. So sometimes, we do believe that our sweating formulas have life impact, or to fancy, save the world. ------ xixi77 How is this different from any other academic research? What he is asking about is neither openness nor reproducibility (which are, indeed, very important). He is asking that researchers produce code that he can put into production. Not only they have negative incentives to do so (for one, providing such code will surely result in a stream of all kinds of support requests), it would actually work against the reproducibility objective. The purpose of the code written is usually very simple: to produce results of the paper, not to provide a tool other people can use out of the box. Even when such a tool is nominally provided (for example, when a statistics paper is accompanied by an R package), there are good reasons to be very careful with it: for example, the paper may include assumptions on valid range of inputs, and using the package without actually reading the paper first would lead to absurd results -- which is something that has happened. The way to use academic research results is to (1) read and understand the paper, (2) reproduce the code -- ideally, from scratch, so that his results are (hopefully) unaffected by authors' bugs, (3) verify on a test problem, and (4) apply to his data. Using an out of the box routine skips steps 1-3, which are the whole point of reproducibility. ~~~ ef4 > reproduce the code -- ideally, from scratch, so that his results are > (hopefully) unaffected by authors' bugs This rests on a common false assumption that programmers make: they think it's easier to write bug-free code when starting from scratch. The reality is that it's almost always easier to start with something that's nearly working and find and fix the bugs. What really happens when you do a clean room reproduction is that you end up with two buggy programs that have non-overlapping sets of bugs, and you spend most of the effort trying to figure out why they don't match up. It's a dumb way to write software when it can be otherwise avoided. ~~~ thaw13579 I wonder though, maybe non-overlapping sets of bugs are actually better for science? That is, it could avoid systematic errors. Of course, one bug free implementation is clearly better! ------ thaw13579 Two points to consider here. First, it's not fair to criticize the whole field of academic CS research. Not everyone's work can be accurately represented by a github repo. Second, even when it can, expecting the "Run author's [whatever] against an up-to-date dataset." step to work is asking a quite a lot. Typically there are a infrastructural assumptions baked in (file paths, legacy code dependencies, etc) and manual steps to get to plotted results. In an ideal world with enough resources, every lab would have technical staff to help with this process, but most researchers unfortunately don't have bandwidth to spend on this problem. ~~~ morgante If your paper has results, it has code of some sort which can be put into a github repo. That's the bare minimum. If you don't know how to make code agnostic to file paths or dependencies, that's too bad, but fortunately a field practitioner picking your code up _will_ know how to work around those issues. At least they're not starting from scratch on trying to rewrite your code. ~~~ eastWestMath As a theorist, not it goddamn doesn't. ~~~ jononor How do you validate your theories? ~~~ eastWestMath I prove them. ------ visarga On this topic I'd like to mention the machine learning papers site GitXiv, which is wonderful. It publishes papers alongside the Github repo containing the code. [http://gitxiv.com/](http://gitxiv.com/) ~~~ jcrites Thanks! That's awesome. I have long thought that a platform for scientific publication where code and data are included would be valuable, and I'm glad to learn it exists. Going further, imagine the code is like a container that anyone can run to reproduce the findings, including statistical analysis and summary on raw data sets -- the key findings should "build". Perhaps the platform also provides continuous build during "development" (research) so that researchers can work privately and then publish their "repo" publicly along with their paper. An easy way to clone and reproduce the build after publication: "fork my research" As an extreme version of the idea, imagine if the actual paper itself (TeX) and all the data within it are also built as part of the repository; any graphs in the paper are rendered from data in the repo, any numbers are data accesses, etc. This probably wouldn't be helpful to researchers, but it would promote scientific reproducibility and aid everyone building on a researcher's work. Tremendous work goes into authoring the papers themselves, sometimes with methods or tricks that are private; laying it all out publicly would greatly help students of science. Going even further: to avoid cherry picking of positive results, review boards expect experimental criteria to be published (at least privately to them) in advance, for research that involves capital-E experiments. Perhaps this includes analysis code at least in prototype form; like test driven development, the acceptance criteria are written first. When the paper is ready for review, the reviewers can compare the initial prototype analysis logic to the final form. Perhaps the board also expects all data and trials collected during experiments to be made available in the repository, whether positive or not. All collected data should be in the platform, in the most raw form it was originally recorded, as well as all steps of summary and analysis. I wonder if a process and platform like this could contribute to the integrity and quality and reproducibility of scientific research. People funding research ought to ask for it, especially public funded research, and the whole repo is made open eventually if not initially. Perhaps as part of the platform's value prop to researchers (on whom it is imposing probably more burdens than benefit, for sake of _public_ benefit), the hosting is free and funded by a foundation, or steeply discounted. (OK, it won't pay for LHC scale data sets, but otherwise ...) So using it to host your data, code, and paper is free, at least up to a point. I would be interested to contribute time and resources toward building or supporting a platform like this. ~~~ gcr I don't think research should be as structured as software development. In CS, many of the most interesting papers come about when the authors discover something unexpected or non-intuitive and choose to explore down that thread. That's why it's research -- sometimes you can't know what you will find until you're there. ~~~ tremon _I don 't think research should be as structured as software development_ In many ways, it already is: good research requires meticulous log keeping in order to reproduce results, and equal effort must be spent on maintaining references to other literature, or you risk missing a citation in a published paper. ------ rudi-c I took a graduate course on software engineering just a month ago and read many of those paper which use Mozilla's data. It's a very popular dataset in the field since it is both open and large. I'm sure Mike Hoye meant to criticize a part of that field, not academic CS research as a whole. My impression of the field was there was a severe mismatch of skillset. The set of people with the scientific background to carry proper experiments, and the funding to do so, is very disjoint from the set of people who understand the field. That made a lot of the papers feel "off". Almost like reading text generated by a machine: individual sentences make perfect sense, the whole doesn't seem to go in a relevant direction. As someone who's done a fair bit of practical software engineering, seeing academics study software engineers feels like seeing a WW2 veteran trying to understand how youngsters use snapchat. It feels very awkward for the youngster, just as it does for the software engineer. Which I imagine is one reason why Mike is pissed off. There is some irony that businesses are much more scientific in this particular subfield than academia, because business incentives require the results to be reproducible and meaningful, over a longer period of time. ------ modeless The state of machine learning research these days seems pretty good. Essentially all research is published on ArXiv and there is a lot of code released too (though there could certainly be more). I think openness has been a big contributor to the recent explosion in popularity and success of machine learning. When talking to academics about this, machine learning would be a great field to hold up as an example. ~~~ pmalynin I'd say the opposite as a member of a group at my university who review ML papers. First off right now there seems to be a drive to explain many phenomena in ML in particular why neural networks are good at what they do. A large body of them reaches a point of basically "they are good at modeling functions that they are good at modeling". The other type of papers that you see, is researchers drinking the group theory kool-aid and trying to explain everything through that. At one point we got 4 papers from 4 different groups that tried to do exactly that. All of them are flawed, either in their mathematics or assumptions (that will most likely never be true, like assumptions of linearity and your data sey being on a manifold). Actually speaking of math, many papers try to use very high level mathematics (functional analysis with homotopy theory) to essentially hide their errors as nobody bothers to verify it. ~~~ eli_gottlieb >First off right now there seems to be a drive to explain many phenomena in ML in particular why neural networks are good at what they do. A large body of them reaches a point of basically "they are good at modeling functions that they are good at modeling". Since this is closely related to my current research, yes, ML research is kind of crappy at this right now, and can scarcely even be considered to be trying to actually explain why certain methods work. Every ML paper or thesis I read nowadays just seems to discard any notion of doing good theory in favor of beefing up their empirical evaluation section and throwing deep convnets at everything. I'd drone on more, but that would be telling you what's in my research, and it's not done yet! ------ KKKKkkkk1 For a computer scientist, reproducibility means more work that they aren't paid to do. If I ask the Mozilla team to implement new feature X, the response will be either (a) point me to a donation link, or (b) We're open source, so why don't you implement the feature yourself? The computer scientist's response is the same. ~~~ jcrites Reproducibility for the computer scientist means including any code written and data collected or relied on in the scientific publication itself. In practice, getting there from here isn't literally zero work, since some actual human action is needed to bundle the code and data, but that effort ought to be negligible overall, especially if we make it a standard part of the scientific process. ~~~ semi-extrinsic Trust me, it's currently far from zero work to submit code with a research paper. I was recently the corresponding author on a software paper sent to a journal that at least verifies the code compiles and runs and produces expected output. Since the poor person testing the softwares submitted is permanently in the ninth circle of dependency hell, across all platforms and libraries imaginable, it took about fifteen emails back and forth plus an OS reinstall before everything checked out. And they said that wasn't anything extraordinary. ~~~ jcrites How about a platform centered around Linux containers (or maybe one of several OS containers or VM images), as the repository image? I'm not saying the work is zero now, but maybe we can get there. If a researcher is developing on a platform where their repository is expressed as a container-like image, then they should be able to publish it for anyone to run exactly as-is. The container repo includes the data, the operating system, and any languages and libraries, with an init system that optionally builds the results. ~~~ semi-extrinsic Yes, I think we need to go in this direction. The problem is that the container system is yet another tool for researchers to learn. The first step is to get everyone using VCS and nightly testing. Many are still at the point of clumsily written, old Fortran code that gets emailed around and exists in N different variants. (Not that there is anything wrong with Fortran.) Many are at the point where if you email them a link to a git repo to clone, they're clueless about what to do. ~~~ Al-Khwarizmi It would help if Git didn't have such an awful learning curve (and I say this as a git user that already went through it). I know researchers that used Subversion when it was on the rise, but they just abandoned version control altogether when Git became the generally preferred option. ------ alantrrs We're working on this exact problem at Empirical [http://empiricalci.com](http://empiricalci.com) We're building a way for CS researchers to run, share and compare experiments including their whole research environment. We just applied to Apply HN and would appreciate your feedback: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11586948](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11586948) ------ santaclaus > They publish LaTeX-templated Word docs as paywalled PDFs. Somewhat tangential, but do CS academics actually write papers in Word? During my grad school days I did not encounter a _single_ paper 'typeset' in Word. Writing was usually done with a LaTeX and and a makefile in a git repo. ~~~ nycticorax Just adding another data point: When I was in CS grad school (late 90s), everyone used LaTeX (including the journals). Then I started hanging out with neuroscience people, and everyone (including the journals) used Word+Endnote, with basically ad-hoc treatment of the figures. ~~~ santaclaus How does Word work out when multiple collaborators are writing at once? One of the cool things about version controlling LaTeX is that conflicts, merges, etc are dealt with using standard tools, which is super helpful when you have collaborators across the globe furiously writing and redoing figures a few days before a deadline. ~~~ joshvm Well when you deal with merge conflicts in Word, your standard tool is Word. I don't think you can get much more standard than Office when you consider collaborators outside academia. It's not great for simultaneous editing (although I think this is now possible in 365). It is, however, very good for tracking changes over versions. Many academics are not familiar with git, diff and so on and it's nice to easily see historical edits in the document. For simple documents like abstracts, it's much easier to send a Word document than it is to send a tex file and assume that everyone on consortium is going to be able to compile it (especially if you work with industry). ~~~ fphhotchips > although I think this is now possible in 365 It would want to have improved since I used it a couple years ago in Word 2013. The main problem was with citation managers - Word would give a paragraph lock to you whenever you edited a paragraph, and it would only unlock that paragraph after a save (either auto or manual). Of course, when you have a citation manager, they have the habit of changing all the paragraphs when you insert a new citation that changes the numbering (ie. [1] becomes [2], etc.). ------ einarvollset As a recovering CS academic, I have to say - boo-fucking-hoo. Tell me exactly where the funds to do this extra level of support is supposed to come from? Is Mozzila paying for those grad student hours? No? Well then. ~~~ morgante We as taxpayers are already paying for your research. Given that, it seems reasonable that you should make the modicum of effort to publish your code. Also, don't construct a false dichotomy. Publishing your code (at all) does _not_ mean you have to make it production-quality or provide support for it. ~~~ kardos > Publishing your code (at all) does not mean you have to make it production- > quality or provide support for it. No. If you publish something that's incomplete or doesn't have all the right dependencies listed, etc, it's not really of any use. Writing up compiling instructions plus dependencies plus how to run it plus input files etc takes time and by the time you've got it to the state that someone else can run it, now it's "production-quality". > Given that, it seems reasonable that you should make the modicum of effort > to publish your code. There's currently no incentive/requirement to publish code, it uses time and does not increment your publication counter. Find the incentive and you'll start seeing published code. ~~~ morgante > No. If you publish something that's incomplete or doesn't have all the right > dependencies listed, etc, it's not really of any use. Again you're creating a false dichotomy which is just fundamentally false. Even if you only published _half_ your code—to the point where it doesn't even compile—that's still helpful. In the status quo, I have to write your entire code from scratch. If you published what you have, I would merely have to debug the issues and figure out what the dependencies are. I don't understand why it's so hard to understand that some code is better than no code. ~~~ kardos > I guess researchers really are so incompetent with software that they think > code which requires debugging is useless. So published papers are held to a high standard -- filtered through editors and peer review -- while publishing code can be half-assed at best? I still disagree; if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. ------ alexholehouse Reproducible is a major issue across science in general, but the difference is there's no reason why one shouldn't be able to easily re-run a defined analysis on a more recently updated data set to ask if conclusions drawn previously still hold. I actually published a side-project paper on this (in biological sciences) last year [1] - what was scary was there was such a lack of discussion surrounding this idea, despite the fact that large databases of biological data are CONSTANTLY changing and updating. [1] Holehouse, A. S. & Naegle, K. M. Reproducible Analysis of Post- Translational Modifications in Proteomes-Application to Human Mutations. PLoS One 10, e0144692 (2015). ([http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal....](http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0144692)) ~~~ cderwin The other difference is that as far as I know, computer science is the only discipline for which industry has solved the problem of reproducibility; it's one thing to be asked to design a method to run reproducible studies of humans, it's another to ask researchers to run `git remote add [https://github.com/user/repo](https://github.com/user/repo) && git push --set-upstream`. That's not asking for any support, or other effort on the researcher's part, and I frankly don't understand how the CS academic community doesn't have this as a standard when it'd be so easy to implement. ------ jpolitz It is a real issue. The programming languages and software engineering communities have been working on evaluating software artifacts for a few years now: [http://www.artifact-eval.org/](http://www.artifact-eval.org/) This doesn't address open access, but it does make sure the software is usable by a non-author to reproduce the results of the paper. ~~~ kaeluka @ open access: In my specific subfield of academic CS, a huge success story was ECOOP (one of the biggest conferences in the field) going open access last year. I'm hoping that there'll be other conferences following suit. My money is on open access being commonplace in 10-15 years. ~~~ samth Note that ECOOP went open access partly under the leadership of jpolitz's advisor. :-) ~~~ kaeluka You had me confused for a second, I didn't realise I was talking to jpolitz :) Thanks for bringing that up. AFAICT, he (advisor) has done a lot to make that happen, indeed. ------ dgacmu Help me convince people to do a few things a bit better: [http://da- data.blogspot.com/2016/04/stealing-googles-coding-...](http://da- data.blogspot.com/2016/04/stealing-googles-coding-practices-for.html) (tl;dr of my linked blog post: Apply a slightly lighter weight form of some industry engineering practices in CS research coding. I think it's feasible. It doesn't solve all of the problems, because as discussed elsewhere in this thread, some of them are incentive-related and I'm not going to claim to have answers to everything. :) (a) Convince more research groups to do their research on GitHub by default -- ideally, in open repositories. They get good hosted SCM, the world gets a better chance of seeing their code. (b) Create more incentives, like the USENIX Community Award, for research that puts out its code. I'd say that in the systems community, a pretty decent chunk of the papers at SOSP, OSDI, and NSDI have code releases (of varying degrees of usability) accompanying them, though that's not a scientific count. Mozilla could throw $1k to help create community-award-style incentives in the conferences they're interested in. Win-win. You get engaged with the community, you create some incentive for people to do the right thing, and you can use it as an onroad to deeper engagement with the winning authors (i.e., you can try to bring them in for internships. :). ------ moron4hire What it will take is creating a new system of research and development that ignores the traditional academic system. Because this has been a problem for a while and they clearly are not hearing the message. The reason academic research works is because it takes risk on potential failures, because it's only donated or grant money anyways. But academic institutions fetishize academic papers, which is the problem from the article. We need to legitimize research outside of the academic institution. Pay people to do research on their own time, if they perform it in an open-source, reproducible fashion. Incentivize it based on the reproducibility factor, but avoid attaching a profit motive. Look at what Xerox PARC and Bell Labs were able to do before the penny- pinching bean counters took over. Otherwise, it just sounds like "we want all this risky work done, and we don't want to pay for it." ~~~ nycticorax Maybe I've drunk the kool-aid, but saying "academic institutions fetishize academic papers" seems wrong to me. It's like saying that developers fetishize working applications. It's not a fetish, it's the whole point of the thing. The output of research is research papers. Yes, sharing raw data and code are both good things, and should be promoted. But no one is going to take the time to look at either unless the paper presents good evidence for some novel result. ~~~ moron4hire Papers don't do anything. Papers aren't executable. Papers are largely only useful in regards to writing other papers. To make the whole point of the exercise to be something that is inert and self-referential is the fetishization part. ~~~ Retra Papers teach people things. You can't really hand someone some working code and expect them to iterate on it to produce something novel and insightful, because it won't be written in a high-enough language to express the core concepts flexibly. ~~~ moron4hire I don't see how open source software is at all compatible with the view you've just expressed. ~~~ Retra I don't see how that's related. There are loads of open source software projects that are maintained by only a single person precisely because they haven't bothered to properly document why it exists, what came before it, what important things it is demonstrating, or what needs to be done to improve it; the archetypical content of a research paper. ------ Ericson2314 This is why I believe NixOS is so important. It allows one to completely freeze the entire development environment on one hand, but also does so in a declarative, well abstracted manner (vs VM image let's say) so tweaking/porting is actually feasible. Until well get to a point where building/installing/administrating is not hours of bullshit, research (and free software) will suffer. ~~~ aub3bhat As an academic researcher I find it absolutely hilarious that you think the complex social problem of incentive structure and competition will be solved by some Unix OS. If you are interested just take a look at the complexity of licensing/ownership of code written by a PhD student at a Research University in United States. If you look at most of my Open Source code, I use AWS AMIs to share both data as well as OS + code, however I can do that only for side projects. The main thesis projects are typically very high value and consequences of sharing it far more complex to understand. [https://github.com/akshayubhat/](https://github.com/akshayubhat/) ~~~ Ericson2314 No that is not what I think at all, see my follow-up comments below. I just think the combination of shitty tools + incentive structure is even more insurmountable. This is a tough problem that should be attacked from as many fronts as possible. > The main thesis projects are typically very high value and consequences of > sharing it far more complex to understand. Commercial value, the university is just more stringent on the licensing/ownership restrictions, or something else? ~~~ aub3bhat There are several factors. 1\. Commercial value. 2\. Future grant applications (a competing group not sharing code will have better chance winning the grant.) 3\. Future of other students and collaborators in the group. If two PhD students write a paper, the junior student might wish to write extension papers without getting scooped. And many more. Yet if a paper is important enough, independant researchers will often attempt at replication, this nowadays routinely happens in Machine Learning and Vision due to huge amount of interest. Also in several cases replication is fundamentally impossible, e.g. consider a machine learning paper that uses proprietary data from hospital attached to the university, etc. ~~~ jcrites I totally get that researchers' incentives are not aligned toward publishing it, so no need to explain that further. There are costs and downsides and probably not enough benefit to them. That's fine. Everyone works within their system of incentives. If it's paid for by public dollars, then the code and data belong in the public domain eventually. I understand there are exceptions like hospital data affected by patient confidentiality - that's fine. However the code released by that researcher should be capable of reproducing their results with that data set plugged in (such as by someone else who has access to it). As a taxpayer, my concern for publicly funded research is maximizing benefit to the public good. I understand your point about follow-on research, and I'm not saying that I'd expect the code and data to be made available immediately with publication, but that deserves to be the case some reasonable time afterward (like a year). I understand that researchers' incentives are not necessarily aligned toward making it public; I am saying that people who fund research (including taxpayers through the political process) should require and expect it. Keeping it private indefinitely is a degree of self- centeredness that does not strike an appropriate balance between benefit to the researcher and to the public in my opinion. ~~~ aub3bhat I never understood the meme about "public funding" translating into "public domain". Just because research is "publicly funded", does not means that the "public" owns it or even has a right to ownership. Public education is publicly funded does not means that government can ask for every drawing drawn by 9 year old in classroom to be in the public domain :) . In fact its actually opposite ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayh%E2%80%93Dole_Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayh%E2%80%93Dole_Act)), given that Universities can and do patent inventions from publicly funded research. Further funding arrangements themselves are very complex, a professor typically procures funding from University, NSF, NIH, private companies, donors etc. In such cases if NSF adopts a hard line approach that any research touching its dollars ought to release code under say GPL, it would make it impossible to collaborate. Finally all requirements aside, one can always release intentionally poorly written code in form of MatLab .m and compiled mex files. I have observed several such cases, where the code can demonstrate a concept but is intentionally crippled. Finally graduate students, graduate and are paid for doing research which is publishing/presenting papers at peer reviewed conferences and journals. If what funding agencies really seek is ready made software they ought to fund / pay at the same level as software developers (as many companies do). ~~~ jcrites > Just because research is "publicly funded", does not means that the "public" > owns it or even has a right to ownership. I didn't make the argument that the public owns it or has a right to ownership, though I suppose that some people might and so I can see why you would touch on that point. I would describe my view as like this: public funding is subject to the political process, and voting by taxpayers (directly or indirectly through voting of politicians or their appointees). As a taxpayer, I prefer to make public domain publication a requirement of publicly funded research, and I think every taxpayer should too. I consider the goal of public funding of science to be the benefit of public good, and believe that public good will best be served by public domain publication of all data, code, and analysis methods. (Whew, there's a lot of "pub" and "public" in there!) One might reach my position by working backwards from, "Why do we as taxpayers agree to fund science with government money?" It's certainly not to give researchers prestige or jobs! (Those may be necessary parts of achieving public good, but they're not the goal which is the public good, and if they're in tension with public good then the public good probably needs to win.) I don't seek ready made software; not at all. I only seek adequate disclosure of data and analysis methods sufficient for others to easily verify it and build on it. See for example the attempt at replication in [http://www.peri.umass.edu/236/hash/31e2ff374b6377b2ddec04dea...](http://www.peri.umass.edu/236/hash/31e2ff374b6377b2ddec04deaa6388b1/publication/566/) > In such cases if NSF adopts a hard line approach that any research touching > its dollars ought to release code under say GPL, it would make it impossible > to collaborate. I will need to think more about this issue. I might be willing to accept the downside as a taxpayer. I'm not sure I understand it well enough what the friction would be to collaboration at the moment. If you're referring to the GPL specifically, then yes I agree that's probably the wrong license - public domain would be more appropriate. I would be OK if this was simply an electronic log of the data as well as all machine commands that have been run on it - something that is recorded automatically by the operating environment. I am truly not looking for "working production code". But, those sequence of commands should be reproducible if someone "replays" them; a verifiable digital journal. Publishing an article that's difficult-to-reproduce feels like producing the least possible public good while still getting credit. Publishing an article that's fully and automatically reproducible, because it contains references to all of the data and code that yield the results as an executable virtual machine with source code, provides the maximum public good, and that's what I want science funded with public money (and ultimately all science) to work toward. (I realize that this is just like, my opinion man :) ~~~ aub3bhat You are correct in expecting return of public investment. Actually NIH has a policy that explicitly favors "Basic Scientific Research" over applied or application of research. According to NSF and NIH, the primary goal of government funded research is advancement of science, this is done via conducting experiments, and publishing results at peer reviewed venues. The peer review both during grant application and at publication stage factors heavily into assessment by funding agencies. If tomorrow NSF were to give significant weight to availability of source code (They actually do that to a small extent), it might set up perverse incentives. A small percentage of federally funded research goes into Computer Science and even a smaller fraction involves results where there is enough demand for software. Another aspect of academic funding that people don't get is that research grants unlike say contracts have a significantly different set of expectations associated with them. E.g. a student can get NSF Fellowship, claiming he want to cure diseases using machine learning, only to later spend 3 years working on music recommendation system (True Story!). Regarding the economics study you linked to, I am very much familiar with that study having seen the interview of graduate student on Colbert Report. For non-CS fields the quality of code is anyway so bad that its much more difficult. Further several researchers rely on proprietary tools, which only make this task difficult. In my opinion the correct way is not by having NSF impose rules, but rather by having venues that accept papers (Conference & Journals) insist on providing software. However this is easier said than done, since its a competitive two sided market. Regarding actual licensing issues, I can assure you that GPL is second favorite license of choice favored by University IP departments, the first one being "All rights reserved with modification explicitly forbidden, except for reproduction of experiments." ------ chrisbennet Funny, as students we were expected to solve the exam problem and "show your work"... I think the root a the problem is that the goals of the researchers are not aligned with the goals of Science. This isn't a criticism of the researchers but instead of the "game" they are forced to play. For example,the goal of Science is to move the ball(knowledge) down the field for the benefit of mankind. We don't reward researchers for doing that, at least not very well. We reward researchers for writing _papers_ full stop - not for making their research easy to reproduce or build on. ------ atishay811 Its not just the researchers' fault. Maybe the industry should help. Mozilla is a major stakeholder of the web platform that makes distribution easy. Lets make sure web is the best platform to do all the research. * Provide great scientific and matrix manipulation libraries within the browser. WebAssembly isn't going to solve this. Why would the academia rewrite everything? * Provide tools that help research being open. Uploading your code to Github isn't a solution. The real solution is making it easy to use and link other person't research. Can we make research as accessible as a javascript file that you include in your html file to run. And it shouldn't cost the creator to host/maintain it. Offline web sucks(still) and it costs money to host your servers. * Provide incentive to use the web for everything. A great one would be an easy to use and debug toolset and an easy set of methods to get data in and out, an editing environment that can be setup with one click. The closest is iPython Notebook. And it takes work to get there. Sharing should be default and easy. If it isn't we are no one to complain. ~~~ wyattpeak >Uploading your code to Github isn't a solution Why not? This sounds like exactly the solution. It's no burden on the researcher - they don't have to alter their research methods to fit a new system, they just dump the code, and leave it up to other users to reimplement. Building web tools to allow research sounds like precisely the wrong solution, at least in the short to medium term. Research funding doesn't go far enough as it is, you're not going to get researchers changing their processes entirely for no gain. What if they need custom hardware, or access to tools and libraries that haven't been implemented? Sharing _is_ default and easy. That's why Github has exploded. ~~~ robotresearcher You forgot to consider IP issues. Schools vary a lot on their policies by but for many the code belongs to the school and can not be open sourced without permission which requires extra work. Funding sources have their own IP deals to consider too. It all sounds so easy until you look at the actual constraints. Professors are usually smart and experienced and they have thought about this stuff a lot. If it was as easy as you thought, it wouldn't be a problem. I publish all code as a matter of lab policy. I chose where to set up my lab partly so that I was able to do this. Not everyone has this luxury or makes this a priority. ~~~ wyattpeak You're right, I did, but I wasn't actually addressing ease in some absolute sense, I was talking about the appropriate tools for the job. If researchers have the legal right to publish their work, I can't see any reason why github wouldn't be exactly the place they'd share it, rather than some custom online research system as proposed by the parent. That said, I don't have any experience in CS research, it's not my field, so I may be wrong about that, do tell if so. ~~~ robotresearcher We share our code on github and publish the commit hash for the code that generated the results in the paper. That way we can continue to develop the code after publication but readers can retrieve the exact code described in the paper if they wish. Simple and effective. But again, the IP rules at my university allow this at my sole discretion, which is unusual. ------ emeryberger Jean Yang @ CMU (together with Sam Tobin-Hochstadt @ Indiana) posted a response to this on her website: [http://jxyzabc.blogspot.com/2016/05/myth-cs-researchers- dont...](http://jxyzabc.blogspot.com/2016/05/myth-cs-researchers-dont-publish- code.html) Releasing code is a widespread practice in the programming languages and software engineering communities, and one that is getting stronger (see [http://artifact-eval.org](http://artifact-eval.org)). If you are a CS researcher, please fill out this survey of open source and data in computer science: [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1U6I3B2XAqGJDYq101e14PS78jhG...](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1U6I3B2XAqGJDYq101e14PS78jhGl4pTHy6eDx2zx0j4/formResponse) ------ msiemens I guess I can see why many researchers are not inclined to publish their code. I've worked as a research assistant in the institute of microelectronics of my university for a year and the code quality was somewhere between mediocre and downright terrible. And that's not to mention the absence of sane software engineering standards like bug tracking or code reviews. ------ intrasight From reading this discussion, it seems that IP rules are inconsistent, and therefore part of the solution needs to be to perhaps have funding agencies enforce a standard license. With that barrier eliminated, scientists wouldn't expend valuable time negotiating with their school's layers. ------ gravypod Personally, I'd feel code with light commenting would be better suited for getting a "practicable" point across to readers then a paper will. You won't need to put so much weight on describing some of your practices, you can just how how your solution is better. ------ raverbashing > But that never happens. Because CS researchers don't publish code or data. > They publish LaTeX-templated Word docs as paywalled PDFs. Correct Publishing in pseudocode made sense some 30y. ago Today if you're publishing in pseudocode I personally think it's someone who is doing that because can't write a Hello World in C Oh and also let's stop the "research comes only from universities" idea ------ mehrdada Fund the research you want to see in the world. Incentivize it as you think is right. Don't whine. ------ tachim Codalab is designed to solve _exactly_ this problem: [https://worksheets.codalab.org/worksheets/0x818930127c4d47de...](https://worksheets.codalab.org/worksheets/0x818930127c4d47de84c1ceaadf04d014/). ------ spot making research reproducible with publications that actually contain their code (in addition to prose and graphs, all connected together) is one of the goals of Beaker Notebook, which has a publication server where you can share such results, and then with one click open them up in the cloud, modify them as you see fit, and then run them again (if you have seen Beaker before, this last part, the cloud hosted version, is new as of last week). [http://beakernotebook.com](http://beakernotebook.com) and [https://lab.beakernotebook.com/#/publications/featured](https://lab.beakernotebook.com/#/publications/featured) ~~~ diimdeep Wow, looks impressive and that it comes from hedge fund is cool too. It's like Jupyter but much more robust, multiple languages in single notebook and ability to share data across languages out of box is really nice. ------ mikeskim I would not be surprised if most academic CS research is not reproducible. This is true for many other fields outside of CS, and I've seen it first hand in machine learning. It's a problem but it's also just how things are. ------ askyourmother There are other issues right now, like impartiality and bought research, like Microsoft at Cambridge University. I recall the professors at our uni treating the undergrads with contempt as wasting their precious lucrative research time. ~~~ drjesusphd Precious? Yes. Lucrative? Hardly. ------ tango12 Maybe it can be thought of as a tooling problem? Say, a plugin that allows a one-click publish code + data from Matlab, and then it all goes up on a well- indexed page so that others can download/run it. ~~~ simonster I doubt the problem is that academic CS researchers don't know how to publish their code, but rather that the disincentives are usually stronger than the incentives. ~~~ cbhl Is there even code to publish? I am under the impression a lot of papers from Bugzilla data are of the form "we imported the data into Excel and had a hand- crafted one-off spreadsheet". ~~~ jcrites In that case, yes: the spreadsheet itself consists of data and analysis over data (aggregations over columns and rows, etc.) so the spreadsheet itself would ideally be version controlled and published. The idea isn't to ask researchers to formalize what they make more than before, but to include fully reproducible details in the publication. A spreadsheet is totally fine because you can see how it works, reproduce the result, and tweak the inputs/methods to build on it. ------ skybrian It seems like politely writing to the researchers and asking if they still have the code lying around might have good results. (If nothing else, it lets them know someone cares.) ~~~ clintonb A colleague was working on a replication study. We got the code from the original researcher and another researcher who did a follow-on study. The code barely runs, and the results seem off. I spent days debugging to no avail. Just because researchers provide code does not mean it is well-written code, or that it necessarily works. ~~~ jcrites Then I'd be skeptical about those results. Releasing the code allows others to judge the likely accuracy and integrity of the results. A lot of things can go wrong in complex, multi-step computational processes. If care and rigor has not been put into them, then I'd have no reason to believe in the integrity of the output. I want the general public right to judge that, as well as build on it when it's useful and valuable. Every publication involving data and technical analysis should publish them to a degree that makes validation possible in at least as detailed a way as portrayed in "Does High Public Debt Consistently Stifle Economic Growth? A Critique of Reinhart and Rogo ff" ([http://www.peri.umass.edu/236/hash/31e2ff374b6377b2ddec04dea...](http://www.peri.umass.edu/236/hash/31e2ff374b6377b2ddec04deaa6388b1/publication/566/)) ------ jilljennV What about this promising recent link? [https://gym.openai.com](https://gym.openai.com) ------ jokoon I really wonder, what's the difference between computer science and mathematics? It seems like CS is a subset of math. ~~~ yarper In a word - specificity. The same question arises in a number of older fields of study, for example "is chemistry the same as physics?" ~~~ mcguire Here's a guess: the short answer is that the physicist would say 'yes', but would be unable to solve problems that the chemist would consider trivial. ------ snissn I would extrapolate that to all of academia. If you want to work on something that's useful, insightful and will make the world a better place, the ivory tower of academia is great if you want to live in denial in an echo chamber. ~~~ rudi-c That's a strong claim. While I'm sure the sentiment is understandable for some fields of academia, others have produced significant results that have been adopted by the industry, sometimes very quickly. Machine Learning has a lot of theoretical results produced by academia, but the more practical techniques (decision trees, SVMs, neural networks, etc) also all came from academia. The engineers scaled the algorithms to run on bigger datasets, but the initial work is still driving those systems. Graphics research has seen comparable contributions between industrial research labs and academia. Sure, a higher proportion of papers from academia don't end up practical, but the number of papers that are very practical makes that quite irrelevant. It's to be expected since you can't predict what works in advance, and industrial research labs just don't bother publishing negative results, not that they don't get any. Many programming languages and compiler techniques came from papers. I could go on but you see the point - it depends on the field. ~~~ snissn But that doesn't say anything about the person in academia who writes a speculative generic research paper about a way too simple implementation of a decision tree. I don't want to demean that accomplishment, but for me it would be hard to have sustained excitement from that. Also I think that a counter argument is that just because the initial work of X, Y and Z algorithm were sketched out in academia, they still very much so would have been scaled in industry once the actual need has been found for them. ------ sklogic What percentage of the CS research based on any data at all? It is mostly purely theoretical. Still, it would be nice if they published their proofs as a Coq code. ~~~ moyix I think you're conflating a very narrow slice of CS (theoretical computer science) with the larger field. There's a huge amount of CS research that relies on gathering and analyzing data, building systems, etc. Theoretical computer science is actually a very small slice of the research pie. ~~~ jroesch At least in programming languages, systems, and formal verification project code is both available and often evaluated along side the publication. For example FSCQ([https://github.com/mit-pdos/fscq-impl](https://github.com/mit- pdos/fscq-impl)) from MIT, Verdi ([https://github.com/uwplse/verdi](https://github.com/uwplse/verdi)) from UW, Dune([http://dune.scs.stanford.edu/](http://dune.scs.stanford.edu/)) from Stanford, and many more. These are just the areas I work in, its very hard to making sweeping statement about CS as a full field since it is very diverse sub-community to sub- community.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
World's most maintainable programming language - bootload http://www.oreillynet.com/onlamp/blog/2006/03/the_worlds_most_maintainable_p.html ====== BrandonM Along with nostrademons, I disagree strongly with that article. In my opinion, the thing that affects maintainability the most is the length of the resulting programs. What's easier to maintain, 20 lines of paren-filled code or 200 lines of BASIC garbage? I especially disagree with the last criterion: enforcement of good programming practices. The definition of good programming practice varies greatly with the intended use, and is something that is best defined on a problem-by-problem basis. Every language I've encountered that attempted to enforce "good programming practice" has required me to write workarounds anytime I wanted to do something interesting. One good example is writing a few Java classes that inherit from a parent in different ways, and then making a few method calls to note which method was called. I wanted to print something akin to: "Entering class Child constructor. Entering class Parent constructor. Exiting class Parent constructor. Exiting class Child constructor." The easiest way to do this is to have something like public Child () { System.out.println("Entering class Child constructor."); super(); System.out.println("Exiting class Child constructor."); } Unfortunately, the creators of Java decided that good practice maintains that the call to the parent constructor must occur before any other code. Because of this, I had to create silly workarounds with parameter overloading to call the parent method, something that was not at all extensible or scalable. If you want maintainable programs, use a powerful language, hire good programmers, and agree on some common conventions. If something doesn't fit within the conventions, discuss it and clearly comment it in the code. How hard can that be? Only so much can be automated. At some point, programmers have to take responsibility for what their programs look like, and no "maintainable language" will ever be able to solve this problem. ------ nostrademons Can you read a legal contract and instantly understand all the implications without having to consult a lawyer? How about a mathematical paper? A medical test result? ------ stuki 'Worlds most X' programming language, for programming what? The ideal language in which to express something kind of depends on what you are trying to express, doesn't it? ( maybe unless you are some kind of meta lisper ( or perl6'er :) ) dreaming of a language that's a strict superset of all possible others ) ------ mattjones There's a place in the comments of the last article in this series where a guy called Tony says, "I have one word: Scheme." And chromatic replies, "I wonder if a language that sticks so closely to the lambda calculus is comprehensible to non-math geeks." This kind of perspective (chromatic's) is a problem. The thing is, programming languages with the property that you can build powerful abstractions and still keep the program comprehensible and maintainable almost certainly will be closely coupled with some areas of mathematics. Things with such powerful and peculiar properties usually are. It doesn't mean that the thing in question can only appeal to math geeks. One thing you can do with Scheme's abstraction power is build abstractions that do not seem especially mathematical.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Best polynomial approximation equal ripple error - wglb https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2020/03/10/remez-algorithm/ ====== unlinked_dll Mathematica does have an implementation of the Parks-McClellan algorithm (Remez exchange applied to digital filter design) so somewhere in there is a Remez implementation. ------ remcob I've been studying Chebfun lately, a Matlab library implementing these approximation techniques. It's written by some of the leading researchers in the field, and their documentation is so well done that it reads like a graduate textbook on the subject: [http://www.chebfun.org/docs/guide/](http://www.chebfun.org/docs/guide/) In particular chapter 4 is relevant. ~~~ spacedome Worth looking at also is Approximation Theory and Approximation Practice, which is centered around Chebfun. Almost everything by Trefethen is unusually well written, Spectra and Psuedospectra is one of my favorites.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
iOS users buy more apps and pay more for them - jammur http://gigaom.com/apple/ios-users-buy-more-apps-and-pay-more-for-them/ ====== flyosity The most interesting (and possibly neglected) piece of information that I've found when analyzing the economics & business of the App Store is just how many apps are a slightly different take on an app that was popular a few years ago. Each month, millions of people are getting an iOS device and opening the App Store for the first time and are unfamiliar with the apps that were popular 6 months ago, let alone 1-2 years ago. Doodle Jump is popular but it's actually extremely similar to Super PapiJump, an iPhone game that was huge a few years ago. Same exact mechanics, slightly different graphics & execution. The mentality that you need an original, unique idea to succeed in the App Store is rubbish. A common algorithm for succeeding in the App Store is take Popular App A from 2009 and re-implement it with new graphics and perhaps an additional gameplay mechanic and release it as Hopeful Popular App B in 2011. Apps that were entertaining and popular (but have fallen off the charts due to lack of updates) were based on game mechanics that are probably still alluring to new audiences in 2011. ~~~ jdq _" A common algorithm for succeeding in the App Store is take Popular App A from 2009 and re-implement it with new graphics and perhaps an additional gameplay mechanic and release it as Hopeful Popular App B in 2011."_ Not disagreeing with you, but isn't this the common algorithm for most things? I can think of TV Shows, movies, books, websites etc. that use the same algorithm. ~~~ tomjen3 There are actually a number of those algorithms, often it is either a combination of two existing things (G+ is like Facebook but with asymetric relationships like Twitter); a twist on something that already exist (Firefly is a western but with an oppressive government set in space); or (but mostly with physical things) something that is not as good as what was previously but ordinary people can afford it (indoor plumbing which is not as good as servants preparing your bath, but much much cheaper or the Ford T). Sometimes it is a mixture of these. ------ andos I was expecting “iOS users buy more apps and pay more for them _than Android users_.” but instead this is about “iOS users buy more apps and pay more for them _than last year_.” ~~~ flyosity Both are interesting in their own right, but I think it was a little disingenuous to not announce the previous-year comparison right in the title or the first paragraph. They really buried the lede in the article. ------ sorbus So, some quick math: The average user downloads 83 apps. 15 billion apps have been downloaded. There are a bit over 180 million iOS devices. $2.5 Billion has been paid out to developers; that's about $14 per user. Since the average price of an app is $1.48, the average user buys 9.45 apps. ------ sjs Don't know if I agree with this conclusion that people will pay more for apps now. What if iPad apps are raising the average? iPhone and iPod touch owners may not have paid a cent more than they did the year before for any given app.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Convert your React codebase to TypeScript automatically - mohsen1 https://github.com/lyft/react-javascript-to-typescript-transform ====== mohsen1 This is also available as a VSCode plugin: [https://github.com/mohsen1/react-javascript-to-typescript- tr...](https://github.com/mohsen1/react-javascript-to-typescript-transform- vscode)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Self promotion ideas: Novel resumes - miller_f http://blogof.francescomugnai.com/2011/04/self-promotion-ideas-15-new-modern-and-inspirational-resumes/ ====== achompas These "datavis" resumes exemplify everything that's wrong with data visualization today: (1) cluttered and distracting (2) vapid (a Frank Zappa quote and a timeline with tank top reference? a quarter page for a pie chart of one's intangibles?) (3) terrible at actually visualizing data or information (okay...what, exactly, can these people do relative to others?) They're beautiful resumes, for sure. But their ideas for communicating information are too clever, and if I'm hiring a datavis guy I would wonder how effectively they could visualize real information. ~~~ rsoto I agree with you, but I'd rather deliver a distracting, cluttered resume than a boring one. Anyways, most of the time, the resumes tell you very little about the person. Delivering one that's different tells you more of what you can expect, even if it's not a creative job, IMHO. ~~~ achompas _I'd rather deliver a distracting, cluttered resume than a boring one._ I similarly agree with you, except that these poorly-visualized resumes would hurt if applying for datavis jobs. Why would I hire someone if they cannot even communicate their experience effectively? They convey almost no information about the applicant, and they're surely worse at communicating info than a resume in Garamond that reads "worked with SQL, Python, and CSS/HTML/JS for 2 years." ------ sumeetjain Some of the posted samples were interesting. The one from Rebecca Baxter (<http://www.behance.net/gallery/Infographic-CV-Resume/1175821>) was the most interesting for me, since it offered ideas I might actually use. She seemed interested in discovering new ways of presenting her information usefully. Most of the rest seem like they were just motivated by a desire to be different. \--- _Note for miller_f:_ On my 13" MacBook, your website's design is confusing. The _Info_ section on the left contains the title of the blog post, but it's pushed down partly below the fold. It took me "forever" to figure out that it's the post's title. Then the _Post_ section in the middle begins with a 280px-square ad, which pushes almost everything but the first header of your post below the fold. And since that header isn't the post title, it doesn't instantly register that the post is even there. Finally, I think it's a symptom of poor design that you need text which literally points to the "Post" section. ~~~ alecperkins It's horribly confusing on a larger screen, too. There's no hierarchy or distinction between ad, meta-info, and actual content. ------ cborodescu I find this a great idea of self-promotion, IF you are looking to get hired in a creative environment/job/company. It might even do the difference between you and someone who is not chosen for he job, due to the way in which you show you are open and willing to work. But if you are applying for a job like a more down-to-earth straight-up programmer or a construction engineer, all those little charts, the QR, and everything shown in the article will dazzle the employer, but won't convince him you are the best choice for his company - he needs straight facts, not pretty colored "pies" with information about you. All in all, it is best you use the format that best reflects your abilities and your work, but always keep in mind the employer's profile. ------ GBKS 5 years ago when I was applying to lots of agencies I sent out custom links to each one. So when they landed on the site, their company name was used in big letters at the top of the page ("Hi company X"). It also allows for tracking whether they actually look at your site. It's easy to do, shows that you're not just spamming people, and is not as involved as some of those more intense examples that target one specific company. ------ epenn I like the ideas of finding non-traditional ways to communicate with would-be employers. For ex, using Facebook pictures as the article mentions. Similarly, although perhaps not quite as creative, I like the idea of using submissions and metrics from various job-related websites if available: Hacker News, Stack Overflow, etc. I question the usefulness of the brochure resume from the article though. In my experience most of my prospective employers have wanted resumes emailed to them rather than given to them physically. Even the ones that do want a physical copy will find it harder to store/organize them along with the rest of most-likely paper resumes that are given to them. Although in that respect I suppose that would make yours stand out that much more. Actually, I think my opinion has changed since the beginning of this paragraph. :-P If you're submitting a resume in person, via snail-mail, etc, it's probably a great way to get it better noticed. I come from more of an engineering background though, rather than the graphic design background that this post seems to be more geared towards. What kinds of experiences have people had with these types of resumes? ~~~ kgtm Web-based HR systems that require filling in web forms to stitch your CV together are the worst. You instantly go from "cool infographic resume" to .nfo/ASCII-art resume. Whatever happened to simple e-mail attachments... ~~~ sili Could the forms be a security measure? Is it really smart for your company employees to be opening hundreds of PDF and Word files sent from random strangers? ------ sili This is a horrible page design. It literally took me minutes to figure out where the main content of the post is and where are the navigation and info links. Add to that the fact that the first link I clicked in the main post turned out to be an embedded ad. ------ skrebbel I don't know where those guys live, but on my planet all resumes are communicated as PDFs. Nearly all shown examples lose some or all of their power when not in physical form. That said, it seems it's most designers' resumes so maybe that's why. I wonder what CVs could be cooked up for more technical and/or organisational positions. A github printout comes to mind. ~~~ oscardelben <http://resume.github.com> ------ FiddlerClamp Or check out my creative resume, which was designed to be sent as plain text. It was originally a response to a job site that required me to fit my experience into boring little boxes... [http://www.scribd.com/full/39705569?access_key=key- cwlk7b9tf...](http://www.scribd.com/full/39705569?access_key=key- cwlk7b9tfinftw80ul9) ------ haraball I like this guy's idea, which adds a hacker flavor to the resume concept. He created a business card with his CV on it, and handed it out on a job fare: <http://www.aftenposten.no/jobb/article4063965.ece>	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
The Internet Of Things Will Need Millions Of Developers By 2020 - damian2000 http://readwrite.com/2014/06/27/internet-of-things-developers-jobs-opportunity ====== onion2k If IoT devices make their data open, accessible and work to a defined standard with a machine discoverable, zero config interface[1], then, in theory, apps could be built with no knowledge of whatever devices come along that could use the new data as and when it appears. That way we wouldn't actually need more developers, just developers willing and able to take advantage of the new data. But that's unlikely. [1] Like WSDL is supposed to be. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Services_Description_Langua...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Services_Description_Language) ~~~ rodion There is a protocol called CoAP that has some traction [1,2]. It describes a standard for accessing sensor data and also includes discovery. Technically, I don't think there is a major challenge. The problem, IMHO, is rather in who will pay for the physical devices. The common view is that there is no money to be made from the sensor hardware itself. Thus, the only way to sell hardware would be to bundle it with a service that the user pays for. Assume that I, as a utility company, subsidize a smart meter to be installed in customers' homes -- what would be my incentive to open it up to other developers? [1] [https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7252](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7252) [2] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constrained_Application_Protoco...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constrained_Application_Protocol)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Audi E-Tron Gets Lower Than Expected 204-Mile EPA Range Rating - codeulike https://insideevs.com/audi-e-tron-electric-range-epa/ ====== codeulike That's with a 95kwh battery. Turns out building EVs is not so easy. ~~~ clouddrover But only 83 kwh available for use. As mentioned in the article, the battery is over-provisioned to increase its longevity and to enable faster charging. The Audi e-tron SUV can maintain a 150 kilowatt charge rate up to 80% state of charge, which no other current EV can do: [https://support.fastned.nl/hc/en- gb/articles/115015420127-17...](https://support.fastned.nl/hc/en- gb/articles/115015420127-175-kW-fast-chargers) Not even the Tesla Model 3 on the new Tesla V3 chargers: [https://electrek.co/2019/03/07/tesla-v3-supercharger- action-...](https://electrek.co/2019/03/07/tesla-v3-supercharger-action-first- look/) The e-tron's main problem is that it's too heavy for the battery it has. Every version of the Tesla Model X, for example, weighs less than the e-tron. ~~~ codeulike Also that 12 kWh of unused battery will be quite heavy ------ thefounder Pretty disappointing. It will be a niche car like BMW I3/I8	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Slack Bot Business Tutorial: From zero to $25k per month - alexxtomsk https://standuply.com/blog/slack-bot-business-tutorial/ ====== alexxtomsk Hi folks! Just in 8 months, we grow our Slack bot from zero to $25,000/mo. Moreover, it keeps growing like crazy. Based on our learnings we prepared a step-by-step guide on how we did that. I hope it will be useful to you. Feel free to ask me questions here. ~~~ TobbenTM We've seen plenty of people going all in building their business on a platform they don't control, then getting mad when the platform they depend on changes how things work. With that said, are you guys also targeting other platforms than Slack? I'm sure MS Teams, Discord, etc provide the same foundations for an even larger reach? ~~~ alexxtomsk That is so true. We were building for Telegram before Slack and was very disappointed business-wise about it. Now we're fully focused on Slack and it helps us in building a great product for the narrow use-case. However, of course, we're looking for ways to expand our market. I'm not sure about Discord (how many of you guys are using it?), but MS Teams, Google Chat, and Stride are the other players that in my opinion will be able to compare with Slack in terms of features and market size. ~~~ palisade During an interview I had at Discord recently the lead engineer mentioned they had exceeded 130 million users. Though, there was also a recent bump by almost 70 million people that left Skype and joined Discord in the news recently as well. He told me that Skype is the 800 pound gorilla to beat and that they have around 300 million users or something. They're definitely gunning for them, and Microsoft has changed Skype so much that they've alienated much of their user base in addition to having lots of security flaws. Discord touts their security, two factor auth, IP address hiding, plus having all the features of Skype in addition to the concept of slack-like chat rooms. More than just gamers are starting to use it. [https://variety.com/2018/gaming/news/discord-turns- three-120...](https://variety.com/2018/gaming/news/discord-turns- three-1202810983/) At the moment, Discord is ad-free and other than Nitro subscriptions which let you have animated profile images and use emoticons in any server, which he admitted was an almost unnoticeable revenue stream at the moment, they don't really have a way to monetize the platform. When I asked how they were planning to generate revenue and whether my job would be secure he said they haven't settled on any ideas yet but have a few bouncing around that he wouldn't tell me. He mentioned that once they reach 600 million users they consider that the break-even point where they've succeeded as a platform and can start considering putting possible plans into action. My guess is that advertising will play a big part, and possibly various other techniques like microtransactions, platform integrations, affiliates, partnership deals, content distribution (movies, music, games), etc. It is probably the break point at which you can afford to anger a percentage of your users in exchange for enough revenue to establish themselves as a self-sufficient organization. ~~~ alexxtomsk Thanks, that's insightful. I wonder how can they get as many users. There are not enough gamers in the world to hit that number. ~~~ rnotaro You are clearly underestimating the number of gamers in this world! ~~~ alexxtomsk Yep, maybe. What a huge market! ------ boon What's the solution to the problem of hating the Content Marketing game? I think the fear of having to deal with writing spam blogs/emails is one of the bigger mental hurdles to my eagerness to build a product like this. ~~~ HeyLaughingBoy Stop thinking of it as spam and start thinking of it as customer outreach? I mean you have to let people know about this magical thing you've built _somehow_. ~~~ geekingfrog Why do people _need_ to know about this magical thing? Isn't that enough if you solve a problem? Interested people will look for solution and find your magical thing, no need to add to the general cancerous spam of "hey, I'm sure you're going to find that thing awesome, even if you don't need it" ~~~ hluska If this is true, why is it so easy to name genuinely good products that failed because of lack of visibility? How do you differentiate your product from that of competitors? How do you get seen in the first place unless you own a very good domain/have a massive sales force? ------ tw1010 I need to start selling shovels. ------ sschueller Congratulations! What steps are you taking to protect yourself from slack shutting you off? Not that they would but you have all your eggs in someone else's basket? ~~~ alexxtomsk Why would a company that relies heavily on bots shut us (or another valuable) bot off? ~~~ blihp They decide they want to provide the features you provide directly? See Twitter, Google, Apple, Microsoft etc. It's a very old game at this point and you really should be aware of your risk in being so dependent on what is effectively a closed platform. (i.e. an API does not make a closed platform open) They're providing APIs right now to help fuel their own growth but once that growth levels off, or worse reverses, watch out... they may decide that they want your business and then there will be very little you can do to protect yourself from that. ~~~ alexxtomsk Thanks for saying that. It makes sense for us to be aware of such scenarios. ~~~ blihp No problem. BTW, I didn't want to discourage you: it's great that you've got a successful service and it's often a smart move to start on a well known platform. (many of today's successful companies started that way... see Microsoft and IBM ;-) Just be sure to diversify away from the platform lock-in ASAP (i.e. build a bot business rather than a Slack-bot business) so when/if the rules change you're not doing a followup post titled 'Slack destroyed our bot business' down the road. ------ VectorLock Sometimes I wonder how much of these "we started making $X/mo and heres how" are true and how much are really just more content marketing spam? ~~~ alexxtomsk Want me to do a screen sharing of our Baremetrics dashboard? Reach out to me at alex at standuply.com to book a call. ~~~ LyndsySimon I'm amazed at the hostility here these days :( It's very accommodating of you to offer to share additional metrics. To be honest, my interest isn't intense enough to warrant my time for a screen share, much less yours. I will keep an eye on your blog, though. ETA: I can't seem to find an RSS feed for your blog :( ETA2: It's at [https://standuply.com/blog/feed/](https://standuply.com/blog/feed/), but don't see a link to it anywhere. ~~~ freehunter It is truly hard to comprehend that one of the most common things successful startup founders recommend is that your startup should have a blog and talk about the company and the product and the engineering, but when that gets shared suddenly it's spam and everyone is crying for blood. Remember when this used to be a friendly startup forum full of people who liked hearing about interesting technology and how it was made? ~~~ alexxtomsk Yeah, but let's just listen to those positive commenters and disregard haters. I think if you talk about your story educating others, it brings value to the ecosystem. I respect companies like GrooveHQ that share their experience and don't conder it as a marketing or spam. ------ bdcravens We use a similar product (Geekbot). It reassuring to see companies like this succeed. A fear is always adopting a great tool into your workflow only to get that "our incredible journey" email. ------ esseti Glad that you made it, I just checked and I actually joined on November 2016, but I'm not using it anymore. Keep up and good luck. ~~~ alexxtomsk Thanks, it was almost MVP at those days. Very people from 2016 stayed with us till now. ------ matte_black Are you guys Slack users yourselves? Could someone really understand how to build a slack bot business without using Slack themselves? ~~~ alexxtomsk Of course, we do use Slack. Also, we're very into Agile with deep management background. Here's how we came up with the idea insight. ------ jirenandcell Congratulations on your success thus far! How long did it take you guys to create the MVP? ~~~ alexxtomsk Thanks. I wrote a dedicated post on that: [https://standuply.com/blog/saas- mvp/](https://standuply.com/blog/saas-mvp/) It took us a bit less than a year to build the MVP and experiment with the concept. ------ sireat Very impressive! For someone outside normal corporate culture who is actually paying for Slack bots? Middle level managers who have to administer daily meetings? It is amazing that being outside the corporate loop you were able to hit such a pain point. ~~~ bdcravens We use a similar product, and it works great for async "standups". Solve a problem well (I peek at our standup channel - I don't have to screw around with logins or config screens or dashboards), solve it simply (don't try to be Basecamp), and keep it cheap enough - there's a ton of opportunity there. ------ siddarthd2919 I use Standuply. Makes my life easier and the team loves it :) ~~~ alexxtomsk thanks for your warm feedback :) ------ swyx congrats on your success! Can we see your baremetrics panel? I think for non technical founders you skipped a very important part of the story - how did you find your initial devs and how did you figure out how to work with them? how much should people set aside for this kind of thing? that really matters. ~~~ alexxtomsk We haven't decided yet to be among Open Startups, but if you have a particular question, reach out to me at alex at standuply.com As for developers, we have some background working in tech. So it wasn't a problem. ~~~ swyx no worries. i saw that you used baremetrics so i felt a bit voyeuristic and asked. well, you're very lucky to have that background. some advice for others on how you worked with the initial developers would be very helpful! ------ BadassFractal Interesting! How does Standuply compare to StatusHero, which seems to do about the same thing? ~~~ alexxtomsk Standuply focuses on Slack where it brings all the data and questions. There is no need for you/your team to remember using one more external tool. ------ topaztee how do you differentiate to geekbot? ------ craterdude not a tutorial.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Show HN: New developer tool for the JVM - Edmond http://www.crudzilla.com ====== bjrnjs I wouldn't mind some more information, either on the startpage or under `About`. Right now I have no idea what I'm downloading, what I can use it for or why I should use it. ~~~ Edmond It seems the home page is quite clear...no? ------ Edmond Founder here. Will be happy to entertain questions, feedback, suggestions.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: Anyone else regret making free software? - paulryanrogers Recently I've published a few modest plug-in's to popular software as commercial products, and a part of me wants to give such minor work away. Yet my past experiences producing freeware and the macro effects on labor make me reluctant. After all, I do value my time and producing even 'simple' functionality can consume a lot of it.<p>Granted, my participation in freeware was a niche game-mod from years ago; circa ~2001. So donation wasn't as common as it appears today. Also, while I understand 'free' as a marketing technique, it seems to be conditioning potential buyers to expect pricing below costs. This can't be good for those trying to make it by selling their work.<p>On the other hand I've certainly benefited from free and open software produced by others. There have even been a few occasions where I've donated small amounts. Though, looking at widely used projects like DosBox my guess is contributors (or those of similar projects) would have been compensated a lot more if they were not free. Or at least gotten more funding considering how Steam and GOG have benefited.<p>Am I alone in feeling some regret making freeware? Anyone else feel similarly conflicted in charging for their work? ====== pdow The single biggest mistake I made when I was an independent software developer was making my flagship product available for free. Of course when I first released the application I had no idea it would become a significant part of many people's lives and would come to occupy all of mine. I also had a job at the time, and like you I felt conflicted about charging for my work. The application was Journler, an information management application for the Mac desktop circa 2006-2010, and I eked out a living on a "donationware" model for some time. Eventually the scope of the project became so large that I needed extra help, but I didn't have the income to hire help. I needed to start charging to be able to hire help, but in order to release a new version of the software with a paid model while continuing to manage customer support, I needed to hire help. I fell into a vicious circle, and the project collapsed. I open sourced it, apologized to the user community, and moved on to contract work. You cannot anticipate what will happen with the software projects you release into the wild. But as developers often underestimate how long it takes to complete a project, I'd speculate we also underestimate how much of ourselves we'll have to commit to a project that becomes even modestly successful. Charge from the beginning and put yourself into a position where you can hire help if it should come to that. ~~~ belorn In 2015 I would suggest open up a patreon page (or similar service) and define how much money is required for continued work. After that its the users choice to pay the salary or not, and as a developer you can see if there was enough interest in the product to support its development. Donationware or paid version schemes can also work in some cases, but in my view there is a bit of an mental distance between a person paying and the product being supported for further development. It only seems to work in the exceptional massive projects and then a large portion of donations often seems to be from other companies rather than private citizens. ------ rebootthesystem The only free (gratis) software I regret releasing is for iOS. A massive numbers of developers have done the same, adding huge value to the iOS platform. Apple socks away billions while developers get nothing or very little. Apple set up their ecosystem as a slippery slope that shoved everyone into the mud very quickly. That's one of the big reasons for which we have zero interest in the watch. Apple needs a ton of free apps to give it value. ------ viraptor > Though, looking at widely used projects like DosBox my guess is contributors > (or those of similar projects) would have been compensated a lot more if > they were not free. Or at least gotten more funding considering how Steam > and GOG have benefited. I think you may have it a bit backwards. Old applications are easy to run and popular, because DosBox exists. If it was a paid app, maybe GOG wouldn't be known at all. Or maybe the prices would be much higher than they are now. If you regret releasing free software, that's your right of course. But unless you released something very similar in the same environment and got paid real money for it (not donated - charged and received), I don't think you can make a valid prediction of what would happen in a non-free scenario. ~~~ paulryanrogers > Old applications are easy to run and popular, because DosBox exists. Actually I think nostalgia makes old stuff popular even when it is challenging to do. I've met people into 1840's-style iron working despite the challenge; and certainly not because it's the most optimal way to produce the desired product. > If it was a paid app, maybe GOG wouldn't be known at all. Or maybe the > prices would be much higher than they are now. Perhaps GOG would not exist, but Nintendo has been selling repackaged editions of their old software for a long time now. And maybe GOG and Steam prices should be slightly higher to compensate those doing the ports. If so then some ports may have been better quality. ~~~ viraptor I don't understand how the first part is connected to the free/regret post, sorry. Nintendo, sure, releases them for the platform they control completely. Outside of that platform, there's a lot of free emulators (not a single one paid on [http://emulator-zone.com/doc.php/nes/](http://emulator- zone.com/doc.php/nes/)) ------ abstractspoon I have been writing ToDoList ([http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/5371/ToDoList-An- effecti...](http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/5371/ToDoList-An-effective- and-flexible-way-to-keep-on)) as freeware for nearly 12 years and never regretted a minute. I have a day job and write ToDoList purely for fun/joy. A Thriving community has grown up around it, it has provoked a number of people to develop related tools and has kept the passion alive when my day job (also programming) sometimes sucked. ~~~ paulryanrogers Interesting perspective, thanks for taking the time to share. I'd imagine that most people who do open source are in a similar situation. That is, expenses already paid. Yet such efforts also appear to undermine the value of your profession as a whole. Consider the poor-yet-educated developer (maybe strait out of college or living in the 3rd world) with a great idea for a to-do application like yours. He pours precious time and effort into his work. Then after establishing his product someone with time to spare starts giving away a free alternative. The poor developer cannot compete as more and more of his consumers, and potential customers, opt for the free project. Quality and execution are the arguments I often read in response to such an argument. Yet the sacrifice of the poor developer just to get basic functionality are greater than those of us who already have a day job. While I love to share, create, and avoid reinventing the wheel; I'd also like others to enjoy at least some of the career and benefits I've been blessed with. ~~~ abstractspoon But if no one does create that app then my app never gets written... So it's not really a working argument. And if I charge for it and no one buys it, what then, should I give up or make it open-source? What if that 'person' can use my software for free and in doing so save some money so that they can write the software they want to? ~~~ paulryanrogers > But if no one does create that app then my app never gets written You could write it and release it at a price equivalent to your time and effort. You could even include the source for personal modification and offer free updates to anyone who contributes back to the project. Or write it yourself and keep it private. > And if I charge for it and no one buys it, what then, should I give up or > make it open-source? Pricing is an art, so I imagine some experimentation is in order. I've begun doing so myself. Making it open source, as in no cost to redistribute, would still devalue programming as a paid profession; even if it's hard to see at the micro level. > What if that 'person' can use my software for free and in doing so save some > money so that they can write the software they want to? Good counter-point. Some producers do benefit indirectly as they are also consumers of tools. Yet if they ultimately find it harder to get paying work-- because the market as a whole expects software below cost--then the net effect looks negative to me. ------ omnivore Add-ons, mods and other freebies are often about solving a problem, learning something new or simply contributing to the community. I doubt you're alone in feeling regret about giving a thing away that you later see people pay for out of someone else, but it doesn't mean the work went to waste or that you somehow squandered the one chance you to contribute materially. ~~~ paulryanrogers > ...it doesn't mean the work went to waste or that you somehow squandered the > one chance you [had] to contribute materially. While I did learn a lot through the process of contributing to free software, it's also time I could have spent making software that paid for itself. Still, it is good to be reminded of the positives. Thanks. ------ MrTonyD I've been working with open source software since before the term existed (it used to be called "free" before licensing was understood.) At this point, I think it is mostly a bad idea. First, the big users of most open source software are big Fortune 500 companies run by a bunch of billionaires - so why should they get software free? Second, I think that everyone should get at least a living wage for any work they do - so working for free really reflects an economic system that was set up to create winners and losers. So now I would prefer to see more managed economies - less tolerance for the billionares, and less tolerance for a system where people must work for free to get the chance to get a good job. ~~~ vezzy-fnord _it used to be called "free" before licensing was understood_ This statement along with saying free software means "working for free" and that Fortune 500 companies being large adopters of free software isn't preferable, makes me strongly doubt you ever understood it in the first place. ------ informatimago You have a defective language. Try French, with logiciel libre et logiciel gratuit. Free software (logiciel libre) is not software given for free, for USD0.00. Free software (logiciel libre) is software that gives freedoms to the user: \- The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose (freedom 0). \- The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this. \- The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2). \- The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for this. If creating software costs you dearly, then of course, you shall invoice your users for selling your software to them. Bug give them those freedoms! Sell free software. Don't give enslaving software for free (gratuitement). As a user, I would not use freeware (logiciel gratuit). Freeware (logiciel gratuit) is enslaving; usually the source is even not available, so I cannot verify that freeware software (logiciel gratuit) doesn't do something evil in my back. Notice that if you sell your logiciel libre under the GPL license, you have to give the sources of your logiciel libre to your paying _customer_, but not to anybody else. Of course, then your customer has the 4 freedoms described above, and he could further sell or give your software, along with the sources to somebody else. But this is work and it would involve charges, so he may choose not to do so. ~~~ paulryanrogers > Of course, then your customer has the 4 freedoms described above, and he > could further sell or give your software, along with the sources to somebody > else. But this is work and it would involve charges, so he may choose not to > do so. With OpenSSL many apparently did use it and resell it without compensating upstream. Only after HeartBleed did that situation change. For a more GPL example I've noticed DosBox Turbo reuses both DosBox and another port's work in their sources. My guess is unmodified reselling may be happening with WooCommerce plug-in's at Woothemes-plugins.com and Wooextension.com. ~~~ em3rgent0rdr But let us not forget how efficiently and immediately OpenSSL was able to be forked, precisely because it was free software. ~~~ paulryanrogers Certainly that is a benefit for the consumer. But my regrets are because I am a producer. When others can use one's work to resell updated copies without compensation then I doubt one would feel motivated to keep working on it. ------ em3rgent0rdr "free software" is not the same as "freeware", which by commonly accepted usage is almost always reffering to proprietary software that is distributed at no cost. The OP tends to implicitly conflate them by lumping them in together. ~~~ paulryanrogers Perhaps they are different for some folks. In my experience most people consider both terms any software that is free to acquire, use, and distribute. Regardless, if wares are acquired and used without charge then the impact on producers and the price expectations of consumers is the same.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
The license is the license - detaro http://www.boldport.com/blog/2015/9/22/the-license-is-the-license ====== ChuckMcM Perhaps the point was missed? When I read the proposal I read it as one, and only one thing, trying to find a way to "punish" people who sold something for profit without acknowledging the originator after having their open source hardware designs "ripped off". So I really understand the author's pain of creating something that folks can use, but not wanting to be associated with a group which isn't effectively articulating or executing on its goals. ~~~ detaro But it only gives a new way to punish them if they also display the licensed certification logo? That's only useful threat if "bad guys" would want to keep the logo, because people would be less likely to buy products without it. At which point it becomes "necessary" for legit projects to register for it. I think the author mostly disagrees that this requirement is a worthy goal, "just" to get a bit better recognition for their work. ------ mrdrozdov The author argues that OSHWA is targeting unreasonable people with their licensing structure, since any participant opts-in to potential fees. I basically agree, but the concept struck a chord. Why would something like OSHWA need to exist? Assuming that OSHWA has some motivation besides making money as an enforcer (which sounds like a ludicrously good business plan if it works), what itch is OSHWA trying to scratch for participants? ~~~ detaro I guess the itch is recognition of their adherence to "true" open-source hardware, and getting an additional tool to force people reusing their projects to adhere to the license as well. If they manage to establish in people's minds that "all good open-source hardware projects have this certification logo", the members have an advantage in public perception. Punishing a) the bad apples and b) those who don't agree with their principle.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
It's Still About the Applications - dsr_ https://freethoughtblogs.com/stderr/2019/12/28/its-still-about-the-applications/ ====== reggieband > the very fact that The Pentagon thinks that all its cloud apps are going to > work under either AWS or Azure shows how ignorant they are I'm not sure why that is the case. I worked at a place that mandated minimum two cloud support and we were going down that road when I left. I didn't see any complete show-stoppers from a technical perspective although there were a few annoying issues. Maybe the author is just hammering home the incompetence angle, where the IT managers he lampoons are incapable of managing such a project. But at it's face, holding an expectation that systems be redundant across cloud providers seems reasonable. ~~~ musingsole I didn't read it as cloud applications should be interoperable between providers but that a given application should be able to pick which platform they build on. I've had a similar argument with a previous employer who wanted to select just one provider. I was baffled at the time as provisioning an account on any of them takes seconds. So there's no reason to pick one other than politi---and right about then is when I understood the whole motivation. ------ AndrewKemendo As one of the "Federal IT managers" actually doing this, there are too many broad statements here that the overall message ends up being misleading. If you were completely cynical, then you could find enough examples to make anything in here seem true. For example, this entire paragraph is wrong: _Here’s something that will surprise you a lot: when it comes to government, cloud computing represents a huge shift of money from the public sector to the private sector. It’s the privatization of of government data. Lock-in is completely ignored: how will government departments ever get their data back out of the cloud? “Not my problem,” says the federal IT manager, “besides, there’s nothing about lock-in in these Powerpoint slides.”_ There is realistically too much here to unpack in a comment, but I would say that the overall thesis of the article is pointing in the right direction. However it's not like failure is a forgone conclusion, if competent people (like a lot of you reading this are) join the government to actually help fix these things then we can actually do things correctly. I posted in the Who's Hiring Thread last month so we're ready whenever you are. ~~~ irrational I've never actually looked into government tech jobs, but my assumption is that they would pay much less than a competent person could make in the private sector. Other than pay or patriotism, what would motivate a competent person to want to work for the government? ~~~ AndrewKemendo Patriotism is the wrong word. If you think that your government should be doing things a different way, and you feel you know how to do it better then you have a couple of avenues to participate. One of them is joining the government in a capacity that allows you to affect change directly. It's true, you aren't going to get paid $500,000 a year for being a software engineer. However, the USG does not pay subsistence wages. For entry level Data Science jobs in Boston we pay better than the market, and with better benefits, a union, matching investment accounts, low cost health insurance, stability and many other things you don't have elsewhere. We also have opportunities to work on things that you just can't elsewhere. ~~~ ntsplnkv2 Let's be honest - working for the government is a very poor way to affect change in it. The decision makers are also very far removed compared to private corporations and certainly so compared to smaller more agile companies like startups. ~~~ AndrewKemendo I am sitting here, as a government employee, telling you that you can actually make change. And at least for this problem set, you can make it in an extremely impactful way. Whether you believe me or not is up to you. ~~~ craftinator In what way have you effected change in the government? In what ways have you seen those around you do so (you must have witnessed this, by your stated claims)? I was in the military, which is a different beast entirely, but worked constantly with fairly high level government employees. They always seemed powerless, and to have accepted that. ------ lastres0rt I guess this article counts as therapy, what with the whole line of "The goddamn vaunted databases of the government are NOT the stuff of conspiracy theories. In fact, they're just as shitty as you would expect." ------ thinkingkong Honestly this entire system is a mess. But it's working so nobody is going to change it, plus going "over the top" and building a better, more idealistic solution will have the same set of problems. Assuming you end up building something dramatically better or easier, getting market share means addressing more and more use cases, and you more or less end up as the n+1th protocol or standard. To me the only long term in dealing with this mess is going to be some shift in how we actually do computing on data. Leave the data at rest / in-situ and move more and more compute capacity to where it sits, then merge results together later. We're getting to the point where containers are common place, and FaaS is becoming comfortable. ------ mrkeen This is all rings so true. Why do I have to swipe an access card and display a name badge in my building, when all the important data is outside the building? Why do we factor GDPR into our designs if we don't know where we store the data, and we'll never meet (nor be able to trust) the people who hold onto it for us. Can't we just encrypt it on our side then? I don't think we're getting homomorphically-encrypted relational databases anytime soon. My last month has been an effort of 'migrating' a service from another team to ours. The service stayed right where it was - the cloud - but we sank weeks into editing IAM files and deploy scrips to try to make it 'belong' to our team. We're programmers; we don't know about AWS's policies model, security groups or software-defined networking. Whenever I'm forced to interact with AWS I always feel like I'm doing significantly more work than the "managed" selling point of AWS would imply. I know my way around ssh, docker, iptables etc. But I miss having someone in the team whose actual job it is to be good at these things. ~~~ gliese1337 Why do I have to swipe an access card and display a name badge in my building, when all the important data is outside the building? So that angry customers can't walk in the front door, take the elevator up to the fifth floor, and hang out in the CEO's office. ------ phkahler The best part is the elasticity of cloud storage. When the projects fail, they'll just keep all the data in the failed project achive. The next go will have it's own multiple copies of the same data and so on. They'll just keep paying incremental storage charges. Meanwhile, behind the scenes in the cloud - automatic, transparent deduplication.... ------ mrwnmonm Non-native English speaker here. Could someone write an easier summary, please? ~~~ tabtab Sure: "The cloud doesn't solve common IT problems, only shifts them around, and makes some problems worse, such as more vendor-dependency. If you hire amateurs, you get amateurish results. Renting cloud-based amateurs has all the same problems as in-house (internal) amateurs." ~~~ scarface74 And this “vendor dependence” is somehow different than government depending on Microsoft or even older systems that still depend on IBM mainframes. ~~~ ntsplnkv2 You're going a step further in the case of cloud though. Before you'd at least hire the sysadmins. Now you rely on probably dirt cheap offshore consulting. It's just more outsourcing. It comes with scale and as cancer it is just a reality. Eventually it will have to be burned down. ~~~ scarface74 They won’t admit it, but many companies move to the cloud not only because they don’t want to deal with administering servers but also because they don’t want to deal with server administrators. It’s not like on prem server administrators have a great track record when it comes to security.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Is the U.S. turning a corner on high-speed rail? - edw519 http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/08/18/us.high.speed.rail/index.html?hpt=Sbin ====== hsmyers Yes, going south on US 1, make an abrupt right hand turn...	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Obama's Stagecoach - newmediaclay http://blog.wired.com/cars/2009/01/obama-rolls-a-s.html ====== josefresco "The Secret Service has since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, required that presidential limos be destroyed upon retirement to preserve their secrets." Neat, reminds me of the Far Side cartoon where the plane passenger discovers the "wings stay on/off" toggle.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Nikon's 300mm F/2 - brudgers http://www.company7.com/library/nikon/Nikon_0300f2.html ====== brenden2 That's a remarkable lens. One thing that I think has been lost in photography today thanks to the smartphone is the value of high quality lenses. You simply can't replace great optics with software (at least, not yet). I've got a few higher end cameras, and my favourite is probably my Leica Q2. It has a fixed prime lens (28mm), and the photos are just astounding. ~~~ zip1234 Still have a Nikon D70 from ~2004 that has only about 6 megapixels but will take better photos than any phone made today even using lenses that were made in the 1970s. It is hard to describe to people without showing them but the sharpness of photos is amazing with high quality lenses. ~~~ geerlingguy I still shot (for still life images, mostly, with external flash) with a D60 until I upgraded that to an used, beat-up D700. You can definitely get much better images if you have a good lens, and on older cameras good lighting or very good form. But more modern smartphone lenses and software are plenty good for certain types of photography (and especially video). I shoot less and less with my D750 and D700 (in non-studio / non-low-light- event situations), and more and more with my iPhone, because of the convenience and portability. But there are definitely types of pictures that can't be taken without good glass and a larger sensor size. No software can simulate the physics that makes a longer focal length make a great portrait. (You just can't stuff that quality of glass into such a small lens, and the sensor can't physically gather enough photons to compete.) ~~~ rconti Agreed. I bring all my travel photos into Lightroom which I subsequently edit on a 5k display. Today I travel with an iPhone 11 Pro and a Fuji X-T2. In the past it's been whatever current-gen iPhone and pocket cameras like the Sony RX-100Mk3, Canon S110, Canon S95, and DSLRs like a Nikon D3000 and D50. It used to be, the photos looked better on the phone after shooting them, just because the screen was so much better, but once imported to the computer, the iPhone photos looked like an oil painting even compared to a upper midrange P+S pocket camera, let alone a DSLR. It wasn't even close. These days, between the XT-2 and the iPhone 11 Pro, it's hard to tell which is which. Sometimes the iPhone looks better as-shot because of the image processing presets. Other times it's the Fuji. At 1:1 on a 5k display it's just not as obvious as it was when the pixels were blown up more. Even in good light, yes, the sharpness on the Fuji is better, but not by leaps and bounds. Not in a way that would be immediately obvious to anyone walking by the computer as it used to be. I've never bought high-end glass, and frankly, some of my earlier DSLR photos are pretty bad compared to what my iPhone returns these days. ~~~ ISL Rent some high-end glass sometime when you're bored. It is enlightening both in its capability and when realizing that a lot of consumer glass is wonderful, especially at ~f/8 (here's looking at you, nifty-fifty). ------ Scene_Cast2 One thing to watch out for, with tele lenses, is the weight. I personally really like Nikon's 300mm f/4 PF. They use a Phase Fresnel element (which, if you're a lens geek, is quite cool). In return for giving up a couple of stops of light, the lens is actually hand-holdable! (In fact, it's lighter than their top of the line 70-200 f/2.8 zoom) ~~~ emptybits One approach to saving weight while increasing telephoto reach is to use a smaller sensor. e.g. that Nikon 300mm f/2 lens can be mounted to a modern Micro Four Thirds camera (e.g. Olympus or Panasonic) for 600mm of equivalent reach while retaining the f/2 light gathering ability and unmodified optics. Adapters are very inexpensive (e.g. Voigtländer) compared to the cost of lenses like this or good quality bodies. The other path to doubling reach would be a 2x teleconverter which would reduce light gathering to f/4 and introduce glass elements that won't do image quality any favours. Small sensor downside: high ISO ability. Probably two stops lost, but with modern MFT sensors you can still shoot up to ISO 6400 with great results. Small sensor downside _or_ upside, depending on your needs: deeper depth of field (twice the depth of field, in this case, which is still pretty amazing for 600mm!) ~~~ falcrist At the risk of sounding pedantic - the f-stop* roughly equates to "light per area" or brightness, so if you're using crop factor, you need to apply it to the f-stop as well as the focal length. So for a given full-frame lens at a given f-stop, if you drop down to an APS-C sensor, you're reducing the amount of light gathered by about one stop (half). On an m43, you're obviously losing 75% of the light gathering capacity (two stops). Putting a 300mm f/2 lens on a micro 4/3rds body should result in images similar to a full-frame camera with a 600mm f/4 lens. *Obviously t-stop would be better, since it's an actual measurement of brightness. ~~~ rodgerd Except you're not. This is a popular talking point in 35mm circles, but the amount of light on a given area on the sensor remains unchanged, which is what actually matters. The smaller sensors _are_ challenged to keep their noise down, given they typically have a smaller pixel pitch to keep up the megapickel count. ~~~ ip26 Noise is the key, as far as I can tell a FF sensor usually has at least 1 stop more usable ISO compared to a crop of the same generation. So to get a comparable shutter speed, assuming 1 stop less ISO, you still need that 400mm f/2.8 on crop to match the 600mm f/4 on FF. Humorously, they have the same front element size. ------ Sharlin There’s also the even crazier Canon 300mm f/1.8 (yes, that’s not a typo!) [1] Apparently only four or so copies are known to exist and there’s almost no information on the lens available on the net. [1] [https://petapixel.com/2017/04/27/canon-300mm-f1-8-yes- monste...](https://petapixel.com/2017/04/27/canon-300mm-f1-8-yes-monster-lens- exists/) ~~~ twic If we're talking about crazy lenses, might as well jump straight to the Zeiss 50/0.7: [http://neiloseman.com/barry-lyndon-the-full-story-of-the- fam...](http://neiloseman.com/barry-lyndon-the-full-story-of-the- famous-f0-7-lenses/) Only ten were made. NASA bought six to send round the dark side of the moon. Stanley Kubrick bought the other three. ~~~ falcrist f/0.7 manual focus and no aperture. That thing must be a royal PITA to focus... ~~~ pedrocr Infinity focus for the moon I'm sure and special rigs for Barry Lyndon apparently: [http://neiloseman.com/barry-lyndon-the-full-story-of-the- fam...](http://neiloseman.com/barry-lyndon-the-full-story-of-the- famous-f0-7-lenses/) I also remember reading somewhere the actors had a bad time from having to make sure to stand still to not go out of focus. 4cm of depth of field isn't much. ~~~ twic One of the articles about it mentions that Kubrick directed the scene so that the actors only moved from side to side, so they'd stay in focus. ------ sumoboy Only $21k, [https://usedphotopro.com/nikon-nikkor-ais-300mm-f2-ed-if- len...](https://usedphotopro.com/nikon-nikkor-ais-300mm-f2-ed-if- lens-300-2-rare-lens-only) ------ justicezyx Hah, I mistake it with the slower 300mm f2.8 This is my first time know this f2 version. The price tag is very high close to 10k. And it's very heavy... ~~~ jacobush If you haven't, look into TV broadcasting zoom lenses. Insane, heavy, turret mounted. Cool gear. :) ~~~ eqtn Here is a video about it: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkTaMyatsTo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkTaMyatsTo) ------ ChrisMarshallNY They did a few other “one-offs.” If you are ever in Tokyo, check out the Nikon Museum, in their Shinagawa headquarters. Here’s a couple of doozies: [https://www.stuff.tv/news/just-because-they-could- ps100000-n...](https://www.stuff.tv/news/just-because-they-could- ps100000-nikon-fisheye-lens) [https://petapixel.com/2016/06/22/rare-nikon-1200mm-lens- setu...](https://petapixel.com/2016/06/22/rare-nikon-1200mm-lens-setup-3-feet- long/) [https://petapixel.com/2013/11/13/ultra- rare-2000mm-f11-nikko...](https://petapixel.com/2013/11/13/ultra- rare-2000mm-f11-nikkor-lens-ebay-25k-broken/)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
The Top 10 Reasons Startups Fail - nreece http://www.squidoo.com/starup_failures/ ====== davidw 11\. spending too much time reading "top N X's" lists. ------ zurla or, #11 naming your startup squidoo	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
New Features in Python 3.9 You Should Know About - zdw https://martinheinz.dev/blog/21 ====== asplake Thanks. Small typo: the second removeprefix() should be removesuffix() ------ qwerty456127 This looks much more useful than what was introduced in Python 3.8. Nevertheless it's still weird these features take a year to debug.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
A Dark Theme for GitHub - imfunniee https://github.com/imfunniee/gitark ====== leshokunin Clicked it expecting to be a gimmick, but it turned out much better than I expected. Thank you.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Algorithm That Tells the Boss Who Might Quit - softdev12 http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-algorithm-that-tells-the-boss-who-might-quit-1426287935 ====== amirmc Sadly, this has the perverse effect of forcing otherwise happy people to _act_ like they might be a flight risk, otherwise they risk being passed-over for interesting opportunities, raises etc. If you're not playing that game then you're losing out. It's yet another mechanism that devalues loyalty to a firm, which I'm sure they realise is already in short supply. I'd be happier if I'd read that this was also a way to identify and _reward_ the dedicated, productive employees — but no. ------ softdev12 The algorithm seems to run on the following factors per the article: "job tenure, geography, performance reviews, employee surveys, communication patterns and even personality tests to identify flight risks". I wonder if employees can try to game the algorithm by artificially ranking high on their score for leaving - with the sole purpose being to get a pay raise.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Show HN: We built an easier/amazing way to interact with like-minded individuals - abalog http://solayo.com/land ====== abalog My co-founder and I have spent the last couple of months building this website. Our aim is to provide a place more than just a forum, where people who share similar interest can connect and discuss, debate or just to simply have a fun interaction in real time. The website has a Multi-live video, instant messaging and commenting feature. Your opinions either good or bad are welcome. :) ------ bhousel I don't think anyone will sign up unless they can see what they're signing up for first. ~~~ abalog Can you elaborate on that please?	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Voter Matchup - ParameterOne Do you use a calendar(.ics) to keep up with local elections? -and- Would you like a way to directly tell elected officials if an issue is important to you? ====== PaulHoule If they are local officials I will tell them directly, myself.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Nativefier: CLI tool to create a desktop application for any site - boredgamer2 https://github.com/jiahaog/nativefier/blob/master/README.md ====== aphroz You can also add the parameter "-app" followed by the website URL in a chrome shortcut and it will open as an app. ~~~ johnmarcus What's a chrome shortcut? ~~~ aphroz Or a "launcher" in order to launch it like a desktop native application. ------ pedrocx486 I haven't tried most recent versions, but ~two months ago WhatsApp couldn't be "nativefied" (wanted it for Linux) because Nativefier's electron version was old and whatsapp was complaining, but I really love this project. :-)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }

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