flowersjeff

Yeah, but it does seem like this could be a retail (via online sales) product. I don't really see many e-ink commercially deployed around me, and I'm in the bay area. I think the company(ies) controlling this tech ought to try to do anything to make their products more accessible/used.

...How dare you even consider making something cool that others might want, and result in further sales! For Shame!

(Truly insane position of the company - they ought to hire this person and make this a product one can buy.)

Insanely cool.

E-ink is just one of those technologies that ought to be so much further along, but I've always gotten the gut feeling that the company that controls this tech is just so out of touch.

Reading how the software can't be shared... I shouldn't have been surprised.

Exactly what I came to the comments for... dimensional analysis, done right - you the real mvp! Thanks.

Awesome... Looking for College Chemistry... Would greatly appreciate.

Whoa - you really hit upon a question that I've also had. Keybase does seem to be suffering from feature creep that is actually making it harder to 'sell' to a non-super-tech person. They really ought to rethink their UX/UI, so the call to action via their software is more easily understood.

Per: "We recommend that you explore (...) options":

What are everyones' best (open) options: (looking for suggestions / shilling / sharing)

Holy smokes - I 'ran' into this website a few weeks ago whilst cleaning up an old computer.... and chuckled (my copy that I had saved on this computer is/was old - lets just say that).

And then I chance upon it being talked about on HN. Small world and maybe the universe is telling me something ;-)

So...basically good luck ever collecting on that 10k.

I totally can get behind the idea of building up tech industries elsewhere, though it is a really tough chicken/egg problem. Smart people are not going to smallTown X if there's just one/two tech firms with which to bounce between. Love to hear ideas of how to bootstrap this (or will it get just so expensive that tech firms move out first?)

I just hope that if you're thinking about a move, read comments from folks that either grew up in the area being considered and/or those that moved back from.

There are very real reasons why people move into the Bay Area - and put up with all the "problems". This is coming from a person that grew up in the South and would rather not move back.

I really really really really wanted to be on that last one too. Especially when they asked, "does anyone have a problem with the police." I think I began to salivate. ;-)

Sadly, that 'data' will be used in a manner (most likely) inconsistent with any rigorous scientific underpinnings - but passed to policy makers as such.

YES.

Dimensional analysis and a basic understanding of metric prefixes. Again, this is just ass-u-me'd to be well understood by all.

PS - regarding the actual switch. Agreed.

This instrument was of a poor UI. One switch was in the front, the other in the back.

Still, this was a regulated contract laboratory with cert's.

Upon discovery - they did perform corrective actions and such.

As for "in school" - oh yeah. It's a wild wild west sort of situation. Custom hardware (with who knows what thought being given) and software that someone wrote years ago (and having zero documentation and zero standard coding practices observed).

The reason why the code failed to realize there was even an issue?...(in the case I mentioned earlier)

The software looked at the calibration data using linear best fit (standard stuff) and provided the r^2 was within the specified range - that instrument and the data was good to go.

Well, if you run your Standards{1,2,3,4,5} and all output "0.0". That is a straight (perfectly so) line.

They had no idea how to read the computer monitor and the real time data coming off the instrument. They had zero real training / understanding of even how the instrument worked.

I see this a lot still - people using an instrument without a great understanding of how the thing even works. Why? There's just no money/resources being spent to ensure correctness - self regulation is (and has been) all the rage for decades here in the US.

Honestly, I believe in open software - and this type of software NEEDS to be opened up. I can only imagine the horrors that will be found.

Very true.

I was thinking more of third party labs. A lot of these services are outsourced due to costs / need.

For labs that are a part of the system - yeah, I definitely can see how a person working would feel the need to be a 'team' member and support their team. Sad but happens all the time.

I was recently called in for jury duty, as a Professor in the physical sciences - I'm rarely selected (although I love being on them.) The person next to me was an MD.

Well the question was asked of both of us, (paraphrasing): "is a lab report the end of the conversion for you?" The MD basically was a 'yeah, why would a lab tech lie?' (very true - having been in industry myself). However, I know how many ways something could yield poor results and must look at the whole picture.

Whilst it is true that lab techs are not paid well enough to lie. Lab techs are not paid well at all, and so this doesn't necessary attract the best of the best. I've seen folks operating instruments that they had zero training on (as it was assumed that they saw it in school - not a good assumption of late.) Eg: One team I was an auditor for, didn't realize that the instrument they were using had effectively two (2x) ON/OFF switches - and the detector was turned off. 2 years of data had to be rejected.

Now imagine a completely untrained cop with a black box, that's been bouncing around in their trunk - what could go wrong?... /s

I guess what I'm saying: field tests are highly suspect, and even lab tests need to be carefully considered - all of which requires a solid grasp on scientific/critical reasoning (which is in short supply.)

Tight!

Oh boy, I didn't realize this and will need to check about this. I thought that filtering would help, but if those folks that I've shared my calendar with are seeing this weirdness....

Between this and the fact any joker can share a document with one's drive... Making google hard to use for business.

I'm now deathly afraid to have any of these products opened when connected to a projector/presenting...

Would also like someone to perhaps chime in too...

In the "good" old days (some of us will recall mind you), those in power ($) controlled all information flow. We now have (though not as strong as I would like it) outlets in which an individual, without corp sponsorship, can have their voice hosted and maybe heard. This is a vast improvement.

Why exactly is this story on HN? Read the article, and was like - so?... I guess there's a DB mentioned, although containing 10 entries sounds like a joke. So trying to find the "tech" angle and all.

State replication is well understood - if one's system(s) allow for data to travel outside of a 'cloud' (network resource), then there needs to be a compelling reason. Not saying that 100% of systems can be pushed up to a cloud - just having a hard time thinking of a particular use case at the moment.

Even banks are moving from vendor managed solutions to cloud based in-house supported software of late, and this group is the most difficult to change their ways (lot-o-hoops).

I do agree with you that many biz/org's might pay for a system and fail to understand the costs around maintaining/future upgrading - that's a management issue and should be dealt with via accountability/consequences.

Honestly, I can't add much more than what has already been said here... If your data/biz/org/etc is crippled because of these types of attacks, then you really need to have a frank discussion around IT/resource allocations/goals. These are 100% manageable (worst case).

100% spot on!

Probably because, recently, CA passed a state law making these legal?... I also am in the Bay Area, and I assure you - we have more than enough busy bodies that would report (if they could).

Maybe this is a definitions issue. One's 'junior' is another 'novice' - I say this, as I think that there's been a huge gulf forming in how we view the meaning of words (particularly relative to HR)...

We all here would agree with the 80/20 rule. Try explaining that to management and/or HR. It would seem to be beyond their abilities of comprehension.

Sure they will provide lip service; however, the moment you try to have an authentic discussion (backed up with evidence mind you) around ways to assuage potential burn-out due to constant on-the-job heroics...good luck is all I can say.

I have unfortunately come to realize that those that have perfected the art of looking busy and/or professional slackers seem to get a free pass.

Frustrating indeed.

"Saw" - "See", there - now that title is correct...

"...no one could guarantee ..." Key phrase to be sure.

Many people that I know talk about how people need to know how much something costs - but these systems themselves don't know how much anything costs.

Furthermore, they know this and therefore unwilling to guarantee anything.

Knowing prices is great, but I feel is a non-starter when thinking about how the system can be 'fixed'. Also, you can't price shop when you're having a stroke.

All in all, we have to just acknowledge that the system for everyone is broken - beyond this, I haven't a clue as to the next step.