Hacker News Reader

gospelwuton E-cigs shut down hundreds of immune system genes, regular cigs don’t

https://aaas.confex.com/aaas/2016/webprogram/Paper16208.html

"[...] specifically focusing on cinnamon-flavored e-cigarettes containing the flavoring agent cinnamaldehyde. Our data indicate that cinnamaldehyde-containing e-liquids have a significant negative effect on epithelial cell physiology and barrier function. In addition, cinnamaldehyde-containing e-liquids compromise the immune function of key respiratory immune cells, such as macrophages, Natural Killer Cells, and neutrophils. Using translational human in vitro and in vivo approaches, our studies will ascertain whether exposure to e-cigs, with a specific focus on cinnamon-flavored e-liquids/e-cigs, have immune suppressive effects on the respiratory mucosa."

gospelwuton Google Will Soon Shame All Websites That Are Unencrypted

The --webroot module for LetsEncrypt is as easy as pointing to /var/www.

gospelwuton OpenBSD bug in the random() function

Same sort of thing happens with C#/.NET as well.

gospelwuton Google+ Is Going To Mess Up The Internet

Ah, SEO, how much I loathe everything you spawn and touch.

gospelwuton What future space combat would really look like

Why do we use drones piloted by humans?

I think given the sophistication of modern financial algorithm and counter-algorithms, it's easy to see why humans will always be necessary to wage war even if they're not on the ship. Perhaps, yes, aircraft carriers will be reduced to remote proxy bases for drones and missiles, but I imagine humans will always be at the helm even if the helm is miles away.

gospelwuton Namecheap to Donate $1 to EFF for Every Domain Transfer on December 29th

I recall reading that namecheap stores passwords in plaintext? I'd be interested if this was refuted. In any case, I'd be a bit wary to go along with the bandwagon to this particular registrar without further investigation.

gospelwuton Microsoft Bringing HTML5 and JavaScript to Office 15

I guess my giant question is why didn't they make a C#-like scripting language first?

gospelwuton SOPA Hearings Delayed, 140,000 Americans watched the hearings

You're right. But, my point is there is no amount of money we can reasonably pay them that will come close to the money they require to get re-elected, which is more important to them than anything else.

gospelwuton I miss w

I had a similar story, though not as technically amusing. In HS I noticed that our copies of MS Office allowed macros, i.e. you could run any VB you wanted. Of course, even in the horror that is VBA, you can easily run escalated privileges (e.g. installers). I made the mistake of showing one friend how to install ROMs (I just use it for winamp + a CD from home, because I was 1337 enough to have bought a $400 2X CD-RW). Needless to say, it spread like wildfire and I found myself in front of a dean and the IT director.

Thankfully, that Dean (a) liked me and (b) had a disdain for the drowning bureaucracy that was public high school. So, I explained everything, explained how it was because the IT guy (who was 3ft away) was incompetent, and said I had no intention of hurting anybody. I apologized for not reporting it directly.

That probably is what helped me get into IT/ITsec, because I wasn't punished for being curious.

gospelwuton Reddit admin: "If SOPA passes it would almost certainly mean the end of reddit"

I don't think he was justifying the punishments, but rather the logic. I can tell you, assuredly, that most users will be impeded by something as simple as DNS. Hell, look how simple it is to load up TOR--people still don't do it. Look how simple it is to port over to GMail--people still don't do it. Look how easy it is to use google to fir pirated music (e.g. "site:mediafire.com filetype:rar")--people STILL DON'T DO IT. Look how easy it is to use true crypt. People still don't do it. Look how easy it is to use a YubiKey with OTA--people still don't do it. Look how easy it is to use Google 2-factor auth. People still don't use it.

...etc

Look how easy it is to download stuff off bandcamp or Amazon's mp3 store. People still use iTunes even though AAC is a PITA.

gospelwuton Why is Windows so slow?

Since we're talking about optimization, if you're on a SSD you should disable prefetching--which is essentially a technique for older (read: shittier) computers.

gospelwuton SOPA Hearings Delayed, 140,000 Americans watched the hearings

They horde money for campaign (ads). The notion that they are doing a Scrooge McDuck in taxpayer money is generally false. I'm not putting the onus on the taxpayer, but attack ads and the like are extremely effective and... expensive. Their number one goal is to get (re)elected and money=>ads is the most effective way to do it. Standing on principle and making articulated arguments just polarizes.

gospelwuton The nightmarish SOPA hearings

I'm curious why they wouldn't make it public. I'm sure 95% of people wouldn't read them.

gospelwuton SQL Server App Store Reviews (If SQL Server were an app:)

I'm not a DBA by any measure, so I sort of find myself the same way when acclimating myself to any database--let alone the non-rational ones. I really have come to value a good DBA having to do some stuff myself at a smaller company. The shearing amount of planning and worry into setting up a DB for something like a CMS gives me ulcers.

I will say, though, I'd much rather be working with MSSQL than Oracle. Though, I might be using the wrong tools for the latter. I do feel somewhat "loved" by MS though as far as c#/VS tooling for MSSQL.

gospelwuton SQL Server App Store Reviews (If SQL Server were an app:)

Not to be glib, but couldn't I make this comment about nearly any "enterprise" software? Though, I guess as a whole, this entire review could be applied to nearly anything--since it's largely illustrate how ignorant users are. At least, I thought that was the point (pre-coffee).

gospelwuton New e-book pricing scheme a surprising assault on the wallet

Given the very nature of the internet, it boggles my mind that transcripts/original sources aren't linked to quotes. It's at no cost to the user since it's not a giant inline block of text.

gospelwuton The nightmarish SOPA hearings

As somebody that often gets hired to say things in a legal setting, I will confirm you can (unfortunately) find an expert to say anything (to a point). This is generally why the option for a neutral party is available (but expensive).

No idea if Congress has that option.

gospelwuton Ego Depletion - We may have an exhaustible amount of self-control, concentration

In case we reach the exhaustible amount of bandwidth: http://www.mediafire.com/?v92bxi1m82uz4mz [PDF screenshot]

gospelwuton Louis C.K. "I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special"

It wasn't. I'm just used to violent reactions, like "F* CORPORATIONS F* FOR F*"

gospelwuton Louis C.K. "I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special"

I suppose not, but my point is I think inconveniences are relative to the user.

gospelwuton Louis C.K. "I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special"

For you, maybe. I've found AAC being proprietary is enough to make people buy iPods. Hell, I'm pretty sure you can convert it to MP3 within that piece of shit iTunes.

gospelwuton Louis C.K. "I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special"

Wow, everything about HN really is the opposite of Reddit.

gospelwuton Amazon.com just closed my seller account. No warning, no details.

Like the Google Search Bot. That's always fun (and strangely unlocks a lot of sites).

gospelwuton Prof. of Constitutional Law at Harvard says that SOPA violates First Amendment

Considering the makeup of SCOTUS, him teaching them constitutional law seems likely.

gospelwuton Megaupload to Sue Universal, Joins Fight Against SOPA

It's also a complex network of scouts, producers, and the like. Sure, plenty of bands produce and self-promote. Plenty of bands put their stuff on sites like bandcamp which (IIRC) give close-to-all the sales to the artists (with MP3 v0 and FLAC options for consumers). Amazon's MP3 store also has similar distribution (albeit at a higher cut for Amazon).

Distribution is solved (even when you throw stuff like iTunes, etc). But, you're not going to get top producers, recording studio sessions (which aren't cheap), and other things necessary for mastering a "high production value" album.

As popular as indie music and listening to Stephin Merritt sing over an 8-track is, popular music is usually heavily produced/mastered. These costs are simply outside the ability of most people.

Sure, you could say they should "bootstrap" it (to use a popular term amongst programmers) or seek "angel investors". But, look at how many programmers work for big companies.

I've seen a few bands here and there promote strictly on MySpace and SongCloud and do well. Word of mouth can be powerful. But, they almost ultimately sign up with a big label to get access to resources.

gospelwuton Phil Haack quit Microsoft for GitHub

On a side note, Anders is really interesting person to listen to when he unveils new features and gives talks. He seems really modest and knows the limitations/advantages of a managed language. But, most of all, I always get the impression he is in tune with the needs/desires of the community.

gospelwuton Phil Haack quit Microsoft for GitHub

I think I owe this man some kind of expensive liquor for MVC--especially MVC3. I truly loathed ASP.NET projects until MVC3. Some will argue that people use it wrong and/or the traditional Web Forms have their advantages, but I can't really think of many situations where I'd rather do it the old way.

gospelwuton Mint.com turns 404 ad page into date ad for developer

This is reasonable. I always like being given a choice. Though, I'm sure this could be overachieved with an extension (assuming people properly setup their 404's).

gospelwuton Mint.com turns 404 ad page into date ad for developer

I don't really see a problem? I think the point is you wanted to go to foobar.com/naughtygirls but it's actually foobar.com/naughty-girls. At the very least, the 404 brings you to the right website, presumably, ideally with a coherent enough sitemap/navigation to get you to your desired place.

Though, I wonder how often 404s actually happen outside of people not properly setting up redirects. I imagine 95% of people just type in domains or use bookmarks.

gospelwuton Fuck passwords

Well, in general, I'd suggest something related to the service rather than the service itself. Computer algorithms generally aren't intuitive in the same way computers are.

Paypal -> $pr3f1x29# elh oh el I liek money u gieve