Hacker News Reader

kbakeron Electric Cars Soon Will Cost Less Than Gas Cars, Research Suggests

The Lithium-ion battery market has already hit PCB manufacturers, by taking up copper foil used in printed circuit boards.

http://globalsmtseasia.com/industry_news/copper-crisis-looms...

kbakeron Early Linux filesystem reliability

You are looking for the Magic SysRq Key: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_SysRq_key

- Alt+SysRq+u remounts all filesystems readonly.

Looks like some of the Magic SysRq Keys are disabled by default now in new Ubuntus.

kbakeron Ask HN: Ex-Founder. Should I take lowball buyout offer?

That was last month. Now its only ~43. Better move quick OP :P

kbakeron YARP – Yet Another Robot Platform

Any link to a YARP vs ROS comparison? Seems like it is solving the same problem, figuring out device messaging and interoperability?

kbakeron Ask HN: Who is hiring? (May 2017)

Venture Research Inc. | Software Engineer | Plano, TX (Dallas, TX, DFW) | Onsite Only | http://www.ventureresearch.com

Interested in RFID? In improving inventory and replenishment processes in hospitals, labs, and clinics? In automatically tracking pallets, containers, and other assets around a facility? Come join us!

Venture Research is a leader in the RFID industry and is consistently pushing the leading edge of what is possible using RFID. We have a variety of opportunities available for both fast-paced new product design and development as well as for development on some of our long-term stable products. 17 year old small but growing company, privately held, with excellent benefits, 401K matching, paid health insurance and highly competitive salary and bonus structure.

We are hiring for the following positions:

* Embedded platforms engineer: C, Linux, Android NDK. Experience with hardware co-design, Python, QT, Django, React a plus.

* Embedded firmware engineer: microcontroller development using primarily NXP Kinetis parts.

* Senior .NET / Backend developer: C#, VB.Net, ASP.NET, MSSQL, Oracle, JavaScript and JQuery. .NET MVC a plus.

Please email resumes to hr@ventureresearch.com, or use the email in my profile. Thanks!

kbakeron TCP/IP headers leak info about what you're watching on Netflix

Summary: VBR encodes videos with a variable bit-rate throughout the video. By fingerprinting many videos, recording the bitrate at different parts of the video, they can make a guess at what you are watching by looking at the size of the stream being downloaded while watching the video, even with HTTPS, likely even over a VPN.

kbakeron Banks scramble to fix old systems as IT 'cowboys' ride into sunset

(Tangent: The Dallas of >3 years ago had a good CoL. Everything has gone up $100k+ since and it's still going... Those same houses are 400k now. And new homes have tiny lots.)

kbakeron Ask HN: Who is hiring? (April 2017)

Venture Research Inc. | Software Engineer | Plano, TX (Dallas, TX, DFW) | ONSITE | http://www.ventureresearch.com

Interested in RFID? In improving inventory and replenishment processes in hospitals, labs, and clinics? In automatically tracking pallets, containers, and other assets around a facility? Come join us!

Venture Research is a leader in the RFID industry and is consistently pushing the leading edge of what is possible using RFID. We have a variety of opportunities available for both fast-paced new product design and development as well as for development on some of our long-term stable products. 17 year old small but growing company, privately held, with excellent benefits, 401K matching, paid health insurance and highly competitive salary and bonus structure.

We are hiring for the following positions:

* Embedded platforms engineer: C, Linux, Android NDK. Experience with hardware co-design, Python, QT, Django, React a plus.

* Embedded firmware engineer: microcontroller development using primarily NXP Kinetis parts.

* Senior .NET / Backend developer: C#, VB.Net, ASP.NET, MSSQL, Oracle, JavaScript and JQuery. .NET MVC a plus.

Please email resumes to hr@ventureresearch.com, or use the email in my profile. Thanks!

kbakeron Firefox 52 released

Yeah but couldn't they stick some 'yes, please cache the source, I am debugging' option in about:config?

Then it only takes up space when someone needs it.

kbakeron Ask HN: Who is hiring? (March 2017)

Venture Research Inc. | Software Engineer | Plano, TX (Dallas, TX, DFW) | Onsite Only | http://www.ventureresearch.com

Interested in RFID? In improving inventory and replenishment processes in hospitals, labs, and clinics? In automatically tracking pallets, containers, and other assets around a facility? Come join us!

Venture Research is a leader in the RFID industry and is consistently pushing the leading edge of what is possible using RFID. We have a variety of opportunities available for both fast-paced new product design and development as well as for development on some of our long-term stable products. 17 year old small but growing company, privately held, with excellent benefits, 401K matching, paid health insurance and highly competitive salary and bonus structure.

We are hiring for the following positions:

* Embedded platforms engineer: C, Linux, Android NDK. Experience with hardware co-design, Python, QT, Django, React a plus.

* Embedded firmware engineer: microcontroller development using primarily NXP Kinetis parts.

* Senior .NET / Backend developer: C#, VB.Net, ASP.NET, MSSQL, Oracle, JavaScript and JQuery. .NET MVC a plus.

Please email resumes to hr@ventureresearch.com, or use the email in my profile. Thanks!

kbakeron Things Developers Should Know About SQL Server (2013)

Yes, the article still gives good advice for SQL Server.

I was meaning in the more general sense - Oracle hadn't released 12c yet, Postgres was at 9.2, MariaDB just released 10.0. Lots of changes in the other DBs to make them more competitive.

One thing that has seemingly changed for SQL server 2016 is the licensing cost... $14,256 per core now??? Or is that only in a 2-pack? https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sql-server/sql-server-2016-p... (Open Level)

kbakeron Things Developers Should Know About SQL Server (2013)

Also, [2013]. Lots of things have changed in the DB market over the past 4 years!

kbakeron Things Developers Should Know About SQL Server (2013)

No - since the metric used in the article is in terms of licensing-$, not a technical reason.

> "SQL Server Enterprise Edition goes for about $7,000 per CPU core – not per processor, but per core. A two-socket, 6-core-each server rings up at around $84k – and that’s just the licensing costs, not the hardware costs. You can buy a heck of a lot of application servers (even ones with 256GB or more of memory) for $84k.

> Consume all of the query results as fast as possible into memory in your app, and then sort."

BUT - if you are using Postgres, you might be able to use BRIN indexes as a cheap index to speed up this kind of operation, without needing a full B-tree type index.

kbakeron Ask HN: Who is hiring? (February 2017)

Venture Research Inc. | Software Engineer | Plano, TX (Dallas, TX, DFW) | Onsite Only | http://www.ventureresearch.com

February Already ?!?

Interested in RFID? In improving inventory and replenishment processes in hospitals, labs, and clinics? In automatically tracking pallets, containers, and other assets around a facility? Come join us!

Venture Research is a leader in the RFID industry and is consistently pushing the leading edge of what is possible using RFID. We have a variety of opportunities available for both fast-paced new product design and development as well as for development on some of our long-term stable products. 17 year old small but growing company, privately held, with excellent benefits, 401K matching, paid health insurance and highly competitive salary and bonus structure.

We are hiring for the following positions:

* Embedded platforms engineer: C, Linux, Android NDK. Experience with hardware co-design, Python, QT, Django, React a plus.

* Embedded firmware engineer: microcontroller development using primarily NXP Kinetis parts.

* Senior .NET / Backend developer: C#, VB.Net, ASP.NET, MSSQL, Oracle, JavaScript and JQuery. .NET MVC a plus.

Please email resumes to hr@ventureresearch.com, or use the email in my profile. Thanks!

kbakeron Myths about /dev/urandom (2014)

tldr; just use /dev/urandom --- this should be at the top of the page.

Maybe prefix the bold sections with Myth: so it is easier to read. I was really confused as to which side of the argument the author was on at first...

kbakeron Wi-Fi TimeSync

You need better sync than ~1 microsecond to do time-of-arrival localization for Wi-Fi style signals, though... since RF waves travel at around 1 ft per nanosecond.

Ultra-Wideband devices can get this synchronization though, and can be used for localization.

kbakeron Ask HN: Who is hiring? (January 2017)

Venture Research Inc. | Software Engineer | Plano, TX (Dallas, TX, DFW) | Onsite Only | http://www.ventureresearch.com

Happy New Year 2017!!!

Interested in RFID? In improving inventory and replenishment processes in hospitals, labs, and clinics? In automatically tracking pallets, containers, and other assets around a facility? Come join us!

Venture Research is a leader in the RFID industry and is consistently pushing the leading edge of what is possible using RFID. We have a variety of opportunities available for both fast-paced new product design and development as well as for development on some of our long-term stable products. 17 year old small but growing company, privately held, with excellent benefits, 401K matching, paid health insurance and highly competitive salary and bonus structure.

We are hiring for the following positions:

* Embedded platforms engineer: C, Linux, Android NDK. Experience with hardware co-design, Python, QT, Django, React a plus.

* Embedded firmware engineer: microcontroller development using primarily NXP Kinetis parts.

* Senior .NET / Backend developer: C#, VB.Net, ASP.NET, MSSQL, Oracle, JavaScript and JQuery. .NET MVC a plus.

Please email resumes to hr@ventureresearch.com, or use the email in my profile. Thanks!

kbakeron Leap second 2017 status

Wow, did not know openntpd just ignores the leap second altogether.

http://undeadly.org/cgi?action=article&sid=20150628132834

kbakeron The farmer who built her own broadband

Probably not, Sprint doesn't have the greatest coverage, especially not in 'the boonies of rural Oklahoma.' That's a pretty neat trick though... (tax deductible, unlimited wireless hotspot for $500/year!)

kbakeron Show HN: Learn how to build electronics with monthly kits

There's probably not a huge risk running it cooler, but I would definitely try to learn the correct way to save time. I have always tried to explain it like this: the idea is that the iron gets both areas to above the melting point of the solder, so that when solder is applied it cleanly wicks into both the pin and the pad.

Try and place the iron so that it heats both the pin and the pad at the same time. It helps to have a tiny bit of solder on the tip. Then, after around 1 second (unless the pad is on a ground plane, then maybe much longer...), feed in a bit of solder. It should melt and flow immediately on application. You don't need a lot to get a good connection, it should make a little 'hill' on the PCB. Remove the solder, then remove the iron. The joint should cool and leave a nice shiny connection (depends on the solder.)

Tip for using lead-free solder: when you are done soldering, always leave a big blob of solder on the tip before turning the iron off. This way, the tip doesn't oxidize in air while cooling, and you don't have to clean the tip all the time. Next time you solder, just one wipe of the tip after it heats up and it will be shiny and ready to go.

kbakeron Bitcoin Beat the Trough of Sorrow

Why can't it be both? Isn't "investing" in the stock market also gambling?

Bitcoin is a pretty great investment asset actually, since there is a finite, limited supply, and any sum can be transferred nearly instantaneously.

kbakeron Ask HN: Who is hiring? (December 2016)

Venture Research Inc. | Software/Hardware Engineer | Plano, TX (Dallas, TX, DFW) | Onsite Only | http://www.ventureresearch.com

Interested in RFID? In improving inventory and replenishment processes in hospitals, labs, and clinics? In automatically tracking pallets, containers, and other assets around a facility? Come join us!

Venture Research is a leader in the RFID industry and is consistently pushing the leading edge of what is possible using RFID. We have a variety of opportunities available for both fast-paced new product design and development as well as for development on some of our long-term stable products. 17 year old small but growing company, privately held, with excellent benefits, 401K matching, paid health insurance and highly competitive salary and bonus structure.

We are hiring for the following positions:

* Embedded platforms engineer: C, Linux, Android NDK. Experience with hardware co-design, Python, QT, Django, React a plus.

* Embedded firmware engineer: microcontroller development using primarily NXP Kinetis parts.

* Senior .NET / Backend developer: C#, VB.Net, ASP.NET, MSSQL, Oracle, JavaScript and JQuery. .NET MVC a plus.

Please email resumes to hr@ventureresearch.com, or use the email in my profile. Thanks!

kbakeron Cyber Attackers Crash Muni Computer System Across SF

Wow, crazy. Sounds like a huge ransomware infestation.

http://www.sfexaminer.com/hacked-appears-muni-stations-fare-...

kbakeron Ask HN: Who is hiring? (November 2016)

Venture Research Inc. | Plano, TX (Dallas, TX, DFW) | Onsite Only | http://www.ventureresearch.com

Interested in RFID? In improving inventory and replenishment processes in hospitals, labs, and clinics? In automatically tracking pallets, containers, and other assets around a facility? Come join us!

Venture Research is a leader in the RFID industry and is consistently pushing the leading edge of what is possible using RFID. We have a variety of opportunities available for both fast-paced new product design and development as well as for development on some of our long-term stable products. 17 year old small but growing company, privately held, with excellent benefits, 401K matching, paid health insurance and highly competitive salary and bonus structure.

We are hiring for the following positions:

* Embedded platforms engineer: C, Linux, Android NDK. Experience with hardware co-design, Python, QT, Django, React a plus.

* Embedded firmware engineer: microcontroller development using primarily NXP Kinetis parts.

* Senior .NET / Backend developer: C#, VB.Net, ASP.NET, MSSQL, Oracle, JavaScript and JQuery. .NET MVC a plus.

Please email resumes to hr@ventureresearch.com, or use the email in my profile. Thanks!

kbakeron IoT Growing Faster Than the Ability to Defend It

Does anyone know if there are ongoing efforts to reign this in? Like a standards working group for a UL-like certification process for IoT security?

Maybe a group like the Linux Foundation or Core Infrastructure Initiative could take this on and lay out some goals for IoT manufacturers to aspire to (product update guarantees, secure communication, secure coding practices, signed firmware...)

One of the biggest problems now is the free-for-all nature of developing IoT products. Though I personally don't see a complete solution unless there is regulation or a government agency like the FTC steps in. I view this as kinda similar to bans on other not-immmediately-visibly-harmful things like CFCs.

But I don't see them having any traction themselves to get started. I think if the industry developed a standard certification process they could latch on and help manufacturers and distributors solve the problem.

kbakeron Powerwall 2 and Integrated Solar

Lithium-Ion technology is pretty well-understood at this point.

Just remember that there are 10s or 100s of Billions of Li-Ion batteries around the world, and having a single one fail catastrophically is still enough to make headlines...

kbakeron When Your Screen Breaks in the Himalayas

Pretty ingenious workaround. Just a note to skip some of the first 'blind' section (installing openssh server through the desktop environment with no screen visible):

Ctrl+Alt+F1 still works in many distros to switch VTs to a text-mode terminal tty1, and likely also works without logging into the desktop. Ctrl-Alt-F7 to switch back.

From here, you should be able to login blind, then sudo apt install openssh-server (assuming Internet connectivity,) or kill whatever misbehaving process, or even restart the whole DE or computer.

kbakeron Fixing Python Performance with Rust

Oh cool, I did not see that library. Looks like it is pretty straightforward, nice!

kbakeron Fixing Python Performance with Rust

I don't think you can write a DLL/dylib in D to work with Python, since D has a GC (actually, it looks like maybe use of the GC can be worked around with some careful programming in D. Still, the D runtime itself may conflict.) From the article:

> In that case, your requirements to the language are pretty harsh: it must not have an invasive runtime, must not have a GC, and must support the C ABI. Right now, the only languages I think that fit this are C, C++, and Rust.

kbakeron Bedrock – Rock-solid distributed data

Ah I see. So you are saying after enough weathering you have exposed the Bedrock...

I have no idea if anyone uses Rqlite, I just remember it from previous discussions here. Very similar indeed...