Hacker News Reader

ktfon Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets?

If you live in SF check out the bathrooms in the Viz/New People Cinema on Post St -- they have these fancy contraptions. Maybe catch a movie while you're there, too :)

ktfon Xfce not default in future release of Debian

As someone who recently installed GNOME on a Xubuntu system and then uninstalled it, I can say firsthand that that still leaves a bunch of cruft, does not cleanly remove all packages.

It's not GNOME's fault though -- it's an annoying issue with big metapackages. Same thing happened with XFCE on a stock Ubuntu install.

ktfon E17 (Enlightenment) enters alpha after 12 years

Most of my time in E16 was spent sitting patient and inert, waiting for someone to walk by my desk so I could impress them with the awesome window flipping and water animations. Well, that and posting endless screenshots of my setup to various forums. Whenever I'm feeling down I pour myself a drink and browse my "screenshots_2002" folder :)

> Remember discovering what a winmodem was...

I still have my first non-winmodem installed in my machine, though I haven't had an active phone line in my apartment for years... ahhh, nostalgia!

ktfon This service lets you use Netflix, Pandora, Hulu, and Rdio from any country

I just want to use Netflix from Linux...

ktfon The definitive guide to forms based website authentication

As an X-Files fanboy, I was pleased to see "trustno1" on that list!

ktfon Joey Hess' minimal approach

> When power is low, I often hack in the evenings by lantern light.

The combination of forward-thinking hi-tech and rustic low-tech makes this feel like something out of science fiction. I picture him as a character in a Stephenson novel: a hermit hacker, off the grid, queuing up data and pulsing it out only when the cells are charged and the skies are clear.

Pretty awesome :)

ktfon Ubuntu 12.10 Now Available

I thought that too, until I tried binding Super+T to launch a terminal in Gnome Shell. Turns out Unity eats all Super keypresses even when it's not running.

One workaround is to install CCSM, rebind the dash key to some key combo you'll never actually need, then set your key bindings normally.

...or install Xubuntu.

ktfon Ask HN: Learning to write good JavaScript

> 1. Always use jslint.

Or jshint!

ktfon An Intuitive Guide to Linear Algebra

Obligatory plug for the Manga Guide to Linear Algebra:

http://nostarch.com/linearalgebra

ktfon To understand the command line...

So the "show me matching lines" functionality, which ed users made massive use of, could be summed up as "globally search for the regular expression and print it" - or, in ed format, g/regular expression/p. Or, to shorten it a bit more, g/re/p

Thanks, I've always wondered where "grep" came from! (But somehow have never gained the momentum necessary to look it up...)

ktfon Teaching my 10 year old niece how to program.

Two new books on the way from No Starch Press: Super Scratch Programming Adventure (http://nostarch.com/scratch -- available now) and Python for Kids (http://nostarch.com/pythonforkids -- available soon).

The Scratch book is probably appropriate for ages 8 and up, the Python one for ages 10 and up (depending on the kid, of course).

Disclaimer: I work as an editor for No Starch.

ktfon Debian Now Defaults To Xfce Desktop

I believe it's Alt + right button with XFCE/XFWM. Alt + middle button is GNOME (or Compiz, perhaps?).

Either way though, once you get hooked on moving/resizing windows this way it'll be hard to go back!

ktfon Prometheus Unbound: What The Movie Was Actually About

I got the sense that things were left intentionally vague -- not so much to make the movie a mind-bending philosophical exercise, but more as a storytelling cop-out and a way to guarantee a sequel:

http://www.movies.com/movie-news/ridley-scott-prometheus-int...

So I wouldn't count on understanding too much more on multiple viewings...

ktfon The New MacBook Pro: Unfixable, Unhackable, Untenable

...for $200.

ktfon Hey, Hipster – "Ninja" Isn’t Cool: What Developers Really Want to Be Called Is…

I'd be just as turned off by a job posting for a "ninja" as I would be by a blog post addressing a "hipster." Why favor one buzzword over another?

ktfon Michal Zalewski's new web app security book, "The Tangled Web", available now

Get the ebook now; print books will ship out the week of November 28th.

Use discount code TANGLEDWEB for 40% off purchase, valid until 11/23.

ktfon ArchLinux, Not Just For The Elite

I used Arch for a while, and really loved it... in theory. In practice, updates would often break things, especially when those updates were x.org-related.

Using Arch also really made me appreciate all the work Ubuntu does to make a desktop that isn't ugly. I found myself installing Ubuntu-patched versions of many Arch packages just to get things like a decent notification system and non-ugly fonts. (And even then, OpenOffice fonts never did work correctly.)

I was raised on Slackware, so I'm no stranger to DIY-style Linux, but these days I'm happy to install Ubuntu and have a working, decent-looking desktop system in 20-30 minutes.

That said, if I was looking to build a minimalist dev box or something other than a general desktop system, I wouldn't hesitate to install Arch.

ktfon My offer to Google Reader

I'm a fellow j,k,m,v,f user, and my biggest complaint about the redesign is that it seems so much slower than before. Pressing j used to go to the next item almost immediately, now it's "press j... wait for it... next item... repeat." Makes rapidly going through unread items really irritating. Seems to be the same with the mousewheel too.

Maybe it's a browser/OS problem or something (Ubuntu 11.10, Chromium 15). I haven't heard anyone else mentioning this, but I can't be the only one...

ktfon What Would Happen if Amazon Ruled Publishing?

This is an interesting idea, but many people don't realize that editing a book is more than just "finding mistakes." That's a proof reader's job. A good developmental editor helps shape a book from the ground up, and can make a significant impact on the final product.

(Disclaimer: I edit books for a living.)

ktfon Samuel L. Ipsum

Or hipster ipsum: http://hipsteripsum.me/

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ktfon What Netflix Could Have Said This Week

I remember vocal user feedback telling them not to ax the "friends" feature too, but that's long gone. (And sorely missed, at least by me.)

I also remember vocal user feedback telling them not to switch to Silverlight, for that matter. I was one of the many who stopped being able to use their streaming service when that change went through, until I recently bought a PS3.

ktfon Could you pass the 11-plus? The test once given to 11 year olds

I wish I could go back in time and give my 11-year-old self a book of puzzles like this. I loved these kinds of things when I was a kid.

Meanwhile, I'm proud to say that I got 15/15 at age 27 -- but I'm less proud to say that I had about 9 seconds to spare :)

ktfon Vim Cheat Sheet - For Programmers By Programmers

Also recommended: Mug of Vi (http://nostarch.com/mug.htm)

ktfon Happy 20th birthday, Linux

I still remember the first time I commandeered our one and only phone line for an entire weekend to download the Slackware ISO. Version 7, if I remember correctly? My parents were pissed.

I was so excited to have a "real" C/C++ development environment for free, after years of using a pirated version of Visual Studio. I installed Slack, and within 45 minutes I had totally hosed the system and had to re-install. Then I did it again and again and again... those were the days :)

ktfon New Metasploit book released

Find it here: http://nostarch.com/metasploit.htm

Use coupon code REDTEAM for 40% off.

ktfon Why Google + Will Win

I guess what I'm getting at is that it would take an awful lot of cocaine for me to think of my parents as the "cool kids."

I do agree that it'll be tough to get luddites to jump ship -- but I see that as an overwhelmingly positive thing.

ktfon Why Google + Will Win

This might have been true when Facebook was young and (somewhat) exclusive. But now when I think of Facebook I think of my dad looking up his old high school friends to see who's gotten fat, or my aunt posting baby pictures, or some guy I don't know posting links to youtube videos I don't care about.

"Cool" is the last thing that comes to my mind when I think of Facebook.

ktfon Learn You a Haskell is now in print

I second that. That's one of my favorite gags in the entire book.

ktfon Tired of explaining Linux's seemingly obtuse memory usage to confused newbies?

It looks like gnome-system-monitor reports the "correct" amount of free RAM. I'd imagine most newbies would use that rather than popping open a terminal and typing "free," right?

ktfon Dropbox hits 1.0

If you're curious and want to try it out on a modern system, there's an excellent DS version: http://www.amazon.com/Chrono-Trigger-Nintendo-DS/dp/B001E27D...

One of the greatest RPGs of all time, in my opinion.