sjroot

I didn't know this -- this is very very cool! I remember following an old google group of people who were waiting for that support.

I've used Cloud Firestore extensively in some of my personal projects. I also have lots of feedback and suggestions I'd love to share with you if interested. Is there still a way to participate in this program or get in touch with you?

I have to be honest — the allegations made here do not surprise me. The days of corporate espionage seem alive and well, and China’s image in the United States is taking a significant hit.

It isn’t fair to the honest, hard-working Chinese nationals who want to build a life outside their homeland.

Do you worry about the security implications of this? If you storing something sensitive like a private key, I mean.

The only thing that still blows my mind are the private fields and methods. I understand there has been plenty of debate about it, but have not followed the conversation. I really hope that syntax does not get finalized.

Why?

That’s why I clarified that my thought applies to scientific writing. If you’re going to criticize the claim (and evidence that supports the claim) made in a research paper, then you should bring your own body of evidence and stick your neck out. Science can’t be done behind closed doors.

That said, the world I’m describing is ideal, unlike our own.

The thing that annoys me about this the most is the use of anonymous sources. If you are writing a scientific article, or generally hope to establish some scientific fact, I do not think it is appropriate to hide behind a veil of anonymity.

> I wonder why they shot at the tidy bed but not the unkempt one. The narrator seems to imply he knew hiding under the unkempt one was the better option. Why is that ?

I wondered this as well. He did say he has had significant training, but honestly, I think this was just pure luck.

Right! I did think it was interesting that he said this adrenaline rush made it difficult to keep from laughing. It seems completely inappropriate, but makes sense at the same time. "Really, this is happening to me right now?"

> Note: It makes no sense just to look at my code, nor just to read this article with a cup of tea in hand.

It's a good thing I have coffee then. As someone who is not very familiar with computer graphics programming, I did enjoy reading through this.

Incredible, to be hiding under one of two beds in his hotel room, and having the other bed being searched and shot at by the Taliban.

> Don't concentrate only on work, stressful and bad things in your life. Concentrate instead on creating good moments and being around good people, because life is so beautiful.

Coming from someone who mostly works on web projects, I am not a huge fan of Flutter or React Native. While they are suitable for simple projects, I think the real value in a mobile engineer is extensive knowledge of the features offered by native platforms. Libraries like those I mentioned remind me of Bootstrap, where there was a period where so many websites were so obviously built with it.

That said, I think progressive web apps have a lot of potential if the native platforms continue to embrace them and expose native functionality.

--

Now, actually on point with your question, one tool that I fell in love with while learning mobile application development was Fastlane: https://fastlane.tools/ I'd recommend any mobile developer check it out, especially if you have a small team and aren't particularly experienced with distributing applications through mobile app stores.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

> I don’t know how you expect that happen ‘organically’ when nearly nobody outside most of our little bubbles don’t even know that this is a problem. Regulation is pretty much the only way to really stop user data misuse, with the minor problem that the regulators don’t know what they’re doing (or don’t care).

Any regulators that impose sactions on Facebook are only doing so on behalf of those they really work for (corporate interests jealous of Facebook's success, most likely).

When I say organically, I mean this way! Keep having the discussion with as many people as possible. Delete your social media profiles and tell your friends and family why. Voice your concerns in person, print, and online.

> I don’t deny that these companies do some good, but we should look at the totality of their output, not focus on the few good things they do. I am having a hard time objectively saying these companies are a net good for society.

What about their efforts to diversify their (very well-paid) workforce? Helping connect families and friends living across the world, particularly during natural disasters or other emergencies? All of the research they have done and shared with the world at top conferences?

> The existence of other communication mediums does not absolve Facebook and others of their role in consolidating the major communication mediums into their portfolio. A bunch of (mostly) white, male millennial Americans should not be controlling the worlds communication. And I say this as a millennial.

Is it any different from any other major media organization that exists today?

> I don’t quite understand why people’s concern over Facebook centralizing and controlling communication for the entire world (and censoring it) is somehow hysteria or an overreaction.

I definitely think people should be concerned. I think that we should make an effort to make more people concerned. I just think that having the government impose restrictions on Facebook (because too many people enjoy the benefits I described above) might not be the best approach to this problem.

Any developer that uses the Facebook SDK has to agree to its terms and conditions. If you have an issue with this then you should avoid using applications that use the Facebook SDK.

How is it a problem with Facebook when they have released this software free of charge for any developer to use? Again, just like the Facebook website, it is a product that they offer.

This title is rather click-baity, and so is the term "surveillance capitalism." There are plenty of alternatives to social media - email, SMS, phone calls, and even decentralized options. However, people continue to embrace "big tech" because it is convenient. Whether you want to admit it or not, these companies do plenty of good for people around the world.

I think the momentum of deleting our presence on these sites will continue to increase, but I also believe that it should be allowed to happen organically. Regulating this space without allowing people to realize its harmful effects and make the decision for themselves will only further polarize our society.

Edit: Since I'm being down-voted, I should clarify that I definitely support some level of intervention. I would prefer that to take the form of educating people on the importance of preserving their privacy.

Looks very well done! Is the source code available anywhere? I was planning on working on an Apple Music web client myself and would be happy to contribute.

Edit: Musish github repo: https://github.com/Musish/Musish

This is a very interesting story and I imagine there is some amount of ML used to gradually improve the accuracy of results for a specific user.

Unrelated: It is called the Apple Watch. :)

This is great. It sounds like what people were hoping would come from Zeit Now, though in their latest major release they moved away from serverless docker deployments. Their community was quite upset at that decision I think. I will have to check this out!

Literally the only reason I pay for GSuite is to be able to use Gmail with my custom domains. I imagine a lot of their Basic membership subscribers are similar. This might be a deal-breaker for me because I was already debating on if it was worth the $5/mo.

Are there any other solid alternatives that the HN crowd can recommend?

This allows Apple to continue selling their hardware and software to people living in China (of which there are a lot). This is not a problem with Apple, but a problem with China.

This makes sense. Thank you for clarifying!

I didn't expect this to be written in Java. Do they talk about this decision anywhere? I didn't catch anything in the announcement.

Yeah when I was typing my reply I forgot that he had a prior conversation over the phone. Still, the ego comes off a little too strong for my taste. I'm curious about how he feels today with Microsoft starting to embrace the open source community more.

For someone who wasn't around for all of that fun, thank you for helping add a little context to his words.

I should clarify that I totally understand his position against Microsoft, and agree with his points that you quoted.

As for whether or not that redeems him for acting like a badass to a run-of-the-mill recruiter, the jury is still out on that one.

ESR paints himself as a big bully here too. If that is how he interacts with other people, then it helps me to understand why he dropped out of school and never really had a traditional job. (Note: I had to find that info on Wikipedia because I have never heard of this guy; ironic considering he touted starting the open-source movement and likened himself to Richard Stallman and Linus Torvalds).

I am very very thankful that our industry has evolved beyond this type of character.

I wasn't familiar with the story of Microsoft and Eric Raymond, but I just went and read it. Man, that was very difficult to get through.

For others who haven't read it: http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=208