vm

Anyone know what the hurdles are for broad VR adoption?

This announcement seems to be saying it's 1) untethered and 2) $200 price point. Those will probably increase the current market size but I just haven't seen anyone (anecdotally) clamoring for VR. Curious if anyone has a view on other bottlenecks.

Makes it seem like they lost in an AI bot battle. But they are in fact creating AI bots that compete against rule-based bots. Big difference.

Misleading title. FB seems to be taking a self-learning approach, whereas hobbyists are defining bot rules themselves. Hobbyists are winning at the moment with an approach that doesn't scale. Self-learning has a better chance of dominating the field.

Edit: HN mods updated title to be less click-baity (thanks). Earlier it said "FACEBOOK QUIETLY ENTERS STARCRAFT WAR FOR AI BOTS, AND LOSES". The "and loses" at the end was misleading.

I recently had to turn off Eddie Murphy's stand up special and a series of Norm MacDonald SNL skits because of how homophobic and sexist they were. They were iconic when they were made so I tuned in expecting some laughs.

Comedy keeps pulse of social norms. We've made progress over the past 30 years.

> Talent needs to be developed and cultivated right?

Feels like you're overstating the value of "mentorship and incubation". It doesn't "make" companies or founders, it just helps guide the ones who are already on that path. Employees benefit from skills training and career mentorship, but that's different for someone who started a company. The most prolific entrepreneurs are hell bent on success and don't need training or incubation.

We need more companies that hire lots of people. Therefore we need the most prolific founders possible - bring 'em in from anywhere to start more big companies in the US! For example, Google being HQed in the US created thousands of jobs here, not even counting all the companies started by Ex-googlers -- if those founders were sent back to Russia, all those jobs could be overseas. Wouldn't you want them in the US, per your argument?

Source: worked as VC for 5+ years

See this HN thread about historical global imperialism, under the guise of business. It provides a counter perspective as poor countries were historically fleeced by the business (and military) interests of Western nations. Chinese "protectionism" seems reasonable, if not expected, through that lens.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15291385

Ease of installation matters most. Your current setup is way beyond what most consumers would bother doing on their own

Plugging this camera into a standard AC outlet and connecting to wifi is easier than it's ever been! I'm guessing you can stick it on with a strong sticker, epoxy, or something similarly easy. ADT built a $7B-valued business predicated on how hard this used to be for consumers to do. Maybe in the future these cameras will be cellular connected so no wifi setup needed.

EDIT: I originally said: "Nest is clearly cloning: https://ring.com/spotlight-cam-wired " But Nest launched first, as commenters point out below. HN crowdsourced knowledge based and fact checking FTW :)

EDIT2: original Nest outdoor cameras had a magnetic attach option -- even easier than the sticker/epoxy/etc path I mentioned.

Re: your second point, this SPAC is basically a $600M growth VC fund. Growth funds are common: Sequoia, KPCB, Accel, CRV, DFJ, Index, USV, IVP, Meritech, YCombinator, and more all have them. It's an intensely competitive market. SC is now joining the mix and their pitch of "get help from the team that built Facebook" is them marketing to entrepreneurs.

If Elon wasn't around, I doubt anyone would have started a company to reduce space launch costs and some day colonize Mars.

What kind of ecommerce company? I do a lot of work in the sector.

Your business is dependent on Google for traffic. You can embrace it and be beholden to platform rules, or you can build a direct audience and brand. The latter is hard but more defensible and there are many case studies to follow of other companies doing this.

Right on -- we need more supply and local activism seems to be the only way to make that happen.

NIMBYism cuts supply because existing homes are worth more when there are fewer new homes available. Any economically rational homeowner would want that (even though it sucks for everyone else).

Demand is high because people have gotten rich! Google and Facebook stock prices have increased over 2x in nearly 2 years. That probably made a $1M+ for a few THOUSAND people. Then extrapolate all the other big exits or stock growth in time period... unreal wealth creation for many people. Demand isn't going anywhere. It's a supply issue.

I meant the upload time for Spectacles, not sure if we're talking about the same thing? The UX for the Snap app is great. I was the most active Snap user I knew up until recently (hence why I have Spectacles)

They're doomed by the slow UX for uploading: 1) record w/o really knowing how the content is coming out (it's like stepping back into the Kodak age after using an iPhone for 10 years), 2) open Snap app, 3) reconnect the Bluetooth for 1-2 min because the connection is crap from the glasses to my phone, 4) upload all the videos from my glasses which takes another 1-2 min, 5) select specific video snips to share, 6) select people to share / upload to story, etc.

Seemed to take 5 min when I did it. Enough to kill the moment. Sharp contrast to how fast Snap is on iOS.

Plus the glasses are uncomfortable and have large blind spots, so I can't wear them all the time (i.e. not good for driving)

Citations?

"Boring" is the process of excavating a tunnel. Play on words :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel_boring_machine

I eat keto and just cut the sweets - my goal was to be healthier and love longer and fake sugars didn't align with that. I used to have a big sweet tooth. I quickly adjusted and sweets now make me feel gross. Wouldn't change it for the world.

I've seen ~10 Cruise cars around Mission Dolores and Soma in SF. 100% of the time the driver has his hands on the wheel and appears to be making the turns himself. I'm skeptical of how automated this service actually is.

Maybe those are training runs or the drivers are letting the wheel guide them.

That's a city-level estimate. OP provides estimates based on your actual address.

This is good advice, though the article also mentions that self-paid drugs don't count toward deductibles. In addition to shopping around, patients should calculate their deductibles and estimate how that might impact their spending.

...which is a messed up, Byzantine system. I'd love a single payer system just to crush this inefficiency out of the system and make patient's lives easier. I would have thought healthcare is all about saving lives but in the U.S. it seems like a dirty busy.

Ditto. I googled around and the gist of candle physics is this: -wick is lit and then heat travels downward to the candle -immediately begins melting the wax, which are hydrocarbons that fuel the fire. it's a simple combustion reaction as they mix with oxygen in the high heat -capillary action sends melted hydrocarbons up the wick, continuing the reaction

No mention of energy loss when lighting another candle... but really heat is the byproduct of the combustion reaction, so lighting another candle is harnessing the byproduct and doesn't interfering the reaction. The expression is valid! :-P

http://www.explainthatstuff.com/candles.html

http://candles.org/candle-science/

I was the same way until I realized reading fiction before bed helps me sleep better. Turns off the mental to do list. Now I'm at 3/month fiction.

For non-fiction, I need to be stuck on a plane or have a clear weekend morning.

It's not a zero sum game. Company valuations are independent.

PG has written about what it would take for Pittsburgh to become a startup hub. The gist of it is talent (which it has) and capital (early stages).

1) How to Be Silicon Valley http://www.paulgraham.com/siliconvalley.html

2) How to Make Pittsburgh a Startup Hub http://www.paulgraham.com/pgh.html

Not read as snark at all. In fact your note came off as thoughtful and kind.

I didn't mean to imply that the world is coming to an end. I simply hadn't realized how coupled pollution (lead in this case) & economic progress have been. IIRC the rate of species extinction has been accelerating especially for sea life (too lazy to lookup citation). That's real, irreparable harm, at least to those species.

But that's backward looking. I'm optimistic that technology advancements will cap energy usage per person and still enable us to advance society.

And FWIW... my few hunter friends claim boars would dominate North America if humans weren't around. Surprisingly smart, powerful, and aggressive creatures.

Central to the researchers' argument is that human livelihood causes pollution. I wonder what the "ideal" global limit is.

As scummy as those installs are, it highlights Google's killer advantage: money. It generates so much cash from advertising that it can pay any company for more distribution (even Firefox!), which in turn generates more cash... Unstoppable until anti-trust kicks in.

Really intrigued by your comment!

Could you elaborate on what drives the high cost? Or what would need to change for this to viable?

Nailed it.

I used to do endurance sports (Ironman/triathlon, marathon, etc.) and now my ONLY exercise goal is to move around for at least a few minutes every morning. When I'm busy, it's just quick stretches for maybe 2 minutes. When I have more time, it's a bike ride, jog, lifting weights at the gym, etc.

It might sound too simple but that's what made an easy daily habit to start. And it makes me feel good, making me want to eat "clean" to keep feeling good all day long.

Maybe some day I'll get more aggressive again but right now it works really well and it's easy.

I disagree. My favorite career and life moments have been in cultures that are direct and assertive, but also respectful and caring. I draw a distinction between confrontation and combative.

Confrontation is critical when you have important information or perspective that can change the current course or result in a different decision. It's your duty to be assertive (when it's important, not for trivial things).

Being direct doesn't mean being a jerk or being rude. There's no excuse for combativeness. The point isn't to pick a fight or attack a person, it's to attack an idea and to do the right thing. Combativeness is a sign of immaturity or inability to deal with high stress.

It can take practice. It's liberating once you get in the habit of it.

EDIT: This saying: "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with," sums up the the importance of work culture (same with choosing a partner and friends too).

The investors don't control the company. Only the board does. Sometimes that includes investors but it definitely doesn't control all of them. The board is required to do what's best for ALL shareholders, even if that means lower returns for some of them.

Uber raised $9B (1). Presumably this is all preferred stock or convertible debt, which is paid out 100% in an acquisition. That means investors only lose money and if Uber is acquired for under $9B. Over $9B, then investors and common shareholders splits the proceeds according to their ownership (2).

I'm simplifying as the liquidation preference matters based on the different valuations that investors paid.

For example, if Uber is acquired for $30B, then all the investors who paid above that valuation, would get their money back first. Then remaining investors and common shareholders would get their % split of the remaining pool of capital.

1) https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/uber#/entity

2)Usually this is how it works, but sometimes the terms vary.