Hacker News Reader

cfinkeon Show HN: EpsteIn – Search the Epstein files for your LinkedIn connections

Thanks, I've fixed the connections arg name and the missing requirements file.

cfinkeon Show HN: EpsteIn – Search the Epstein files for your LinkedIn connections

The script searches using quoted names, while these examples all search with unquoted names, which will match either the first or last name.

Searching for my name in quotes (https://analytics.dugganusa.com/api/v1/search?q=%22Christoph...) unsurprisingly results in zero hits.

cfinkeon Show HN: EpsteIn – Search the Epstein files for your LinkedIn connections

Weird, I set it to public an hour ago and it was private again. Fixed now.

cfinkeon The Frustration Loop

I'm an Akismet developer; the best thing to do would be to email us at support@akismet.com with your info and we can look into why your comments are getting caught.

cfinkeon Run Your Own Television Network in the Browser with Channel Two

I considered using something like that, and I did indeed have a mostly functional prototype built just using VLC and its playlist management features, but I wanted something that had as few dependencies as possible as well as something where I could draw/program any on-screen graphics I wanted without too much hassle.

Also, writing niche software that nobody else will use basically is my hobby, so mission accomplished :)

cfinkeon AdBlock Plus wins in court

> No it isn't, because no payment is required to view the page in question.

The "payment" is the implicit agreement to view the ads.

> How it works is that your browser downloads a page. That page contains scripts and links.

Thanks for the lesson on how Web browsers work. I wish I knew all of that when I worked at Netscape; maybe it would still be around.

cfinkeon AdBlock Plus wins in court

Ad-blocking is more akin to eating the good parts of an apple and then not paying the grocery store because you didn't want the rotten spots.

cfinkeon If it aint broke don't fix it. A PHP (horror) story

> What's the #1 Google result for T_PAAMAYIM_NEKUDOTAYIM?

This blog post is.

> What's the problem?

Some of us encountered it back before Google returned helpful results about it.

cfinkeon Ask HN: Service for detecting spam signups?

Our API is entirely focused on identifying comment spam; we don't have anything that would be useful for identifying spam signups.

cfinkeon Flappy Bird creator, Dong Nguyen, taking down game; "I can't take this anymore"

You could speculate that he is trying to make a name for himself, so that the upcoming games would make him a stable income.

Are you speculating that, or are you suggesting that others should speculate that?

cfinkeon Paper – stories from Facebook on the App Store

Facebook Paper was codenamed "Konami" during development because the navigation pattern is "Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right..."

cfinkeon Paper – stories from Facebook on the App Store

I disagree that it's "incredibly well-designed." Extensively designed maybe.

What bothers me more is the blanket sarcasm and disregard in your comment.

I downloaded it and tried it. I added topics to my Paper, tried out all the features suggested in the intro. I tried to read my friends' updates. I found it tiring to have to concentrate so hard to consume information from the tiled layout that is much more appropriately conveyed in a list, like in the main Facebook app.

An incredible team spent years working on this, sweating every detail. Isn't that worth investigating, rather than taking cheap shots at the icon design or voiceovers?

Great teams occasionally spend lots of time making something that doesn't succeed. Cuil. Color. Facebook Paper.

If you disagree with any of my specific criticisms, I'm happy to discuss them.

cfinkeon Paper – stories from Facebook on the App Store

Based on this Quora answer to "What was it like to help develop Paper?" (http://www.quora.com/Facebook-Launches-Paper-January-2014/Wh...), I expected it to at least fold my laundry and wash my car.

cfinkeon Paper – stories from Facebook on the App Store

I tried it and found no redeeming qualities, except that the app is pretty when it's filled with demo content.

* Do you find Facebook's iPhone app too easy to understand and navigate? Try Paper!

* Is the type in Facebook's iPhone app too easy for you to read? Try Paper!

* Are you tired of swiping down on Facebook's app and wish you could do some swiping left and right? Try Paper!

* Do you enjoy losing your place in your newsfeed when you tap on a story to read more? Try Paper!

* Do you enjoy voiceovers reading text to you that is already printed on your screen? Try Paper!

* Want half of your iPhone screen taken up by distracting images unrelated to what you're reading? Try Paper!

* Tired of having two good apps for news and Facebook and want a single app that does both poorly? Try Paper!

* Do you LOVE generic app icons that could mean "news", "email", "flashcards", or "envelopes"? Try Paper!

* Tired of not having to wave your phone in the real world to see the sides of a digital photo? Try Paper!

* Prefer apps that require a tutorial before you can use them? Try Paper!

* Want to read stories from "the world's best sources," but only inside of a walled garden? Try Paper!

cfinkeon Show HN: Why sign a NDA when you can just pinky swear instead?

http://friendda.org/

"WHEREAS I possess a bright idea that I am choosing to disclose to you, The Advisor, with the mutual understanding that you are my friend and that you will not screw me."

cfinkeon Cookie Bomb or Let's Break the Internet

Who can be cookie-bombed? Blogging/hosting/website/homepage platforms: Wordpress, Blogspot, Tumblr, Heroku, etc.

WordPress.com would not be vulnerable since users cannot upload or execute arbitrary JavaScript.

cfinkeon The Ghost marketplace runs WordPress

Those who work on Ghost have always maintained that WordPress has become too focused on being a CMS instead of a blogging engine, so it would make sense that they would use it when they need a CMS.

cfinkeon Target's data breach bigger than first thought – more than 100M records

but about their non-customers, too!

You would have had to have "interacted with Target", meaning that you gave them the information in the first place.

cfinkeon Show HN: My Internet life

This is beautiful. I can't wait for the source to be available so I can use it as the frontend for everything I've imported into a WordPress-powered lifestream using Keyring Social Importers (http://wordpress.org/plugins/keyring-social-importers/).

cfinkeon Show HN: My Internet life

The Publicize module of the Jetpack WordPress plugin allows that for a limited set of services: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Google+, and Path.

http://jetpack.me/support/publicize/

cfinkeon Bitcoin approaching $1000

I'm not arguing that the current monetary value of gold is appropriate; I'm simply answering the parent's question as to why gold was "chosen" to be valuable: it has many practical uses.

cfinkeon Bitcoin approaching $1000

I would like somebody to explain why gold is inherently valuable

Basically, gold is valuable because it is useful. For example:

* Gold is the most maleable and ductile of all the metals.

* Gold is very efficient for transmitting heat and electricity.

* Gold has the highest corrosion resistance of all the metals.

* Gold does not oxidize.

* Gold can be used to make jewelry, which people find naturally attractive. It is the only "gold-colored" metal.

* Gold is used in electronic components: connectors, switch and relay contacts, soldered joints, connecting wires and connection strips.

* Gold alloys are used for fillings, crowns, bridges and orthodontic appliances.

* Gold is used as a drug to treat a small number of medical conditions.

* Small amounts of gold are used to remedy a condition known as Lagophthalmos, which is an inability of a person to close their eyes completely.

* Radioactive gold is used in diagnosis. It is injected in a colloidal solution that can be tracked as a beta emitter as it passes through the body.

* Gold is also used as a lubricant between mechanical parts on space vehicles.

* Gold is also used when making specialty glass for climate controlled buildings and cases.

* The visor on the helmet of an astronaut's space suit is coated with a very thin film of gold.

What can you do with a Bitcoin?

cfinkeon Automattic sues, strikes back at fraudulent DMCA takedown notices

I submitted this link due to HN's proclivity for requiring the submission title to match the linked page's title, and this title was more self-explanatory than "Striking back against censorship."

Disclaimer (?): I'm an Automattic employee.

cfinkeon Why I Canceled Amazon Prime

subsidized by taxpayers

"The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations." [1]

[1] http://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/postal-reform-...

cfinkeon Why I Canceled Amazon Prime

You see, the problem with Amazon Prime is that you are shipping almost entirely via the USPS.

I've never received a package from Amazon via anyone but UPS.

cfinkeon The first Bitcoin post on HN

so you'd have bought about 1.3 million bitcoin

There weren't even 1.3 million bitcoin in circulation at that point [1]. If you bought every bitcoin, you could have accumulated about 1.1 million BTC for $850.

[1] http://blockchain.info/charts/total-bitcoins?timespan=all&sh...

cfinkeon The first Bitcoin post on HN

The earliest price I can find for BTC is $0.074 USD/BTC from about a year later, but if you bought $1000 then, you'd be sitting on about $9.7MM worth of Bitcoin today.

cfinkeon Meet Coin (YC W13), a startup creating a universal credit card

The iCache (from 2007) had an interesting solution to the security issue that everyone is mentioning:

[A]ctivate the device with a fingerprint on its biometric strip, scroll through a list of cards on its screen and choose one. Out pops a plastic card with a magnetic stripe, temporarily loaded with the chosen card's data. Just swipe the card and pop it back into the iCache. After one use, the information on the card disappears.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/23/technology/one_credit_card.b...

Although I'm not sure if the information disappears after the swipe or after it's loaded back into its case.

cfinkeon Coin

See how this idea has progressed in six years:

Here's how it works. Users register their cards on the company Web site and upload the information into the iCache. When they want to use it, they activate the device with a fingerprint on its biometric strip, scroll through a list of cards on its screen and choose one. Out pops a plastic card with a magnetic stripe, temporarily loaded with the chosen card's data. Just swipe the card and pop it back into the iCache. After one use, the information on the card disappears. The device even works with loyalty cards, such as those handed out by supermarkets.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/23/technology/one_credit_card.b...

The hardware technology is certainly more advanced, but I'm of the opinion that the true endgame is going to be a scannable or NFC "card" stored entirely on the user's device (ala Passbook), not using a physical middleman.

cfinkeon Introducing Neo900

The N900 was the most frustrating touchscreen I've ever used in a consumer device. I stopped using it solely for that reason.