philwebster

Previous discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3958627

The problem is that Twitter was using real user accounts with made-up tweets. It's ok to make up tweets for the demo, but they should have also used fake accounts.

Yes, but they also used someone's profile picture, so I don't think that was the issue.

Very cool. If you're interested in this technology, you can get larger handheld air cannons that shoot big blasts of air quite far. (They're a ton of fun!) See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_vortex_cannon

I'm not saying this is a good thing, but what if the drone gave out more warnings than tickets (ignoring the issue of delayed feedback) and based infractions on average speeds. If the tickets were reserved for seriously reckless offenders, I'm guessing the public backlash would be reduced.

In case you're wondering about the cool status bars for Vim/tmux, it's Powerline: https://github.com/Lokaltog/powerline

I have this (http://www.amzn.com/B006W8U2WU) flash drive and love it. It's much sturdier than the typical plastic drives and has a great simple design. Unfortunately it is only USB 2.0, so I wouldn't recommend it if you use computers that support USB 3.0.

It turns out the iOS Facebook app has this feature already under the sidebar > Find Friends > QR Code > Scan Code. The URL is in the form https://www.facebook.com/qr?id=###########. Unfortunately when I scanned codes, the app did nothing even though it said it would bring me to a Facebook page, so the feature does not appear to be working properly.

Facebook should include a QR code scanner in their app to do this. I rarely scan QR codes because I would rather type in a short URL than find some QR scanning app. (I realize Google's app can do this, but you end up in an in-app web browser where you are likely not signed into Facebook.) If I could get to a business' official page in a couple of taps in the Facebook app, my chances of interacting with the page would definitely increase.

This isn't that surprising. I've always assumed that logging out of any Google service will log me out of any other Google services I'm logged into (with that account).

I do think they could make it more obvious what is going on behind the scenes, so that in your case, Picasa would have noticed the account was no longer logged in before it let you share the album.

Another reason to use LastPass is if you use multiple computers. (I use 5+ computers at work in tech support and 2+ at home.) Using 1Password would require that I install the desktop application on all of these computers, whereas with LastPass all you need is the Chrome extension.

Agreed. I also miss being able to see photo titles for all of the displayed pictures. Now, in order to view the title, you must mouse over the photo which is a tedious task when there are hundreds of images.

If you're interested in the (imagined) implications of always-on recording devices, I'd recommend watching The Final Cut (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364343). Although it deals more with memories, the issues of privacy and behavior of those doing the recording are confronted.

Interesting, I just heard an interview [1] with Marty Cooper (inventor of the cell phone) who is working on a simplified phone for seniors called the Jitterbug. He mentioned that the phone has a dial tone to indicate that the phone has signal.

[1] http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2013/04/09/cell-phone-inventor

I also use Safari pretty much exclusively because I like the UI over Chrome, but the one feature I love about Chrome is its tab closing/resizing. When a tab is closed, the remaining tabs resize and shift appropriately so that your mouse is over the next tab's close button. (See http://www.theinvisibl.com/2009/12/08/chrometabs for a nice explanation.)

Udacity is another great online learning tool for your list. It's extremely approachable and I really appreciate the structure of each course.

http://www.udacity.com

Someone on reddit made an auto-updating GIF which can be found here: http://primis.org/time/output.gif

Source: http://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/1aye8m/time/

Based on Google's previous app releases (YouTube, Gmail, Maps, ...) I wouldn't be surprised to see a native Google Calendar app instead.

I love Reeder for iOS/Mac and was relieved to see that the developer has plans to continue without Google. See https://twitter.com/reederapp/status/311995748482945025

I haven't used Fever personally, but I do know the popular Reeder RSS client for Mac and iOS has Fever support.

I'm going to echo the other commenters here and ask why House of Cards was a hugely bad decision. It's funny because just today I reactivated my Netflix account so I could watch the show.

There is a problem here though. Because I'm sure I'll devour the season in less than a month, I'll be tempted to cancel my account (until Arrested Development is released). If they had spaced the release out like a normal TV show, they could get about 3 months of subscription fees from me.

Yes, very disorienting. I zig-zagged my way down the page, unsure of where to focus next. Kind of like the Facebook timeline, but without the little ticks to indicate where each section fit in the order.

Thank you, American Gods sounds great! It didn't occur to me to look for audio dramas, but I have always liked them because I grew up listening to a show called Adventures in Odyssey that was extremely well done. (It was built around an extremely conservative Christian viewpoint that I have since strayed from, but the stories have stuck with me through the years.)

It's a shame seeing such an interesting historic logo get replaced with one that has little personality and uniqueness. Something similar to the Starbucks logo redesign might have been more appropriate, keeping the idea of the original logo but refining and simplifying to make it more modern.

It's always surprising to me when developers give away their product for free when they launch. Seems like creating some buildup before the release by getting the game into reviewers' hands would be a better solution.

When I see a deal like this, I'll go ahead and grab the app even if I have no intention of playing it. If they launched with a discounted price and I saw a number of positive reviews, I would be more likely to buy the game to check it out.

I made this point in another comment, but here it is again:

This product can be about much more than solving the problem of forgetting your keys. People with limited dexterity (such as my father, a quadriplegic) would love a product like this. When leaving the house, he would be able to make a few taps on an iPad to lock things up. Right now we don't use a lock because it's behind a garage door, but this would allow us much more flexibility.

There are more advantages to this than you realize. For instance, my father is a quadriplegic and has limited dexterity so it is extremely difficult for him to handle keys. If he wanted the ability to lock a door on his way out, it would be much easier for him to make a few taps on his iPad and be on his way.

Check the footnote. Devices using still Google Maps will most likely function without a change for a few years, but Apple won't be allowed to sell/activate more phones using Google Maps.

There are issues with all of your points, but 3, 4, and 5 are especially bad.

3. Amazon and Barnes & Noble charge similar prices. Apple's flat 70% no matter the price is the simplest to understand.

4. Apple has been very upfront about improving worker conditions, more so than other companies in the industry.

5. False, see http://www.macrumors.com/2011/09/08/apple-institutes-new-cha...

I'm not saying that Apple is perfect or that they couldn't improve their policies, but those are some weak arguments.

Indoor mapping will be incredibly useful for those who are disabled. Knowing where to find ramps and elevators is great for mobility and for safety, but I think that for a blind person the possibilities are even greater. Being able to navigate a building independently using an application on one's phone, for instance. Maybe Google's indoor maps won't be the end-all solution, but will hopefully get institutions thinking about the possibilities.