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Ask HN: Concepts that clicked only years after you first encountered them?
I'm reading Petzold's <i>Code</i> [1], and it dawned on me that I didn't understand logic gates intuitively until now. I took a Computer Architecture course back in college, and I understood what logic gates meant in boolean algebra but not empirically. Petzold clarified this for me by going from the empirical to the theoretical using a lightbulb, a battery, wires, and relays (which he introduces when he talks about the telegraph as a way to amplify a signal).<p>Another concept is the relationship between current, voltage, and resistance. For example, I always failed to understand why longer wires mean more resistance while thicker wires mean less resistance.<p>[1]: <a href="https://www.codehiddenlanguage.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.codehiddenlanguage.com/</a>
Ask HN: Concepts that clicked only years after you first encountered them?
I'm reading Petzold's <i>Code</i> [1], and it dawned on me that I didn't understand logic gates intuitively until now. I took a Computer Architecture course back in college, and I understood what logic gates meant in boolean algebra but not empirically. Petzold clarified this for me by going from the empirical to the theoretical using a lightbulb, a battery, wires, and relays (which he introduces when he talks about the telegraph as a way to amplify a signal).<p>Another concept is the relationship between current, voltage, and resistance. For example, I always failed to understand why longer wires mean more resistance while thicker wires mean less resistance.<p>[1]: <a href="https://www.codehiddenlanguage.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.codehiddenlanguage.com/</a>
Draw SVG rope using JavaScript
Draw SVG rope using JavaScript
Golang disables Nagle's Algorithm by default
Golang disables Nagle's Algorithm by default
It's easier and faster to pirate an e-book, than it is to buy it
The end of the year is coming, and I have some funds left from my company learning budget. I wanted to give it back to some of the authors that still help me in my developer journey, by buying some of their work online and hopefully contributing to their income, but the following happened:<p>1. I went to Amazon, since I have a kindle and didn't want to buy physical books. Amazon doesn't have a shopping card for kindle books, so I started buying them one by one. My company uses Spendesk for managing funds, so for each of the purchase I created a new virtual card and bought them.
After a few minutes my Amazon account is blocked for suspicious activity, and ALL my kindle library is wiped, and the funds are returned to my company.<p>2. Not wanting to give up, I go to a different online store, Thalia, to buy the books again. After buying them, I download the files, which are in an .acsm format, and can only be opened on the Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) software. Once opened, an .epub file is downloaded, and even though I can't transfer the files to my kindle on ADE, I download Calibre to transfer them. Once I try opening them on Calibre, I get an error message saying the files are protected by DRM.
Funnily enough, it's possible to remove this DRM protection, but it's also not something completely legal, and makes me question why did I decide to legally buy the e-books in the first place.<p>After spending hours trying to buy e-books, having my Amazon account blocked, and downloading files that can't be transferred to my Kindle, the only conclusion I come to, is that I'm never buying e-books again.
It's easier and faster to pirate an e-book, than it is to buy it
The end of the year is coming, and I have some funds left from my company learning budget. I wanted to give it back to some of the authors that still help me in my developer journey, by buying some of their work online and hopefully contributing to their income, but the following happened:<p>1. I went to Amazon, since I have a kindle and didn't want to buy physical books. Amazon doesn't have a shopping card for kindle books, so I started buying them one by one. My company uses Spendesk for managing funds, so for each of the purchase I created a new virtual card and bought them.
After a few minutes my Amazon account is blocked for suspicious activity, and ALL my kindle library is wiped, and the funds are returned to my company.<p>2. Not wanting to give up, I go to a different online store, Thalia, to buy the books again. After buying them, I download the files, which are in an .acsm format, and can only be opened on the Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) software. Once opened, an .epub file is downloaded, and even though I can't transfer the files to my kindle on ADE, I download Calibre to transfer them. Once I try opening them on Calibre, I get an error message saying the files are protected by DRM.
Funnily enough, it's possible to remove this DRM protection, but it's also not something completely legal, and makes me question why did I decide to legally buy the e-books in the first place.<p>After spending hours trying to buy e-books, having my Amazon account blocked, and downloading files that can't be transferred to my Kindle, the only conclusion I come to, is that I'm never buying e-books again.
Barnes and Noble's surprising turnaround
Barnes and Noble's surprising turnaround
Hard truths I learned when I got laid off from my SWE job
Hard truths I learned when I got laid off from my SWE job
US Government demands direct police access to European biometric data [pdf]
US Government demands direct police access to European biometric data [pdf]
Southwest cancels 5,400 flights in less than 48 hours
Southwest cancels 5,400 flights in less than 48 hours
How Twitter moderated the Covid debate
How Twitter moderated the Covid debate
Ask HN: What are your predictions for 2023?
- Use lists instead of long paragraphs.
- One prediction per list item.<p>Historical:<p>2022: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29746236" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29746236</a><p>2021: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25594068" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25594068</a><p>2020: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21802596" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21802596</a><p>2019: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18753859" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18753859</a><p>2018: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16007988" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16007988</a><p>2017: none?<p>2016: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10809767" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10809767</a><p>2015: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8822723" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8822723</a><p>2014: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6994370" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6994370</a><p>2013: none?<p>2012: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3395201" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3395201</a><p>2011: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1970023" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1970023</a><p>2010: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1025681" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1025681</a>
Merry Christmas, HN
Just wanted to wish everybody here a Merry Christmas. HN is one of those Internet communities which I would be the saddest to see go, even looking back on other communities in which I've participated over the years.<p>I see many posts here about loneliness, nihilism, friendships (or lack thereof) and just wanted to let everybody here know that life is never hopeless, and there are always people who care, even if they're thousands of miles away.<p>Please reach out to loved ones this season and let them know you love them. Life is short, and you never know when the last time you'll be wishing somebody a Merry Christmas will be.<p>I wish you all the very best for 2023.