BryanB55

"who in the world needs an assault rifle?"

People interested in self defense. The term "assault rifle" or "assault weapon" was made up by the media. An assault rifle is just your typical rifle that your great grandfather would have used for hunting back in the day. It is not what the media and politicians will lead you to believe.

I think what leads people to ask this question is an major misunderstanding that an "assault rifle" is a big scary machine gun. They are not. An AR15 or AK47 are not machine guns that spray bullets with a single trigger pull. (Those are fully automatic weapons that are already heavily restricted). Assault weapons account for, on average, 2% of all firearms used in crimes, with the highest estimate being 13%. [1]

The semi-automatic AR15 or AK47 are actually very effective and safe home defense firearms for a few reasons:

- The round they use is less likely to penetrate through walls compared to a standard handgun round. This has been ballistically tested numerous times but no one likes to mention it when talking about the issue.

- They are easier to shoot more accurately at close range and longer distances.

- They hold more rounds. Why do you need more rounds? Because one shot is unlikely to stop most threats. Shocking I know, this is also something that is not how it seems in the movies. Also unmentioned when talking about self defense is that there may be multiple attackers. It's not so uncommon to have more than one attacker in a home invasion.

[1] https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/204431.pdf

Phrased this way makes sense. The parent comment sounded more like "drugs should be legal" than it did about individual rights.

And maybe they should be legal, I'm not sure what would help society more so I don't particularly have a stance either way.

Unfortunately those who think they should be downvoted this question. I guess they'd rather not argue their opinion and just hide any comment that questions their opinion.

Downvoted for a legitimate question on why this is a good thing... Awesome unbiased community we have here. Seems to me it would of been more helpful to upvote and state why this is a good thing rather than try to brush any common objections under the rug.

> this procedure accounts for an incredible amount of drug arrests. Good on ya, SCOTUS

So are you saying you don't think people should be arrested for drugs? How is it good that it is now harder to arrest for possession?

I just terminated a ton of CAT5e for security cameras and I can definitely see the margin of error begin high. It sucks to do, I feel like there should be an easier way to terminate them that doesn't involve carefully trying to align the right color combination and holding them steady enough to then align them in that same order with tiny slots on the plug.

I worked on creating a similar service for a few months in regards to helping businesses (SaaS companies specifically) capture testimonials. I ultimately decided not to pursue the idea after having conversations with potential customers. SMS was not going to be a feature in the initial version and we may have been targeting different niches but I would definitely recommend getting it in front of your target audience as soon as possible or just talk to them about it.

I found that most SaaS companies wanted a few really well written and well placed testimonials rather than a constant stream of subpar testimonials and didn't really need a system for that.

It sounds like you may be going more towards local small businesses though and maybe they have a need for it. Happy to discuss any questions further with you if you'd like.

Name is a bit confusing. Ringio is also the name of a virtual phone system/pbx we use.

Really cool idea... Does anyone have an idea of the technology behind this or how they are doing it? I've been looking for a way to do something similar and need to convert 3D models to PSD files at different angles

This would probably be pretty useful for my team if it had a Dropbox integration where we can leave notes on shared dropbox files.

Nice work!

Is the audio in this driving anyone else crazy? The guy with the accent is so loud compared to Sam I had to stop listening.

Those all sound like good reasons for a seller to take bitcoin but not for the buyer to use it.

That's a pretty week study. Results indicated that gun ownership had a weak (odds ratio = 1.36) and unstable relationship with homicidal behavior: http://www.guncite.com/Kleck-Hogan.html

And the CDC disagrees with that assessment. Even as gun ownership is on the rise [1], and more people than ever are carrying concealed firearms, the number of people (raw number, mind you) accidentally killed with firearms each year continues to drop. The accident rate shows an even more marked decline. [2]

There are, according to the CDC, 308 million people in the United States. That’s 308,745,538. Of those 308 million people, only 600 were accidentally killed with a firearm. That’s a 0.000194% chance that you will be accidentally killed with a gun in any given year. According to the National Safety Council, over 12,000 people die every year simply by falling down.

But, our difference in opinions doesn't really matter here so, good luck to you. There are sheep, there are wolves and there are sheep dogs.

[1] http://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142412788732368920457... [2] http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=95379

For me? Not often. But home invasions are not uncommon throughout the world. I like to be prepared for events that may not happen everyday but have a high potential to be deadly if they do happen. Same reason you probably have a fire extinguisher in your house. How often does your house catch fire?

I do some work in personal protection inside and outside of the home and there are really quite a few simple things you can do to better protect your home from a break in or home invasion.

First, make sure you have a solid wood or metal door with a deadbolt. Second, reinforce all exterior door frames with door jamb armor, a large metal plate that covers your door jamb and 3 1/2 in screws that secure it into the frame. [1]

There's quite a few other window security films on the market. 3M is probably one of the best. [2]

You'll want to look into securing your glass to the window frame so it doesn't just pop the glass out in one piece. Some windows make that easy to happen and some secure the glass in pretty well. 3M has a few attachment systems that hold the glass in the frame. One easy option is a silicone sealant called Dow Corning 995. It's an incredibly strong silicone that bonds the security film to the window frame. [3]

And finally get a gun and learn how to use it. You can tell me how much you hate guns but when a insane machete-wielding man kicks in your front door, a phone in your hand dialing 911 is not going to stop him in time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bsAMSQ13bY

[1] http://armorconcepts.com/EZ-Armor/

[2] http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Window_Film/Solu...

[3] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000L00N0Q/ref=oh_aui_searc...

It is definitely a possibility that your glass will pop out of the frame depending on the type of window and frame. There are a lot of other security window laminates other than burglargard. 3M makes a "safety and security film" that is the same thing and they offer a few different frame reinforcement options. One option commonly used is a silicone caulk that adheres the film to the frame to prevent the glass from being forced out in one piece.

Living with no key is great. Just need to remember a 4-8 digit pin code. All I carry now is a key fob for my car. I live with my girlfriend and we each now have our own pin codes on the Yale lock, super easy to use and I've had installed now for 1 year and have not had to change the batteries yet. The auto locking feature is also nice so no one forgets to lock the door, it just locks after about a minute. If I'm expecting friends or a maid I can input a new code for them in 2 seconds right from the lock.

My ideal lock is pretty close to the Yale: - Physically tough (not sure if the Yale lock is but it feels pretty hefty to me) - No key hole - 4+ digit pin codes - Multiple pin codes - Auto lock only when door is closed (the Yale does it based solely on time) - Easy way to plug/unplug a z-wave or zigbee module. Although I don't see much benefit to having my lock hooked up to the internet. I can simply tell people my guest code that is programmed on the lock if I need to let someone in and I'd prefer not to open up another possible attack vector.

I also have a Samsung EZON 3120 which has been discontinued but I like that it locks only when the door is closed.Also when typing in a pin code it makes you hit two random numbers on the key pad before entering your pin code to make it harder for someone looking over your shoulder to figure out the code and/or leave fingerprints of your code on the touch pad.

I was hoping for more of a security testing/review of each of the locks. It's hard to find any real world tests that have been done on these locks to see how hard they are to physically compromise.

I have the Yale lock but without the keyhole on it and without the z-wave module in it. I chose this one because it was one of the few that avoided having an actual keyhole on it to lessen the chances of being picked or bumped. I'm still wondering how it stacks up to being hit with a hammer or any other physical attacks.

"but as YC grows in influence, wealth, prestige and power, so too do its overseers, and the shadow of moral hazard darkens. actions impossible yesterday become intolerable today and invisible tomorrow."

I feel like that should be a quote from a Harry Potter novel.

Does anyone have any recommendations on a VPN that can keep up with gigabit speeds?

So pretty much just a hydrophobic coating, which is the same as properly sealed and waxed paint.

Photo: http://bryan.cx/ptRk/3k1S0VoL

I usually try to keep my office pretty simple and clean. White parsons desks, aeron chair, cinema display and retina MBP.

I also have two Lifx bulbs in the lamps that I'm hoping to use for visual notifications when they open their API.

If its any consolation for the OP I have absolutely no idea what this is referring to and haven't made any connections even after reading this and trying to... blue waffles?

http://bryan.cx/ahgJ/4iaCKPjJ

Group chat built for design teams - Discuss, draw or annotate design concepts with your team in real time.

My team currently uses HipChat but we do a lot of design work and are constantly switching to Jing or Skitch to screenshot, markup and then post a link in HipChat. I'm just testing the idea that it would be nice to be able to screenshot, annotate and draw on any image right within your team chat room.

Still need to name it though... Any ideas?

Congrats Andrew! I've been listening to your interviews since 2010 and still learn a lot from them.

I think something that a lot of developers forget is that building a product is only half the battle, if that. You also need to sell it and make sure you're building something people actually want.

So theres a lot more to running a company than just building a product . You also need to sell it, support it, manage people and run the actual company. Just because you're a good developer doesn't mean you're a good entrepreneur. Sure you could learn along the way but you'll also be taking on more financial risk, be responsible for a lot more things and likely not have as steady of an income.

The reward may be much higher but so is the risk and responsibility. That doesn't mean you shouldn't set out on your own and learn to be an entrepreneur, it's just the reason why the financials line up the way they do.

It's also worth noting that there is a 3rd option. If you happen to get in on an early startup that is later successful and goes public or gets acquired, it can also be very financially rewarding for you. I remember reading somewhere that in the valley it is common to hear "he was an early employee at Google" which is well known to translate to "he's now very wealthy".

Interesting, thanks for sharing. I think large enterprise companies can definitely be much more difficult to work with in that way compared to a small business.

Have you given cyfe.com a try? Looks like they mention "historical data" where they archive your data history.

I feel like I've seen dashboards become more and more popular lately. I've been meaning to set one up for my company for a while now but never got around to it because of the difficulty of getting it setup right and finding the right metrics (even when using the popular services such as geckoboard, leftronic, etc..)

Who here uses a real time business dashboard? Why or why not? Any problems you've experienced with it?

I upvoted because I like seeing new projects/apps on hackernews and this one appears as though they did put a good amount of time into building the site. Sure it's been done before but most things worth doing have been. Although I can't think of many problems that hipchat or flowdock do not solve.

I'm curious to hear what others think is still an open web app market? Or what category of products can still be improved upon?

woocommerce itself is free and open source. The themes that woothemes sells for it may not be free but there are many other WP themes that should work with it as well.