Hacker News: alva

New comment by alva in "Porn depicting sex between step-relatives set to be banned in the UK"

alva — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 13:12:28 +0000

Wonder how they will classify 'cousins' given its unfortunate prevalence in the UK

New comment by alva in "Show HN: Moltbook – A social network for moltbots (clawdbots) to hang out"

alva — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 17:53:29 +0000

Fun idea for a book.

New comment by alva in "Claude Chill: Fix Claude Code's flickering in terminal"

alva — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 01:07:22 +0000

Excellent, thank you. This had be causing me headaches!

New comment by alva in "He set out to walk around the world. After 27 years, his quest is nearly over"

alva — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 16:29:54 +0000

Passport equivalents go back to 1350BC

Show HN: PDF Products Pro – Sell PDFs Securely on Shopify

alva — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 12:25:13 +0000

Article URL: https://apps.shopify.com/pdf-products-pro

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45515387

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

Show HN: Alva Digital Downloads – I built a better way to sell files on Shopify

alva — Thu, 04 Sep 2025 23:58:37 +0000

Hey HN! I've been frustrated with how complicated most digital download apps are for Shopify and lack of functionality, so I built Alva Digital Downloads with a focus on simplicity, security and responsive human support.

What it does:

Auto-delivers digital files (PDFs, videos, ebooks, courses) after purchase Built-in fraud protection that holds suspicious orders for review (a common problem with digital products is they get delivered to the fraudulent customer before the actual payment fails) No bandwidth limits even on the free plan Time limits, download counts, and IP restrictions to protect content Works with Shopify's native checkout and customer accounts

What makes it different:

After trying dozens of digital download apps, most were either too complex or had non existent support. I focused on making setup as simple as it can be and providing real human support. The free plan is actually useful (1.5GB storage, unlimited bandwidth) - not just a trial. The fraud protection is a major benefit for stores. Almost every one of my competitors delivers digital files after product purchase but before the purchase has reached the end of the payment lifecycle. A growing number of people are aware of this and are using fake CCs to get whatever digital content for free. Alva Digital Downloads solves this problem, keeping your content secure until the payment has fully completed.

Try it out:

If you have a Shopify store: Install directly from https://apps.shopify.com/alva-digital-downloads For more info and a demo link check out https://www.alvadigitaldownloads.com/

Tech stack: Built with Node.js, React, and uses CloudFlare R2 + Workers for file storage and delivery. I launched this in August and would love feedback on the UX, pricing, or features you'd want to see. Happy to answer any questions about building Shopify apps or the challenges of digital product delivery!

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45133608

Points: 2

# Comments: 0

New comment by alva in "The Art of Finishing"

alva — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 21:38:33 +0000

Just what i needed to read today, thanks.

New comment by alva in "Ask HN: Should I quit my job?"

alva — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 15:32:38 +0000

MS?

New comment by alva in "Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister"

alva — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 14:40:35 +0000

Definitely. I mean check out some of the recent winners of the US National Debate Championships.

https://youtu.be/fmO-ziHU_D8?t=34

Iranian Prison Hacked – Real-time footage from control room leaked

alva — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 13:10:59 +0000

Article URL: https://twitter.com/EdClowes/status/1430083273015840776

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28288366

Points: 12

# Comments: 1

New comment by alva in "Billions in 'unknown' funds flowing into Canada's housing market [video]"

alva — Fri, 30 Jul 2021 10:57:23 +0000

I do not think successive UK governments have had enough of a long term strategy to do this consciously (though I would love to find out it was a deliberate), but I think the Battersea / Nine Elms development is a fantastic way to exploit the surging demand into Western real estate.

Tens of thousands of flats have been built almost entirely funded by foreign investment. If/once the market collapses on whatever time frame, London now has significantly increased housing stock almost entirely on the back of foreign money (whilst providing income for local builders and suppliers). Already foreign owners are taking huge losses on their investment and I expect this to drop even further. If price drop to a reasonable level for your average Londoner, this will be a great win.

On a side note, that entire development is an architectural disgrace and as you note, for the time being a ghost town, parking dodgy money from abroad.

New comment by alva in "A haunting new documentary about Anthony Bourdain"

alva — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 10:08:26 +0000

I used to work in a small hotel as a student. Most of my job was taking guests' luggage up 4 flights of extremely narrow stairs of the historic building. The only guest who ever tipped me (not common in my country) was Anthony Bourdain, who was very generous.

New comment by alva in "G7 nations committing billions more to fossil fuel than green energy"

alva — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 12:30:55 +0000

> Buying bananas has no relevance to climate

Can you explain why? All the bananas in my UK supermarket are flown from Africa.

> minimise use of cars and planes

New comment by alva in "China allows couples to have three children"

alva — Mon, 31 May 2021 11:28:24 +0000

X = 1 is not exponential growth

Saudi Arabia plan for a 100-mile, car-free linear city

alva — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 13:11:44 +0000

Article URL: https://www.dezeen.com/2021/01/13/line-saudi-arabia-170-kilometres-long-city-neom/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25775888

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

New comment by alva in "No excess deaths in Sweden compared to the last ten years"

alva — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 12:01:39 +0000

> wearing masks

not true at least in Stockholm

New comment by alva in "To defund the police, activists rewrote city budgets"

alva — Fri, 05 Jun 2020 10:27:00 +0000

Maybe it is not particularly high crime because police get 28% of the budget.

New comment by alva in "British Rail’s short experiment with travelling pubs"

alva — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 13:48:14 +0000

> Is it fish caught in that same day like you can get in any Greek taverna in the Cyclades?

Yes

>Or frozen fish brought in from half a continent away?

You can get that too.

The negative response you are getting from users is because you are completely wrong about inability to get high quality, same day picked/slaughtered/fished food in London.

edit: in regard to frozen fish, I trust that the Japanese (who regularly freeze the absolutely highest grade Tuna during transit) know what they are doing.

New comment by alva in "New UK startup visa route announced by the Home Secretary"

alva — Wed, 13 Jun 2018 20:52:45 +0000

> There's net migration into Poland

Wrong.

Poland -0.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.)

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/...

> That image of Poland as an unattractive place everyone wants to get away from is not really true anymore.

I agree, Poland has made huge improvements and is becoming more attractive.

New comment by alva in "New UK startup visa route announced by the Home Secretary"

alva — Wed, 13 Jun 2018 15:09:39 +0000

> Good luck with that.

Since the Brexit vote net-migration for the UK is over half a million people, your native Poland is still suffering huge negative net-migration. "Despite Brexit" the UK attracts top talent from across the EU due to well paid jobs, culture and a business friendly environment.

Look at immigrant attitude surveys across the EU to see how much they value the UK compared to many EU countries. Italy, Poland, Hungary, Austria etc are hardly trending in the direction you may desire.

> whose grandfather fought for the freedoms in WWII alongside British pilots

The British have a huge amount of respect and gratitude for the Polish pilots and honour them annually.