jkeisling/hacker-news-corpus-2007-2022 huggingface dataset:
Following good code practices makes this easier. First chunk, write a few paragraphs about the purpose of a module. Second chunk, mock out a few functions with control flow and prints. Third chunk, write some input and a test, fourth chunk, implement the top function, and so on.

Each piece leads to the next, and passes on the context needed to get back on task. Which is exactly what we should be doing anyway.
<rant>It seems there's a lot of parallels to be made between IQ tests and programming language micro-benchmarks. Also, they seem to be equally useful: that is, not very except at the extremes. The corollary is that if you didn't pick your programming language based on a micro-benchmark, you probably shouldn't give too much weight to IQ when hiring.
Focus and timeboxing are your new best buddies.

I would keep a task list of short tasks. Use a spreadsheet or text file.

If you come up with something else to explore that you'd typically dive into, don't. Instead, just record it on a separate part of your task list for future investigation.

Realize that you can do a lot with 5 or 10 30 minute segments, especially if you focus on the right tasks.

Set a timer, if possible, and take the last 3 minutes to leave yourself some context (in the bug tracker if you are fixing a bug, at the end of a document if you are writing something, etc).

Put on headphones for the 20-30 minutes you do have.

Postpone any really deep thinking until after 8.
i've found just ghostery with the ad blocking lists is just as good at blocking ads, while being faster.
Thanks, I wasn't really sure.
I was recently having a ton of memory issues with Chrome without Adblock installed -- turns out a lot of Chrome extensions are memory hogs.

A quick `ps aux` will let you see what extensions are the worst offenders; clearing out a bunch of unused extensions helped restore my computer back to normal.
The best algorithm for interruptions I know is the one that computers use: the journaling filesystem [0].

The way it works is simple. When you want to do a disk operation, first, you write down in a special place (called a journal) what you are going to do, at a high level. "I'm going to delete this directory and all its files." Then, you go through the steps of actually doing that. Finally, you record in your journal that's what you did.

Now when power is interrupted during a disk operation you simply look at the journal and you can complete any operations that were in-flight at the time of the interruption. For example if the journal says "Delete X folder" and you see it still exists, now you can pick up where you left off.

The application to interruptible programming is straightforward. I have an actual paper journal and I will in a few words explain a task to the journal before I begin. Often I end up with a hierarchical journal, like

get the unit tests to pass
the unit test doesn't pass on OSX because postgres isn't running
start postgres
the unit test doesn't pass on Linux because the postgres credentials are wrong
refactor postgres credentials to work right on both platforms
one particular Linux machine still doesn't work
Is it 32-bit related?
No
Are we using the same compiler on that machine?

The overhead of recording this information is microscopic, and the benefit of returning from every interruption to a page or so of context is awesome. It's almost better to be interrupted now, because I come back to a clearly defined problem, as opposed to starting on "blank slate" items with no direction.

As a side benefit, I now write really good commit messages, because I just write what my journal says I did. Which is quite a lot more detail than it was when I was trying to remember things after the fact.

[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journaling_file_system
I don’t know about the truth of this but I can attest to a certain version of this from first hand experience.

If your profile is not as desirable or just average they start hiding your profile so you don’t get as many matches. Then you pay and start getting slightly more matches. Since you’re average you’ll keep paying for a while till you get matched or maybe not.

They keep a few of the desirable people visible without paying to make the app look good. But those people may never even see you unless you pay.

Capitalism rocks.
I would caution against starting on this text because it's typically at the upperclassman/graduate level, containing details about transistor models and amplifier design that you don't need to know unless you're considering a career in microelectronics design. It also assumes a lot of background so you might find yourself moving at a snail's pace. Otherwise, I thought it was a great text heavy on theory.
> The codebase is ... lovingly-commented [0]

For what it's worth, I absolutely love reading this sort of spanning descriptive comments. It makes the code that much more interesting and gives it a healthy dash of personality.

I used to work with a guy who'd have header files start with pagefuls of comments with ASCII diagrams, book references, complete design rationale and what not, only to follow with just a handful of rather terse declarations, which still would be immediately clear thanks to the preceding narrative. That was so damn beautiful.

[0] https://github.com/munificent/wren/blob/46c1ba92492e9257aba6...
Using the same language for your frontend and backend has a lot of advantages in terms of code reuse and it's potentially easier in terms of the number of skills your team needs.
Totally, the ability to move is definitely present. The incentive to move if one chooses is a great benefit of increasing land value, we're absolutely agreed on that front.

The problem that I'm trying to point out is the converse disincentive to stay which these policies can introduce. For instance, my family, friends, social and professional networks, and history are all within the region I currently live. If I'm priced out of this current region but am okay with moving to a different region, then this is a great situation: everyone's happy.

If, on the other hand, I want to keep living the life I've built over decades, the ability to cut-and-run with the increase in my property value is little consolation; I'll be a richer man, but I'll be forced away from my home.

I've mentioned it a few times in the thread, but just want to clarify: I'm not saying that from a policy perspective we shouldn't force these people to move in order to accommodate the needs of more people. All I'm saying is that we are giving those people who want to stay in their homes the short end of the stick with these policies.

If we look at towns and cities with super-restrictive policies (e.g. single-family zoning, locked in property tax bills, rent control, etc.), they are objectively inefficient in how they allocate land. Being a resident in one of these places, though, would lead to a pretty good and stable life.

To the residents of these locations, heavy land and property tax policies are essentially telling them "Other, richer people want to live here but it's too full, so you should find somewhere else to live". It's not hard to imagine the human aspect of the opposition (including restrictive zoning in the status quo), which conversely say "Other, richer people want to live here but it's too full, so they should find somewhere else to live.".

Again, inefficient in the aggregate, and I wouldn't argue that it's the foundation we should build policy on, but it's hard to blame someone for taking that stance.
Here's the actual mailing list announcement that the linked article summarizes. https://lists.opensuse.org/archives/list/factory@lists.opens...
I’m sympathetic to the view that having millions of dollars “doesn’t count” when they’re all tied up in living in an ordinary home. But then we would have to apply the same cost of living adjustment to tech workers, which most people think is ridiculous. (“I’m not rich, you see, there is no money left after I have spent it all.”) They have the option to walk away with millions. They choose not to. That is a form of spending. These millions are both absolutely larger than what “high income” workers can accumulate, and from a higher-class source (investment and politics vs. labor).
This appears like a navy-glorification website. If not government backed, then it could at least be think-tank backed, with a military industrial bent.
Ew…yeah, it sure does, doesn’t it?

https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=ht...

This extensive article goes into the full details of the case.

And, from the description in this journal article, the tapes were, as described in the submitted Plover link, rather more than “videotapes of girls in leotards and swimsuits”.
There are 100 Mbps (Fast Ethernet) cards for the ISA bus, which in practice can apparently be around 50% faster than 10 Mbps Ethernet over such a bus. However, they seemed pretty expensive compared to the ubiquitous 3com Etherlink III that are available quite cheaply. I think Ethernet will still make a huge difference in terms of serving this site.
Amusingly, I just accepted the claim. This is largely the kind of thing that businesses pay for, so seems fairly easy for it to be inflated.
By the time hydrogen supply becomes a problem, though, we'll either be long gone, or able to harness it elsewhere. Probably true for other hypothetical civilizations. Hydrogen is, after all, ridiculously abundant - and, if nothing else, weighed down by other elements.
Interestingly, "Excel uses Pascal strings internally which is why strings in many places in Excel are limited to 255 bytes, and it's also one reason Excel is blazingly fast." - http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000319.html
Can somebody explain this to me? I don't get how leaving the exchange rate mechanism made Soros a winner.
Ah, I see. I just noticed when I went to the URL that I was no longer logged in, so I checked the URL, thinking that maybe it was a phishing scheme. Of course since it was on the same domain, just a different sub-domain, I figured your url was probably trustworthy, but still a little strange.
Video without the 'buffering': http://www.spacex.com/multimedia/videos.php?id=51
Note to the founder - Just a FYI the security certificate isn't working (at least on the 19.99 program) - great ui updates btw !
The problem is that all media, including some of the biggest proponents of the free market (News Corp) are clamoring for the FTC to somehow save their asses. So the FTC figures they have to do something.

It may be a good idea for some people like you to send in comments to the effect that the FTC does not need to do anything. The problem with roundtables and public comments often is that people that need to scratch an itch are more likely to go to them, which means that they may result in skewed conclusions.
Los Angeles CA - KEYPR - http://keypr.com

We're redefining the guest experience at hotels worldwide. With our mobile app, you check in and go straight to your room. With our web app, hotels get real-time metrics and tools to track.

We're looking for front-end, back-end, mobile, and embedded/firmware engineers.

We use Python, Node.js, AngularJS, iOS, Android, and C. You should be proficient in at least one of these.

If you like to work on challenging problems, please email me at charles@keypr.com. Please include your GitHub profile or links to code or any relevant work.

Cheers!
It's crazy to think how one person can change a movement and the history of a band! I also liked how computer simulations really helped me understand how that one person really could influence the outcome of the band as a whole.
I had accidentally moved $1,000 from the wrong bank account into Google Wallet, and called customer service to try and figure out what I should do, because there wasn't going to be $1,000 in the account I had selected, but Google Wallet was giving me access to the funds already.

The CS rep that responded was a nice guy, but had no clue what to do. We started spitballing together some possible ideas, and I suggested that we just let it go and Wallet will eventually figure out that the transfer didn't go through, and deduct the money back from my Wallet account. He thought that might be a good idea, but had no further ideas beyond that.

That was Google Wallet, and that was $1,000 floating around. I can't imagine the level of customer service available to anyone who hasn't actually put money directly into the equation.

Do they actually do that thing we all saw in The Internship, where they have random engineers field support calls? Because I felt like I was talking to a random engineer.
There are lots of apps that cast your local content, AllCast for one.
IIRC Win2k was already DOS-less, wasn't it?
Right, my point is that this new device has to be tolerant of radiation from passengers' phones, increased radiation from space, etc
"therefore there is selection pressure for longer (reproductive) life spans"

this is too simplistic. there is also selection pressure for shorter generational cycles, leading to faster evolution. keeping older generations around would consume extra resources.
Very nice. I'm right now sitting in front of a schematics of a nice modern modular stereo hi-fi amplifier that I'm building. I made sure to leave plenty of internal interconnects for BTO radio modules, so that I could accomodate for Bluetooth, DAB, UPnP rendering, TI CC8520 or whatever wireless standard would be coming my way later down the line.

Seems that I can now plan to add a Google Cast radio module that can be integrated into the device. I don't even have to change my design it seems, I don't even have to put all my money on this horse, and I can still do without this gadget at first and get the basic device to market as quickly as possible.

Neat.
Here is a true story I have not previously shared on HN...

While in law school, in attempt to defray tuition costs, I would order Livestrong style silicone bracelets and sell them at Daytona Beach bike week. After tinkering I began working with the manufacturer to mold the silicone bracelets with RFID chips and file a patent.

As a law student, I found the patent filing process to bring real world practice to my classroom theory, plus I learned a lot about RFID technology in the process (mostly researching prior art, such as, RFID shopping carts; RFID one time use hospital bands; ect...). However, as a law student I had no practical (financial) way of bringing my idea to market.

Nevertheless, I contacted Disney's director of park operations to discuss the potential of my RFID silicone bands acting as park tickets, monetary accounts and the general efficiency RFID bands could have of park operation efficiency (tracking lines, ride times, open seats, ect...). As one might expect I was blown off, given a nice generic response that there is no interest...but sure enough 7-8 years later the parks have incorporated RFID technology through the use of...silicone bands.

I think such a story highlights the various positions one could take on our patent existing system. Some might say I was a patent troll, filing a patent where I knew I could never financially bring a product to market, others would argue that situation is why patents exist where the inventor needs to protect an idea where often times but for being the inventor/patent filer a giant corporation might come along and simply take an idea without any benefit to the inventor...finally some may say I should not have received a patent in the first place as RFID silicone bands are not non-obvious in the first place.

Though I never sued, my own experience brings a certain bias to the table, and I would simply ask in countries that do not have a similar intellectual system to the US, is there an example of an inventor actually bringing an invention to market where they were not simply beat out by an existing corporation?
Why they use Haskell: http://blog.typlab.com/2009/09/why-we-use-haskell/
Almost all of these are gold and should be framed and hung in every cuce and meeting room.

But the following three should be tattooed to the forehead of each manager and executive:

* Process is no substitute for thinking.
* If everything is equally important, then nothing is very important.
* "Complex problems require complex solutions". NOT!
Can someone explain to me this guy's fierce/aggressive loyalty to Apple? Is he an employee or own a large amount of AAPL?
Also the fact that the British wouldn’t know a sauna/spa from a monkeys ass, they’re considered to be firmly a premium/luxury thing and priced as such
It's part of the general problem of the lack of stimulating material for talented students in any subject. It's not a popular priority for teachers, certainly less popular than remediation for low-performing students and measurable college-oriented "achievement" for high-performing students.

Also, this is material that less than 1% (if that) of high school students will understand. Teachers don't bother with material that only one or two students in their honors class will enjoy.
Perhaps I was thinking that that's usually provided by the operating system "for free". Hard to imagine an actual nontrivial GC system not needing basic malloc/free at some point anyway. Come to think of it, I think I actually tried implementing something like that once.

Alternatively, you could implement a simple first-fit free-block-list scheme in a small amount of code. It might not look terribly different from something a GC might do anyway.

Still, I think it's a fair point.
I have to say, I appreciate a 'financial' community with a sense of humor.
That's unfortunate. In the past, I've had more respect for the FSF because they generally refrained from such juvenile word substitutions.
my only concern is that the masses will discover secondmarket and NASDAQ that thing like it is '99

otherwise we all cool
It sounds like there is an aerobics class going on next door. But I'd really like to find a good video intro to functional programming, preferably in LISP. Any suggestions?
I'm very curious, do you have an update?
When I say normalization that includes simple cases. For example using foreign keys to separate out your data - pretty common in most schemas.

Good luck!
Genetic data is €€€.
Well, if Mozilla is any indicator... Python will become a slower clone of Go, dropping useful features and adding ones no one asked for, while Python Foundation will acquire a completely unrelated data collection company :D
How are they planning to “ensure volunteer hours are used effectively” if they can’t direct those volunteers?
My experience is that most Kotlin features boil down to myths created by good marketing. When you look at them in detail they're full of gotchas and unexpected behavior (especially when interacting) due to everything being some ad-hoc special case only created to simulate some Scala feature.

Tones of ad-hoc features isn't good language design imho, even the features are desirable in isolation. That's the same issue as the biggest problem with PHP or C++.

On the other hand side Scala may seem "complicated" on the surface but it's actually just a bunch of quite simple basic principles, and some syntax sugar on top.

Scala is like math: It's build form simple first principles. Just it offers the means to combine those and create this way almost arbitrary complex abstractions.
1) Don't.

Longer version:

1) Don't be the last sucker.
One more: Rash is a Racket-powered shell with "lispy" scripting.

https://docs.racket-lang.org/rash/index.html
The author claims to have _existing code_ for the first stage, but provides no code and no benchmarks in the post or linked github repo. Additionally, the repository does not seem to make a particularly strong case that each improvement will result in the massive 50% speedup compared to the previous as claimed.

I'm not in the python community, so it's possible this person is well known and respected enough that part of this can be taken on faith. However, because the author does not provide benchmarks or any other proof of the effectiveness of the supposedly almost complete stage 1, I cannot personally call this proposal serious.
I did remove my question because I understood that it didn't add up anything interesting to the discussion.

Thank you for answering anyway. Your comment helps me to see why my post could be seen as not well intentioned.
Your frustrations are not restricted to you.

Very competent scientists like Noam Chomsky have pointed out those exact reasons as to why he concentrates on academia & not cooperations
I would just like a decent installer for at least one of their products to start with.
This all makes sense. But. Given the high degree of specialization, livelihoods and economies get very exposed to change, which, according to the cliché is coming at an ever accelerated rate.
Some people and economies get to choose how and when to switch, and according to the mantra, innovation plays a role* (some call it here wealth creation). Some don't, and this mostly applies to colonies (especially economic ones). So people loosing their living in places where they are coerced into submission become protectionist (in the form of nationalism -- one of the root causes of national socialism was, that Germany and Italy were left out of the colony pie, and didn't get what they thought they deserved to match their status).

I think everybody would agree, that in a European country, being perfectly capable of producing pears (i.e. suitable climate), it is unsustainable to have over 20% jobless, more debt than a country could ever repay in a generation, and yet import pears from China. And pumpkin seeds. With the usual socks and cutlery and electronics. Worse, this is a real example I have given. Globalization, in this current form is not here to stay. You can only get your WII for the price of a digital watch ten years ago by externalizing more and more costs (like shipping in your example). Out if sight, out of mind. This is a very important pillar of globalization, which oddly enough is turning against itself (better communication, though less true of the active concern of people, which one might think as a consequence).

* This reminds me of a Russian children story. Once upon a time there was a pencil factory. Somebody had the obvious innovation, that since _nobody_ uses the last inch of lead of a pencil, because it would be too small to hold and sharpen anyway, so it makes sense to make some profit by leaving it out. Great savings, management promotion. Soon after, seeing the success, comes a new innovation: everybody knows, that the essence of a pencil is writing, and if there is no graphite, there is no need for the wood either. Cutting the useless piece of wood from the pencil would save forests and make huge profits. This cycle of logical, rational and economically sound innovation continued and iterated, until the pencil was gone. Everybody got prizes and promotion everywhere. But then came along the new innovator, who thought about putting a piece of graphite embedded into a wooden straw. Brilliant invention, huge prizes, and the pencil was reborn.
The article is saying, that it is becoming readily apparent, that the pencil is about to be gone.
Or New Zealand, for that matter.
In his 2005 Stanford commencement lecture, Apple Computer founder and college dropout Steve Jobs credited a Reed College calligraphy class for his focus on choosing quality typefaces for the Macintosh.

He seems to do alright.
It's difficult to overstate how misguided this is. Engineering types are already seen as the ones who picked the right major, so we're seeing a flood of people heading into those fields.

The result thus far has been that we have more ways than ever before to target advertisements and share stupid pictures of ourselves and offer interpretations of rap lyrics. Has this improved western culture, as far as you're concerned?
Looking at the Uber website, they refer the the Twin Cities as Minneapolis, even though their service area includes St Paul and Minneapolis.

That's a deal killer for me.