jkeisling/hacker-news-corpus-2007-2022 huggingface dataset:
Show HN: Sematic – Convert plain English to structured data
https://github.com/brochington/sematic
Hey HN!

I would like to share the project that I've been working on for the past six months. It's called "Sematic", and it's an NLU API that parses plain english so that devs can really start start to understand the language of our users.

In January I was trying to build a "text to bash script" product for my wife, as she is unable to use services like Zapier due to security reasons. I ended up being completely stuck on the first part of the project, which was parsing plain english to a data abstraction that I could code against. The largest problem I had was determining all the relationships between different objects/entities.

I was hoping that Machine Learning could help me, but after going down some rabbit holes, building models, abusing GPT-3, etc, I found that no matter what, I was going to need proper error correction on the model's output. This prompted me to begin studying linguistics, and other no-ML rule based language parsing options. I still feel like there is going to be some ML in this project eventually, but for now I feel like I still have a lot of alpha to go by using some great libs like Duckling, and using old fashioned parsing techniques.

My goal is to get Sematic to a point where devs feel comfortable with using it to add Alexa/Siri-like text understanding to all kinds of apps and websites. If you have comments or suggestions, I'm happy to chat more about it. Thank you.
Ask HN: Need of a legal structure for a website that makes money on autopilot?
Hi all,

I have been building a little website that I was thinking of putting online for free, and eventually make some money out of it with Ad Words depending on how well it is doing. Do I need a legal structure to do that?

I very often see posts on HN about people having some sort of website on autopilot, generating money. When I see those, I always wonder how people manage to legally "cover themselves". Cover themselves against what you may ask... let me explain. I will not enter into details about what the website does, but I will give an example that will be close enough so I can explain my concerns.
Let's say that I build a website that allows users to create their groceries lists. Users can then see theirs list, edit them, delete them, etc...

This implies a few things:
- Users have to register, which means I will have to at least store information such as an e-mail address for password reset, and a password.

- I will also have to store the groceries list themselves.

Is there anything else I would HAVE to legally store? For example, I have seen a few website stipulating that you need to be over 13 years old in order to register, is that something that anybody owning a website would have to store and verify as well?

Also, what if your website doesn't deliver what it says it offers? For example, imagine that the groceries list get messed up (I know... stupid example), and that some of the items don't appear on the list...

If a website is generating money with Ad Words, does this mean that you HAVE to have a legal structure? What if you provide a "service" such as the groceries list?

Does the fact that using the website is free changes any of those concerns?
Torrent Informatics
http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000978.html
XTorrent is my favorite torrent client. It's such a joy to use-- a tiny, native application that offers a best-of-breed implementation of the BitTorrent protocol. Everybody loves BitTorrent, and I love it too. I'm not the only one. By some estimates, torrent data may account for as much as 35% of all internet traffic.
The European Union Explained
http://vidinterest.com/video/4843/the-european-union-explained-the-internet-s-official-explain
The internet's official explainer of things that need explaining C.G.P. Grey tries to make the asterisk-filled European Union a little less confusing.
Ask HN: One service to create ads across Google, LinkedIn and Facebook?
I've just been through creating a set of identical ads on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google, all with roughly the same demographic and budget options. Are there any sites out there I can use to just create the ads one time, and it will go and drive my Google Ads account, Facebook account, etc, so that I can manage it all from one place?
Sony sent Credit Card Information in Plain text
http://pastie.org/private/97oth9v5tspkiztwwdmnga
According to this, if it is real. Sony doesn't even encrypt the cards when you use them on PSN.
Ask HN: How do I file my tax electronically without using a paid service?
This year I read up on tax rules and figured out my tax. However, I am still not sure how do I file them electronically without paying to Intuit or a similar service. Does anyone know if IRS as an API or something that I could use? IRS also discourages paper filing but makes it very hard to figure how to file online.
The Launch Code for U.S. Nukes Was 00000000 for 20 Year
http://mashable.com/2013/12/04/us-nukes-launch-code/?utm_cid=mash-com-fb-main-link
The Launch Code for U.S. Nukes Was 00000000 for 20 Year
CSS ribbons
http://www.red-team-design.com/css-ribbons
In this article you’ll learn how to create CSS ribbons, without any images and minimal HTML markup.
Show HN: Magic Square App w/ Meteor
http://magic-square.meteor.com/
I've been messing around with seeing how to make interesting math games online -- this is a simple adaptation of a game I used to play with kids I taught with paper and velcro.

The interesting feature -- that it sums as you work -- only shows up once you start inputting numbers. Feedback, suggestions, and criticism welcome as I'm quite new to building for the web!
The iPad: A Year Too Early
http://avalonstar.com/blog/2010/jan/28/a-year-too-early/
Basically, "magical software" does not constitute software that already runs on the devices I have right now. Even without any of the other external features (front-facing camera, etc.), the fact that they didn't wait to release this until they had the 4.0 SDK ready was a shot in the foot. They would have had a much more "compelling" release otherwise.

(Actually, I think I explained it better here than in the blog post.)
Large scale website development
http://www.subbu.org/blog/2007/10/large-scale-web-site-development
Comparatively old article, but still good sound advice.
WeMedia Pitch It Challenge
http://wemedia.com/miami/pitch-it/
We’re looking for commercial and non-profit venture ideas and will award up to $50,000 in seed funding to the innovators who can bring the best ideas to life.

We Media Pitch It begins with a simple goal: We want to find the best start-ups and help launch them with advice from funders, influential VCs, corporations, fellow entrepreneurs, attendees and media.

We’ve created a platform for early-stage - and frequently unfunded - companies to take center stage based purely on merit, without regard to their own financial resources.

There are two ways to participate.

1. Enter the We Media Pitch It Challenge. If you’re a finalist you’ll pitch your idea live at We Media Miami (February 24-26, 2009) before the leaders, innovators and investors of the connected society. A panel of judges will select the two best ideas - one commercial, one non-profit. We’ll invest up to $25,000 in each to help them turn the idea into reality. We’ve partnered with Ashoka’s Changemakers, a global network of social entrepreneurs, to help us select the finalists.

Hurry! The entry deadline is January 21, 2009.

To enter the challenge, visit http://www.changemakers.net/en-us/competition/powerofus.

2. Display your business, project or concept in the Pitch It Gallery at We Media Miami. You don’t have to enter the challenge to display at the conference. Just register and reserve your space. There’s no additional fee to reserve a space in the gallery (beyond the normal conference registration fee) - but the gallery is limited to about 30 participants and is available on a first-come, first served basis.

To register and reserve your space, visit http://wemedia.com/miami/register/.

Read more in the Pitch It FAQ (http://wemedia.com/miami/rules-and-faq/).

Slots are limited, so apply early.
Show HN: IRestoredSanity.com, share a ride to the Stewart/Colbert Rallies
http://www.irestoredsanity.com/
Simple app to find or give a ride to the Rally to restore sanity and/or Rally to keep fear alive in Washington, D.C. on 10.30.10
.NET: How to Use 3rd-Party Components
http://florianreischl.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-to-use-3rd-party-components.html
How to safely use 3rd party components in software systems
Airbnb + City of New York: Sandy Relief
http://www.airbnb.com/sandy
Airbnb has partnered with the City of New York to connect those in need with people who are able to provide free housing.
Campaign to make a really good Animated PNG converter/library
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/374397522/apngasm-foss-animated-png-tools-and-apng-standardi
kickstarter to make a new APNG Assembler 'apngasm' library and companion GUI editor for Animated PNG so it can finally be easy to create and use APNG images and incorporate APNG functionality in your software. Help make APNG the accepted standard and stop suffering with GIF.
Show HN: English language movies in Milano
http://soundmotion.it
Preface: I live in Milano, a very international city but with only 3 venues showing movies in their original language.

I speak a fairly good English and enjoy watching British and American movies;
I die a bit everytime I check the "official" website of the ONLY film festival (called 'Sound & Motion') that actually shows movies in English - http://goo.gl/t9MGh -

I'm a software developer.
Always been using Java but always willing to fool with the new kids in town.

So, together with a close friend and dev (Ruby/PHP), we started re-thinking the whole thing and set down a few points:
- we were going to use nodeJS;
- we w to use Twitter Bootstrap;
- we needed mongoDB.

We came up with: http://soundmotion.it

What do you think?

@soundmotionit
@mfirry
@dhinus

hello@smallcapitals.it

PS: we named "our thing" smallcapitals and we can't remeber why :)
How to give directions
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2008/11/how-to-give-dir.html
...there are two ways to give directions. One is using a so-called "route perspective", as in the example above. This adopts a first-person spatial perspective and is characterized by references to turns and landmarks. The other is a so-called "survey perspective", which gives directions as if looking down upon a map. This type of direction giving is characterized by references to cardinal directions (North, South, East and West) and precise distances.

And which is better?

When Hund's team used a fictitious model town made of plywood to test the ability of undergraduates to follow directions, they uncovered a curious anomaly. The students reported finding route perspective directions easier to follow and yet they steered a toy car to a destination more quickly and effectively when they were following cardinal directions.
JavaScriptU Workshop #1 - Building the Foundation (video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQAq7lYghlY
In this first class Jarrod Overson covers building the foundation of modern web applications using JavaScript libraries like requirejs, Jasmine, HTML5 Boilerplate, jQuery, Twitter's Bootstrap, and more!

full slides available at <a href="http://www.javascriptu.org/decks/sd/building_the_foundation/">http://www.javascriptu.org/decks/sd/building_the_foundation/</a>

learn more about JavaScriptU at <a href="http://javascriptu.org" title="JavaScriptU">javascriptu.org</a>
Rails vs Django Poll
http://www.railsordjango.com/
So prompted by another recent long discussion on the merits of these two frameworks, I quickly threw together this little poll for giggles.

Clicking on either logo logs your vote. Done my best to prevent vote spamming, so hopefully the results won't be too inaccurate.

If you have any great resources or comparison articles I missed for either stack, please let me know and I'll throw them in.
Show HN: UsherBuddy, Last-Minute Event Tickets
http://www.usherbuddy.com
Hey HN -

Was hoping to get some feedback from you guys on anything and everything related to our launch. UsherBuddy is a solution that venues can use to offer last-minute tickets to consumers. Compare it to the TKTS booths but on the web, not only broadway, and catered towards residents and not tourists!

For consumers: Last-minute usually means a discount to go out and discover something new. If the show is really popular the venue can increase the price if they would like. Event discovery on a budget, if you will.

For venues: Seats at a venue are perishable. Incremental revenue is where they make money, so we try to help them fill the seats while still getting something for the seat. This is similar to Goldstar or Stubdog, but by doing it last-minute we hope to get rid of the cannibalization of sales that those services promote.

Currently, we have venues signed up and are just trying to gauge the initial consumer reaction. Would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!
How the lost Mac intro video was found (and got my name stuck to it)
http://scottknaster.blogspot.com/2014/01/how-lost-mac-intro-video-was-found-and.html
There are hundreds of videos on YouTube showing the original Mac intro, and most of them have my name on them. Weird. Here's how it happened.
Roole, a language that compiles to CSS
http://roole.org/
Roole is a language that compiles to CSS.

It drew many inspirations from other CSS preprocessing languages like Sass, LESS and Stylus.

The most unique feature of Roole is that it has vendor prefixing built-in, so the language stays dead simple yet being able to prefix some extremely complex rules transparently.

Roole is implemented in JavaScript, so it can be run both on the server side (via node.js) or in a browser.
Yeoman + WordPress = YeoPress
https://github.com/wesleytodd/YeoPress
Setup a WordPress development environment, including the server, in less than 10 minutes.
Most effective way to meet Angel Investors
http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/09/how-to-meet-angel-investors.html
The most effective way to get set up with people who will invest in your fledgling business
33 Steps to Moving (your startup) Abroad [Checklist]
http://onwebapps.com/33-steps-to-moving-abroad-checklist/
While it might be nice to get YCombinator funding, angel investors, Venture Capital, etc, that route may not be in the cards for all.

Alternatively, you can devote part-time to contracting, the rest working on your startup, while leveraging the cost of living advantages of some interesting foreign lands.

By no means do I advise this route to all (indeed, if you get into YC, go for it!) -- but it might possibly be a Plan B for your startup, if you so choose.
Nosql for .net released
http://ravendb.net
Raven is an Open Source (with a commercial option) document database for the .NET/Windows platform.
Show HN: See what the world is buying right now
http://boughtby.co
Hi All,

I've been trying to learn programming since forever and this project is the outcome of months (may be years) of effort.

It connects with Twitter's streaming API to find people who are sharing their Amazon purchases and then pulls out product's name, picture and price from Amazon's product advertising API. See what the world is buying right now.

It's built on Kohana framework (PHP) and various great javascript libraries that folks have shared, and tonnes of tutorials that I found online. So, Thank You Internet! (Yayy!)

Would love to get feedback and how you might want to use it.
When Data and Design Dance
http://crookedpixels.com/when-to-design-for-humans-instead-of-data/
Pragmatism doesn’t have to conflict with innovation. The process doesn’t have to pit designers and engineers against one another.
DIY Botnet Kit Spotted in the Wild
http://blog.insecure.in/?p=989
Security researchers from GData, have spotted a DIY (do it yourself) botnet kit, available for sale at selected underground communities.
Ask HN: Why WhastApp Web is currently only available on Google Chrome?
If I can ask more specifically, what are the features that is being used in WhatsApp Web such that it currently can be available only on Google Chrome?
I've tested to trick WhatsApp Web through changing my User-Agent, and the Firefox & IE fails (errors in console). Hence I think there is some feature that is Chrome-specific only, but what is this feature? Can anyone point it out?

Thanks.
GitHub users can now upgrade Issue Tracker to OnTime for free for 1 year
http://www.ontimenow.com/github-issue-tracker
Axosoft is offering OnTime Scrum OnDemand, a powerful bug tracker and backlog management tool (with release/sprint planning, burndowns and more) to GitHub users for free for 1 year for up to 15 users. Normally, it costs $1,050/year!
Google DOES Acquire Valve "Do Not Suck" Clause Invoked
http://www.tekpopuli.com/2008/09/17/google-grabs-valve-in-secret-invokes-do-not-suck-clause/
Valve doesn't want to become Jaiku, Jotspot, Grand Central, or Dodgeball ... (funny)
A backyard rocketship treehouse -- that really works
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8izMrzulMHI
Rarely does building a treehouse require welding, grinding, painting, riveting, bending, crimping, plumbing, brazing, laser cutting, sound design, printed circuit board fabrication, thousands of lines of C code, distributed network protocols, sewing and embroidery.

Ours did.

Project web site: http://rocket.jonh.net
There's a Full Android Phone in This Week's Entertainment Weekly
http://mashable.com/2012/10/02/ew-has-smartphone-inside/
The CW put a "live Twitter feed" inside its ad in EW this week. It turns out, that feed is a full-blown Android smartphone.
Layered Technologies hacked, 6000 accounts compromised
http://www.venturecake.com/layered-technologies-hacked/
Breaking: Major US hosting company Layered Technologies have been hacked. Credentials for 5-6000 hosted accounts - and the data stored in them, including customer details in web stores - may have been compromised.
Ask HN: What technology news sources do you read?
The title is pretty self explanatory.
IPad deconstruction
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAl28d6tbko
Best use I have seen so far.
The Puzzlebox Orbit: A helicopter that you control with your mind
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/puzzlebox/puzzlebox-orbit-brain-controlled-helicopter
Open source too. I wonder how far that brain interface can be stretched....
Zendesk Support is Down
http://support.zendesk.com/
Per @ZendeskOps on Twitter, there is a network issue and there is no ETA on when it is coming back up yet.

This is affecting a lot of customers (if not all) who use Zendesk.
Turkish police shooting tear gas nonstop for 20 hours now
http://www.vgtv.no/#!/video/65023/direkte-opptøyer-i-istanbul
FOR THEY ARE RESISTING TO LOOSE THE LAST PIECE OF GREEN TO A SHOPPING MALL TO BE BUILT DEMOLISHING EVERYTHING THERE...
Opera Mini Coming To Multiple Platforms And Handsets, Including iPhone
http://blog.appboy.com/2010/02/opera-mini-coming-to-multiple-platforms-and-handsets-including-iphone/
It’s fair to say since the introduction of the iPhone, mobile Safari has had a tough time with users. From the intermittent crashing issues back on firmware 1.1.3 to lack of caching of pages in tab view, people quickly felt that they needed a replacement, one which would more over mirror that of their desktop browser on their Mac or PC.
Silverlight, Disabled in Chrome 42 by default
Hello Nerds!

I figured it would be a good idea to remind everyone that Chrome 42 is going to have Silverlight (and all other NPAPI plugins) disabled by default. Chrome 42 should be released in April, as early as the 7th.

Should be interesting.

More Details:

https://www.chromium.org/developers/npapi-deprecation

http://googlechromereleases.blogspot.com/2015/03/beta-channel-update_25.html
Ask HN: Is there a chat service that allows Markdown?
Maybe an extension that would allow Markdown in a service like HipChat. This would allow collaboration on code with the ability to give code examples that had syntax highlighting and code-block highlighting.
Ask HN:  Is voting on social news sites rude?  It would be in real life.
In real life, if people were to vote anonymously in real-time as to how interesting someone's comments are, it would be considered rude.

So why is this practice acceptable online?
Malaysia Airlines tells families by TEXT
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2587209/Now-France-says-satellite-images-objects-missing-MH370-airliner.html
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 vanished from civilian radar screens less than an hour after take-off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing with 239 people on board on March 8.
Open source mathematically less evil than proprietary software? 
http://blog.gardeviance.org/2011/10/why-proprietary-software-is.html
Funny mathematical equation, check it out!
Modified Nokia cell phone runs on Coca Cola
http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/modified-nokia-cell-phone-runs-on-coca-cola-20100112/
Nokia cell phone gets old battery taken out and new bio-battery added. Just pout Coca-Cola in and start using the phone!
Radio Mobile - Free RF Design Software 
http://dev.emcelettronica.com/radio-mobile-free-rf-design-software
Radio Mobile is a free RF design software that was originally created for amateur radio applications but can also be used for commercial radio systems design. It was developed and continuously being developed by Roger Coudé (VE2DBE), an amateur radio enthusiast.
256-color terminal up to par with Terminal.app
http://sites.google.com/site/iterm2home/
Finally a fast Terminal.app replacement that has support for 256 colors, full-screen mode and more. A few bugs and missing features, but a worthy replacement nonetheless.

Thank you, prashantv, for pointing me to this.
New SocialNetwork idea: DogTail, follow yourself.
http://github.com/vic/dogtail
Here's an idea I have for a new social network, what do you think?.

It all started as a joke with some friends about a social network for lone rangers, but later I got thinking about people with social phobias, and even people using twitter/facebook that become anxious about their followers count or privacy issues.

Do you think there would be users for a "social network" like it?
Ask HN: Need help teaching children (2-6yrs) innovation and problem solving
I’m currently writing/designing a primarily illustrative children’s book that teaches kids (2-6yrs) a very basic concept of innovation and problem solving.

However, two days ago I developed the fearsome condition of writer’s block and hope the community can cure my symptoms with some fresh ideas.

My protagonist (child) encounters toys (size not specified) in his dream and helps them solve various problems. I’m looking for a creative problem for each toy and a solution that the child could build/suggest.

Quick example:
- A small robot is sad, because he is too heavy to swim. The child blows up a couple of balloons that keep the robot from sinking.

I’m looking for creative and clever ideas for the following toys: robot, soldier drummer doll and yellow digger (excavator)

I hope I’m asking in the correct format and please feel free to ask if I left anything unclear. Thank you guys so much in advance!
What did I buy today? 
http://katebingamanburt.com/princeton-architectural-press
Kate Bingaman-Burt’s artful new mini-ledger, invites readers to answer that question every day, promoting frugality.