jkeisling/hacker-news-corpus-2007-2022 huggingface dataset:
Amazon's New API Competes With Paypal, Google Checkout
http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/08/amazons-new-api.html
When I'd first caught wind of an "Amazon FPS" I was hoping for some awesome DOOM 3/online commerce mashup. It turns out that I was way off on that one.
Text to speech software - how it really works?
http://download.searchforsoft.com/Audio-Multimedia/Speech/Verbose-Text-to-Speech-Software-79195.htm
Verbose text to speech software limitations.
Innostore Podcast (an Erlang binding to the embedded InnoDB Storage Engine)
http://blog.basho.com/2010/02/02/basho-podcast-three---an-introduction-to-innostore/
In this podcast, Dave "Dizzy" Smith and Justin Sheehy discuss the release of Innostore, why we built it, how we use it in Riak, and why it might be useful for other Erlang projects. The discussion focuses on the stability and predictability of InnoDB, especially under load and as compared with other storage backends like DETS.
My "mindful" running hacks
http://www.antzucaro.com/2010/07/mindful-running-hacks/
As a long distance runner, I know that the biggest challenges to running aren't physical - they are all in my head! Most of the time it is mental fatigue or self-pressure that really slows me down. I've come up with a list of the mind hacks that I use to overcome the challenges of running longer distances. What are some techniques that you use?
What's really wrong with BlackBerry (and what to do about it)
http://mobileopportunity.blogspot.com/2010/10/whats-really-wrong-with-blackberry-and.html
Excellent summary of the challenges facing RIM. Worth a read even if you don't care about the smartphone wars.
How's your Spanish? Build Spanish into your product or else
http://theweek.com/article/index/213574/the-new-us-census-data-6-key-takeaways
Latest Census data shows a booming Hispanic population in the US with 43% growth over 10 years. I think that building Spanish into your product is necessary to be successful in the 10 years to come!
How to turn an awful user experience into an awesome experience
http://pandodaily.com/2012/02/28/paperlesspost-on-steroids-gifting-app-karma-launches-with-5m/
Finding the right gift has always seemed like a daunting task to me. Karma's approach is phenomenal (they have removed so many friction points - no need to know the right size or color, no need to know the address, you don't even have to put the credit card upfront!!!).
Barnes & Noble turns to Austin startup to create a mobile e-commerce storefront
http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/technology/10/15/1015digby.html
BlackBerry users can buy books, CDs and DVDs using free Digby software
Anonymous tricked people into joining Web site attacks
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-57363103-245/anonymous-tricked-people-into-joining-web-site-attacks/?tag=mncol;editorPicks
If you clicked a link distributed by Anonymous yesterday, you may have unwittingly helped the online activists in their attacks against U.S. government and entertainment industry sites that were organized to protest proposed antipiracy legislation.
Show HN: statifyme.com web app built on python & django
I've just launched my coming soon page for Statify, a website monitoring service built using python and django. While the soon coming page has been just been launched. I've been busy the last few months working on the actual service, which is very near completion.

I regularly build and maintain sites and anyone whose ever built a site will know that they will go down at some point and you'll find out via the client or from pissed off users.

So I decided to build my own app that would track my sites and notify me when they go down, that way I can get a jump on things before clients and users jump on me :)

I recently started using python & django and found the power and the cleanest of them to be wonderful and a welcome relief from other languages. My goal with this project is make a simple to use, fire and forget app that will let you manage your websites and be notified when something goes wrong. Along the way I hope to share lessons I'll learn and I look forward to learning more from others. Your feedback is very welcome, thanks.

http://statifyme.com http://twitter.com/statifyme
Infographic: Who earns and spends more money, iOS or Android users?
https://toshl.com/financial-infographics
Infographic comparing average spending and earnings of iOS, Android, Windows Phone and Symbian^3 Toshl users. Sample geographical views of the data as well.
Ask HN: Are there real world examples of secure multi party computation?
After another round of seminars including one with an introduction to secure multi party computation, the same question came up: Are there real world applications?

My colleague noted: Yao's garbled circuits are from '86. Since then we had a lot of research but no results in secure multiparty computation (except the beet auction in Denmark).

Checking out hte MPC alliance [1] and the wiki gave some "vendors" [2] but checking them out led to no traceable results.

So I wondered if any HN natives know of well established applications or, as my friend called it on twitter "SMC is like quantum computers. Indepent of the current time, it will have its breakthrough in five years."

[1] https://www.mpcalliance.org/

[2] https://wiki.mpcalliance.org/Vendors.html
Why is it so difficult to find a Sr Dev/Lead into VP of Eng role with a Start-up
I'm working directly (I'm a headhunter) with/for a new start-up in the predictive analytics/gaming space in NYC. This company is well-funded (offering a competitive salary and sizable equity >2%).

I know most people on here will be quick to bad mouth recruiters but I'm curious what people's thoughts are on this. One would think this is a relatively attractive position (Chance to manage all the technical architecture/responsibilities, build out your own engineering team, equity, competitive salary, cool product, etc.) Are 4-7 year iOS Devs/Mobile Architects looking to make a career transition that rare?

I'm guessing most Engineers by that level are so well-taken care of or dedicated to their employers that they are unwilling to leave. It also seems the start-up space is quite saturated at this point and the "Exciting Start-up" Opportunity isn't quite as sexy as it was even a few years ago.
A technical software engineer career?
I work for a large US company as a Software Engineer (about 15 years in since college). I've enjoyed my work and have climbed from Level 1 to Level 4 over time. I'm currently a full time telecommuter I've worked on projects/technologies all over the company, while being able to stay technical as an individual contributor.

Yesterday, I had my year review and its the first time I've felt "stuck". I got a normal 2-3% raise, but my manager said to really grow my career, I need to stop working with so many projects and start focusing on a single project, by leading a team or becoming 'known' for something that directly effects the companies bottom line (to get "name recognition"). Before the review, I saw my year as stellar. I worked on many projects, mentored younger engineers in many technologies, and never missed a deadline.

This review caused me to rethink everything and where my career is going. In my mind, being a valuable member of various teams around the company is how I get name recognition, but, it seems, depth is more valued at the company than breadth.

About me:

* I love technology and learning new software technology
* I don't see myself as a manager or someone that has to spend more time in meetings than "in the code"
* I have a bad case of imposter syndrome and have felt burned out many times over the past few years
* I'm introverted when it comes to working with big groups, but thrive when I'm working with a smaller team on a day-to-day basis

I haven't been on the market for 15-ish years, so I'm not sure what's "normal" these days. Is this sort of mid-career ceiling normal? Is it even possible to stay in a tech role and still climb the career ladder? I realize at some point, I need to go test the waters and see what I'm worth on the market, but I keep finding reasons to stay on my current path due to not having the time to prepare myself for the interviewing process. Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.
The easiest way ever to store your notes online
http://dontpad.com
Dont login, just use a URL
Dont save, text is auto-saved
Dont juggle attached files, edit online with your friends
Dont lose your content, download with YourURL.zip
Dont forget, you can use yourURL/yourFolder/yourSubfolder
Dontpad!
How to Report Sexual Harassment
http://www.maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/on-sexual-harassment-at-conventions-elise-matheson-speaks-out/
From various discussions in person and online, I knew for certain that I was not the only one to have reported inappropriate behavior by this person to his employer. It turned out that the previous reports had been made confidentially and not through HR and Legal. Therefore my report was the first one, because it was the first one that had ever been formally recorded.
Ask HN: Would you use a website to help other startups with sales?
I am thinking about putting up a website for startups that would help sales by getting referrals from other startups.

The basis for the idea is threefold:

1. There is a lot of goodwill in the startup world (recent Offer HN posts are evidence). Many startup people I know would go out of their way to help their peers as long as they are not direct competitors.

2. Startup founders have a lot of human capital: they know and on a daily basis talk to many people who are potential clients not just for their own companies, but for their peers as well.

3. The most complicated part of business for most startups is sales (customer acquisition).

The idea is to put up a website where one could register a startup, provide basic information: name, product description (15-second pitch), target group. Startups with matching target groups would be informed about each other (I am thinking regular emails), and with some luck and good will would refer potential customers to each other.

Yeah, the idea is hopelessly naive, but maybe it could just work out?
Taking Back the DNS
http://www.circleid.com/posts/20100728_taking_back_the_dns/
Every day lots of new names are added to the global DNS, and most of them belong to scammers, spammers, e-criminals, and speculators. The DNS industry has a lot of highly capable and competitive registrars and registries who have made it possible to reserve or create a new name in just seconds, and to create millions of them per day. Domains are cheap, domains are plentiful, and as a result most of them are dreck or worse.
Ask HN: What legal rights do I have over side project source code?
Say I've been working on a project for a year. I'm not quite done, but I decide to join a firm as a software developer. Short of open sourcing everything I've done, do I have a way to continue development of this project in my free time? Does anyone know of any legal documents that are already prepared in this regard? Or of other legal strategies?

I can imagine that the company, and their code base, will perhaps legitimately claim that as soon as I start working on that -- I will be 'affected' by this code, and so it becomes difficult to determine if my side project code is my code any longer.

I could seriously see this being an issue in a couple of months. At any rate, do people remain independent contractors or consultants for this reason? Curious what other people's experiences are.
Ruby's Inspect Considered Harmful
http://devblog.agworld.com.au/post/24392662859/rubys-inspect-considered-harmful
Excerpt: "There’s another, insidious drawback to the default inspect that leads to severe performance issues. Both NameError and NoMethodError call inspect when constructing their exception message, and there’s simply no way to monkeypatch around that ... The fact that it took 7 months for this fix to finally make it into Rails 3.2.3 stable (and yet be mysteriously absent from the changelog) is another story."
Ask HN: Job interview followup: common courtesy or asking too much?
I like YC because they are really cool on follow ups. They waste no ones time. In the job market, employers are not always so cool...I find this especially true when applying for academic instructor jobs at public schools (private collegs have been cool in my experience).

I take the time to interview, use my own resources to go to the interview (drive or fly out). I would like the uncertainty resolved when they make a decision...I would think this is common courtesy. Am I correct or am I expecting too much?
Windows logo planted on upcoming Apple Store in Germany (video) 
http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/04/windows-logo-planted-on-upcoming-apple-store-in-germany-video/
Now it really reminds me of 1984s everlasting war...
Ask HN: How to split the startup?
We're three founders:

- Sales

- Hardware

- Software (me)

The hardware and software are "finished" (software is never finished) and they work even better than expected, but there will be new features and improvements in the future. As we just finished it this week, there's no sales yet and we'll be creating the company soon.

So there's a problem: from the work done so far, the hardware guy and me should have most of the cake and the sales person should have the smallest (he is also on commission per sale). However the sales guy wants a bigger piece of the cake since his work will be larger in the future.

How should we proceed to split the business? What steps will help us decide? Have in mind that we're two inexperienced (at negotiating) engineers against an experienced salesman, so we're on the odds here. I think it'd be fair for us all to have a similar share as he's on commission. He thinks it's unfair when looking ahead and when our work is mostly punctual.

I would love to hear your opinion since there's many experienced people here, probably on both sides.
Graphic: An Explosion of Mobile Patent Lawsuits - NYTimes
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/04/an-explosion-of-mobile-patent-lawsuits/
As mobile devices become the next wave of computing, Apple, Nokia, Kodak, and many more are suing each other over mobile phone related patents.
The Myth of the Sole Inventor
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1856610
From Mark Lemley's abstract: "The canonical story of the lone genius inventor is largely a myth. ... [P]atent rights encourage patent races, and that might actually be a good thing. ..."
Show HN: Poker Skills Website for Beginners – With Boss/Panic Screen
https://www.pokerpupil.com
I enjoy playing poker with my friends, but I have to admit, I’m a classic ‘fish’, particularly after a beer!

I’ve created a web app where fellow fish can practice their poker skills for free against bots.

www.pokerpupil.com

As a homage to old computer games, I’ve added a boss/panic screen: press ‘b’ to open a fake spreadsheet. (Desktop web only)

My hope is us fellow fish can rise up and take down our next home game.

I built the game in Flutter, using this tutorial as a base: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSN2hBf8D5Q

Things I liked about Flutter:

(1) Components are fun to build. The instant preview when you save your code never gets old.

(2) Lots of really nice pre-built UI to get you up and running quickly.

(3) Write the code once, launch on multiple surfaces (iOS, Android, Web, Mac, Windows). This capability is inspiring me to build a lot more software!

(4) Decent community of developers.

Things that were less good:

(1) Takes a while to load, particularly on mobile. (~4MB download)

(2) Seems too “heavy” for everyday web projects. But fine for larger web apps / desktop / mobile software.

(3) Working out how to use Provider was intimidating to start with, but the tutorial linked above really helped me work it.

Ideas? Questions? support@pokerpupil.com
April Fools Prank: Lannister inspired micro-collection for men
http://seat14a.com/limited_edition
Don't forget to click the purchase button. :)
Suburban Commercial, Open
High-Rise Commercial, Cubicles
Corporate Campus, Open
SHOW HN: MY 24 HACK, just in time for valentines?
http://ilov3u.net
ok...even though im a bit sleepy, i would love to get a lot of feedback from people regarding my website...also what are the ways I can protect myself from hackers in this situation?
Banned TED Talk: Rupert Sheldrake – The Science Delusion
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/04/10/banned-ted-talk-rupert-sheldrake-the-science-delusion/
Why do we blindly believe that matter is unconscious? Or that nature is purposeless?? Because the science tells us so and also tells us to believe in many other so called "facts" which were never proven or disregarded.
I also had the time to watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR1SLQwHDog&feature=youtube_gdata
He tells in words what I have felt for a long time already.
Spaces destroy the planet
http://peterbraden.co.uk/article/space-infidel
A response to the coding horror article.
Ask HN: Are dedicated servers a better deal than VPS/Cloud options?
Just looking at Softlayer's dedicated machines, it seems they offer a better deal on these than if you go with their Cloud computing offerings. What is the advantage to using clouds/VPS then?
Tell HN: CISPA Town Hall Debate At CNET Studios, Thurs. 7pm, Apr 19
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-57415984-281/cnet-hosting-cispa-town-hall-meeting-on-april-19-join-us/
Join panelists from Engine Advocacy, EFF, and other both pro-CISPA and anti-CISPA voices for a lively discussion. Tomorrow, Thu Apr 19th at 7pm at the CNET Studios offices on 235 2nd St in Downtown SF. Find out what the current status of the bill is and why the diverse representatives hold the views they do.
Sex myths without substance: Mislabelling Japan
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/sex-myths-without-substance-mislabelling-japan-8911325.html
"These stories gain traction because they support a simplistic view of East Asia which is at best patronising and at worst overtly racist [...] The collective obsession with portraying Japan as a nation of tech-obsessed sexual deviants dehumanises its citizens and echoes orientalist attitudes that should be long since dead and buried."
Ask HN: Python vs. Java - runtime performance
I am starting work on what will be a rather large project involved in real-time trading (NOT high frequency, but intraday). I've been stumped on the decision to go with Python or Java, which boils down to runtime performance.

After doing lots of research, I have not been able to reach any kind of stable conclusion regarding the performance capabilities of these two languages.

From what I can tell, although Java memory footprint is larger, as well as taking longer to start, it seems that it performs faster than Python does. Although I have read about popular JIT compiler add-ons for python, such as PyPy, that rumor C-like speeds.

So I ask you hackers: which language is better suited for a large enterprise application? This is not a website, it is an application that provides presentation through a browser for private use.

Thank you for your insights.
For Startups: A Theme Song
http://www.thesixtyone.com/TheBlackGhosts/collection/item/21105/?autoplay_song
The Repetition Kills You.
Show HN: Matrix, a fast and flexible blogging engine
http://ec2-54-83-122-123.compute-1.amazonaws.com/admin
Still pretty rough ...

Emphasizes:

1) Simple, no-frill dashboard for managing posts (files).
2) Lightweight markdown editor
3) Relationships: taxonomy (file tagging) and fast linking (content to other posts)

Some of the important key bindings I have are ctrl+c for code, ctrl-L for linking text to other posts. Right now this is baked in but I'd want to allow users to customize it.

It's still pretty beta but let me know what ya'll think!

Here's the github page if you want to help out: https://github.com/keera/matrix
Does startup density predict startup success?
http://feefighters.com/blog/startup-density/
We take a data driven look at whether startup hubs actually lead to startup success. Click the link to find out the answer.
Snowden leaks US giving Israel private information on Americans
http://www.jpost.com/International/Report-Israel-receives-intelligence-from-US-containing-private-information-on-US-citizens-325871
"This headline plays down the biggest part of this story: The NSA has programs that collect data on US Supreme Court Justices and elected officials, and they secretly provide it to Israel regulated only by an honor system."
On Android innovation: How temperature & humidity sensors made it into the S4
http://opensignal.com/blog/2013/06/12/the-story-of-how-temperature-and-humidity-sensors-made-it-into-the-samsung-galaxy-s4/
I'd love to know if anyone has any other stories of changes that were adopted by Android following submissions to the Android OpenSource Project by third parties.
The Curse of Xanadu (1995)
https://www.wired.com/1995/06/xanadu/
same old story, i suppose. was reminded of it by, reflecting on my general contempt for having to deal with css all the time, which led(googled) me toward http://www.w3.org/Style/LieBos2e/history/ .. and then, the general rememberance: "design is effen hard; "espcially the first draft" (as Herbert Simon "explained" circa 1969).
Verizon’s spectrum deal with cable is the end of broadband competition
http://gigaom.com/broadband/verizons-spectrum-deal-with-cable-is-the-end-of-broadband-competition/
The spectrum deal Verizon signed with Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks Friday, in which the nation’s largest wireless operator would buy the unused airwaves from the nation’s top cable providers, signals the moment that the consumer benefits of the convergence of voice, video and data hit the wall.
Ask HN: I've got a full time job I love & extra cash, I want to invest.
I consulted for years, I tried a few psudo "startups" (mainly consulting as tech or management, sometimes for free or equity). I'm currently at my first "large" company in good position with lots of movement potential. I'm making money, I'm busy learning every day, and I'm quite happy.<p>I've always saved relentlessly but now I feel like I should do something with my money. I figure I have about $150 a week I can invest in a business. It's hardly enough for a large venture but its more then enough to fund a side project. Alternatively I can invest in funds, stocks, bonds, or whatever.<p>Honestly though my gut tells me to go for small ventures. How do I work on such a small scale?
Alan Kay: The Computer Revolution hasn't happened yet
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2950949730059754521&q=alan+kay+revolution&total=8&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0
10 years have passed since this OOPSLA keynote. Are we getting any closer?
Marine Corps combat sketch artist.
http://rbportraits.squarespace.com/art-gallery/
Talented combat sketch artist.
Show HN: CloudPebble adds a UI editor
https://cloudpebble.net/
More details at: https://developer.getpebble.com/blog/2014/08/08/CloudPebble-Graphical-UI-Editor/
From the Generically-Named, an Appeal for a Facebook URL Aftermarket
http://themetricsystem.rjmetrics.com/2009/06/13/facebook-please-take-my-money-i-want-my-url/
Generically-named Bob Moore begs Facebook to let him attempt to buy his name in vanity URL form (and generate them some revenue in the process)
Java vs. K: a screencast
http://www.cs.nyu.edu/~michaels/screencasts/Java_vs_K/Java_vs_K.html
K is a proprietary APL-influenced array programming language. A simple 36-line Java program becomes a one-liner in K.
Ask HN: How do you cope up with the emotional rollercoaster of a start up?
Some days I feel like a king and some days just plain hopeless.

I am having a rough ride guys.
Ask HN: What is unique about your company's culture?
Tell us things which are unique about your company's culture.
Everything you need to know about pointers in C
http://boredzo.org/pointers/
Pointers in C with explanation and examples.