skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I am not defending religion, as I am an atheist. I think god doesn't exist, but I just can't prove it, as there is no rational way to do it. Hard core atheists just "know" that god doesn't exist.

The fact is that a theory, is just a mathematical proof based on assumptions (which may be wrong), which need to be proven in real life by testing.

Testing some of these proofs is very very expensive and usually done by goverment grants, or in brand name universities with lots of money from private donors. So, if you are a no name scientist, it will be harder for your theory to be taken in consideration. And some of these theory, such as string theory, are almost impossible to proove, with our current technology.
Almost like it is impossible to prove that good doesn't exist, yet you can't really prove that good exists.

Physicist, are human, just like everybody else, jealousy, competition, wanting of fame are all part of a normal human being. Saying physicist are beyond that, is simple false. As a physics minor, who has friends doing phd programs, I can say that the competition for grant money is fierce.

One striking porperty of physicts: They know they are right, and that they are better than you. (assuming you didnt' do physics). It is just like that. Once you hang our with some of them, you will know.
Practical Lisp 2008
I have recalled my own incomplete recollection here.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=81332
Maybe you could just disassemble swfs and extract the text. I wonder why Google doesn't do that (or do they!?).
Ah, thanks for the clarification. Didn't realize you were talking about the physicist vs. priest theory.
>> I'm speaking of successful entrepreneurs in general and not just of successful internet ones (even then there were a lot of successful internet entrepreneurs that came after them)

The tech boom was setup over half a century ago with massive investment by the military serving as the basis of the beginning of most of what we use in consumer land today. Same with the auto industry - it was systematically planned on purpose, like the high construction, by the oil cos. QUESTION: what "big infrastructure" investment is paving the way for the entrepreneurs of the future? Please don't say "alternative bio energy" ...

Entrepreneurs are important players, no doubt. But the game needs to be setup properly first. Our game is falling apart and needs to be reset just like you used to restart your Win95 based PC mid-day when it clogged up.

>doesn't sound like you have been to the 3rd world. over there people care about more important stuff like food and water and maybe even basic education; you call suffering watching some guy drive a car you can't afford? we live like kings over here

No, that wasnt' my point. My point is that it's different being "there" where most people are suffering and in the same boat than it is here where people suffer right alongside ostentatious wealth aquired via sometimes legit, sometimes not so means.

> so you really do believe in what you wrote? I thought you were just messing with me. ironic

Let me say this as clearly as I know how. I ADMIRE some things about S.V. ... I WISH I could duplicate them. Many people do. But so far it has not proven possible. Having said that, as an "outsider" I recognize it's uniqueness. You, as an insider, seem, to me, to be saying, basically, "Why don't you folks just, you know, come together and innovate like we do and the market will reward you for it."

What I'm saying is the over there it's like a well-oiled machine that seems to have biased your impression of the challenges everyone outside of there experiences.

I wish I could experience "that" over "here", but recognize "that" is not reality most places. You experience "that" there and see the word through S.V.-colored glasses ...

Come on, I know I'm not always super clear but I can't be killing this point that bad.

Look at it this way - imagine an NBA player telling you, "What's the problem - just jump up and dunk it like I just did - what's so hard about that?"

Imagine you're 5'6". Just once you'd like to put that guy in your frame and say, "Okay - go ahead - jump up and slam dunk it now like you just advised me!"
I can't figure this post out. It reads kind of like a drunken fratboy's impression of Stephen Colbert's impression of DHH. I mean,

"...when you're using Rails and OS X, you're using the platform of choice for douchebags."

Is that meant to hurt my feelings? Or is it an attempted parody that has gone horribly wrong and started killing innocent bystanders?

FWIW, I can't tell the difference between DHH's opinion of Windows and the average Unix expert's opinion of Windows. And I hope for the sake of Atwood's blood pressure that he never encounters PG's hilarious line about Windows NT from "Great Hackers".
Consumer Health Care Startup Wants You
We want to hire you, if

- you brush your teeth with grep

- you floss with sed

- you are a (perl|python|lisp|arc|php) webapp hacker

- you build and tear down centos boxes for fun

- you are production ready

We are

- Stanford PhDs and Scientists

- Hackers who have founded $100m+ companies

- Funded to pay you in cash + stock

- About to change healthcare

send resumes to

healthcarestartup at google's email service.com
Yup. Agreed.

Chris Hecker's talk, Structure vs. Style, was much better regarding this subject. His argument is that we don't have a Structure vs. Style decomposition for AI. We have it on the web => HTML(structure) and CSS(style). We have it in computer graphics => triangle(structure) and texture map(style).

Of course, this got the panties of all of the LISPers in a bunch.
i know physicists, but i don't know any physicists who act like that. there is a reason physics has been so successful. you haven't explained an alternative for how that happened, besides physicists actually doing something right.

though certainly i agree universities and their grant money setups are good at corrupting people, and it happens sometimes.

regarding religion: whether you are an atheist or not, you gave a defense of religion by claiming it's no worse than science. but perhaps what i should say to you is: you don't have to defend religion, to attack science. leave religion out of it.
Well, if we use energy for stupid, wasteful projects then of course energy is scarce; if we use it more effectively/efficiently, then less so. It's all based on how/what we use it for.

>We can't build superstructures, even if we got rid of the military.

Research Dubai. They're building the world's 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and fourth greatest structures at the same time. The #1 building is almost twice the height of those towers in malasia.

> We could probably build a huge particle accelerator if we got rid of the military though..

personally making scooters and small hatchbacks sexy like they do in Europe would be a good idea, as would coordinating flights better to not have half-full jets wasting fuel taking off ...
The key to good public failure motivation is to make it opt-in. Blog post committing yourself to run a marathon: good. But:

Past students of mine have repeatedly told me to be a bit of a bastard in the classroom, as they find the persistent threat of embarrassment (if they are unprepared) to be a useful motivator.

That's a recipe for disaster. People's learning styles vary greatly, and helpful motivation to one student might be traumatic humiliation to another. Since students are a captive audience, the people who hate that style will just stop coming to class.

People will embarrass themselves enough as it is; no need to do it for them.
What the hell is the basis of downgrading this post? Seriously I come across posts like, "It depends" that have like, 46 points next to them. I put up a post, short, long, on point, off point, boring, interesting, and there's like a 24-hour army of down-modding ninjas tracking my every keystroke just waiting to pounce on me and downgrade ... get a life you haters!
Energy is fundamentally scarce. I am thinking about much larger scale uses of energy than anything humans are doing right now. Check out the link to the Kardashev Scale posted above, we need orders of magnitude more energy to build something like a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere
Works hard at image, not substance.
> send resumes to
> healthcarestartup at google's email service.com

The irony of this is beyond comprehension. You're a healthcare startup about to revolutionize the industry that USES Google mail, and Google, too wants to get in on your market at the exact same time!

Who will win, the PhDs and Scientists, or the company that has so much money that they keep PhDs and Scientists on payroll "just in case" they need them in the future ...

"Are you ready? Are you ready? Let's giiiit it awwwn!"
I don't say it is false, but there is a huge camp on the physics community saying, as long as all those theories are not testable in any way with our current techonology, then they are just philosophical theories, and not science.

Remember, hard science is based on observation, and testing. When I say testing, means that they are proven correct for some kind of settings.
Just as Newton's Gravitational Law, is correct for most human (small, or large scale), but it is incorrect for the very very tiny (quantum scale), or it may be incorrect for the very very large.

http://www.teachersdomain.org/resources/phy03/sci/phys/fund/...
I think you're right that there's going to be (is?) a Rails "backlash", but I disagree that it has anything to do with DHH or his personality. (What, you think Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, and Steve Ballmer are humble and self-effacing?) It's just the backside of the hype cycle.

Rails is no longer as young and hot as it used to be, and the fanboys and the media will move on to something else. Because Rails was the subject of such breathless hype from the Silver Bullet crowd, the "backlash" meme will probably get considerable media play as well. Nobody is more bitter than a frustrated seeker of Silver Bullets.

Meanwhile, Rails and Merb and jRuby and other Ruby-based tools will continue to slowly improve, as such tools generally do.

You can argue over whether or not such hype cycles are useful in the long term. They certainly didn't hurt Java.
Yes, this was posted on blogger.com. They said that the site would be down at 6pm PST.

I noticed the notice at 5pm today.
>are not testable in any way with our current techonology

It'd be cool if we hit singularity soon and build a planet size particle accelerator.
gag.
Okay, I'm talking about energy for a state of practical human affairs, not building a death star / second sun or whatever that thing is.
some things some physicists do aren't empirically-based, yes that's correct. whether you call that "science" is a matter of terminology, but the important thing is whether it's high or low quality thinking, and the atmosphere and ethos has high or low quality discussion and criticism.

i would say it is science, because the most important part of science is not the experiments, but the attitudes associated with science. do all the experiments you want, and without "scientific rigor" you will not get anywhere.
Oh no, downmodded by the army of down-modding ninjas tracking my every move ... oh no ... now they'll down this post too!
Technology Populism: Risks & Rewards
New Orleans Reborn - The 2008 NBA All-Star Game
The 2008 all-star weekend held in New Orleans just recently is one of the most important events the town has held as it is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, event that was held there since the town was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The spectacle's success was remarkable, letting tourists know that New Orleans has been reborn.
Usually complaining about downmodding will get you downmodded more. I gave you some free points to protect you from the oncoming hoard.
Google Gives All SF Homeless Free Voicemail
I don't see how what DHH said translates to "OSX/Rails is the best platform ever!".

It seems to me that he's just saying you should care about your tools, and pick the one you think is the best (and be prepared to justify it, if you apply to 37Signals). Don't just default to Windows/Java/Blub.
Yes, absolutely. All it takes is the right defaults.
Douchebaggery, indeed.

In my experience, the people who get tweaked when someone like DHH expresses a strong opinion, are usually the same ones to suck the creativity and excitement out of any room they enter.

Unless you're planning to work with DHH, what do you care what he thinks about your laptop? Learn to deal.
But I get downmodded no matter what. It seems like there's a conspiracy to make sure I never get above mid-50s. Heck, I think if I add all the 30-to-50 variances I'd be up to at least 500 by now. Okay. Fine. Um, "Me too. I agree. What that guy said reminds me of an article by Paul Graham ... BTW, I was using all these cool new startup apps, then I found out they were all started by this incubator, Y Combinator, which just happened to be run by the guy who wrote most of my favorite articles on the whole wide internet, Paul Graham. Did I mention I can't wait for someone to do a mashup of Xobni and RescueTime and Reddit? Also, a random thought occurred to me: without Viaweb, Yahoo would probably never have gotten off the ground. Also, last, I would upmod everybody if only I could, especially pg and rms. Have I mentioned how clean, fresh and well-thought out the design of Hacker News is? If only all forums were this elegant. There! Can I please have a few extra points now? My dream is to someday break the magical (for me) "60 barrier". I've heard tales. I believe it's possible, somehow, someway. I love all you guys, even the band of down-modding ninjas tracking my every move. May you all have many buyout offers from Google and Microsoft, but enough customers to be able to turn them down and go on to bigger, better things.

Now watch this get downmodded.
On The Road Guide from A Stranger
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, there’s an awesome book by Jack Kerouac about being “On The Road,” and well, quite frankly, I haven’t read it yet. (Boo me, I’m more a “Gambler,” Kenny Rogers.) I myself have had quite the time of my life during adventures — there are the naïve mistakes that I can laugh at, now that I’m older, and there are the triumphs, that I hold dear to me, for always.
Regarding that link, in the "background essay":

The first sentence misuses the word "revolutionary".

The second sentence misuses the term "all aspects".

The third sentence misquotes the general position of string theorists (I think) by misusing the term "explanation". Either way, it's making a reductionist mistake.

The fourth sentence (second paragraph) suggests that the biggest obstacle to acceptance of string theory is that it's weird, not whether it's true. This is false. If there was no case that string theory were true, then it's adherents would give it up, and it would never be able to gain acceptance.

The fifth sentence misuses the word "detect".

The sixth sentence (third paragraph), which I think was your point, is ... well let's see how they support it in the remaining sentences.

The seventh sentence makes both inductivist and justificationist mistakes before the semi-colon. Then misuses the word "suggests" after the semi-colon.

The eighth sentence restates the claim from the sixth.

The ninth (last) sentence badly misuses the word "explains" and the term "scientifically valid". It's also terrible English.
Thank you for your generous point-granting kindness, sir.
I have had nothing but trouble when it comes to programming web environments in Windows. In any language be it PHP, Ruby, etc. and so forth, there's too much "Oh, it acts differently in Windows."

Most of it is related to POSIX environments vs. Windows, but I digress...
not quite reader friendly... this is the best design they could scare up in san fransisco?
There is a true lack of places to call your voicemail without a cellular phone.
Obviously karma is very important to you, I gave you as many points as I could.

Just say what you want and don't worry about the karma. You've got something of a stream of consciousness style going on; your posts are longer than most here. My advice is to try and make your posts more concise. If they were shorter, people would be more likely to take the time to reply rather than just downmod you.
I see. Thank you. How's that?
Marissa Mayer has 99.999% uptime and a multi-core personality
OMG - I just looked - I'm up to a new high of 70, surpassing my highest over of 56. You just made my month!
Perhaps so they can contact their chefs? http://valleywag.com/356298/google-chef-in-homeless-shelter

But seriously, this is something that could actually help homeless people get jobs, etc, so good for Google.

Hopefully the numbers are untraceable back to this initiative, so there's no chance of discrimination against homeless...
Who is developing or playing around with AIR?
With the recent AIR SDK 1.0 launch, I am curious to who is playing around with it. Any body building apps? porting Applications? For fun? Please post links/your work, If you would like to share.
it was like repeating which floor of the parking deck you're on early in the morning only to forget come afternoon
I read about Kerry Black in Wired a while back. Another fascinating surfer-physicist who is well on his way to delivering perfect surf waves on demand to bored teens at indoor land-locked malls.

"It's evening, and Black is hosting a dinner party with his girlfriend and a few guests at his house just blocks from ASR. As he throws a couple of fresh red snapper on the grill, Black talks about his quest to decipher the physics of surfing. It's one that's taken him more than 30 years, most of which had more to do with mundane coastal dynamics and oceanography than with surfing per se."Before you can understand surfing reefs," he says, "there's so much other knowledge you need. Wave dynamics. Sediment transport. Computer modeling. I was really in a long process to get those things before I could start on surf breaks."

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.05/surfing_pr.html
The argument about OSes has long since left the realm of useful debate about relative merits and become some sort of brand-identification circlejerk. Apple is always going to win that war because Windows, for as long as it is dominant, will always be bourgeois. It's the same with Sam Adams vs. Budweiser.

That's the price you pay for achieving ubiquity. You forfeit the hipster dufus demographic.
it's a classic case of shoddy journalism with brand names. it's almost akin to linkbaiting.
Grand Central was doing this long before they got acquired by Google. Before they offered their product publicly even.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/04/12/...
If I pay $1 for 20% of your stock, I'm saying your company is worth $5. I now have 20% worth $1. You have 80% worth $4.
blogggg! A blog engine for the ages.
We're using AIR for a fairly large project.
Ask: why are there are no file sharing startups?
If you genuinely want to make something people want, observe that file sharing clients like eMule and uTorrent have tens or even hundreds of millions of downloads. They actually make even the biggest Web 2.0 services like Flickr look small in comparison.

People will put up with bad interfaces and installing desktop software if it gets them what they want in a new, faster way. This has been proved several times since Napster arrived.

So why not make a better BitTorrent or something?

Oh, and I know Bram Cohen's company took money, and there are online services for transferring large files around, but as far as I know that's about it.
Are you going to make it affordable for the entrepreneur/hacker?
Ok, I'll say it. That's just plain stupid.

She's redefined language to mean something else, and then said hers is not inferior to ours. Twiddling a knob on a dresser is not a language, it's just an unusual curiosity.
We don't have electricity and cars and antibiotics because people had conversations with doorknobs and running water. We have them because people communicated abstract ideas to each other. That's language.

"And you find yourself thinking: She might have a point."

Only if you don't know what the word language means. Otherwise you find yourself thinking "that's stupid."
Escaping the Entrepreneurial Seizure: Interview with Michael Gerber
That's actually quite interesting. Where does one go to use a phone these days?
From the article: I'd expect hard core OSS folks to want Freedom Zero in their operating system as well as the software they build.

I expect freedom zero for my hardware. OpenCores ( http://www.opencores.org/ ) and Arduino ( http://www.arduino.cc/ ) is a good start.
Giant Sheets of Dark Matter Detected (the largest structures in the Universe)
Waiting for Linux release to play around with it...
Waiting for Silverlight. Hoping to frontend a new product with it. WPF is my fallback.
Salesforce.com
Ask YC: Where do you post ads for programmers?
I've got ads posted on Monster and JoelOnSoftware for a .NET programmer at a Salt Lake startup. I'm getting spotty results. Where does everybody run ads?
This is a good question and I don't think we should kill the discussion by downplaying his choice of words.

I've looked into micropayment models before - Amazon had by far the cheapest fees compared to paypal and google if you were dealing with anything for less than $5. This was around a year ago, though, so I don't know if there is anything better that has come up since.
Does Google facilitate user to user transactions? Maybe you could hack something together with the API, but out of the box I think it is only client to merchant.
Marginal Revolution: Tyler and I Have a New Business
Google Relaunches JotSpot
Miro is debatably a startup working in file sharing.
I am having similiar results trying to replace myself so I can work full time on my project and getting no serious bites. Next step is to try community college job boards...
Suppose my company is worth $5 right now. If you give my company $1, it is now worth $6. ($5 assets before + $1 cash). $1 / $6 = 1/6th of the company; you have 1/6th and I have 5/6ths. If you pay $1 for 20% of the stock, that implies a $4 pre-money valuation--after adding the $1, the company is worth $5, so your share is worth 20% and mine is 80%.
PHP? Ruby? You were thinking Unix and using Windows; no wonder it didn't work. Windows probably works much better if you've never seen Unix and you stick to 100% MS tools. (In other words, blub.)
> but physicists in general are much more principled than most other specialists in other fields

have a look at "empire of the stars" to see how this is not true. briefly it talks about how arthur-eddington stymied subramanya-chandrashekar's theories (on black holes). calling it "stellar buffoonery" , he ended up hindering the progress of astrophysics for almost 4 decades.
I'm not sure if you're referring to the NYT image or our site, the site itself does a much better job of giving context:
http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/GlobalMarine

The 'How did we create this map?' header lays out our process and what the colors quantify, in reasonably clear language. Our page also contains a link to the paper itself, for those who want to understand how to interpret the results.

The results are the first attempt to systematically quantify the effect humans have on the species living in the ocean, and doesn't cover what those effects might drive in the markets. Hopefully an economist will build on our data to answer the kinds of questions you raised.
To solve google's problems, you would have to solve your problem first; if you're not solving your problem, you wouldn't be motivated enough to do it
CiviCRM.
Google launches Google Sites and Goes After pbWiki
yeah and where is located for google for domains, i really want to try it out :)
After spending many long nights in a lab with aibos, I for one can stipulate.
copywrite,riaa,mpaa,mafiaa

If you think about most content out how much is owned by the creators?

I say you should make the next bittorrent, if it becomes successful you'll have armies of lawyers saying your the pirate even though you just created a way to file transfer.