skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I don't know if they are conservatists or simply too young to understand what it was really like back in the "old" days.

The web is awesome. It's the most amazing technology platform the world has ever known. HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are all standard and interoperable.

People who complain about CSS should try changing the look/feel of an entire desktop app. People who complain of HTML should try building PDFs or Word Docs on the fly. People who complain about JavaScript should try writing some Assembly: DOS, Sparc, what have you...

People who complain about web programming should try to deploy an enterprise app to 10,000 desktops. It's a nightmare. The Web is a blessing to the world. Thank you Tim!
"Yes, but" those also suffer from that approach in ways that Apple's store doesn't. There is room for both in this world.
" It could be $99/yearly."

It is.
This deserves it's own blog post.
"it is a product that is deeply personal to Steve Jobs, and I believe the final signature product on an amazing career."

Kind of touching in an odd way. I will miss Steve Jobs when he retires from Apple.
YouTube was't an attractive target before Google bought them (no money). Now they are but they're using H.264 and presumably a full licensed toolchain for it, defended by a lot of industry players in addition to Google's deep pockets.

I hope that the VP3 heritage is truly patent free but right now it's hard to say anything is patent-safe given the wretched state of our industry. Theora, in contrast, is not defended by anyone powerful and thus far hasn't been worth going after; if it starts to get accepted I'd be surprised if one of the trolls didn't try for danegeld.
FTA: Thus, a reasoned analysis is that the iPad is to the iPhone & iPod Touch as the MacBook Air is to the MacBook. In other words, a cool product with a devoted base of happy customers, but in relative terms, a niche product in Apple's arsenal of rainmakers.

The difference being, of course, that the Air is a high-margin luxury item and was always intended to be so. Apple never intended to sell them by the millions, and is no doubt happy with the revenue generated. The iPad is priced just a tiny bit higher than a netbook, and looks to have a rather larger part cost (LED screen, large touch surface instead of a cheap keyboard, scary amounts of flash, custom chipset instead of mass-market Intel stuff).

There's no room there for "niche" products. If that's all they get, the product will be stillborn.
I think the reason is user experience. Future computers will be "theme parks", because non-geeks don't understand the proper limitations of hardware.

Yes, but there is no reason why you couldn't sell the unlocked version of the same kit. If a non-geek has a bad experience, then let them downgrade the thing. Heck, a company other than Apple might charge them another fee for that.
1. Looping with a floating point increment is silly here because you can't be sure how many iterations it takes.

2. C translation takes 11 seconds (compare to 25.6 for SBCL)

http://gist.github.com/288936#file_silly distance loop
Surf the web

Am I a power user if I surf Hacker News with Internet Explorer 6? What if I surf Yahoo News using IceWeasel with thirty extentions?

Manage/share your digital photos

Am I a power user if I use iPhoto to remove red-eye from pictures taken with my DSLR? What if if I use Lightroom to do the same thing with pictures from my crappy old point-and-shoot?

Play games

Am I a power user if I play Crysis on my eMachine? What if I play Solitaire on my overclocked quad-SLI i7 "rig"?

Anyone who does more...usually considers themselves a "power user"

I don't, which is why I'm perpetually confused by the term. It doesn't really seem like a useful distinction.
Apple's iPad: One Ring to Rule Them All?
There is actually a great number of college students playing with DB2. They usually do so with DB2 Express-C, because it's free and production ready, so it's ideal for students and startups (even though we have large corporations who use it as well). DB2 Express-C is easy to work with, easy to administer, and has the same core code as commercial versions used by the largest companies in the world. System Z provides a nice hardware/software combo, but don't be fooled into thinking that DB2 LUW (Linux/Unix/Windows) is not "serious" or anything but great, really. DB2 provides many useful innovations that are not available to Oracle users. And thanks to DB2 Express-C, many of these benefits are available for free.

DISCLAIMER: I work for IBM in the DB2 team.
Ruby Digest - Simple Aggregator for Rubyists who don't want to miss anything
> Project Kenai, however, will be discontinued for public use. Oracle will continue to use it internally and look for ways that our customers can take advantage of it.

Does Kenai have a lot of usage? I might have missed any stats on wikipedia. This doesn't sound too great.
Oh well. There is always google code hosting or bitbucket for hg.

Found this interesting discussion on alternatives:
http://kenai.com/projects/help/forums/general/topics/2406-Al...
A good article, but I think it misses one important point: the eventual commoditization of devices like this. Apple's entire touch screen platform does look compelling for non-techs, but there will be a raft of very inexpensive similar devices hitting the market, and I still think that lower cost will win the most market share (eventually).
Speed and Tempo: Fearless decision making for start-ups
Given that Apple is primarily in the business of selling magic devices rather than computers, their share of the computer market isn't really relevant here.
A very good read for any first-time entrepreneurs. My own experience is that there are two kinds of decisions in startups, one that is life-and-death and one that is not. Life-and-death decision is very easy to make. But making the right life-and-death decision is like avoiding a car accident that never happens or saving the economy from total collapse. Your only material reward is that you get to live. Decisions that are not life-and-death are much more difficult to make in a startup. They are actually much more important to the success of a startup. Making good decisions in startups obviously requires experience but it also requires good judgment. And good judgment has to do with when and how to build up creditability with your co-Founders and your shareholders, and when and how to cash in your political earned capital to mobilize the company behind an unpopular decision that you have made based on imperfect data. More importantly, good judgment has to do with maintaining a positive feedback loop to constantly re-up your credibility with your constituents so that you do not inadvertently over-extend your reserve. I believe when the President spoke about "deficit-of-trust" last night, he understood. Good luck, everyone.
So am I correct in interpreting that this "fastest program" f means the function that M is fastest at identifying, proving, and executing, rather than the function whose execution time is fastest in a vacuum?
I don't know, 95% of the PC userss that I know, just want to watch youtube videos and talk on Live Messenger (or whatever they are calling it this days).
(fab) - A pure javascript DSL for building async web apps
Agreed. Writing low-level synchronization code is hard and error prone. It's almost always worthwhile to burn some extra memory or CPU to choose a solution that's multiprocess instead, or just eat the performance/scalability cost of traditional serialized code.

But it's a ton of fun when you get it right. Sort of the "cycle counting" of the modern world.
Cluster Monitoring with Ganglia & Ruby
If you install an app that was not vetted you're on your own.

This is why I think Apple should sell a "Pro" version of this kit that comes with an unlocked "sandbox". I envision something that looks more like OS X, with a "iPad" app that flips you to the locked iPad OS. On the iPad side, there would be an "OS X" app that would flip you back over to the sandbox. Actually, both environments would be virtualized, so they'd be well insulated from each other.
Well, I'm quite skeptical about the "blindingly fast" part (network overhead?) but agree that in the light of the current mq-options that's indeed one of the more appealing ideas.

That said, I'm not really in the mood to reinvent that particular wheel myself here, but would probably give someone else's shot a try.
Web Laureate Classic: "Yahoo, Superfluous"
Can't you use a form in iWork Numbers for that?
>>Edit: Also hearing so many people saying: "My mom should get one of these" is really them saying "I wont buy it, but someone else should". Really makes me ponder just how successful it really will be.

The device is not targeted towards the people you interact with on the web right now. All Hacker Newsies* are sufficiently tech literate that the costs of the device in terms of lost freedoms outweigh the ease-of-use gains. Ditto for basically anyone commenting or blogging on the "tech" internet. Over in the other internets^, you'll likely find people who would like that tradeoff, but they won't really start talking about it until it ships. If you drop around those places in March-May as the devices roll out, you'll see more "I want one" posts. In fact, I know at least one car enthusiast who is already planning on building his dashboard around an iPad.

Mac News/rumor sites are unenthusiastic because their average commenter owns an iMac, a MacBook, and an iPod Touch. They were looking for an excuse to whip out their credit cards, and it's not for them.

TL;DR - you're looking in the wrong place.

* - there an official term?

^ - there are multiple "internets" because there's minimal intersect between the community niches.
I'm a hardcore geek and I want to add an iPad to my toolchest. It'd join an array of devices and be used for web browsing on the couch and in bed. Touch based web browsing is superior to a mouse IMO. Seems like an amazing device for that.
Assisted GPS is true GPS plus faster initial position finding (that's the "assisted" part).

Anyone who's owned a hand-held GPS can tell you it takes a few minutes to find your initial location, especially if you've moved location since the last time you turned it on.

An AGPS system uses hints from cell towers to get a rough idea of where you are. This significantly lowers the time required to get a lock.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_GPS

So, yes, it will function without a 3G signal. The problem, however, is that when you're out of 3G range, you won't be able to download Google Maps data. So, if you need maps when you're out in the middle of nowhere, you'll probably want to buy the TomTom app, or one of the other "real" GPS apps.
Part of their job is to write reasonable responses to customer inquiries. That's the output of their working time, for which they are paid.

Saying that should be private is like saying someone's code check-ins should be private.

And if we assume people are good rather than bad, it's a chance to show off, without ego, a particularly good response and/or responder. That gives them a morale boost from knowing their boss and co-workers saw them doing a good job in a natural environment, and it motivates co-workers to do a similarly admirable side.
While I agree, what bothers me a little is that all this time Apple had already claimed that Macs are so easy to use etc. So I guess they finally admit that it's not really true. At the same time I hope it will be at least more true for the iPad. Until mom asks why her favorite flash game doesn't work.

Things I have recently helped relatives with:

installing software for their navigation system, so that they could update the maps

Getting their internet radio connected

scanning, printing

installing a webcam and skype

In fact my impression is that "non-power" users often try to do even more hardcore stuff with their computers than I do, simply because they don't know which technologies are just hype and which ones are ready for prime time. For example my father tried speech recognition and used on of those horrible fax/scanner/printer units that hijacks your computer.
Unfortunately, your media libraries will all be identical as well. I really don't want that much Billy Joel sitting on my local hard drive all the time.
Don't be a cube potato: Gadgets, apps, and tricks for a healthy lifestyle
The War of Art and My Meat Couch
I suspect what would happen is hardly anyone would buy the theme park.

That's why you a) wait until the other environment is well established first and b) charge a $250 markup.

"Less powerful, but easier to use" is a hard sell. But "Does the same stuff, is safer, and $250 cheaper" is an easy one.
Good idea in the abstract, but whatever makes anyone think they'd listen to the engineers they'd hired?

The history of disruptive technology (which the Internet for media partly is, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_technology) suggests that media companies pretty much are just going to die.
I don't get the attraction of the 16:9 thing for TVs, either.

In my family room I've got a limited amount of horizontal space (barring replace a $1500 piece of furniture as well). Switching to HD will really just mean that I have a smaller picture, because with a fixed horizontal measurement I can only make the vertical measurement smaller to fit the aspect ratio.
Yes - the majority of people view computers as appliances. They don't want a computer, they want an email machine and a word processing machine and a "show me this website" machine and a music-playing machine.

More precisely, they want a backplane into which they can effortlessly plug in various appliances. Press Buy, download it, plug it in, it just works.
I also like 4:3. (Of course for TV the best aspect ratio is the one your content comes in.)
The only way such a device could profit in the market would be if it's version of Flash fixed all the performance and battery life problems that are keeping Flash off Apple's mobile devices. If the performance still sucked, then the device could only remain on the market if it was being sold at a loss, which could lead to anti-trust problems for Adobe (forcing their way into the mobile space the same way Microsoft forced their way into the video game console market). If the performance was fixed, then it seems to me that it would be in Adobe's best interest to try to get it on to Apple's mobile devices ASAP lest more open alternatives like HTML5 actually start to catch on.
Say What You Mean, Do What You Say
Playtech, the online casino gambling group, has always been able to boast of its strong reputation and unbeatable standard of reputation, transparency and honesty in all business matters.
Starting from the very beginning, Playtech has been operating in the market with social responsibility and accountability. The concentration on clients and software and platform design stimulating and optimizing the ability for online casinos licensing the Playtech platform to offer innovative, customized and unique gaming experience explain why the company is regarded to be the largest software developer and supplier on the planet.
Not too much news, but expected and reassuring for those of us who live at least partially in JVM-land. I have been programming since the 1960s and the JVM has been the most important programming technology that I have experienced.

Although JRuby, Scala, Clojure, etc. are niche development markets right now, I expect to see a huge uptake in alternative JVM languages used by highly skilled developers. I am not dissing Java, just saying :-)
How to promote innovation from your web team
http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/why-free-software-and-app...
Yes, downloaded from the web. eMusic and Amazon mp3, to be precise. Other sources work too, I hear. ;)

Actually, the downloader utilities from eMusic and Amazon pretty much inject those things directly into iTunes.
>>And, boy, was I hungry at first.

>That's the real secret, and it could use some expansion

Spending time hungry is totally unnecessary to achieve low body fat. It's about insulin management.

If you eat a high saturated fat diet you simply don't get the strong hunger pangs that are symptomatic of crashing blood sugar with a metabolism trained to run on sugar in preference to fatty acids.
It's not an all-the-time thing to be sure, nor an often thing. It's nice to have though.

> The idea of typing shell commands on a touchpad makes me cringe...do people really do this?

Granted, I think that about netbooks. I used a 10" ThinkPad for two years and the idea of using something smaller just sounds insane to me.
I can't speak for all Flash haters, but a device where you choose to have Flash would be fine. The problem for many is that Flash's near ubiquity means if you don't have it, or don't want it, you lose access to things, many of which don't need Flash for any fundamental reason, just history and business and inertia lead us here.

This is why popular devices without Flash are good. They make people think "Is it worth using Flash to enhance this site for some portion of my audience? And if I can deliver the same content without Flash is the added value worth the extra time and effort?"
The Sun Has Set. Maybe it will rise again
A little sad to see sun.com redirecting to oracle.

Edit: Consoling myself that this is a better fate than just dying off like SGI
Apple should sell such kits with an Apple TV bundled with an iPad. (Flatscreen and sound system optional.)
It's not about hiring engineers, it's about looking 10-15 years ahead. At this stage, 5 years ahead would be an improvement, because most older companies seem to live quarter-to-quarter or year-to-year in their projections.

I'm shocked that more companies aren't trying the Google approach: load a whole bunch of ideas in a shotgun and fire them at the wall. Keep the ones that stick as betas and eventually full products, and dump failures. It's not that Google has a better ability to predict the turn of the industry, it's that they've got ten thousand projects in various stages of development from "engineer's sketchpad" to Google Labs, so whenever some new trend peeks over the horizon, their app is already half-done.
Hey all,

I just launched a dead-simple web framework on top of node.js. It uses (abuses?) a lot of the dynamic nature of javascript to create a jQuery-inspired DSL that's pure javascript, allowing you to create really concise web apps like this:

( fab )
( "/time", function(){ return "the time is " + (new Date).toTimeString() } )
( "/date", function(){ return "the date is " + (new Date).toDateString() } )
( fab )

I'd love to hear any feedback from the folks here, so check it out and let me know what you think.
Absolutely, I was using the slug as an example of what hardware is capable of in the hands of competent programmers. The fact that you have to void the warranty or 'jailbreak' it is really sad.
Political affiliation can be differentiated from candidates' faces alone
You don't drop below your resting metabolic rate, you drop below the level you need to maintain PLUS the weightlifting activity you're preforming. Large shortfalls in calories are counter productive unless it's in a short burst.

Also, make sure you're getting enough dietary fat. Many make the change to a low carb diet by just dropping carbs from their low fat diet. You need to up your fat intake because what you were taking in for EFAs previously are now going to be cannibalized for energy instead.
A better option is to have healthy competition in this space so we have options, but until then, I'll take all the suggestions I can get.
Interesting Article
I also hate the animated ads, and like most everyone else use Adblock or Ad-art. But on a completely locked down device it's highly unlikely that this type of customisation would be available to you, since ads of whatever annoyance level mean maximization of revenue.

Devices like iPad are exactly what "big media" want, and if we let them it's just what they'll get. Anything inconvenient, be it torture pictures, leaked information or whatever could be erased from millions of devices at the centralized click of a button. Think you own that library of ebooks you paid for? Think again. Want to transfer your content from one locked down device to another? You'll have to pay us first. Think you have any fair use rights whatever? Not on this device, baby.
1. There is no C function.

2. Inlining in an actual C implementation doesn't matter because there is no register pressure and each trig function generates a real function call. Function calls to known addresses are really fast (~2 cycles), even indirect calls are fast compared to transcendental functions (~ 6 cycles). For comparison, the C implementation takes ~260 cycles each distance computation. This can't be improved much without vectorizing the trig functions.
Or vice versa, if you can't join them beat them.
SiliconANGLE — Blog — Apple iPad = iTunes New Money Making Machine
I probably should have said Apple's biggest competitor is the Microsoft ecosystem. True, hardware wise it's Apple versus HP, Dell, Sony, etc... but in terms of mindshare, it's Apple versus Microsoft.

Similarly with Sun, it wasn't Sun verus the nebulous Linux. It was Sun versus the Linux ecosystem. You could argue too that one problem with Sun was that they sold hardware and software, and that you could get them separately.
The iPad keyboard: Atari 400 all over again.
Changing the loop indexes to integers is sillier because it makes the program not only different from the original one but also slower.
There are non atmospheric carbon sinks, which as you say absorb a percentage of emissions; however, their net effect is identical to a slightly larger atmosphere. You admit that increasing CO2 concentrations increase temperature and human emissions increase atmospheric CO2 concentrations yet you suggest that it's solar storms which have increased the temperature. Why, as a black body increasing earth temperature from incoming radiation is hard, it's temperature ^ 4 = e which takes a lot of energy for a small increase.

Modeling what the net effects are is a complex topic. Doing a proper cost benefit analysis of reducing carbon emissions is hard. But, we could produce all the energy the US needs from wind and solar, we could even create hydrocarbons from atmospheric CO2 + water, saying that’s not an option is a false choice. The real question is how far should we change, at what cost and for what benefit. I don't know the answers to that question, but I suspect the optimum choice is less costly than what most might while still dramatically altering carbon emissions.

PS: The total carbon emissions from all cars driven in the US is about the same as produced from coal fires in China, if you focus on low cost solutions to the global problem there is a lot of low hanging fruit.
I was about to respond indignantly to that, but then I realised that, 3 years ago, I was in my 20's. Well played, sir!
I know it's far-fetched since there is no flash, but is there a java support? Would be nice to trade with an in-browser java app on this device.

One could argue that browser is multitasking environment - so you could have gmail/gtalk in one tab and other web apps in others. But, with no flash and/or java support there is still a wide empty area to fill in.

Let alone my fantasies about a modbook like device (wacom!) - I'd just be happy if iPad supported flash and arbitrary PDF files. Heck, even just arbitrary PDF's would be nice damnit.