skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
>> show me the equation that tracks arctic temperature, rainfall, and snow cover, including the feedback effects that join them all, as an equation.

> The reader is referred to "Chapter IV: The Governing Equations" of Richardson's classical book "Weather Prediction by Numerical Process" [1].

I will say this one more time: "As an equation". There is no equation that describes the system I described, there are only algorithms that cannot be expressed in closed form. The fact that they cannot be expressed or solved in closed form is revealed by the language of your reference: "by Numerical Process".

Numerical algorithms are used -- must be used -- for system that don't have a closed-form solution, i.e. an equation that describes the system. Weather and atmospheric physics are in that category. My specific example -- arctic temperature, rainfall and snow cover -- represents a system that we can't even model with any reliability, much less hope to express as an equation.

Another example, one that surprises many people, is the fact that there is no equation able to describe an orbital system with more than two masses. Those systems must also be solved numerically. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-body_problem)

> ... but that doesn't mean any QM result will ever improve weather prediction

So? I made the exact opposite claim -- that the effect of QM on weather systems may prevent accurate forecasts past a certain time duration.

>> It was part of a simple explanation, but in the future, in the name of increased throughput and as processor costs continue to fall, it will be literally true.

> No. You didn't read what I wrote.

Who cares what you wrote? You tried to say that 10,000 cells per processor is required for reasonable throughput. This is already false, and it will become more false in the future.

>> Quantum mechanics is thought to be the final obstacle to long-term weather forecasting

> [By whom?][Citation needed].

I didn't make an evidentiary claim, I expressed a commonly heard opinion, so I don't have to provide a citation.

> Why not invoke quarks and gluons and the Higgs field if you're going all the way down to fundamental particles?

The evidentiary burden is yours to try to support the idea that weather isn't affected by fundamental particles.
If you know the experimental drug\treatment you want to try check overseas. Don't wait for local (I'm assuming) docs to give you the info. Contact centers with a known rep. Good luck!
At that price, I don't need it to be. I could imagine having a box of these and as I destroy each one, recovering only the SIM. Which I then swallow.
>Also, prediction: if Apple refuses to build a brute forcer, someone else will do it and sell it to the FBI. Just wait and watch.

Just made a downvoted to death comment on this very same thing. This is literally a government creating a market situation.
A 3D printer creates human-scale tissue constructs with structural integrity
The phone in question was not owned by the terrorist, but by his employer. His employer has consented to the search. What's Apple's problem?
Before Apple started making really amazing machines, I used to be a big fan of the T and X series ThinkPads. But Lenovo haven't impressed me in a long time.

Lots of niggly stupid issues - like terrible audio quality, or poor LCDs, or poor build quality requiring stuff like shims under keyboards to stop them rattling (seriously?!). Crappy touchpads. Dumb experiments with the keyboard and touchpad/trackpoint buttons.

Every time I think I should give one of the newer X's a proper go, I go and have a play with them and realise that they're still full of compromises.
Tools are boss.

learning all the different tools will enable you to not only find the correct ways of creating apps/websites but it will connect you to the communities that can help you.

stack overflow is also really great.
If you'd like to claim damages, you would have to prove damages.
I would like to have touch-phone with a full QWERTY keyboard. Just like the dev-only Nokia N950 ;-)

In hardware design sense it's really well engineered:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_N950
This is interesting:

"Specifically, the FBI wants us to make a new version of the iPhone operating system, circumventing several important security features, and install it on an iPhone recovered during the investigation. In the wrong hands, this software — which does not exist today — would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone’s physical possession."

Am I reading this right? Apple, if they chose to, can make a version of iOS that disables security features and encryption and load it onto existing phone even though the phone is locked and encrypted?
Love makes blind.
Malta: the pros and cons of building a startup on the sunny island
We realise this shortcoming and definitely want to test with visually impaired users once we are ready. We don't want to bug them too much as they probably already receive plenty of emails like this. We are working on making the app accessible right now.

If you are interested in helping us test the app please email us at palpiction [at] gmail [dot] com. Even if you are a sighted person, it will be a big help.
Also disables the auto-lockout on entering the wrong PIN enough times, as well as the delays after the 3rd (IIRC) incorrect attempt.
iPhone brute force hardware already exists [1]. The issue is that when Touch ID and/or a passcode is enabled, the device locks itself for a few seconds-a few hours every time an incorrect pin is entered. So brute forcing would take an extremely long time.

In addition, there is a setting on all iPhones to erase data after 10 failed pin code entry attempts.

The FBI wants Apple to provide a custom iOS build that can be installed on the device that allows for remote (over the network) brute forcing with the increasing timeout/erase data protections totally disabled.

1. http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/19/iphone-bruteforce-pin/
Five Tech Innovations That Can Keep Your Car from Burning So Much Gas
I released a tool helping to contribute. It tries to store the results according to the BIOS Information Table in the logs.

The new storage rule tries to be "deterministic".
This was exactly our analysis. Since most of our apps don't need to be isomorphic/universal we didn't pursue this avenue.
When Work Becomes a Game
Done. I released a tool helping to contribute. It tries to store the results according to the BIOS Information Table in the logs.

The new storage rule tries to be "deterministic".
The UX design of the P* line and M600 was really something at the day. The last ones P1i and M600 started converting more and more of the UI to finger touch instead of stylus control. And it ran so smoothly on nowadays obsoleted hardware <3
(As an Italian who has lived in France, but is now fortunately back to our sunny shores ;) ). I'm pretty sure it's something most people are taught in school when learning French. Notice that it's not just S. For example mûr is mature, so it's a whole syllable there.

There is a whole discipline called phonétique historique and all future high school French teacher have to learn it (at least the ones that pass the Agrégation), which basically tells the story of how words have transformed from their Latin to their French pronunciation. Unfortunately the approach that is taught is not rigorously scientific and you get to learn just a bunch of rules of thumb.
It's hard to value the actual investment, given all the stuff and people they're investing is all theirs to begin with. There's very little actual cash changing hands. Tax and royalties on mining is often dodged or offset too.

But the "hundreds of millions" is what it would cost a western country to buy [from China]. You're right though, China isn't losing hundreds of millions for the investment. Probably only a tiny fraction of that.
There are basically two groups of large software companies around right now: those which make their business by collecting data, and those which make their business by licensing software[1]. The first group has an overwhelming incentive to not support privacy too strongly. The second group has an overwhelming incentive to not allow too much openness. Until a better business model (or zero-knowledge machine learning) is found, no large for profit company can support both goals to their final conclusion[2]. So we are left choosing one evil or the other[3].

[1] Sure, Apple only really sells hardware directly, but the software is a significant part of the reason a lot of people by Apple hardware (e.g. 'Mac's don't get viruses', 'iPhones have a better user experience').

[2] Sure, Google has some significant internal efforts for supporting better user privacy (e.g. https://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.com/2014/12/an-update-... ) and Apple maintains some superb open-source software (e.g. http://llvm.org/ ). But in the end, Google can't be a "privacy company" without hurting their business model and Apple can't be an "open source company" for the same reason.

[3] Or the non-trivial inconvenience of being a self-hosting free software purist
I happen to have an android device. That is the only reason we chose android.
I see a lot of people saying they're impressed, admired, etc. at Apple for doing this.

It's not about giving props: Apple is not doing this out of goodwill, or because they believe in protecting privacy. Apple has a competitive advantage against Google/Facebook in that its business model does not depend on violating their customer's privacy.

They are just exploiting that competitive advantage.

Cfr. https://ar.al/notes/apple-vs-google-on-privacy-a-tale-of-abs...
I believe the default on new installs is now 6, but options for a more complex PIN, either numeric or straight up alphanumeric, are available.
Patch ASAP: Linux apps can be hijacked by DNS servers, man-in-the-middle attack
> Apple, if they chose to, can make a version of iOS that disables security features and encryption and load it onto existing phone even though the phone is locked and encrypted?

As I understand it, the FBI wants Apple to create a version of iOS that would disable the current feature where the data is deleted after more than 10 failed passwords attempts. This would allow the FBI to brute force the password.
Motu and His Samosas – Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kEpZWGgJks
One thing that sucks about the display is the "glossy glass"-style which makes it very sensitive to sunlight or strong indoor lightning
> And the reason they hold so many is not as some control play against the US -- its because it was the best way to devalue their currency enough to support exports.

Can you explain how that devalues a currency?
Isn't a simpler explanation that the reason they hold so many is because US government bonds were and still are the safest way to invest your money?
With Google's Android, this issue will never arise because Android is open source. Any attempt to plant a backdoor will be outright monitored by the community.
And basically developers needed to remake (more or less) the apps from WP7.* to WP8. Nowadays they need to port apps from WP or from Desktop Windows to Windows Universal Apps, so what's the point if nobody's using those apps? :D
The importance of a good bug report
The phone in question was not owned by the shooter, but by his employer, who has consented to the search. This seems like a poor basis to contest protecting someone's privacy.
I'm thinking about what we can do about the flood of hideously insecure embedded devices. I wonder if there are industry standard, consumer-visible product security certifications?
Ok, so:
"The UID allows data to be cryptographically tied to a particular device. For example, the key hierarchy protecting the file system includes the UID, so if the memory chips are physically moved from one device to another, the files are inaccessible. The UID is not related to any other identifier on the device."

The secure enclave must still give it's UID under some circumstances? This still does not appear to be immune to hardware hacking.

Moreover, this UID can also be brute forced imo, when the memory chip and secure enclave are physically separated. Whatever is needed to de-encrypt the data must be brute force-able, especially when the memory is separated from the wipe-all-data initiator which does not seem to be impossible if you know the chip design well enough?
He could have written a paper about the process, published it on his own website, and have anyone be able to stumble on it and improve on it today
Pardon the naive question, I don't know how localized therapies are today, but hasn't there been research into developing fake foreign capillaries to be implanted non invasively to deliver drugs right on target ?

ps: I remember seeing more 'barbaric' version of the idea, namely metal pipes planted in the patient as a direct path. I was wondering about something more organic.
Light-emitting plasma (LEP) and white lasers are also making waves. LEDs suffer from narrow beam and canopy penetration, which can be compensated using a rail system.

See: http://plantozoid.com/plasma-grow-light-revolution/
From what I've seen the Canon 35L II is unbeaten
> most people are taught in school when learning French

You probably mean: when learning French _in Italy_. If you learn it in France, there is usually no comparison with Italian or Latin, so this specific pattern is just lost.
Why wold Google and Facebook get behind this? They store their customers data in a way they can access and subsequently have to give it to persecuters when there's a court order
looks up "mould" in dictionary

Do you mean the fungi that spread on wet walls? Because I would consider just painting over these a very bad idea.
Huge respect to Tim Cook for standing up for the personal information security of Apples users around the world. When a non tech demands something as stupid as a back door, they do not acknowledge how weak they make data security.
What are the chances someone could use this to build a tool to provide structured output for git commands.

SVN had the --xml flag for pretty much every command, allowing for 100% parseable output, with git ( in particular git log) there is no 100% solution - the best you can do is use --pretty=format and create delimiters you hope aren't used in the commit message (or author names/emails, etc) itself.

The output doesn't have to be XML. JSON or even escaped CSV would be fine.
Not too sure about this. Keep in mind that in most commercially sold Android phones, closed source, self updating, Google Play Services is installed by the manufacturer with system level privileges. That alone is enough to create a non insignificant back door.
Demis Hassabis: 15 facts about the DeepMind Technologies founder
What you're saying sound like a win-win situation for Apple and its customers. So whatever the reason is for them to speak out, it's a good thing that they do speak out. Isn't it?
See other comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11116439

Potentially, Apple cannot circumvent their own protections on some models (in software anyway), and could in others.
I noticed the original battery of my 2006 MacBook was puffed up when I was at my parents over Christmas, so yes Apple batteries do definitely have the same issue.

I asked about a replacement and they said they don't make them anymore, but said if I really want one to get a third party battery from Amazon (the guy even searched on Amazon to show me how much it would be).
Work issued me a Macbook Pro.

The lack of buttons below the trackpad makes right clicking in a controlled manner impossible - I cannot feel nor hover my thumb over the button I want. Accidentally touching the "right" part of the trackpad jumps the mouse cursor over there, or activates some multi-touch gimmick.

The power button looks like a regular keyboard ke.

The edges of the case are actually too sharp to rest your wrists on. Rounded edges would solve this problem. So does filing down the case as some have done Youtube.

The keyboard keys lack any concavity. This is on all keyboards made since type-writers because it helps center your finger when you side-strike a key. This stops it slipping to the neighboring key. In the case of the Apple keyboard, it slips towards the gap between keys.

The keyboard has no Home, End, Page Up/Page Down or Delete keys. It is also lacking an Insert (overwrite) key. These aren't unused keys, they're pretty ordinary text editing functions.

Functional? No Apple absolutely made a whole bunch of stylistic choices. Apple wants a very specific line and minimalism to their products. Accomodations for practicality complicate that - otherwise why are we losing 3.5mm jacks on iPhones in the interest of thinness when most everyone agrees they want more battery life?
We've seen that bad that comes of corporations chasing a bottom line, perhaps this is the good.

And honestly I don't mind if my digital rights are defended as an advertisment.
I don't see why it couldn't be both - seems to me like they both believe in protecting privacy and (possibly even therefore?) follow a business model which deeply respects privacy.

Seems to me both of those things are worthy of respect in today's society.
You are right. What you say about Facebook is true, but Google's Android is open source, so there is no way they can plant a privacy-invading code and get away with that.
Are Swiss banks buying Bitcoins?
Hey HN!

I've been talking to some people here in Switzerland and they say that banks will begin to trade with Bitcoins.

For me this sounds great, as Bitcoin would become an "accepted" or "proper" currency and we (as a company) could accept it safely for selling our hosting.

I am wondering if anyone else heard about this?
I second that. I've got a 2015 Pixel LS and running vanilla Ubuntu (wiped out ChromeOS) with kernel 4.4 and it's a beast. Best laptop setup I've ever had.
Yes, I meant as a foreign romance language of course. My point was that it's funny that you've discovered it independently.
Forget the whole "smart" features in the phone. I am extremely happy if I am able to make calls with this phone, message peeps through Whatsapp, update status on Facebook. As a power user, I'm sure most of us wouldn't want this phone, but imagine the power this could give to the poor people in India. With just Rs.251, communication is just one touch away. This is going to make the farmer, fishermen, plumber, merchants far more connected, productive and simply get onto to the internet and explore the taste of connectivity. I'm definitely thrilled to see the outcome of this. My only fear is the subsidies that the government has poured into this.

Rs.251 is what I spend for a tasty dinner. If someone could have a phone for that cost, why the hell not.
So, their motivation is even better and more effective than idealism.
That is hard, we know. But it is not impossible for those with time, resources and willingness to think outside the box.

I assume that Apple has a hardware security module for key generation and storage, perhaps even custom-designed and built, to prevent key extraction/copying.

Of course, in the end you have to trust Apple that only a limited number of employees have access to such hardware, that they have proper auditing procedures, etc.

But the probability of a compromise can never be 0, unless you design and produce your hardware yourself, write all code that this hardware runs yourself, and never leave your computing device unattended. Since that is not practical for most people, you have to put trust in some third party.
You can and many people (including myself) have successfully done that already - https://github.com/raphael/linux-samus
> That wasn't lack of money or development. That was a stunning rebuke that Lisp Machines had an inferior architecture.

No, it wasn't nothing more than lack of willingness and money to do it, instead they complained about the state of art and went home.
But you can always root your phone and install Cyanogenmod from scratch, right? Agreed that this is not too trivial right now because of standardization issues, but it could be done if you really care about privacy.
Teaching 5- and 6-year-olds serious basic math
> For good reason: memory and disk were ferociously expensive until about 1996-1997.

Yet Burroughs was able to use Extended Algol in 1961 in an architecture much more constrained than a PDP-11.

> we didn't really have good replacement options for C until starting about 2005.

Ada, Turbo Pascal, Extended Pascal, Modula-2, Modula-2+, Modula-3, Delphi, Oberon, Oberon-2, Component Pascal, Active Oberon, Cedar, Mesa, Algol 68, Extended Algol, CPL,...
The last part actually surprises me too.
Exploiting is a bit loaded. Where I’m from, we call this “a free round”. There’s no downside to doing this, and a sizeable one to complying with the order. Still, it’s nice to see that Apple don’t hesitate, which makes me feel good about any other future challenge the feds will throw at Apple.
I can't upvote enough that excellent summary of the situation of software companies.

One way to solve that would be to have governments support and subsidies open source software development, but I don't see that happening in the next 5 years at the very least.
"The device’s unique ID (UID) and a device group ID (GID) are AES 256-bit keys fused (UID) or compiled (GID) into the application processor and Secure Enclave during manufacturing. No software or firmware can read them directly; they can see only the results of encryption or decryption operations performed by dedicated AES engines implemented in silicon using the UID or GID as a key."

re: brute forcing. they are AES 256 bit keys. good luck.
Well, they didn't say in the ocean. You need a $250 gizmo for that http://www.amazon.com/Delorme-AG-009871-201-DeLorme-inReach-...
Good on them. I was hoping that they'd be able to manage a way to unlock this one without potentially breaking the whole model (by exploiting some bug in the presumably outdated version installed or something that wouldn't positively degrade the security model), but given that that's not the case then I think they're making the right choice.
Or, said differently, Play Services are already a backdoor. They can (and do) install updates or other software pushed by server automatically, without you being able to do anything about it. And they have access to anything on the phone.
I haven't used fish, but I'm curious about the auto-completion/history magic. Is it similar to dynamic-complete-history(CTRL-META-i) in bash?
Yes, agreed. I had that for a while, but it was one of those cheap things from Asus. I did not know the Macbook can do that via USB... Maybe i'll sell my Pro and get me one of those... Thanks.