skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Where are you getting your info?

They seem to be selling nexus one as if it has support for At&T's 3G.

https://www.google.com/phone/choose?hl=en&gl=US&s7e=

Also it seems that they plan on releasing nexus one to Verizon if you scroll down... ("Coming Soon").

I don't see how they'd miss the whole point of their whole endeavor (to have people using their phone/OS on as many networks as possible) by not releasing the phone to as many networks as possible...

Maybe Google has an error on their website, but that seems like a hard sell to me...
Workflow articles with DVCS
I would like to see more articles about workflow with git, mercurial, bazaar, whatever (pointers appreciated). The basics are simple enough: init, clone, add, commit, etc, and there are tons of articles and tutorials about this. But how do you integrate it into a workflow with bug reports, desired features, multiple releases, development versions? I have my own workflow of course, but I would love to learn more about what other people think are effective approaches.

Do you use Trac? How do you integrate it with git? For an indie developer, is a text file or spreadsheet sufficient? What happens in a group with a small number of developers? With a large number of developers?
This chart seems terribly confused. There is front- and back-end stuff, but not a single webserver is mentioned. Nor is fastcgi. They python track is almost completely about hte language, but eventually splits django, however there is no mention of zope or wsgi. Similarly perl is language specific, no mention of mason. Yet, there is a whole line about rails and not ruby, jsp and java.

I understand but am not necessarily convinced about other full stack components as well -- maybe not the db stuff or memcache, but load blancers like varnish, bigip and so on.
It's inspiring to see entrepreneurs fill gaps that many governments leave behind when it comes to accessibility and the workplace. Thanks for the great post.
Huh; this exact scenario has been tossed around as a possible mass-extinction trigger. I wonder how often such a close approach happens.

Mind, if in 1.4 million years, any beings that are our descendants in one way or another can't divert or destroy a piddly swarm of comets, they're just not trying.
Hmmm, very interesting. Are you doing it based on arbitrage, for mergers or when earnings come out? Which sectors do you dabble in?
I'm curious to how your strategy has worked out so far!
WANdisco to Play Key Role in TortoiseSVN Open Source Project
"If you’re hiring someone with a significant other, you’ve got to meet that person. He or she shows a lot about your potential hire."

If you're hiring, you can't ask people about their marriages, their kids, etc. Let alone meet them, what the hell.
Maybe it's naive of me to think this, but why don't they just go all out and announce full support for CSS3? (And HTML5 while they are at it, though I realize the spec is still in flux.) I mean, is rounded borders really the best they can do in 2010?

I feel like only a bold move like that would give IE any hope of preventing a further slide into irrelevance.
If you really want to write code that you can understand all the way down I suggest starting from as close to bare metal as your level of masochism allows. For me, that's GRUB.

This tutorial walks you through making a kernel image that GRUB can load, and shows how to poke bytes into video memory to print characters to the screen:

http://wiki.osdev.org/Bare_bones
The current model is GSM, but they announced they are creating a CDMA version for Verizon Wireless.

http://www.google.com/support/android/bin/answer.py?hl=en...

"We are working hard to provide Nexus One phones optimized for the Verizon network - please stay tuned."

I wouldn't be surprised if it shows up within the next month.
Picasso: Good Artists Copy; Great Artists Steal
I agree that squashing all of the commits for a feature together loses a lot of information. I usually follow a workflow similar to the one described, except without this squashing step. That is:

1. Branch off of master to work on the feature.
2. Work, work, work, commit, commit, commit
3. Pull down any updates to master
4. Rebase the feature on master without squashing the commits
5. Merge the feature branch back to master
6. Push up to the shared repository
It's use is already sold (rather expensively) in inspection/robot systems in factories and in automatic license plate recognition.

I imagine it would be easy to sell. Create a classifier that rates a user's attractiveness and many dating sites or individial users might interested in paying for it.

Call centers might be interested in paying for accent identification, they can route a call based on accent to a employee with similar accent.

Microsoft will release project natal later this year and probably make billions from it.

As far i can see the opportunity is absolutely huge (trillions and trillions of dollars) since it is so commercially useful (unlike the web industry which has been based around selling eyeballs).
Relevant essay: http://lesswrong.com/lw/ww/high_challenge/
With billion dollar toys that they will take and go home with if you don't play the way they want.
I thought the sheet scrolling was a little disorienting (too fast), but then I saw you have a 2nd way of scrolling (note by note), much better. Great app!
Contrary to some of the comments here, here is a article with citations, that supports the view that crying babies need to be held.
http://www.awareparenting.com/comfort.htm
Kompetisi Esai “Golden Ticket” Kedubes Amerika Serikat Jakarta
Where the shit is any of the cool stuff. Specifically Canvas, Websockets, Local Storage, etc.

I personally find the CSS stuff less interesting as you can do a lot with clever programming to make things look great, but you can't easily emulate local storage(flash storage), canvas(flash) or websockets(comet). (emulation in parentheses, each being excessively complicated for the average developer)

Microsoft and Telcos just remind us that technological progress is bad for their personal business, which is so infuriating.

(With telcos, it's the whole thing with not just letting app developers and customers do whatever they want with their data plan and apps they use/build.
The current Nexus One doens't support AT&T Wireless' 3G bands (which globally speaking are odd), but they are bringing out a model that does. At the moment you'll be using EDGE if you're on AT&T with a Nexus One.

Update: hey what do you know, they brought out the AT&T 850/1900MHz 3G banded version this morning. That may explain why I can't reach the store page. You can't buy it with service though.
This is quite possibly the first thing I've ever seen that makes me want an iPhone. I hope you release something like it for real computers eventually.
Unfortunate for Go Test It? You mean unfortunate for the users don't you?

I cannot believe I'm being down-voted for my comment. If I wrote a letter to my users tomorrow and said, sorry, something else grabbed my interest, and it's better for me but sucks for you, I'd be ripped a new one.

If this is really how people on HN feel, I think I need to be done around here.
Those are all HTML5 features, right? We've gotten into this weird place where the standards are being implemented while they are still in flux because the browser makers are just anxious to add new features.
Ask HN: Awesome Mailing Lists?
I have been lurking on the PLT Scheme mailing list for quite some time, and I am regularly impressed with what I discover from reading it.

For a contrast, the Rails mailing list is awful, so it isn't as simple as just finding a mailing lists on topics you enjoy.

What other mailing lists do you enjoy?
"...Google has no intention of releasing a rev2 with support for either Verizon's or AT&T's network."

Actually, they are now, as of today (I checked just a day or two ago and the option wasn't there), selling a Nexus One compatible with AT&T's 3G frequencies. And they say that a Verizon compatible N1 will be coming some time this spring.

https://www.google.com/phone/choose

Sadly, you have to choose between an N1 with AT&T/Rogers compatible frequencies for 3G, and T-Mobile frequencies for 3G. Which means that you can't change carriers without losing your 3G connectivity. Right now, I'm in an area that T-Mobile doesn't cover, so AT&T would be my only choice. However, I may move soon, and T-Mobile has plans that are cheaper for what I want (mostly data, very little voice and text). I really wish I could get a phone on AT&T now, and then have the option of switching to T-Mobile if I move.
Compilation of Matt Cutt's videos on SEO
Justfuckinggoogleit user feedback
I've been on a kick lately to plant a garden and studying permaculture. The argument permaculturists make is that in a diverse ecosystem, like a forest, everything is in balance, so pests are not as big a problem. For example, a permaculture garden would have chickens on it to eat the fly larva before they can infest the crops. With permaculture, there is no need for Monsanto.

In monocultures, i.e. traditional farms, the tilling exposes the worms to the sun and birds and they are killed. Without worms, there is no life in the soil and the nutrients must be replaced by petrol based fertilizers. With permaculture, there is no need for fertilizer because the plants die and are composted and returned to the soil.

Anyway, point being, if we never used these companies' products to destroy the natural order of things, we'd have more productive land and no need to GMO tomatoes.

I don't mean to be preachy. I just discovered permaculture within the past week or so and it really meshes with my hacker mind. The gardening world calls permaculturists "geeks" as well. If you're looking into gardening or sustainability, check out permaculture.
I don't think so with respect to the last sentence. I'm pretty sure it is just a failed attempt to make carriers irrelevant. I feel like Google has the same dream Apple does, to make carriers an interchangeable commodity, but logically that doesn't make sense since a phone is only as good as the service it's tied to, and the expense of a top quality unit necessitates a 2 year contract. People, quite logically, choose their carrier and then their phone, and Google et al. can rage against that machine for years but it won't change.

If they wanted to fire a warning shot, they would have made a deal with one of the major carriers and pushed the hell out of it, rather than selling it only to people who read Engadget.
And then buy an FPGA and bust out some Verilog and write the metal yourself.
Ask HN: Is there an app to view savings account bank statements?
Hi

I felt I should post this from a new account.

I'm investing some money in a mix of term deposits (at varying rates and terms), funds, and sometimes bonds. Sometimes, in small bits, I add money to my savings through the year.

I'm looking for an app that will allow me to enter the data from the statements, and maybe enter data when I make an investment (of any type), and will show me basic data about it.
Is there anything better than excel to do this?

I'm considering making my own app, as I really can't find anything good in this market!
A Dagger to the CIA
This looks extremely impressive and elegant. I'm excited to buy the iPad version -- it's a perfect fit.

What format is the purchased music? The engraving is impressive, so my first guess is that it's some part PDF and some part MIDI information + metadata to match MIDI to PDF contents?
"...it has been qualified as a fad diet by the National Health Service of England and American Dietetic Association."

"A criticized 3 week trial with the Paleolithic diet, in 20 healthy volunteers of which 6 dropped out and only 6 of the remaining had complete dietary information available, showed variable results. During the trial calorie consumption decreased 36% leading to significant weight loss. However, adverse changes in serum calcium were observed.[147] The NHS Knowledge Service states that there are several limitations to this particular study and that "readers should not draw too many conclusions from it."[148] Also, the Halford Watch refers to this study as "bad science".[149]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleo_diet
Integrate a metronome and I'm sold on it.
This article is based on some faulty logic, mainly that a story started by a PR pitch is "spin." So if Paypal decides to partner with Bump to make a payment application, and the companies put out a press release, and a writer decides that is interesting, it counts as 'spin' in the study. Same thing if the White House announces something. Of course, journalists rely on press releases to find some of their stories. That doesn't make it spin. Things are much more complicated than that. Spin comes from simply accepting a point of view uncritically and not challenging assertions made by sources quoted in a story. Spin also comes in ways that aren't easily detectable, such as getting in with a source by being an outlet that is generally favorable to it.

Basically, this study doesn't mean anything. For instance, when Facebook decided to change its privacy policy in December it announced it to the press. Many published the changes and questioned their legitimacy and why Facebook was inverting its policy. But according to the study, all of those stores were "spin."
Yes, we do still make things in America
The author makes some good points but... cereal grains are delicious...
Pardon Me, But Would You Have Any Grey Poupon?
Wouldn't the point be we can write the same HTML5 we are using on WebKit and get the same results? That would probably sway designers.
another regular expression quote (from http://code.google.com/p/re2/wiki/Syntax):

I define UNIX as “30 definitions of regular expressions living under one roof.” —Don Knuth
That's an interesting anecdote. I know a number of Japanese who moved to the US for school, stayed the same weight for a while, but then gained 10+ kilos of fat when they stopped eating rice or noodles every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Clearly, some of the worlds longest lived people (Japan #1, HK #2) do very well on diets with a far larger portion of their calories coming from grains than the typical American or English diet.

This isn't to say that there aren't any heavy meat-eaters, or especially fish-eaters in the world who remain healthy. But on the whole, meat consumption is strongly correlated with lifestyle diseases and shorter lifespans, when comparing populations of similar wealth.
Bezos 37 Signals
I'm really excited about the iPad app. Imagine sitting down at a piano, putting a iPad where you would normally put sheet music, and playing away with your app auto-scrolling so the musician never has to deal with a page turn. Anyone who has ever played piano knows how amazing it would be to have that eliminated. What a great learning device that would be!

Kudos and I eagerly await the iPad version!
v2 seems to get easier with all the suggestions :) Keep up the good work. Great app! Now if only I was a musician.
Male genes take more risks than females
The AT&T compatible phone is new as of today (or maybe yesterday). I just checked a day or two ago and it wasn't there.

Sadly, that means that you need to choose between a phone compatible with AT&T (and Rogers in Canada), and one compatible with T-Mobile and most of the rest of the world.
lol Microsoft.
HTML5's missing piece: The disclosure tag
Is there any way to create or upload your own songs? It looks like a very polished app, but I'd like to be able to create my own songs, or even cooler, edit songs to see what they might sound like if played differently.

Excellent job with the app. I will probably be downloading it soon.
True, but it's a big improvement over browser makers rolling their own solutions.
That's an old Microsoft talking point, right?

Microsoft themselves added HTML5 features to IE8, and have more planned for IE9 so saying they're HTML5 isn't in itself a valid reason not to bother implementing them.

Some people believe that independent implementations of standards can uncover areas that are unclear or impossible and make the standard much better from the experience gained. Microsoft are notable in complaining about this in standards that threaten their profits while at the same time just doing their own thing in code and later trying to get it standardised, warts'n'all. It is more than a little hypocritical.
Im not sure if that works with VMWare workstation or not - I cant see anything obvious which says yea or nay.

We have an in-house cloud but the only virualisation we use is for the management nodes - for which we use Virtual box (everything else is just commodity servers).

Or in other words: I've only ever work with VMWare workstation on individual mounted disks. With that said it works solidly for pretty much and disk/OS setup you can throw at it. Of the 100's of computers we process monthly it handles 99.99% without a hiccup.
I'm not saying it's a bad idea; If you don't count marketing costs, there is lots of margin in the VPS business right now. However, it's probably a bad idea if you aren't a SysAdmin. At least until you get those 1000 customers, it will be difficult to buy your hardware /and/ retain a good enough sysadmin.

also, you are probably better off with dual-socket servers w/ at least 32GiB ram, which will cost you considerably more than a grand each, but that will likely get you more power/ram for your money. For a grand a pop, you are probably looking at 8G ram servers, so if you are trying to put 1000 customers on those puppies, you are going to be coming in at around twice what I charge, and pretty close to what Linode charges. Linode is very good and very established, and they have an excellent toolset. You will need to spend a lot of marketing dollars to say "Hey you've never heard of me, but pay me just as much as you'd pay the established player with the good reputation"

If you still really want to do it, go buy my book[1] - I've included much of what I learned running my own VPS company.

[1] http://nostarch.com/xen.htm
Ask HN: Great examples of web app Video tours
Video tours are very important conversion drivers. Can we compile a list of great ones and some salient points to observe when making one?
I have scripts (I use fabric, keep meaning to explore chef) that bring a fresh OS install up to a production server automatically, doing all installation and configuration. This is all in a DVCS system, so I have a local copy of my repository as well as a hosted copy of my repository on bitbucket/github. That takes care of code and configuration.

I have a cron job that dumps the databases into a directory with a time-stamped name. The last few regular nightly back-ups are kept, then weekly for a couple of weeks, then monthly for about a year. The parent directory is then backed up to S3 using duplicity. I've done other, cleverer things in the past with rotating through buckets based on the month, keeping every backup, doing them twice a day, that sort of thing.

I test recovery by spinning up another server, running the scripts to bring it up to production status, and running the script that uses duplicity to pull the data dump directory back out of S3, and then restores the database from the dump.

At $0.15 a gig to store data, and about $0.10 a gig to transfer it in, the cost of S3 is pretty much just noise. I've got on-disk dumps of my database if the database is corrupted on my machine, and I've got back-ups of those dumps if I need them.

Duplicity is pretty fantastic -- definitely check it out.
They're in the same damned-if-you-do position they've always been in. Every time they release something that breaks new ground, the "standards" folks move in the other direction and leave them behind. Look at SVG, DOM and CSS for examples where Microsoft moved first, only to see "Standards" written to suit the next version of Netscape's (later Mozilla's) browser.

So if they were to implement HTML5 as it stands today, they'd release IE9 to find that the other browsers had coordinated with the W3 to release the final standards alongside FF4 and a new version of Chrome.

That's how it worked back when NN6 came out, and how it's worked ever since. It's hard to have sympathy for Microsoft in particular in this area, but that's what they're up against.
I'm just a mortal developer so I don't have to admin anything serious, but here's how I do backups of my personal files & server. Mainly using Git:

Any code / changes to Debian's default /etc setup go into Git and are at least on both the relevant machine (laptop or server) and GitHub. See http://github.com/avar and http://github.com/avar/linode-etc for the /etc on the server. I keep some personal data (like finance notes) in GPG encrypted files in private Git repositories.

E-Mail is backed up my Google's GMail (presumably) and data like my small collection of music is something I can always get back from the Internet.

If the filesystem on my laptop, server or GitHub is destroyed right now I can get everything working again relatively quickly just by installing Ubuntu or Debian from scratch and copying my home directory, /etc and code from Git on one of the remaining machines.

I've made a script that automatically backs up my Git repositories daily (http://github.com/avar/github-backup), the resulting backup is around 180MB. Losing some of my other data would be an annoyance but this is all I /really/ care about.

Follow somebody else's advice if you need "real" backups, but for my simple needs this suffices.
Great story. Worth pointing out here that reversers have been running with this idea full speed since ~2000. For instance, Halvar Flake and his team at Zynamics use graph isomorphisms of basic blocks in BinDiff, which is the industry standard tool for reversing security patches back to vulnerabilities.

Obviously, anyone who's ever used IDA Pro is familiar with control flow graphs and bblocks; hit the space bar in IDA and you get it graphically.
This may be a take on this Penny Arcade comic. http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/3/12/
How to build a Flash Actionscript 3.0 Videoplayer
My guess is that backwards compatibility is much more of an issue for Microsoft, if they implement an in-flux spec then they'll essentially have to keep whatever implementation they come up with regardless of how the spec changes, or face pissing off a lot of enterprisy types.
Microsoft does not want IE to work according to standard and they don't want to provide a full featureset. A lot of smart people work at Microsoft, it's not like they can't figure this out. Microsoft's business strategy involves differentiating IE in basics like rendering and performance so that you have to buy Windows, test your websites in IE, and I think they still hope that they'll return to utter dominance one day. In so doing, they want you to decide that it's only worth your time to support IE since that's what most of your userbase uses anyway, thereby also requiring Windows for the web.

They won't support HTML5/Canvas fully until IE13 at this rate. It conflicts with their proprietary Silverlight technology, so any implementation of such in IE is going to be broken and incomplete, as we've come to expect as the standard.

Microsoft wants Windows to be mandatory for web surfing. That's the goal, that's why IE still exists.
Look into the public-facing (non-membership) mailing lists used by some of the hackerspaces. They all have their own passions and politics, so the ones I like won't likely be the ones you like. CCCKC has an information-security specific list that's just starting to get good. The main list may be too eclectic for most.
Canvas was one of those things I was really hopeful for. Speed improvements are good - cannot test them at the moment (work machine is xp, and the dev platform is only available on vista sp2+) - but features are good, too. I guess we could write things to reduce down to SVG for IE, but that sort of defeats the purpose of a raster solution like Canvas.
Now I want to learn the piano just to play with this app.
You sir, are a genius. The app looks amazing, but your demo is simply perfect. How many takes?