skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Thanks man! Your advice and support have been a big boost. Been following your suggestions about how to spend our cash so far. While it took 2-3 devs before we found someone who wouldn't whine about working with a non-programmer on a less-than-awesome codebase, we found a great guy and are getting stuff done in bits and bursts.
Direct link: http://www.rhymeandreasoncreative.com/portfolio/index.php?pr...
Google's gateway to the living room
Google Results: ______ is theft
You might want to indicate that that's a quote from the article. Unless I'm totally out of line and you're really Tom Perkins, then I apologize.
Because dropping features, especially those that the majority don't use, aren't polished enough (UI or stability/quality) or causes too many support issues is a good way to keep a product nice and lean. Not that I know why they dropped it.
Adobe gets so much hate, in my mind, it is worth their time to fight all of the unsupported bs that is thrown their direction.

I mean if you called my mother a whore everyday for 10 years to my face, at some point I would punch you. This is Adobe throwing punches.

As for Adobe talking about the good parts of their product, they do it all of the time. Read through their other posts on that blog, and you will see all kinds of interesting innovative content such as http://www.flashmobileblog.com/2009/08/12/flash-development-... http://www.flashmobileblog.com/2010/02/25/acrobat-connect-pr... http://www.flashmobileblog.com/2010/02/03/iphone-testing-geo... and http://www.flashmobileblog.com/2009/11/06/max-award-winners-...

This is the Flash Mobile blog, there is also a platform blog with a lot of interesting stuff on it as well.

I'm not a flash lover, but I think there is something to brand defense, and if that gets them publicity, when their interesting work does not, then why should they stop?
I read the title as "It's sinking in that THE Sun is gone." Oops.

On a related note, in college we programmed SPARC Assembly on some Sun workstations. Those days will be missed. Sort of.
I prefer to think of it as testing how you code behaves when the API returns x, y, or z.

It can be a pain to change the mocks and tests when the API changes, but what else can you do - not test this layer of your code?
Very interesting. I would think that this could become frustrating to use with too many fields to fill out, but it definitely looks more inviting than a standard form.

Now I'm just waiting for patio11 to apply his godlike A/B testing powers on this and show us the results :-)
Right. The tests come from the same mind(s) that wrote the code. Some kinds of bugs won't occur to them at the time, and may also be missed by the corresponding tests.

Testing upfront is just another tool, whether by unit tests, static typechecking, or a REPL. Often useful, but not a panacea.
JSON versus XML: Not as Simple as You Think
One problem: there's a lot of crossover between investment banking and venture capital. Although the fact is appalling, it's easier to get a VC job with an IB gig and an MBA than with 4-10 years of experience in technology. So you have a lot of the same people.

VC would be a lot better-run, however, if it recruited technology people instead of ex-bankers.
I'm not an A/B expert by any means, but it seems like there were far too many changes made to this form to give credit to just the 'mad lib' aspect. I've seen Patrick (patio11) mention that he's often surprised by how the tiniest change can result in a huge conversion difference. The second form is VERY different than the first.

I think a more accurate headline is "Redesigned form increases conversion 25-40% (who knows why?)"
Could you elaborate more on the process of getting the grant? That is an avenue of funding I would love to hear more about.

Please don't give away any information that might hurt you or that you would be uncomfortable sharing.
Free Online Classes: Computer Science & Programming
In Civ4, at least, later units are significantly more expensive, regardless of who else has the same technology. If your production is high enough to field an army of riflemen (cost 110) and cannons (cost 100) against opponents using axemen (cost 35) and archers (cost 25), you'd still steamroll him even if you spent that production on swords, axes, and catapults.
This is one of "those things" that has me slapping my forehead saying, "Why didn't I think of that?"

Great idea, and great to find it perform better. It probably helps alleviate the confusion some people feel inherent in dealing with their computer - the same kind of people who have no idea how to respond to a dialog box with yes/no|accept/decline, but can answer the same question promptly when posed verbally.
You can adjust the HTML, but the browser will pop up a login dialog any time it gets a 401 HTTP status code from the server (unless it has saved credentials).

Safari btw will try to request every page without sending the credentials first, and then retry when it gets a 401.
If you're interested in how these really work, a good place to start is Introduction to Elementary Particles by David Griffiths. For the full-strength stuff, go with An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory by Peskin and Schroeder.
It looks extremely dangerous. According to the specifications it would stall at 70MPH with the flaps extended and the wings look like they're only inches from the ground. In a cross wind, you'd have to touch down wings level and yawed into the wind... at > 70MPH.
HN has been my secret weapon from day one:

1. You helped troubleshoot the first of my epic hosting/performance problems and helped get me onto Slicehost
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=326012

2. You helped me find a dev to build a Twitter tracker for the special election to replace Rahm Emmanuel in Congress
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=466468

3. You helped introduce me to my biz-dev guy (an HN reader forwarded this onto him)
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=670204

4. And so on, and so on.
The first place I saw this style of interaction is in the novella-weight Magic Ink [1] essay.

[1] http://worrydream.com/MagicInk/
The author made a point about researching the company before the interview. I always thought this was common sense (why are you applying with this company anyways?), but apparently it isn't.
Funny, the most common thing I've seen in candidates getting rejected promptly is not being able to answer basic questions about things they've listed on their resume. Example: listing Java and not understanding what an interface is.
How I Stopped over 1000 Spam Emails/Day from Reaching Me in 5 Minutes
Congratulations! I see GrubHub is there, too. It's great to see the increased number of startups in Chicago, which is, you know, not a big startup hub.
I think they meant it against Plan 9, not against Linux.
Yeah. Either (1) this company actually requires suits in the workplace or (2) the company failed to tell its candidates that they could dress more casually. Or, sadly (3) the company enjoys making candidates dress up in suits as a way of showing who has the power.

When I worked at a Jeans & T-shirt sort of place, I always told candidates that they too could dress casually. Many found the idea scary and dressed up a bit anyway.
Aren't Actors and Closures the same thing?
Or as Murphy's Rules pointed out, "an untrained peasant militia unit has a 1 in 33 chance of sinking a veteran battleship unit."

http://archive.gamespy.com/comics/kovalic/Murphys/M19/M19.GI...
Another thing I like about it that he doesn't mention is the button to 'join' rather than 'submit', with its connotations of soulless bureaucracies.
Broadband speed is good enough. Like jsz0 said, it might be time to work on cost, latency , etc.

And of course access(third of the u.s. don't have broadband).

Also it might be a good time to look at other parts of the infrastructure, because there lies the competitive edge.

HD video conferencing seem like today's important part of the infrastructure. And wireless broadband.
I came here to say this, you beat me. Also, it's important to note the context of this "conversion". It's sending a message to someone you don't know. No one likes to send cold emails, so pre-writing the message takes a lot of the burden off. I'd wager just having the "Comment" textarea pre-filled with a message would have similar impact.
Japanese researchers have introduced similar gimmicks (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4z3cs4Ocug&feature=playe...). In my opinion, the technology today is no match for a real human teacher in terms of educational outcomes and cost.
Thank Goodness You're Small
[video] Bloom Box Revealed
Ask HN: Best way to establish a US company for foreigners
Hi,

I was wondering what would be the best way for a foreigner, not living in the US, to establish a company in the USA. I was thinking about either an LLC or an INC, even though I'm not sure whether or not a non-US resident is allowed to be a partner in an LLC.

Have you got any experience with this or links to useful resources (looking up on Google returns mostly websites of consultants who try to sell their services ;) ).

Thanks everyone!
"I still don't find it an impossible reading of the text, so I don't feel bad, and still won't even if it is clarified later that I am wrong."

Well I wasn't trying to make you feel bad, fwiw. Just wondering what in Jay's post caused you to say

"This discussion boggles my mind,".

I didn't see anything "boggle worthy" hence the question.

peace.
I don't really buy into this approach especially with young children and a wife. Read all the posts detailing how hard this approach is without a wife and kids. How much time is this guy spending with his spouse? How happy is the spouse going to be with you constantly on the computer. This kind of advice will mostly lead to a divorce. Of course, this is case by case as some spouses may be OK with being totally ignored or perhaps you can convince them that this amazing web application is going to make a fortune and you will be able to purchase an island for her (just a couple more weeks honey I promise!); however, for most this advice will land them in a financial and emotionally devastating divorce.
When you get married and have kids you need to put some selfish needs on the back burner. I think a better approach is to take money from savings and quit your job. Or perhaps go to 20 hours a weeks or something like that. And if you can't do something like that than just forget it -- it is not meant to be. Your gold rush web application is just not that important -- your wife and kids are.
When I first started playing Starcraft, I too thought it a trivial game. 12 marines always beat 8, defense is stronger than offense, so mine, expand, defend, and wait. What was I missing, aside from annoying random noise affecting battles?

The strategy. It's in the noise. I didn't see it because I didn't know what it was to think strategically.

Writes Clausewitz in his classic On War:

The conduct of war, then, consists in the planning and conduct of fighting. If fighting consisted of a single act, no further subdivision would be needed. However, it consists of a greater or lesser number of single acts, each complete in itself, which . . . are called 'engagements' and which form new entities. This gives rise to the completely different activity of planning and executing these engagements themselves, and of coordinating each of them with the others in order to further the object of the war. One has been called tactics and the other strategy. . . tactics teaches the use of armed forces in the engagement; strategy, the use of engagements for the object of the war.

Anyone can think tactically. I have six zerglings, you have seven; you'll probably win, but perhaps I can cycle them and dance them around to do the most possible damage. Perhaps I can find the perfect spot for a siege tank on a hill, or which turret to use my battlecruiser's main gun on. From such a perspective, the game seems trivial; whoever brings the better forces to the engagement, provided both parties do the right thing, will almost certainly win.

The game is in bringing the better forces to the engagement. Deciding when and where to engage, what to control, what to build and to bring. To wait 30 seconds and take your eight marines with twelve of my own, rather than six, and then six a little later -- so I win instead of lose. Or to strike quickly so your forces are tied down and cannot interfere with another objective. Or to strike much later with more advanced forces that take no damage.

In any engagement, once both sides see what forces are in play, the outcome is already determined. Some micromanagement and smart tactics can help, but ultimately you must decide on the spot whether to spend the units or retreat. That is not the interesting part. The interesting part is in constructing the engagements to your advantage. To have the better unit matchup, or the advantage of surprise or defense, or to have more power in that particular place at that particular time.

The Excel part everybody does, and everybody gets. Factor that out. Assume everyone mines and builds perfectly. That's where the game actually starts: in turning the engagement to your advantage over what you build and where you fight. All the planning and deception and reacting and struggling that goes into that. Initiative. Massing. Marching. Scouting. That's strategy. That's the allure.

The appeal of strats? Take 20 minutes and watch some masters play . . .

http://www.starcraft2.com/features/battlereports/4.xml

. . . and with luck, it will be obvious.
How is someone with a family, bills, a full-time job, and a startup going to have time to go to support group meetings?
I wonder how they (or are even required to) test for Windows machines...my guess is that Microsoft products aren't even in their requirements.
Bloom Fuel Cell, Power Plant in a Box
I thought this was a joke about how paper is a high-performance data store... :-/
When the original was posted here on HN last year I seem to remeber it was quite widely panned as "too different" (a reasonable concern).

It's nice to see an actual implementation - and that it's not a conversion killer or anything.

But it would be nice to see a clearer example of it being the only change to a form.
I wish there was some magic to it. I've only applied for stuff that was aimed at supporting new news-related ideas. So far I've applied for 7 grants and won one of them. I have two applications in the hopper right now but both are longshots.

For this grant in particular, the Chicago Community Trust announced it had $500,000 and wanted to give it to Chicago-based, Chicago-focused, news-oriented projects. About 70 people applied and they gave money to 12 applicants. I received a little less than half of what I requested but am extremely grateful and excited to have some cash to play with. Considering the criteria, I probably would have done something drastic had I not made the cut for that one... :)
Guilty as charged and absolutely correct.
Yes indeed! Last night's HN Chicago meetup was a lot of fun. This is the third or fourth one we've had. There's a great mix of bootstrappers, VC-types, CTO-types, and gainfully employed devs looking to make the leap.
Last year, I wrote a book about marketing for small businesses. In part, it's for all those folks who I see doing great stuff, but struggling to get the word out.

The message is, in my mind, a very important one--particularly given how much has changed as a result of the web and social media. So far reviews have been very positive. That being said, I want to spread the word further.

As a result, I'm giving away a chapter of this book for free, every couple of weeks. The link above is to Chapter Two. You can find the full Table of Contents here: http://gu.nu/2jr

There's no gimmick or trick here. Just give it a read. If you like it, I simply ask you to share the link with any other small business owners/marketers who might find it helpful.

Thanks!
Where does it say that HG http is faster than git://? And second git local operations are way faster than hg's. But google only care about http obviously. Note that android and chromium both use git on google's servers and they employed some of the core git devs so it's only a matter of time before git becomes available on google code.
AFAIK, ZINAL, so take this with a grain of salt.
Thanks for the suggestions.

I'm still focusing on the part of the "SEO Pyramid" where I create great content that people want to read. There is heaps of tuning to do soon.
I find this intriguing, but not comprehensible.

Does there exist someone who could explain the significance of what Sir B-L is saying? If you are that person, please do.

As I understand the background: Adobe has been bungling around on some secret mailing list about Flash and HTML 5. Mark Pilgrim has made fun of them for wanting to keep what's public secret. Now, they are getting their come-uppance. Yes?
You know before everybody runs off and starts using this, can we have some independent tests? Remember that "Follow me on twitter here" thing, I don't think it was ever proven that it actually worked apart from the original article, but suddenly, everyone all over the web was using it.

I'd like to see some actual independent, not-the-same-dude tests before I switch to this style.
Imagine There's No YouTube
Despite all, can we get it free? That is the motive because is so important that the user make your donations.
In the "before" form address doesn't seem optional in the "after" form address is "optional".

It doesn't really say whether both forms address fields where optional.

The golden rule is the less you ask about the higher conversion. So if one of the changes they did where to make filling out address optional then it's obvious why it converts better.

If both are optional then I would say the "before" version seems almost to be made bad on purpose.
Introduction to Win32 shellcoding
You're absolutely correct regarding the trademark, but not infringement.

In order for infringement to hold up, you'd have to get around the "fair use" defense. As this is 3rd party non-vested commentary on "news and current events" in a public forum, it's basically air-tight.
Here's a great example of how our users feel about Windy Citizen: http://www.windycitizen.com/chicago/media/2010/02/25/windy-c...

<blockquote>The nice thing about Windy Citizen is that is embraces a diversity of views -- even allowing stray libertarians and organic conservatives on board -- along with the usual multitude of bloviating Chicago nanny state enthusiasts. I just wish that WC could get someone to work out all of the computer programming glitches.</blockquote>
Funny dog videos
Citibank and Chase Sidestep New Credit Card Regulations
It's not about the suit, it's about the message. As an employer you want to hire people who make an effort, and want to avoid people who can't be bothered to. Dressing well for an interview is so obvious it's actually a pretty good way of sorting candidates.

This may apply less for programmers and high-end technical positions, but this is the exception not the rule.
Meryl Davis & Charlie White Performance (Shared from Tonido Thots app)
A CSI-style image enhancement module for Python
Scott Hanselman built a JS only version:
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/PutMissingKidsOnYour404PageEnt...
That is funny because the other night I started toying with http://www.promisegraph.com - obviously it doesn't work yet but I really liked the idea of the form being in a sentence so I fleshed that in to see if it was even viable. Backend should be coming along this weekend.
I've got a blog post about why this might not be a bad thing here:

http://jchrisa.net/drl/_design/sofa/_show/post/Imagine-There...
Yahoo Adds Twitter Tab for Search
I wish there was a way to link to my younger acquaintances just this part:

-- Dressing inappropriately - 57 percent
-- Appearing disinterested - 55 percent
-- Speaking negatively about a current or previous employer - 52 percent
-- Appearing arrogant - 51 percent
-- Answering a cell phone or texting during the interview - 46 percent
-- Not providing specific answers - 34 percent
-- Not asking good questions - 34 percent

Edit: This and not re-reading the CV 3 times before sending it.
We're working on it.
Cool! Coming from a CS program that thought of design as "scoff that thing they do over in the art building", I will definitely check that out.

Thanks for the recommendation!
I don't know about Linux, but the 10.1 plugin for the Mac (currently in beta) I believe is supposed to have significantly better performance -- ahead of the Windows version, in some cases.

I may have to install the beta and test before I sell my MacBook...
Illustrating Rework (Part 1 of 2)
Apple 'to launch 'explicit' category for App store'
Three JavaScript/HTML ePub Readers
I wish I could draw like that... are there any secrets to it?
Both inspiring:

Doug Engelbart's 1962 "Augmenting Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework"

http://www.invisiblerevolution.net/engelbart/62_paper_top.ht...

Herbert Simon's "The Sciences of the Artificial"

http://www.amazon.com/Sciences-Artificial-Herbert-Simon/dp/0...
This is an excellent summary of the kind of things a company should worry about only if they can't actually measure performance.

Though "appearing disinterested" should still be a huge turn-off.
Well, to be fair, most libertarians think taxation is armed robbery, not theft.
FlightCaster (YC S09): United trounces Southwest in 2009 on-time %
Exploring common JavaScript patterns and anti-patterns
LLC and corporate law is state by state, so you almost certainly can find a suitable state where you can be a partner in an LLC (which is probably the best form to start with). Good luck!
If I understand correctly he's updating the working groups charter so that its clear that canvas, microdata, and rdfa are in scope. This way any objections that these products were out of scope is no longer valid.

I suppose the groups that were objecting can now use this as an excuse to pull out of the working group, claiming that they don't support the new charter.
If you hire people that make a relevant effort, and don't punish people for failing to make an irrelevant effort, won't that give you a competitive advantage?

Shouldn't we hire people who know what actually matters, and what doesn't matter, and prioritize?
I think you're required to post a video interview with a title like that.
This isn't rejecting the original argument. The argument that Larry Masinter made was that canvas, microdata, and RDFa are outside of the scope of the charter (as much as people wanted to believe, he was not arguing that they shouldn't be working on those items). Tim Berners Lee specifically says he agrees:

"The work of the group has grown since it was chartered, and the charter document itself is no longer sufficiently explicit."

There's no discrepancy here.
Funny thing is that in the recent blog post about fixing issues with the Mac plugin, people complained about Linux and mobile browsing.
The industry has been around for a very long time, and it still has a pretty strong B-school flavor.

Maybe MBAs are way better at getting capital, even if they make worse investments. That might be a way to restate the problem, and it points to the same solution many startups arrive at: have a suit or two on staff, if only to communicate with the other suits who have so much money.
NOTE: you should probably prepend "Ask HN: " to your topic.
What linux breed do most of these engineers use? any ideas? Ubuntu? red hat? any ideas?
I've got a Win7 machine and the rc is about to runout. I'm going to get a new win laptop, but am thinking of setting up this old one as a linux box.