skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
"The only platform that really works is a platform with no platform vendor, and that’s the Internet." --Dave Winer http://www.scripting.com/stories/2009/08/01/heyMikeIToldYouS...

All vendors attempt to influence the relative positioning of their applications on their platforms. Microsoft and Apple have long thrived with this model, and I expect Google to too.

The difference with Google is that I also expect them to be more open about it, hence the open sourcing of Android and perhaps other OS moves they make.

I think this is significant because of Google's investment into public infrastructure. They are not building out a platform upon which only they can make money. I see Google as the number one contributor to the Internet Operating System today.
"Political" Maps are Missing from Google Maps
Yeah, but I don't make money with my ass, I make it with my hands.
PIHKAL- the autobiographical account by the bay area chemist who invented MMDA. Incredible story of invention and scientific exploration. It also contains the most authentic love story I have ever read.
Hahaha! How strange. I actually started working on this exact thing on the weekend (http://github.com/hellotoby/Jquery-UI-Aristo-Theme)!

This one looks great though, perhaps I should stop working on mine...
The WSJ article this blog post cites is from the (overtly partisan) editorial page.

From the WSJ's MarketWatch page:

Under the old law, companies received a federal subsidy worth up $1,330 per retiree if they provided former workers with drug-care benefits. At the same time, however, companies could deduct the value of the subsidy from their taxable income.
GCC Undefined Behavior
Which is why I specifically included the business trip part. They had to schedule around those dates, losing a week or more of possible launch times, because they couldn't handle a year+1 operation. Given how picky they are with launch windows, this could easily mean large delays, meaning large amounts of money.

Not a minor feature, methinks.
Some say XML is Lisp in drag. I think it's more like a fat-suit.
I don't agree that the arguments in the God Delusion are too bad. He does take some real liberties with Aquinas, but all the scholarly dressing you apply to Aquinas doesn't really improve the arguments. Dawkins deals with them too hastily, but even if Dawkins was an Aquinas scholar and applied the principle of charity to the arguments, they'd still be unconvincing arguments. The God Delusion is a popular book, not a scholarly refutation of all arguments for the existence of God.

If you want to read scholarly refutations of arguments for the existence of God, as well as read some arguments put forward explicitly for the non-existence of God, then you have to turn elsewhere: Michael Martin's "Atheism: A Philosophical Justification", Robin Le Podevin's "Arguing for Atheism" and Nick Everett's "The Non-Existence Of God". Another good book from an agnostic rather than atheist perspective is Anthony Kenny's "The God of the Philosophers". A slightly easier read is Julian Baggini's "Atheism: A Very Short Introduction" which is okay. I have some reservations with it, but it covers most of the important arguments and has some stuff about ethics and living the good life and all that happy-clappy stuff too.

As for stuff that isn't concerned with the philosophical arguments? I found Onfray's "In Defence of Atheism" a pretty good read - it is polemical, but is well-written. Nietzsche is always good to read so long as you don't - you know - become a damn goth or whatever after reading it or try and commit genocide or something. Russell's "Why I Am Not A Christian" and the much less read compilation "Russell on Religion" (not widely available outside academia as far as I'm aware) - Russell is a good writer and says some very refreshing things like:

<blockquote>Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own.</blockquote>
May be RMS is wrong, but something on the article is true: we trust too much data to others, data that we could keep secure, and we don't know what they do with our data.
Apple posts up iPad Guided Tours
Some (if not most) of the on-board shuttle programs are written in HAL/S.

http://history.nasa.gov/computers/Appendix-II.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL/S
Ruling available here: http://www.aclu.org/files/assets/2010-3-29-AMPvUSPTO-Opinion...

The interesting bits start on page 96 (have to type this in by hand from the PDF):

"The rule that the discovery of a law of nature cannot be patented rests [...] they are not the kind of discovery that the status was enacted to protect."
I don't think that goals themselves are a bad idea, they give you something to aim for and a sense of completion once you get there. Personally I've found that setting short term goals ( < 1 week away ) has helped keep me on course.

That being said, the company I work for requires us to set SMART goals every quarter and account for >= 70% tied to individual bugs. This is a complete nightmare for me because the goals that are defined for us don't conform to SMART at all and everyone ends up fudging their hours to meet the 70% requirement.
Some valid points but as usual he skips over the reality that OSS solutions often aren't the best solution for how people want to compute. In the past that may have been feature/usability disparity of desktop applications but in the context of SaaS it's simply lack of availability. The best way to promote OSS is to make the applications so good people prefer to use them over proprietary alternatives.
Maybe there's a C++ equivalent for Poe's law where real C++ extension drafts are indistinguishable from parodies.
Standing Desk + Sitting Ball + Time Out for Mac (5 minutes per hour) + daily exercises + mini stepper at desk and I don't have these issues.
notepad
erd commander
airhack
Because then the commenter can imply that aren't just classist, but racist too.
Six tips for negotiating best-efforts performance obligations
Google Summer of Code 2010 student applications now open
I think that Richard is always pushing it too far. But maybe we need that.

Anyway, he does raise a fair point -- one that I ponder about more and more often.

To me the solution seems to be open source/open standards/open data.

In the web world the standards and data being perhaps more important than the server's source itself.

If you can run that thing on your own server, if you can communicate with the existing servers and if you can get the data you put there back, it seems to provide the same set of freedoms that you had in the original GNU sense.
Straight Dope message board http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb is pretty good
When you click several times on a button, it selects the text.
Thanks, at least on HN the majority balances out the down-mods so that coherent posts stay balanced. We're not reddit yet where any non-conformism gets down-modded to non-existence. I frequently try to upvote posts I disagree with that are well written.
Right now I'm sitting in an Aeron chair I bought myself 11 years ago. It's been through 3 startups, 4 moves, 2 wives and a half-dozen laptops. I don't want to even think about how many hours my keister has been in this chair. Amortized for use over time I don't think I ever spent money so wisely.

Get a good chair now -- even if you have to spend your own money on it. You won't regret it.
Will Senator Dodd’s new bill destroy angel investing?
No, but Vimeo tracks plays, and I've seen people on Twitter saying that they're getting more traffic because of the site, so I think it's working... I think having some kind of stats tracking would be nice, but that'd be more work ;)
I wonder if/when someone will hack the Boxee Box into a full computer; it's got decent specs and the right ports.
Andrew Warner at BizConf - Bootstrap Like a Missionary
Sorry for being disconnected, but is there a 2 line explanation of what I'm watching? They're visually entertaining, but I don't get much beyond that.
When you click several times on a button...

...in rapid succession. Like all other text in a browser.
You're an edge case. Most users don't know or care that these problems are there.

Among other things, if you have an Exchange server or an IMAP server that supports IDLE, you get push e-mail automatically, which for me solves that problem in its entirety.

Things like background apps can be done, but the practicality of allowing background apps without draining the battery far too fast is an issue that (to date) they haven't solved effectively. Perhaps in the next generation of apps.

Finally, the rotation - I agree with you wholeheartedly. Rotation inhibitor is the biggest reason why I jailbreak. I hope this will be solved in a future OS release, but who knows.
Experiences using Amazon Mechanical Turk [2007]
Putting the junk in the extra space means it's not clogging up the content area (except on truly awful websites). It means they can include all the extra crap no one really wants, while still keeping the site usable.
Just because people have been sitting/squatting whilst working in previous centuries doesn't mean they didn't have problems. Have you seen the state of some poor people who spend their lives sitting badly whilst working?

I certainly get problems by sitting too long whilst working and I am by no measure fat. :) But, yes, get up and move about.
OT: Animated favicons: Just Say No. (Yes, I'm sure there's a way to disable it client-side but the point remains.)
My Kingdom For An iPhone Rival
Yeah, but with a bad back or hemorrhoid problem, it is really hard to be productive with your hands.
2011 Corvette Coupe Pictures Wallpaper Prices and Reviews
The Corvette is Chevrolet's -- perhaps' even GM's -- most widely recognized model. The sports car has been in production since 1953, with several variants along the way. Now in its sixth generation, the so-called C6 Corvette Coupe was launched as a 2005 model. Updated for 2011 and beyond, the Corvette Coupe receives an all-new 6.2L LS3 V8. The bump in displacement -- up from 6.0L -- increases horsepower to 430 or 436 with an available sports exhaust...
Never trust a programmer who says he knows C++
This would go nicely with Uniform (http://pixelmatrixdesign.com/uniform/). Doesn't jqgrid support jquery ui themes now, too?
I dunno, seems like exactly the type of situation where it would be much more appropriate to just write the damn thing in Java...isn't the ability to do just that with performance sensitive code one of the best things Clojure offers compared to "standard" Lisps? You'd get better performance, clearer (and less) code, and less development time, as well as the ability to practically cut and paste the C code from the linked paper.

I feel (as I do so often when projects written in certain languages that may or may not start with "Haskell" show up here) that the main take away is "Look, we can write working apps, too, and they're Better-Because-They're-Functional!" And yes, there are a lot of things that are better when you code them functionally, but simple numerical algorithms like this one play specifically to the strengths of imperative languages, and I see no clear benefit.

It's the same code smell that I get when people start putting together utility libraries, macro tools, and bytecode processors just so they can pretend to do functional programming in Java: if you find yourself struggling to do things non-idiomatically in one language that would be trivially natural in another, why not just switch languages? Especially if they all live on the same JVM and play fairly well together...
Uniform already handles this theme. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and there are three pre-made Uniform themes listed: "Uniform Default," "Aristo," and "Agent."
Eclipse functionality for Vim
Not necessarily, but I found myself looking for alternative payment methods market trends and it appears that most researches done cost thousands. Same for thousands of subjects.
What about the various whines about unskippable pre-roll ads on dvds? That is User experience, sucky user experience, no matter how relevant the ads involved.
Turing on Digital computers applied to games
Ask HN: Confused: Stay in my comfort zone / work very hard for someone else ?
I have been confused about this for a while now. I have a sort-of stable job where I am doing just routine stuff and not learning much on the job (typical 9-5.30 job) I could, however, go out and try to find a new job where I could be learning a lot more. However, I would have to put in longer hours (9-8 or so) and would have very little time outside of the job to do anything.

Also, not learning much at the job keeps my mind in a switched-off mode where it is not engaged and being in this state for most of the day blocks any new ideas I might get.

A new job, although, would give my mind more fodder, I will probably have to work longer hours for someone else and I'm afraid I might be so tired from work that I might not be able to do any side projects anyhow.

Also, I am worried about leaving my current safety-net for the fear of the new job turning out to be worse than this one.

Anybody been in a similar situation before ? Any advice the community might have for me ?
Homebrewers and pirates are surprisingly distinct groups. A couple small examples: http://www.wiibrew.org/wiki/Team_Twiizers#Philosophy and http://www.wiibrew.org/wiki/WarezInstaller/information
RMS would get a lot further if he didn't talk like a complete jackass. Quoting on the kindle "(whose name suggests it's intended to burn people's books)"

The condescending tone and the cheap shots do not put him in a good light. Nor does actually hearing the man talk, for that matter.
1. My God those political maps are ugly

2. So, how're you going to classify Kashmir, Gaza, Taiwan and Western Sahara?

If you want the Italian capital google it normally, not in Maps. Including political information is a complete pain in the arse for any company with global reach, for practically no benefit. If you really want it that badly build a mash-up.
A few inches of difference on a chair's height, for me, makes the difference between long-term comfort and heavy lower back pain.

I ordered an artist's drafting stool recently because they go higher than other chairs.
I think that if you want a deep, and very enjoyable read you should try Isaac Asimov's Foundation saga. It's so complex and presents a network all of Asimov's many ideas all collected under one store. Very insightful.
The government granted monopoly (copyright) is what gives open source licenses, like the GPL, their power. Depending on the exact license, you aren't allowed to make a copy of non-proprietary software either. Copyright doesn't say you aren't allowed to make a copy, it says that the owner of the copyright is allowed exclusive exploitation of the work, which is sellable/transferable to other parties, and is often restricted based on conditions -- with proprietary software, these conditions are usually only money changing hands.
Perhaps try to contribute your work to improve their project? Too bad it doesn't look like they're sharing their source control.
Good job Judge Robert Sweet!

The consequences of these patents are quite monstrous.
I think the article skims over a little bit at the end the cost of developing software in this way. For the vast majority of non critical systems there really isn't much value in this methodology.
Blogga, please. Just get up once an hour, walk around, maybe check out that big room with the blue ceiling that's sometimes black with white specks (the one the Others call "outside").
Functional Java 2.22
Stallman raises good points about the security issues with SaaS (i.e. contracts don't matter if you don't know when they are breached) But the alternative he recommends is impractical. I don't know of any normal non-tech business that are end to end OSS (even a majority OSS is rare).

Businesses don't want to run their own servers and have large IT shops, but they do want the sun/moon/stars in services. SaaS promises to deliver what they've wanted for years. It will take more than a security risk to dissuade businesses from using SaaS. It certainly didn't stop them from using proprietary software.

I wonder if the goals of Stallman/GNU/FSF/Anti-DRM/Patent folks are actually in opposition. Imagine if DRM was flawless? Paid OSS could be more common without risk to the publisher. IT shops would have more of a means to insist that vendors provide source for independent security review.
That's actually a change in 1.1.0, which appears to be unreleased.
Get a split desk and spend part of your work time not on your tush.
He's pretty smart, and often makes good points. You just really, really have to filter him.
Damn you're hired! Are you looking for a job by the way :)
I like to see signs of emerging sanity in the patent world. Possibly that will head us back to the sanity of killing lots and lots (hopefully all) software patents.
I don't know why planning a launch several years in advance a week later means a huge cost. They never scheduled a flight and had to change it because of the limitation, it was built into the calendar. Not having shuttles in the air during New Years might actually save money--less overtime pay.
Literate Programming Life Cycle
Given budget constraints and the level of safety required in something like the shuttle I think they have lived up to realistic aspirations.
You should track at what times the people click next.

Your like button is too far away from the next button, and neither has keyboard shortcuts.
I don't think I made any assumptions about your feelings on static vs. dynamic typing, I'm just pointing out that even though on the surface they can be both used to solve similar superficial problems, static typing is woefully limited with regard to the scope of problems it can actually detect. Tests can go way farther to help verify the expected results of your code.
I just improvised a standing desk this past weekend with boxes and books, and I'm enjoying it so far. Better posture already at least.
These are personal animation showreels from animators and designers in the motion graphics and animation industry. Reel Roulette appears to arrange many of them in an easily viewable format all in one place, so people/peers/employers can check them out.
The security settings that allow you to even connect are 1) hard to find, 2) somewhat difficult to track down documentation for, and 3) not what everyone would call "reasonable". I like Postgres, but it needs to evolve a more admin-centric attitude in my estimation.
I used to keep my wallet in my back pocket, but recently transferred to keeping in my jacket pocket. Not as convenient, and now possible to misplace, but my butt feels better not having half of it sitting on a rock all day.
Female suicide bombers blamed in Moscow subway attacks
I've read Rework, I felt it was entirely a rehash of Getting Real.

In fact, while reading it I would swear I read a lot of the passages in it were added in wholesale from Getting Real.

I was experiencing some serious Deja Vu while reading it. More power to 37signals for being able to sell me something I've already essentially read.
Usability for Hackers
So they are showpieces? My other googling indicates they may contain or be comprised of their other (paid) work?

The site itself is very cool, was mostly wondering at the underlying item and why it exists (beyond the fact they look cool).
Honestly, in a lot of cases language performance doesn't matter as long as you have a good numerics library. For example, here's one implementation of the projection step in my current project, which does fluid simulation on unstructured tetrahedral meshes and relies heavily on SciPy's sparse matrices:

def __init__(self, mesh):
div_matrix = op_mesh.n_to_nm1_boundary.T * op_mesh.F_matrix
boundary_matrix = op_mesh.F_matrix - op_mesh.FB_matrix
self.C_matrix = sparse.vstack((div_matrix, boundary_matrix))
self.CCT_matrix = self.C_matrix * self.C_matrix.T

def Project(self, velocities):
lam = linalg.cg(-self.CCT_matrix, self.C_matrix * velocities)[0]
return velocities + self.C_matrix.T * lam

It's pretty simple (constrained least squares optimization) and it's missing some stuff (preconditioner), but it runs fast enough (~1 minute/frame for > 1M tetrahedra), and only required minimal testing: it's all built up from operators I was already using elsewhere. Since it's the fourth or fifth projection method I've tried for this code, that makes a big difference. The fact that I'm using Python is almost immaterial: all of the "interesting" code is library calls.
But Uniform only styles selects (drop downs), checkboxes, radio buttons, and file upload inputs. jQuery UI could nicely compliment Uniform by styling everything else.
I love point #2: all local variables must be explicitly freed. Truly raises the bar on breaking backwards compatibility :)
10.6.1 was 71MB, 10.6.2 was 473MB, and 10.6.3 is.. > 700MB? Has an Apple update ever been that large?
open courseware link http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Mathematics/18-098January--IAP--20...
I have a deep mistrust of Alice. When everything you do is done by pulling something from a menu, how do you even think about creating something basic that is not already in those menus? It is almost like expecting to learn a lot about civil engineering by playing with Lego. Certainly, there are many things you would find superficially similar, but the essence is missing. Yes, I am exaggerating, but you see where my mistrust comes from.
Agh. I have mixed feelings about this. On the face of it, sure, you're getting rid of an exploitative industry. This is good, right?

On the other hand, I don't think you really are. I'm not sure I can agree that this brand of feminism is really good for women, it seems that it can't be.

In Canada, there is a major, major court struggle involving prostitution. Here, prostitution is technically legal-- you can sell sex. You cannot, however, communicate about it beforehand, live off of the profits, etc.. It is only technically legal, in practice it is totally illegal. What is happening is that prostitutes don't like this very much (and neither, of course, do the clients). They are challenging the ban on all sex-trade related things as unconstitutional. And, you know, they're almost certainly going to win. In maybe 2012 or so, for at least a brief moment, it will be completely legal to buy and sell sex.

But the key here is that it's the prostitutes and supporting feminist groups that are challenging this ban. It does not protect women. If anything, it makes life worse for women involved in the sex trade-- they are pushed to the margins. This court challenge is the consequence of a string of serial murders of prostitutes working the streets. It is illegal for them to really market their trade, so they market it illegally, in as low-key a way as possible. This probably means walking the streets. Walking the streets is... not a good way to be a prostitute. You still run the risk of being arrested, and in addition lose much of the safety something like a brothel or indirect marketing would offer. There are a lot of prostitutes that are absolutely against its criminalization, because it makes the world so unsafe for them.

And that's the thing-- they don't go away because it's illegal. They get shoved into the dark corners of society, along with all the rest of the criminal elements. It's not good for women in any way, not really. Maybe you can claim some ephemeral benefit wrought by a society that looks at women in a different light, but as far as real, noticeable, observable effects go, the criminalization has done nothing but hurt women in Canada. And that's why they want it to change.

I don't see how it would be any different in Iceland. Sure, 57% of men say strip clubs should be illegal. That's not 100%, that's not even close. I'm sure many of the 43% opposing criminalization would in fact use such a facility. Maybe not too many, maybe a few. But now Iceland is pushing yet another group of women into an area of life run only by criminals. How is this good?