skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Real world filing cabinets are not infinitely hierarchical, they are very flat. I don't think I've ever seen someone use a filing cabinet with nested folders. You have one list of alphabetized folders with the files directly in it. In this way I think the current "folders" solution in the home screen more closely matches what people expect.

When you have to drill down through more than a few levels of hierarchy to get to what they want, it becomes confusing to keep track of, especially because folders create groups of arbitrary types so everyone has to build their own hierarchical system for each type of data. So while my nested folders for photos represents year/month/event my nested folders in my music library mean artist/album and my Documents folder is a mess where I try and make up groups of things I will remember again later. "does this piece of writing belong in my Essay folder or in my Journal folder?" Who can say? and if I pick one now, what's to say when I go looking for it later I might not categorize it differently?

Things like iPhoto make those decisions for you, just add your pictures to it and it will make you group them as an event, and that is all you have to do. iPhoto actually lets you look for photos in several different ways then: hierarchically by year/month/event, event in overall order, by who is in the picture, or where it was taken. That is a lot of flexibility that lets me search for a photo in whatever way I'm thinking about it in the moment, rather than having to search for a file based on however I originally decided to organize them on the file system.

A straight hierarchical file system is pretty limiting: it only allows you to find files based on one organizational method. That's why search is becoming so useful and why tagging seemed like such a good idea. It would be great if we could find out what the best way for me to keep track of my writing is without me having to think about how it is structured on disk.

So I guess what I am trying to say is that I agree with you that we need different organizational methods for different pieces of data, and that I think nested "folders" is going to be the right solution very rarely. And I agree with Lukas that there needs to be a lot of work done to help people share files and move files to and from the iPad easily.
I think the question we are all wondering is whether or not the computational engine here can be used to aid the dwarf decision making and increase automation and profit margins?
Living on Clang
I agree with the conclusion, but I am not comfortable with the theory that China is falling because the export number is sinking. China had a worse time in last year particularly in export sector but it turns out to be OK. However, I do worry that the population surplus is going to dry out soon. Large part of "the China miracle" was based on the cheap labor. Once that is ran out, China has to establish a sustainable economy growing model like any other developed countries (IP driven).
> I might be fine with restricting the right for others to sell pharmaceuticals based on the same compound for the same purpose, but certainly not to bar general research into what other effects it may have.

Umm, that's exactly what current patent law does. The recent denial of a "gene patent" affirmed that.

The Viagra-for-ED patent doesn't keep me from patenting the use of the exact same compound as a floor wax.
I suppose it would be vaguely on-topic to mention the WireWorld computer, a particularly pretty MOV-machine implemented in the WireWorld cellular automaton:

http://www.quinapalus.com/wi-index.html
Thanks for that - I'd found a free version via scholar.google.com
I agree. The inability to PrtScrn+Paste into web forms continues to hamstring online workflow. I have a longer rant on that here: http://www.sharingatwork.com/2009/02/enterprise-collaboratio...
To participate.
I've using alt-printScreen then ctrl-v to do this for years. Does insert screenshot do something differently?
Unfortunately, it is only for software dev creativity. Nobody else can really use Linux.

(I say that as a long time Linux user... I would never give Linux to a non-techie.)
Amazon is still hiring ;)
www.amazon.com/jobs

I don't know if we're developing 3 times faster than possible, but from the inside it's amazing to see how many projects launch on any given week without any part of the machinery ever stopping.
They could more safely target "internal" targets such as Tibet or perhaps the Uyghurs...
Apple should rather add what is currently missing from the iPad instead of making fools out of themselves.
The ones who appear on Techcrunch are 20-25. The ones founding the businesses that don't get fawning press are well over 30.
Your use of cromulent has embiggened us all.
He was not part of the competition.
So if his cartoons are bought by a newspaper that has an app, will those issues carrying his cartoons be rejected?

Would a news article about his Pulitzer, showing off one of the cartoons, be rejected?

It's interesting that civil rights, like freedom of speech in this case, are routinely trampled by corporations.
Sometimes in the past I've forgotten that GMail isn't drag and drop and tried to drag files in. Now it works. I feel as if this feature was developed to personally get me to out myself on my past habits.
Serious question - how can a non sophisticated investor bet against the chinese economy?
Obama's speech sounds very interesting - I don't suppose it's being streamed anywhere?

EDIT: Found it - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/36569092#36569092
Could you please elaborate on what is exactly 'disrespectful to history'? Dynabook concept was out there since 1968, not patented as far as I know - anyone could have 'borrowed' it and reaped the benefits.

The fact that Apple has provided a particular implementation of the concept, even with all the software restrictions etc., is a step in right direction. Competition will certainly follow.
"Insert > Screenshot" minimizes the Outlook window, lets you select a rectangular area to include in your screenshot (not necessarily the whole screen), and then automatically pastes that screenshot into your message.

Also, if you have OneNote running, at any time you can hit Windows+S to clip an area of your screen and copy to your clipboard. I use it all the time.
I find smaller groups very useful. For example I'm hiring at the moment and I've directly approached some people I don't know personally who are in groups that are small and represent (for me) a type of hacker I want to hire.

The groups are less useful when large, but when small they can offer a way to locate people who could be perfect for you (and you for them).
It's great that they're supporting this, but the UI is unintuitive - you can only drag files onto the green box (which is ugly btw) but users will try to drag files onto the message textarea, which won't work. Even changing 'Drag files here' to 'Drag files into this box' will help.
One would like to know what the dean had in mind. I will say that a bad grade can be very stimulating feedback.

I see that Dr. Homberger sponsored a resolution against the chancellor's latest raise: http://www.bus.lsu.edu/accounting/faculty/lcrumbley/facsen_c...
Volcanic ash: why it's bad for planes
I can't remember if I ever used LinkedIn for anything useful, but why not.
Where is the dichotomy you speak of? I stated that beauty is largely irrelevant when compared to usability/functionality in a utility such a text editor. Do we expect people to be excited by a photograph of a floral print, paper machete mockup of a sledge hammer or table saw? I'm not saying that a nail gun cannot be both pretty and functional (your accusation), only that a photo of a decorated nail gun is not interesting to someone trying to evaluate it because the photo does not convey any useful information.
Government-sponsored social programs are technology
Get Immediate Value from Your New Hire - Best Practices -
Want to be truly computing literate, where you write as well as read? There’s no app for that.

On some level, the iPad isn't really a Turing Machine.
For most universities over the last 20 years, the number of "staff" has doubled or tripled while the number of "faculty" has remained about the same. (source: a tenured professor at a big state university). Whether this is just bloat or not is another question, but does support the argument that most tenured professors are not fat cats raking in cash from exploited college students' families.
A great contrast to all the other job openings in 1994 that required five years of Java, HTML, and Linux experience.
You've come a long way, Jonathan Ive
Still no composable concurrency primitives. Maybe Java 8 will catch up to GHC from 5 years ago.
Note the signature on his message.

"It's easier to invent the future than to predict it." -- Alan Kay
I won't deny that prestige is part of the package, but I feel I got my money's worth out of the education portion. YMMV.
First, bonus points for using wherewithal.

Secondly, thanks for the reminder of how complex English can really be. Your example makes me glad I'm a native speaker :)
You got downvoted for accidentally raising the very good point that the e-mail does not contain enough information to allow a prospective candidate to decide what equity would be worth? I don't know who gets downvoting power around here but they sure do not have much of a sense of humor.
True, unless you really want the big $$$ payday/buyout. Then the hype might be worth it over cash flow and profits.
The juxtaposition of the nuances of lay psychology against the word 'retarded' is jarring.. but I like it.
No, it's a false dichotomy to say that because Bill Gates dropped out of college that all degrees are therefore "silly and worthless". He dropped out of Harvard (where simply being accepted is an achievement in itself) in order to found the the company that would eventually make him the wealthiest person in the world. There is no doubt that he would have been capable of completing his degree had he chosen to.

For regular people who need to persuade someone else to hire them, having a degree certainly helps and is often a requirement.
Non-blocking ActiveRecord & Rails
The Air Crash Investigation episode about this is worth watching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrNuY2qXWhI
SO did successfully create a community. I think they ran into the problem that SO itself was successful because of the 'personal brand' of Jeff Atwood and Joel and this didn't extend easily to other communities.

Or maybe it is because the coders who hang out on SO are a weird bunch :)
Design Guidelines for Homepage Usability
Wow, that's a really tough requirement. Java was first publicly announced in 1995.
When creating a tax system one should not take into account the likelihood of actually collecting the tax?
Non-shitty, blogspam with a dozen moving, flash-based ads links:

The Complexity of the U.S. Tax System
http://www.quicksprout.com/2010/02/18/the-complexity-of-the-...

Who Is Paying Taxes?
http://www.mint.com/blog/trends/who-is-paying-taxes/

How Wealthy Countries Tax Their Citizens
http://www.visualeconomics.com/how-do-wealthy-countries-tax-...

Turbo Tax Infographic: Who Files Income Taxes Early
http://www.columnfivemedia.com/turbo-tax-infographic-who-fil...

Turbo Tax Infographic: Filing Your Taxes Online
http://blog.turbotax.intuit.com/announcements/infographic-fi...

Wasted Potential: A Cost/Benefit Analysis
http://reason.com/blog/2009/11/17/infographic-on-pot-tax-rev...

Death & Taxes 2010
http://www.mint.com/blog/trends/death-taxes-2010/

Charity: Who Cares?
http://www.mint.com/blog/trends/charity-who-cares/

State Taxes in America
http://www.loansandcredit.com/state-taxes-in-america/

Locations of Offshore Tax Jurisdictions
http://www.grant-thornton.co.uk/thinking/bespoke/index.php/l...

United States Federal Tax Dollars Per State
http://www.visualeconomics.com/united-states-federal-tax-dol...

2010 Guide To Home Buying Tax Credits
http://www.fixr.com/infographics/home-buying-tax-credits.htm...

The Onion: Celebrity Tax Deductions (Content scraper didn't realize this was from The Onion?!)
http://www.theonion.com/articles/celebrity-tax-deductions,85...

Wasteful U.S. Government Earmarks in 2008
http://www.visualeconomics.com/wasteful-us-government-earmar...

2009 Tax Rates on Salaries & Wages
http://www.visualizingeconomics.com/2010/03/15/federal-tax-r...
You get one point for being smart enough to notice that Java wasn't announced til 1995.
You lose two points for not being smart enough to realize he was joking.
If Google offered its first public services in '98, where did these posts originate from? Did Google merge an existing message board system into Groups when it was released?
That's true. But due to the Dunning-Kruger[1] effect, it's more likely to recruit less than competent people.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Works with 3.6.3.
Behavioral economics: Reunifying psychology and economics
This might be a stretch, but it seemed like some of the attitudes expressed in the article could be true of the US as well:

> “I don’t know anyone who believes in the party anymore,”

Tons of people don't believe that the US Gov't can do anything correctly or efficiently anymore, I believe it's a sentiment found among many people.

> This regime will not last long. Who knows you won’t be our next leader?

Mirrors an attitude that their leaders, like presidents, will change periodically and it's best not to bet on a single one point of view.

Now that I wrote this out it seems like a bit too much of a stretch.
There's a bug with my amazon prime account. Every time that I pay, I have to manually select "use my amazon payments" balance. I can't save this preference, in a payphrase or just as a normal cookied setting. Thanks!
Usenet. They bought Dejanews and have archives back to the early 80s.
> I think that is probably a little too low, but I don't believe people will generally walk 20 minutes (1 mile)

That may be, but you get to argue that detail with the folks above. (We can then get out a map and see how much of the Peninsula qualifies.)

> In the case of Palo Alto, Santa Cruz Avenue in Menlo Park is 1.3 miles away.

So what? There are closer restaurants and grocery stores. (It's not possible to have everything within 1 mile, or even 10 miles.)

The requirement was that "a grocery store and restaurants within walking distance". Peninsula cities satisfy that requirement, even though, like everywhere else, there are restaurants and grocery stores that aren't within that distance.

For example, no one would argue that SF doesn't have restaurants within walking distance of most residences even though most SF residences are not within walking distance of Zuma.
Yes. Groups mirrored the newsgroups which have existed for a number of decades.
They took your iPad but they did provide in exchange a small rectangle of beach^H^H^H^H^H sand with a metal band around it.
Yes, I do have an idea. And it is largely do to their user growth. This growth is not sustainable and will start to taper in 6-12 months. Facebook clearly is making money from ads (I'm not discounting this). It's been estimated at somewhere in the $400-600MM range. Of that Microsoft and their own ads make up the bulk of that. That is starting to dwindle and they are going to be headed in the direction of virtual goods a la Tencent. My point is that social media sites like Ning, Facebook, and Twitter are figuring out that free is not a business. Ning is just the first to admit it.
Building amazingly complex (if tedious and time-consuming) objects in Dwarf Fortress is pretty much what the game is about after you manage to get past the early learning stages.

This is the kind of game I would recommend to hackers - it definitely supports the mind set of figuring out the rules in a system, then exploiting them to build something incredible.

For example, I remember discovering that if you build your dwarf fortress in certain freezing climates, it was possible to take water from a flowing source underground, then release it aboveground, whereupon it would flash-freeze into solid walls that dwarves could stand on, tunnel through, or build on top of. That immediately led to Operation: Build An Enormous Ice Palace, a plan to create an aboveground megaplex by making dwarves haul unfrozen water bucket by bucket and pour it, like concrete, into a planned mold. (I was exploiting the loophole that water carried in a bucket does not freeze until dropped from the bucket.)

It was ridiculous, arbitrary, and destructive of my free time - but most games are anyway... so why not take a game that also challenges your hacking mindset?
I disagree with your observation, since the truly elite tend to have been singled out for their singular achievements. (e.g. winning a putnam, or the USACO, etc)
Maybe this guy Larry should apply.

http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.java/msg/88fa108450...
I particularly liked kitten logic:

http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/User:Bidok#Animal_Logic
I'd gladly help you make that little logo/icon/badge more attractive, just for the satisfaction of knowing one less bad one is showing up in HN readers' profiles.
I see this complaint leveraged at the web inspector a lot, but I don't really understand it. It seems like the differences are very subtle.

http://i.imgur.com/amWMy.png vs. http://i.imgur.com/ysH0a.png

(As an aside, note that FireBug doesn't know that the font color has been overridden by the font tag.)

I'm curious what changes specifically you would make to improve it?
actually, they are most likely using part of the new drag and drop API in HTML5. firefox and chrome both provide a `ev.originalEvent.dataTransfer` object as part of the DragEvent interface. additionally (and importantly), they allow the drag/drop to originate from outside of the browser.

see: http://decafbad.com/blog/2009/07/15/html5-drag-and-drop

and: http://hacks.mozilla.org/2009/07/html5-drag-and-drop/
why would that make anyone sad?
I've quit soft drinks cold turkey on a few occasions. I've gone from drinking them almost exclusively to having none for months at a time.

My experience was that they were even better than I remembered them. The only thing that I can relate to you is that if I haven't had a Coke in some months, drinking a large amount does upset my stomach.
It wouldn't seem like a big deal, but in practice I've found I greatly prefer firebug's display.
WRT the 3 home screens, there are quite a few replacement Home apps that increase it to 7+ - PandaHome, aHome, and Open Home are the first that come to mind.
In Firefox 3.6, you can read files with a FileReader. There doesn't seem to be any global FileReader object in 5.0.342.9 beta (Ubuntu). The Gmail file drag and drop works fine, so I'm certain I'm using a supported Chrome version.

Is there any documentation for how the file reading works in Chrome? I would like to implement it in an application of mine that so far only works in Firefox 3.6.
...and begins to learn at a geometric rate.
Ads, you've got a valuable source of information, a list of thing people want to do. Give them relevant ads related to their todo list and you'll get a much higher click-through rate than usual.

People are in an "action" mode when going through thier todo list, take advantage of that !
Funnily enough, it's not even him posting, it's his wife, Mackenzie, posting under his account.
Thought it was just kind of well known. The first of many sources:
http://www.businessinsider.com/google-and-twitter-wanted-to-...
Google Reports Quarterly Net Income of $1.96 billion
Facebook no longer has a burn rate.
US-China are linked like the feuding twins. When US went down, how can China stay standing up? Its massive stimulus package only gives it a last ditch effort remaining up before dragging down by US.
This is a huge problem lately. In the last two weeks we've seen hostile action from Apple, Facebook, Ning, Stack Overflow, and Twitter. Building something with other peoples tools is too risky at this point. If you're successful, they'll just change the terms of service, ban you, and implement your product.
I lost a significant amount of weight by doing nothing but transition from drinking Coke and Mountain Dew to water.
I feel your pain, man.

I was involved years ago with a group of individuals in a different industry. We were working on some advanced machine learning stuff. It was really cool, and the tech was going somewhere. We were getting market interest too from some big players.

I ended up cutting and walking away. Basically I burned several years of work in the process (I designed almost all the tech), and was left with debts that I'm just now getting rid of.

Getting away from the folks I was working with was worth more to me than any of the possibilities that were on the horizon. I also had a strong feeling that if it was a success that I would see none of it, so there was a bit of plain old self-interest too.

"All hat and no cattle" is pretty good. The one guy running the whole thing was, I think, a pure psychopath. I was actually afraid of him for a while, thinking that he might come some night and kill me and my family.

He was charismatic as hell and really, really good at projecting an aura of limitless success and at getting people interested, but nothing ever panned out. He was surrounded by slimy opportunists and clueless followers. I was one of the latter for a while. He had a way of stroking your ego and making you feel powerful, when really you were just being used.

Since then, I now have a real sense for such people and such arrangements and can sort of smell them. Like you, I can't really describe it. It's a bit of too-good-to-be-true and a bit of too-slick and a bit of... some ancient animal threat response.

I've never been to Vancouver or met any of the principals involved in this story, so I really can't comment directly. But your "sense" may indeed be accurate. I sure know that smell now.

Unfortunately, the startup world and the larger tech industry is absolutely crawling with these reptiles.

My advice? Just steer clear. You can't really do much else. You can't go around badmouthing people, as it just makes you sound like a jerk and could also attract legal harassment. Surround yourself with people who aren't slimy, and avoid even those who are unfortunate enough to be in the orbit of slimeballs. All you can really do for people like them (and like I was years ago!) is to wait and hope they come to their senses. If they are your friends, you might be able to tell them or hint at them... but it's really just as bad as when someone you know is dating someone awful.
“Next generation” of Ning coming in 90 days after “painful” restructuring
If degrees "might mean something or they might not," then they don't mean anything. In order for a predictor to be useful, it has to be reliable. If I have to take it on a case-by-case basis anyway, why would I bother looking at the degree itself? That puts it on the same level as the applicant's star sign and blood type.
I've seen the documentary and agree that it's a great way to spend an hour or so. What was disturbing though is exposed in the first minute of this video clip. I'm forgetting his name, but the speaker is basically suggesting that the only impactful company in the world actually doing design is Apple. It's disheartening to hear, and in the years since the documentary that point seems to be even more true.

Do you think we'll see a renaissance of design as a differentiator for businesses, or is something so difficult to account for prior to product launch doomed to be discarded by all but a few companies?
Dear PG: A Bug Report
As there seems no way to actually submit bug reports (which really should exist), I'll just submit it as a submission.

The reply link to a comment if you're in thread view fails to work, because it is providing a malformed URL.
(1994)
Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For
The last paragraph came across much stronger than I intended. I've removed it for now until I articulate what I intended better(or never).