skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
ACA independently selected the best set of long positions that Paulson was willing to short. That's how almost every synthetic CDO is constructed, and was almost certainly disclosed in the legalese of the contract.
The article assumes that Facebook will never change or evolve, which I think is wrong given Facebook's history.

For one thing, Facebook does have extremely valuable data, and they're not too shy about starting to sell it to the highest bidders:
http://social.venturebeat.com/2010/04/22/facebook-lobbying/
right...mark did not touch on the topic of toxic workplaces. he focused solely (i guess) on these "good" or "utopian" work situations. that was another catalyst for the post.

however, in his latest blog post, mark addresses these issues. so i definitely credit him there.
I don't think the AMD way is necessarily the "right" way. What Apple needs to do is add more options. Make the options part of the power control applet. You should be able to have different settings based on plugged in/not plugged in, API usage, integrated/discrete always on/off, etc...

IMHO, a combination of Apple's way and AMD's way is the right way.
Why the FAA's Air Traffic Control System Will Fail
It took me a few days of reading the x86 (586) instruction set guide, to make a Lisp function called 'get-opcode-byte-count' which, given a few bytes (eg, 20 bytes), calculates the MOD/RM stuff, to give the number of bytes in the next opcode. It's part of the pre-processing of my decompiler - finding all the code and branching into branches, subroutines, etc, is crucial when decompiling an x86 binary (but it doesn't do this as well as IDA, the disassembler, which uses tons of tricks to find code).
Supposing intent was not CP, but was some kind voyeuristic intent, what are the possible kinds of ways she could be prosecuted? What about the administration of the school who signed off on this debacle (particularly the forced use of the laptops under penalty of expulsion that contributed greatly to this mess?)
Intro to Distributed Version Control (Illustrated)
I had basically the same experience updating cornify.com to the new social plug-ins. Documentation is incomplete, the Facepile doesn't work at all, and using an older Facebook Connect library at the same time breaks everything.

This has been my experience for a long time now. Even when talking to big clients at work, we're simply not encouraging integration with the Facebook APIs since we can't be sure what's going to happen.

Another thing that is a big downer is that the plug-ins can't be skinned. This may be good to keep the brand visible and establish a minimum level of design quality, but for agencies it doesn't work since it's impossible to create something dead-sexy.
One peeve: an "undocumented feature" is not a feature that was advertised but doesn't work, it's one that wasn't advertised but does work.

> The most popular site on the web is getting a pass.

Probably because the old API is still fully supported.
That was incredibly charming, and a well-composed limerick to boot.

I spent the better part of a day once trying (and failing) to explain the difference between files, folders, documents, email messages, mailboxes, pictures, icons, programs, docked programs, etc., to an 80+ year old friend of the family. The ipad's emphasis on task-oriented, direct manipulation of data make for a much more straightforward metaphor: there's no cognitive distinction between the Pages document as browsed for object and real live document, no explicit saving or "saving as" or filing, no hat trick of intermediary representations between any one task and any other.

When friends ask me what's so great about the iPad, I can never think of a good answer. Usually I just show them the smule magic piano, which keeps them busy for a few minutes; the savvier ones say, "what, so it's just a toy for like two year olds?" For them, I'll keep this video waiting in the wings.

For all the promise of multitouch, everywhere-connectivity, 10 hour computing, etc., the best parts of the iPad are the things you can't see because they no longer exist.
Information is mostly just noise. The actual useful stuff comes rarely, so I try as much as possible to minimize the external information I get that is not important - for example, the news. The news are mostly totally unimportant and irrelevant. If you read the news twice a week, that's more than fine.

I also believe in using tools that pre/filter the info I get so I don|t have to wade through junk to read the info that could be useful to me.

Information gathering can be a big time waste with no direct benefit. But it\s addictive, and hence dangerous.
CUDA + $40 Webcam == Art
I guess you should try to see every time you fail to do a Pomodoro what it was that caused you to lose focus, and seek to eliminate that distraction.

For me, losing flow due to long compile times, having to download libraries or something is a sure focus killer.

And as I said, just idle web browsing is a problem that I should try to take care of.
:)
Microsoft?

They abused monopoly power to force their OEMs to do their bidding, all the way from punishing IBM for shipping OS/2 computers to preventing Dell and HP from placing software such as AOL's (MSN competitor) and Netscape (we all know that).

They have achieved monopoly and near-monopoly in several categories (office applications, IDEs) and have used it to raise barriers to entry. Every IDE available for Windows is either targeted to a small niche or free and cross-platform.
Yes. I find myself consuming more and more material that contains information that is more and more trivial.

Today's haul: found out the name and life story of the guy who played "Hoss" on Bonanza. Read an essay on tax policies in a state several hundred miles from my own. Went through an extended interview (linked from here) about life in North Korea. Researched various types of pulse oximeters. And that's just in the last couple of hours.

At one point in my life I would have thought "I have a voracious appetite for new knowledge. This is a good thing" But lately I'm seeing this in not-as-flattering terms. I'm more or less picking up little shiny things simply because they glitter. There's no depth or follow-through. There's no long-range goal of acquiring knowledge in any one area. It's all just stimulus-response.
No, you are not. You're just another professional procrastinator ;)
Tremendously high signal to noise ratio article, highly recommended. Helps you understand how he's more than just the ultimate networker in SV, how making 500 angel investments in 15 years has worked out well in the long run.
What if a standards body obeyed Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics?
So close. It's actually math.
"I also believe in using tools that pre/filter the info I get so I don|t have to wade through junk to read the info that could be useful to me."

Care to elaborate on your methods?
I think what you're getting at is that information by itself isn't necessarily useful, but knowledge is.
And that's precisely why monopolies rarely form (not impossible, but really difficult) in commodity markets.

Anyway, it's not as important as when the monopoly is established. Any competition would have to bootstrap itself. Until competition is reestablished, market distortions ensue. They can be as large as the barriers that prevent competitors from entering the market.
Nothing spectacular - I don't subscribe to blogs or forums or newssites, just to news aggregators that allow some form of voting then only read the highest ranked stuff.
I just realized I have had the music on straight through for over an hour
No surprise here... Edwin Jaynes called this the mind projection fallacy whereas Ayn Rand called it the primacy of consciousness, an epistemological error. If everything is "information" then what are the physicists studying? To quote AR "A consciousness conscious of nothing but itself is a contradiction in terms". Full quote here;
http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/consciousness.html
You can do this with jQuery, e.g.:
http://www.appelsiini.net/projects/lazyload/enabled_fadein.h...

Download here:
http://www.appelsiini.net/projects/lazyload
respect for intelligent life actually might be beneficial

(just a side note: my belief is that not only humans are cognitive beings, so my respect applies to all life, but that's a bit offtopic, altough might be present in aliens as well)
Drinks != music. Alcohol is known to slow reaction time and cognitive skills.

Instead of substituting music with drinks how about wonder if doctors also listen to music while they work. When I was pre-med (prior to becoming compsci) I went and observed a few surgeries. The surgeons were some of the most focused, professional people I've ever met and they had music playing in the OR. Go figure.
How did you get into this line of work? If I could get paid just to learn things and share them with others that were truly motivated to learn, I'd be set for life.
Ask HN: Good books to learn more about computer architecture?
Hey all,

I was wondering if anyone could suggest a good book about computer architecture. I program small-scale stuff on my own, but never had to learn any of the details about what C++ actually does (which interviewers seem to love asking) or what's going on past the programming part.
developing recommendation systems.
I believe he's referring to Woz being shown the device being "no big deal", not firing the guy. Of course, this leads to the question of why the guy was still fired... though it's quite possible/likely the firing didn't cross Jobs' desk.
Not a single thing in that linked article supports what you've stated.

I stated: "the concept of getting people programming ASAP in order to learn has been sort of poo-pooed". This is based on the article stating that programming "is a bad way to start" and "expecting students to program as a way of learning programming is an ineffective way to teach."

Funny, you read that as saying, "Zed's wrong."

Why would I have? That would be a meaningless and uninformed judgement. The effectiveness of the techniques is the interesting part. My observation - accurate or not - that the article "poo-poos" a technique is not to say that the technique is "wrong" as linking to an article says little of my opinion, which I stated as being "on the fence."
Climbing the Wrong Hill
"domain=example.com" does not match static.example.com, but "domain=.example.com" does. The problem here is authors who just used wildcards everywhere (so they could skimp on the work to design their URL namespace) and are now regretting that.
I am an information addict as long as there isn't anything more interesting that demands my time. If there's something that I need to work on, it had better be thrilling.
I believe RescueTime will block certain websites for certain amounts of time. So you could keep Pandora open while all other sites are blocked. Although you have to pay $6/mo to get the feature.
The Mathematics of Origami: Complexity in Creases
http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1272228099/ref=sr_gnr_aps?search...
"There's zero evolutionary reason for aliens to behave altruistically towards us."

But plenty of logistics and game theoretic ones.

Logistics: An expansive starfaring culture can garrison every rock in the galaxy within a few million years. The fact that they haven't means that either (1) no such cultures exist or will exist in our vulnerable window, in which case we are unconditionally safe, (2) the galaxy is already garrisoned and they are tolerant, in which case we are conditionally safe as long as we don't piss them off, or (3) we currently live in the special 0.1% of the galaxy's life when a hostile culture is expanding but has not reached us yet, in which case we survive mostly by random luck. The likelihood is that we are in scenario #1 or #2, but cannot know which.

Game theory: A group is deterred by internal risk analysis, not external threat. A clever expansionary culture will run the logistics analysis above and decide that hostility has a horrific risk of backfiring. (For a fictional example, see Greg Bear's Anvil of Stars.)
According to the definition outlined in the article, I would be considered a "hopper". I've been gone between full-time freelancing and being a senior employee in 3 start-ups over the last 5 years.

Looking just at my employment history at face-value, you could determine (taking the article's definition of dedication and commitment) that I was not truly dedicated to the long-term success of the companies I've been involved in.

The real story, of course, is that there's a lot more beneath the surface. Instead of blowing me off, ask me about the extent of my dedication to each company. I'm absolutely convinced that I've sacrificed, failed, and subsequently learned more in 5 years of "hopping" than the majority of "dedicated" employees who spend the same amount of time in a single job.
>Ctrl+e and ctrl+a work like home and end in Terminal.app.

I remapped Caps Lock to Ctrl for just this purpose, though I use iTerm. These shortcuts work system wide as well.
Yes. In my case, it's an avoidance strategy. Avoiding things I am scared of, but actually enjoy when I get into them. I'm learning a better way to relate to that fear.
All the questions of juggling funds and how this will be re-payed and how that will be afforded etc seems fruitless and pointless.

Sales are falling, they are loosing money; there may be many things to do, but everything is for naught if they can't do the most important thing.

MAKE A CAR PEOPLE WANT TO BUY.

Maybe I'm naive, but I figure if they do that most of the other problems can be sorted out- and if they can't do that, they have no business doing business.
Why are all the unfun things making it big? By unfun I mean being at the mercy of megacorps (Apple, Facebook, Google). So we had a couple of good years with the internet and individuality, and now it is supposed to be all over?

Is this because of the innate herd nature of the human race, that is, people just like being told what to do?
Ask HN: Please submit quality linked articles, not the first one you read.
Submitting a story with a topic that is interesting and relevant to HN in order to solicit conversations is a good thing. Most of the value in HN is in the conversations. (Spend an hour rereading your comments over the lifetime of your membership -- you might be shocked at how your style has developed and hopefully matured.)

However, please find the time to select the best available article or source. If you come across an article that is topically interesting but poorly written, don't submit it. Find a better article. The jumping off point often determines the quality of the conversation that follows.

(I am hungover and somewhat grouchy. If I'm totally off base, apologies.)
But ACA didn't know Paulson was the short. They thought he was going long, because that's what Goldman told them (and part of what the SEC is suing Goldman for). It was Goldman's responsibility to find the shorts, not ACA's.
The article "The Age of Facebook" is retweeted more than a 1000 times and 'Liked' just about 150. Ironic.
I agree that numerical methods are not a substitute for analytic tricks, you need analytic tricks to come up with the algorithms and to understand why they work! But learning how to use a particular calculator is not important (that is what I'd like to see replaced by learning the algorithms). And even for analytic tricks it's often much more enlightening to code the algorithm. For example I learned much more by coding an algorithm for factoring an arbitrary polynomial over Q than doing any number of factorizations by hand. I don't think that many people are even aware that there is an algorithm for factoring an arbitrary polynomial. They either don't even consider it a potential algorithmic problem or they think that it might be impossible to write an algorithm to solve it.
The largest advertisers became the largest because they spend a lot on brand advertising.

[citation needed]

A famous quotation about the effectiveness of advertising, by a business person "considered by some to be the father of modern advertising."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wanamaker

"Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half."
I was learning anyway, but after a while I realized that the main ideas were very valuable, could help people get what they want (start new businesses, get a raise, get promoted, etc.), and that people would be willing to pay for services that helped them get those things.

Starting a blog with a unique name helped the idea spread and allowed me to build an e-mail list. I also started offering coaching services via a free initial consultation - I talk with coaching prospects for an hour with no obligation, then set up an arrangement to meet regularly if we were a good fit. Coaching alone allowed me to quit my day job.

The e-mail list made it easier to test various ways to serve people who found it interesting enough to sign up. The 12-week course tested very well, so I spend ~3 months developing it. Initial signups brought in enough money to pay off all business startup expenses (computers, cameras, software, etc) and pay off all family debts. Everything the business brings in from now on is 90%+ profit, which is a good feeling.

If you can find an intersection between what you like to learn about and knowledge people will be willing to pay you for, you'll be set for life. All you need to do is focus on putting your knowledge into some form people will pay for, then ensure prospective customers find it.
This article seems to imply that the author equates Shannon entropy with information. Is that so? It has always struck me that Shannon entropy is a good measure of information, but is not a good definition of information itself. Like the difference between a vector and the magnitude of a vector, information and its measure are not the same. What is information itself? If this author actually has a definition of that, I would like to see it.
> "Ron is the Internet," will.i.am said.

I would have said that maybe this was a little hyped. But my name is Ron, so I think it is 100% correct.
This seems to be the approach du jour to 'curing information overload', but a recommendation system typically manifests itself as yet another information source. In my experience, they always exacerbate the problem.
Learn to surf. Or snowboard. You won't master either, of course. But standings up on your first wave or learning to link turns on the snow is exhilarating, and the first step towards getting better.
Why do you equate space-faring with expansionist?
Smart Work and Smart Cities Pay
It wasn't at the time of release, but now it is a deficiency in CloudApp, and the developer will no doubt work with Apple (or with Apple's documentation) to resolve the issue. The app is taxing the new hardware that it didn't see before, which couldn't be avoided, and is OK – as long as an update is planned and forthcoming that fixes that.

EDIT: Et voilà: http://twitter.com/getcloudapp/status/12815742863

And you've got it backwards, I think. Apple just improved on battery life with the new hardware, through a new and automatic feature. It may not work optimally everywhere yet, but that's something that will get sorted out in a short while.

"[…]How quickly he thinks the world owes him something he didn't even know existed 10 seconds ago[…]" —Louis C. K.
So flawed in this case?
It's a tough question. The problem is that AAPL makes a lot of their money off hype/fad products (and don't flame me on this, they make some nice products, but the AAPL marketing machine is genius and could sell the Brooklyn Bridge right now). Not that this is a bad thing, but fads can change on a dime. Remember how cool the RAZR used to be?

Rightly or wrongly AAPL is seen as a personal extension of SJs will. What happens when he leaves?

AAPL has also just had a HUGE run up. I'm not saying it's going to drop anytime soon, but you don't want to be the last one on the train.

AAPL makes premium products at premium prices. Has the overall market (jobs, financials, housing) really recovered enough that people in general are okay with spending again? Some statistics say no, but recent earnings say possibly.

All these are questions you need to answer for yourself. I would be a little gun shy today (either buying or shorting) because I think there are easier/less risky investments to be in right now.
My favorite part of the article:

"One of his [Conway's] investments was a podcasting startup called Odeo run by Ev Williams. Odeo failed, and Williams took the unusual step of returning his investors' money.

"I thought that was a magnanimous gesture," Conway said. "I decided to set that money aside and invest in whatever Ev did next."

It's really the ideal situation to be in a position to be able to return an Angel's money, but Ron's comment seems to sum up why he's a good person to know. He strikes me as the quintessential investor that lots of people talk about, one who invests just as much (or more) in people as in their ideas.
> what are the possible kinds of ways she could be prosecuted?

Well pretty much what I listed here:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1292998

> What about the administration of the school

Yeh, that's a complicated one - I hope they don't get off the hook or anything silly. But I don't see how CP laws could apply to them in any way.

I presume they will get them under negligence / malicious neglect laws.
IIRC Google street view car is using some kind of laser to map 3D models of buildings while driving by.
ISCSI versus FC over Ethernet
Interesting article on the future of SAN storage, iSCSI seems to be taking ground of FCoE.

Any thoughts and what has your IT deparment implemented or will implement ?
Well it's not really remarkable at all, the argument is basically that information and entropy are mathematically equivalent and so information like entropy spontaneously increases.
"Unusually for a physicist, Mr Vedral spends a fair bit of time talking about religious views, such as how God created the universe. He asks whether something can come out of nothing . . . Mr Vedral makes a persuasive argument for a third option: information can be created out of nothing."

Somehow this reminded be about this verse in the Bible:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God", http://bible.cc/john/1-1.htm
Mistaking the deepest abstraction you are capable of for the fundament of all reality is hubris.

Philosophy is one of those subjects that most intelligent persons think they can master pretty well. It all seems pretty simple and straightforward. Especially physicists fall into that trap again and again, up to great string theorists putting forward anthropocentric theories of the universe. These people usually make trivial mistakes that any real philosopher spots in no time. Intelligence is not a substitute for knowledge and this guy seem to have fallen into the same trap as well. In this case you don't even need to be a philosopher. He defines information based on the frequency of 'events'. This means that both time and 'events' are more primal than his notion of 'information'. Consequently, 'information' is not at the root of anything. And how could it be, if we need minds and language to discuss 'information' in the first place?
I'm mostly an information addict when I'm coding in long stretches. What works for me is taking breaks from focusing on logic, just any sort of different mental direction. That's where HN comes in really handy, and as a matter of fact it's how I came to be on this thread.