skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
You're using their service completely free, so I don't think you are really entitled to any say on the matter. If you were paying for it you might have some reasonable expectation that they leave your content intact, but you're not. It's like complaining about high taxes and then turning around and complaining that the government isn't sending everyone's children to college for free. You can't have it both ways.

I think this is an absolutely acceptable (and, incidentally, completely innocuous) monetization strategy. It's not like they're rewriting your blog posts to give the false impression you're a Nazi porn star child molester. (I would be against that, for the record.)
They should have posted something on their Official Blog. However, there are a lot of things they should have done before releasing this...
There can be only one explanation. Posterous was hacked!
Macruby is open source. Apple was under no obligation to open source it, yet they have...
Do you have any sources for this? I'd be very curious to read at a basic level some of the physics involved and the theoretical limits. I'm amazed, as is, at what cell phones can do.
New York, NY

LimeWire is hiring Python, Scala, Java, and Javascript developers to help build its next generation music service.

I am the tech lead of the REST APIs component, which is written in Scala. We are using a Service Oriented Architecture with back end services written in Python and Java, all communicating via Thrift. RabbitMQ, MySQL, Memcached, Solr, Riak and cloud deployment round out our back end stack. Front end is HTML5/CSS3. We use Git.

With 5 weeks paid time off + 10 holidays, free lunch every day, made-to-order breakfast twice a week, and rooftop parties, it's easy to get used to working here.

http://wiki.limewire.org/index.php?title=Software_Engineer
The copy link trick only works on certain browsers. I'm using Safari, and copy link copies the actual link, not the affiliate link. Clicking it, however, takes me through the affiliate link.

Seems to me like some browsers take the URL that gets opened through the click event when you copy the link, but Safari does not.
Great Marketing: Honest Tea Tests Wall Street's Honesty
the 'see more' link on search results with a single response repeats the result. So if i search X and Y comes up when I click 'see more' it shows a list of Y, Y. I assume this is just a small bug.
Social Gold is hiring end-to-end developers in Seattle and SF

We're a growing startup with 20+ full time employees. Many of us have worked at Amazon; many of us have founded startups. Our customers are app/game developers and our services are used by millions of consumers.

We help social games and apps monetize and manage their virtual economy. Payments, virtual currency management & analytics, subscriptions, and more. There's lots of real demand, so your priorities are closely tied to our business needs and your products will make us money.
More about us: http://www.jambool.com

You'll code in Ruby. We're looking for people with 2-4 years of experience writing production code. You'll focus on one or two products, but will be exposed to all of our systems. You'll work with external customers to understand their needs, design solutions (features, products, process) and implement them end-to-end (from UI to the database).
More job details: https://www.jambool.com/socialgold/corp/jobs
It would be really interesting if James could write something on how the company works. It seems like they are only a three people company. But, they got a lot of things done.
So whenever I use a free service, they are basically entitled to do whatever they want? What kind of logic is that?

If they can't handle it, people shouldn't offer a free service. But don't run a service for "free" and then try to make money with shady business practices.

In other words, you are not entitled to running a service for free.
Downvotes noted. The truth, it burns.
This would turn 90% of Posterous content into affiliate spam.
Looks like my /etc/hosts file just got one line longer. :)
And if your proprietary walled garden is moving at the same speed as the web standards body (CMON!), you are #$@*ed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_layout_engines_(H...
Sure, but I think it's fair to say that Objective-C only really hit the mainstream in recent years, with the increasing prominence of Apple technologies.
They must have fixed the typo. You're right of course. I thought it was a little strange to have so little memory.
What's wrong with a business having a revenue model?

It does not follow that because someone thinks a business has chosen a bad revenue model, that person thinks that any business having a revenue model is bad. Please don't write dross such as this.
You should be informed of this when signing up for a blog.
They let you choose which of several keyboard-mouse combos you want with your computer, all for the same price.
Textie: A Handsome, Simple Messaging App From The Guys Behind Tweetie & Borange
I can't remember the context, but in the earlier version of this interview that we had to scrub due to technical issues, I mentioned "I don't intend on being 'the bingo guy' for forever." I have to knuckle down on creating the next thing though -- crikey, where did April go.
It's the obligation of the person choosing the analogy to pick one that connects with the audience.

It's supposed to make the communication simpler, not to add more burden.

Hence, it was a poor analogy.
The similarity between the iPhone in 2010 and Ruby On Rails in 2007
I wouldn't be surprised that they're bigger as it's generated code. Still, it doesn't seem to me like flash apps are going to eat up all your available app storage space.
Scary how many people thing that kind of thing is OK. Isn't it at the very least very sneaky?

"They need to make money somehow" is not an excuse for being sneaky.

The only thing in their favor is that customers should probably expect a catch since the service is "free".
True, but this seems great for a personal project/experiment.
The government has essentially dictated what goes in ECU's for a decade and a half. Why is this news?
IPad 3G denies ABC player, downsamples iTunes store video previews over AT&T
I fully appreciate that you're going to move on, but you should appreciate what an awesome calling card "bingo guy" is.
On site in San Francisco. We feel it's important for our early employees to experience the unique office and culture we've created.
Defensive not offensive; hence the allowance of Skype.

Google Voice / Android is Google gunning for Apple [1]. You've got the roles reversed.

[1] http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=531...
Cannot believe it is only for Android 2.1 and above.

http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-ve...
Sorry about the video. A new editor started working with me this week and we're working out the kinks.
As a Posterous user, I'm happy that they did this. It has essentially no effect on the end user, potentially makes them money (to support their excellent, free service), and doesn't kill existing affiliate links.

Keep up the good work, guys.
> So whenever I use a free service, they are basically entitled to do whatever they want?

Well, legally speaking, they probably are, yes. You get what you pay for, and the current entitlement culture because a lot of "free" on-line services don't come with financial strings does not negate this basic fact of life.

Now, whether they should disclose that they are doing this so that those using their service can decide whether or not they wish to continue doing so is an entirely different question.
I read on my Nexus One with dimmed white on black text. I use the Aldiko e-book app.
What I've learned by watching this video: To keep Wall St bankers honest you need to keep cameras on them, and even then they're only 89% honest.
It's just unbelievable it's only for 2.1 which means only for 27.3% of users at last count!

http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-ve...
The answer to your first question is unequivocally yes (within the confines of the law, of course). Unfortunately for you, and fortunately for the rest of us, you don't get to dictate the terms under which people offer free services.

I don't find Posterous's business practices shady at all—they found a way to offer a free service to people while at the same time making some money off it in a way that users don't even need to be aware of. I think that is the definition of creating value—it's a mutually beneficial relationship. I don’t like how you’re trying to imply they're somehow immoral just because you don’t like what they’re doing.

If you don't like the way they do it, don't use it. Your content is being hosted at their pleasure. It’s like living rent-free at your aunt’s house and then getting ticked off when she sublets the basement to help cover the rent. You have no right to be upset over that—it’s her house.
Would also like to know. I think for commercial systems you would have to create a solution yourself, or else a commercially usable system like this would be well-known.
We currently have sixteen employees, though that number is growing monthly. I suspect we work like any other young company - what would you like to know?
The patent office uses TIFF for the official copies of its documents, rather than PDF? Curious.

(Quicktime on Vista seems to be unable to open said TIFFs, which is the only reason I brought it up)
Attractive people, on average, think less and are more sensitive to emotion including conscience. This makes them more likely to be good and less likely to be guilty of crime.

Thinking draws resources away from the body and thus indirectly affects things like movement, grace and growth.

Hence the medieval law of combat: a good knight could not lose against a bad knight.

Also the Emperor Palpatine's skin problems, ugly stepmothers in fairy tales, etc.

Also George Orwell's comment "At age 50, every man has the face he deserves."
There's no Google impact here -- Viglink is javascript behavior. Link juice is utterly unchanged.
Nobody has shown more reckless disregard for backward compatibility than Apple in the modern Jobs era.

Well, their record on backward compatibility is mixed -- Carbon, Classic, and Rosetta spring to mind -- but let's stipulate that the above is true. Apple has been able to make major changes to its platform because they're not beholden to any incumbent developers. Microsoft and Adobe have a certain amount of sway, but not enough to keep Apple from improving the platform.

Now they're trying to extend that independence into the iPhone/iPad era. What's dishonest about any of this?
I fail to see how a black box is Big Brother-ish. The recent Australian proposal to charge per kilometre, now that sounds a bit Big Brother-ish.

Poor headline, I think.
For work eh? Same here, got here around February. Where exactly is "work" :)?
I have friends in the UK, I paid them via Paypal and they setup the account for me. I realized when I was there in November last year I could've also gotten a prepaid credit card.
And nobody ever considers to save any money on the side? Or which parts of the "infographic" were confusing to you?
Jobs didn't imply that Flash is responsible for the majority of crashes. What he did say explicitly, and not for the first time, is that Flash is the number one source of crashes on Macs. That's not the kind of claim a chief executive would make without the data to back it up.

Regardless of whether the crashes are due to poor code in OS X or poor code in Flash, if Apple wants to maintain a reputation for stability, their biggest enemy is the crashes involving Flash. Since they don't control the quality of code in Flash, they've got reason enough to try to kill Flash without their mobile strategy coming into the picture.
I kept getting the same results each time I hit "more." I got excited when I read the title. I thought it might actually be obtaining data from those sources in real-time. A quick glance at the status bar showed otherwise.
We are hiring a .Net Developer and a FrontEnd developer. We are based in NYC
http://www.spa-booker.com/careers
Why would there be different rules for businesses, depending on whether their offering is free or not? Suppose posterous would charge 5$/month for their blog hosting, and still would add the affiliate links, what would it change in your opinion?

I don't think it is illegal to add those links. I for one will stay away from them, though.

Also, Facebook is free. Why did they bother to introduce new terms of service at all? According to you, they could just do whatever they want?
Your blog http://gpapps.com/ is not hosted on Posterous.

This is unrelated to the discussion at hand.
I don't think so. Those who do spam wouldn't be up for giving viglink 25% and then settling for only half of the remaining 75%.

Spammers aren't entirely stupid, they'd go register direct and do what they usually do (set up little spam bait sites) as that would be way more profitable.

This would help small publishers more than it would assist spammers.
Thumbtack is hiring for our San Francisco office. We're building a marketplace for local services. Imagine eBay for handymen, painters, and French tutors. Awesome team & well-funded.

http://www.thumbtack.com/jobs
Hey guys,

Posterous partnered with Viglink.com back in December as an experiment to see if we could generate revenue by adding an affiliate code to links that don't already have one. We chose to work with Viglink because their technology doesn't interfere with the user experience at all.

1. Links in Posterous posts are not edited in any way
2. Viglink javascript intercepts clicks and adds an affiliate code when possible
3. Affiliate codes are not stripped or altered if they already exist
4. Copying links is unchanged

Before deploying this change, we tested it heavily to make sure we weren't doing anything that would be visible to the publisher or reader. The fact that it took 4 months for someone to really notice this is a testament to how unobtrusive it is.

Some people have commented that we should be sharing revenue back to the users. You are absolutely right. This is something we mentioned to Viglink at our very first meeting with them and something we will add when it's technically possible.

Admittedly, we should have announced this on our blog. This was definitely an oversight on our part. Our goal is to be 100% transparent with everything we do at Posterous, especially when it affects your blog and content.

From Posterous, we apologize. Going forward we will be sure to notify you of any changes we make to the site.

With regards to viglink: we really appreciate all your feedback and we're going to evaluate our use of the service going forward.

-Sachin
cofounder, posterous.com
Even a free service has some "terms", as you said. Neglecting certain aspects of the service (hidden costs) in the terms is fraud in my opinion. Now in this case it probably isn't illegal, but I just don't understand your logic in general. How does offering anything for free justify anything?

Picking up on your renting example: if aunty offers me to let me live there for free indefinitely, and I move my stuff there at considerable costs, I think I would be pissed off. Not that I personally would like the arrangement to begin with, but still.
San Mateo, CA

NexTag.com is the leading comparison shopping site for products, financial services, travel, automobiles, real estate, education and more. Founded in 1999, the company was named one of the Top 10 Comparison Shopping Sites (2nd place after Google) by CPC Strategy.

JOB: SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER

QUALIFICATIONS:
•	8+ years experience in software development with 2+ year in Java programming.
•	Solid working knowledge of UNIX, preferably Linux.
•	Experience working high volume e-commerce web development applications and tools.
•	Expertise with Object-Oriented Design and implementation.
•	Expertise in data structures, algorithms, and complexity analysis.
•	SQL experience a plus, MySQL a big plus.
•	Strong background in relational database.
•	Good communication skills.
•	BS or MS in Computer Science from a Top Tier University.

Great opportunity to work for a fast growing company.
If interested, send me an email at Lbeseda71@nextag.com
Write-once, run-anywhere is a lie.

If Apple wanted to really hurt their developers, they would allow the App Store to be ruined. Flash developers are not entitled to placement in the App Store, and there isn't a single App Store developer who would look forward to an influx crappy Flash apps.

You can talk about hypothetical scenarios all you want, but as long as the iPhone and the App Store remain immensely popular with developers and users it's very hard to argue that Apple is doing it wrong.
TV is adapting better to technological change than any other media
Yes, hardly scienteafic.
> Suppose posterous would charge 5$/month for their blog hosting, and still would add the affiliate links, what would it change in your opinion?

It is fundamentally different in law as soon as there is consideration in both directions, because then you have the basis of a contract.

However, if users aren't paying for the service (or otherwise giving some significant benefit to the service provider) then there is unlikely to be a legal basis for any obligation on the part of a service provider to those users. You can't have a one-way contract.

IANAL etc., but this is elementary contract law.

> According to you, [Facebook] could just do whatever they want?

Yes, they probably could, in law. Whether it is a smart PR move to alienate users of your free service by doing something that your user base does not like is a different question. After all, your users have no obligation to you either beyond whatever the use of your service is worth to them.
A few years back a company in Scandinavia tried to sell candy bars at workplaces by leaving a tray of candy bars and a jar for the money.

They found that it worked well at low-income workplaces (90-95% honesty) but poorly at high-income workplaces (20-30% honesty).

It appears that at least by some metrics, honesty is inversely proportional to income.
I for one have no problems with this. I mean these guys host my stuff for free, right?

Well, people probably don't know that wordpress.com and a bunch of services that host your content for free also use services very similar to this.

Everyone's getting angry at something that has been happening on sites for the past 2-3 years already.
I'm honored, humbled, and (once in a while) a wee bit scared of it.
Wolfram talks about how he will be using his software to revolutionize science, and you can too for the low, low price of $299.99.

Again.
When your framework is made to build apps that may be downloaded over the air on the nation's least reliable cellular network, you should at least try not to include the kitchen sink with every app. Waiting for the app to download is the user's first impression after clicking "buy".

Hello World is not just an edge case - it's a lower bound. There are plenty of non-trivial apps that can be implemented in under the ~3MB overhead for Flash. Once multitasking arrives, this kind of overhead will be even more important, because small single-purpose utilities will be more useful. Also, if the overhead is 3MB on-disk, the in-memory overhead is likely to be even bigger, and it's not likely that it could be shared between several Flash utilities running simultaneously.
I'm not sure you appreciate just how useful that demographic information is. They don't just have your name and address, they have that, the quality of hospital you went to (which in the US, says a lot about you) and the fact of a birth.

This economic datum alone is good for about 15 years of highly predictable target marketing. Long after the baby has stopped wetting itself, the data can be sold to other marketers, who are eager to have it because it's predictable that the child will need new clothes every year, attend school around age 4, want toys around birthday and Xmas, and so on and on. It's worth a lot more than some sample packs of toiletries and baby formula.
IPhone does not support high profile by any stretch of imagination. Why don't you go and check Apple documentation? There's a technote for that.

Or just try playing high@ video on iphone.
Well, from what I remember in followup coverage, lj claimed that overwriting existing affiliate links was a bug, and they were also just trying to affiliate links that aren't already affiliated.
It might well fail a challenge, like the patent on the BRCA2 cancer gene did.
Jeff Jarvis on How Facebook Could Regain Our Trust
I wouldn't mind being called the bingo guy
And there is the ?converse?- given someone has committed a crime, is it more likely than not that he/she is unattractive?
Wouldn't you rather be a participant than a witness?
http://lists.xiph.org/pipermail/theora/2010-April/003766.htm...

also

http://lists.xiph.org/pipermail/theora/2010-April/003769.htm...
This has always seemed like the most fundamental flaw in the legal system. Rejecting jurors should be much more limited, in my mind. Perhaps, for example, give the attorney 3 sets of 12- or give him a set of 12, and offer him the chance to reject the whole set, a limited number of times.
Just being blunt, but if you got pissed off at your aunt like that, I would call you an ungrateful spoiled brat. Doesn’t matter how much you paid to move your stuff in. I don’t actually think you’re a spoiled brat, because it’s just an analogy and expecting something from Posterous as you do is at a much lower level of entitlement than expecting something from someone letting you live with them rent-free. I see your point of view regarding Posterous and I can respect it although I disagree.

IANAL, but I think the only reason that a website offers terms of service (beyond any minimum legal requirements they must live up to whether they like it or not) is to give the appearance that they’re nice guys that care about their users. That makes users feel good; it’s a PR decision. But the business doesn’t have any obligation to make its users feel all fuzzy inside about the service. It’s just that it’s usually in the best interests of the business to do so, to the most reasonable degree possible.

And it’s good that business don’t have this obligation, because users can be stingy and irrational. Like, for example, when they get unjustifiably angry when the business finds a completely harmless way to support the free service.
The whole juror system is insane. Let's get ten totally unqualified people to judge a person on a theatrical performance by a lawyer.

It's like, "Hey, we're short on surgeons, can we introduce surgeon duty? Everyone can cut meat right?".
I'm curious as to whether you considered if this would have any effect on PageRank for content you host?

This type of behavior - using javascript to present the user with links different than the googlebot found - seems like the type of thing they frown on.
You can't click links with the track/scroll ball (which normally opens links in new windows) with Viglink.

This is the only thing that bothers me.
Maybe the high-income earners assumed that it was free?
Yes. All that link shows is the same app running on lots of different screen sizes, with no concessions to the local device beyond resizing the same layout. It's lowest-common-denominator in action, really.

The iPad split views are completely different: when the device is in landscape mode two separate views are side-by-side, when it is moved to portrait one view becomes main and the other hides under a button.

If you're using UIKit it does all this for you, for free. But if a Flash dev wanted it, they'd have to roll their own, or wait for CS6, when Adobe might implement it for them. Either way, take up of the new interface would be massively delayed while Apple waited for Adobe.

Apple's done with waiting for Adobe.
Especially if you like wearing gold chains and/or cowboy hats.
Hosting and displaying user-generated content isn't a part of the Posterous software functionality?