skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
My story is quite similar to yours. I was a software developer for several years. It was intensely disillusioning and after thinking the same thoughts as you, I quit. I've been unemployed for the last year and a half, trying to "figure things out."

It doesn't feel like my sabbatical has been a huge success. But in the future, I might look back and realize it was essential. It's been relaxing, and I've done a lot of reading I wanted to do, but my reading list is still infinitely long (one book references another, ad infinitum). I haven't figured out what my life's work will be, and I feel a bit foolish for ever thinking I would.

You can take this as a kind of warning: a sabbatical may be the best option available to you now, and it may be exactly what you need, but don't expect it to be magical.
I've read slowly all my life. Turns out I have some subtle, but fixable vision problems. Find a competent vision therapist and get an exam - you may find something.

Of course if you already read quickly, I don't know if you'll find much.
It's tricky to balance all the cool stuff going on with your ability to just get stuff done. You will never learn everything. You will never become the expert at more than one or two things. It's great to learn, but not at the expense of doing

This is a quote so good that can be applied to almost all fields of knowledge and life in general.
I agree that Carnegie, in the end, made a lot of good things possible. Still, it bothers me that we are so eager to consider that ends justify the means if the ends favor us.

Carnegie ruined lots of people. Along with his good deeds, you must consider the good all these other people never were able to do thanks to him. What makes his good deeds more worthy than the good deeds he prevented?
The day is not far that Patent Troll Inc.s and their brethren will be thrown under the democracy bus. It is a matter of when, not if.

And it won't need a revolution, just enough in-fighting, a bit more alienation of the masses; which will be reaching critical mass soon enough given the number of entrepreneurs and small businesses paying licensing fees a.k.a. "Troll Tax" to these IP warehouses (whorehouses?).

I eagerly wait for the day this blows up in IV and friend's faces.
There wasn't enough room for all of us inside, so we went outside to the terrace. We were sitting at a huge table. Sounds like we had 2 different HN meetups going on at the same location. We'll have to consolidate next time.
Even at the expense of sounding like a troll, it always amazes me, really it does, that Bill Gates and Paul Allen the two founders of the so called "evil" MS have given so much money to charity while we haven't seen any such moves from Jobs and Woz the founders of "think-different" Apple.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it.
I have no doubt that it will. When has marketing ever gotten less intrusive?

This is another example of why Google really needs to continue making their own phones with stock Android, no crapware, and no root/ROM restrictions.
Regular Exercises  Needed To Get Six Packs Abs
If getting six packs abs is your desire then you just need to be patient and be consistent with your strength training workouts and your body will burn fat from your belly in no time.
Python, JRuby on the Android Platform in 10 Steps
The point is not that there isn't a point of overlap, the point is that the digital world can go many more places. Every digital camera I've ever bought has come with photo manipulation software that may include various physically-inspired tools, but also goes above and beyond what can be done in analog. Any company that tried to be just "analog photos, but on computers" would be stomped in the marketplace. I have found digital photography to be a qualitatively different experience than analog photography for over a decade now.

(Which isn't to say the digital experience is all pros and no cons; photography has held on to some "pros" longer than many other fields.)
This is pretty cool. I like your signup process.

It would be nice if the pins on the Google map were clickable after drilling down to the city level.
Good Windows VPSes?
Hi all. I was wondering if any of you had recommendations for a good VPS host that offers Windows. It must be Windows because the client has demanded a .NET application, and now we need a good, cheap server with root access (I was told they already had one; they don't).
My buddy actually had an interview just like that at a California company (much smaller than Google) and he did get paid.
Blackberry OS, Review Blackberry Operating System
And it would be charging all the time, too, not just when you're using it.
This is by Clayton M. Christensen (The Innovator's Dilemma)

single page: http://hbr.org/2010/07/how-will-you-measure-your-life/ar/pr
They're in no rush. Most Apple fan[boy]s who think video calling is the Next Big Thing are under the impression that it's already an Open Standard (and the best standard!). Apple has the advantage of the impression of being open and the ability to change things around at will. Best of both worlds.
Thanks. I wonder if I should not expect a real world small business e.g., cafe, roofing company, gift shop, to be a passive income source?

I wonder where I else I can look for passive income (Assuming I can't build something myself :-(
I'm definitely beginning to think the Droid will be my last Motorola phone. Even the fact that you can't uninstall Amazon and the core Google apps is a little grating.
HN: Please review my site, cooking video search engine Cookblast
My skill-set is poorly represented here. The only things currently relevant to me are Marketing related.

What about... writing, front-end development, sales, networking, branding, research?
That's a pretty major change. Did you have any knowledge of embedded systems beforehand? Why did you switch? Why not go engineering the first time around?
register and add them yourself :)
Did you have trouble returning? Was it hard finding jobs, getting interviews? Did you have to take a pay cut when you returned?
Progress at the LHC (Message from the Director General)
That's a good point. Interesting enough 'google' has a high score when run through my algorithm. There are a lot of words that start with 'goo' and end with 'ogle'.
In my 3 years of TAing undergrad computer science intro classes, I am going to say you are wrong. The number of incredibly smart, gifted women who believed they were failing the course despite having some of the best scores was staggering. Many of them simply believed they were not good enough to compete with the loud-mouthed egotistical dicks in the class. They had no role models and no belief that they were good enough to compete with the guys who had been using computers since they were five.

I am not saying this is a problem for all women or that it only affects women, but it is still a problem that needs to be solved. Role models help, encouragement helps, and having someone around to convince these students they aren't stupid helps. I would rather more women get into TAing intro classes than this program, but take what you can get.
I think this adds on nicely to hackrtrackr which appears to only be useful for geo-locating yc-readers. This looks to be built much more to satisfy that "community of people who can pick each other's brains" need.

A more blunt assessment.. Hackrtrackr is a toy that isn't that useful, this has the potential to seriously improve the lives of many people here.
They appear to have invested substantial time into integrating it with their deployment system and improving its performance for their particular network situation rather than using off-the-shelf software like uftp.
You're playing the wrong game.
The researcher, Sugata Mitra, gave one of my favorite TED talks on this topic. Watch it here: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/sugata_mitra_shows_how_ki...

Video is from 2007. Since then he has built a website where you can get more info: http://hole-in-the-wall.com/
Orange UK does this as well. I bought my HTC Desire from Orange, with no intention of doing anything to it, but I ended up having to reflash it with a debranded ROM because the bundled software (much of which was demoware) could not be removed and was cluttering up my phone.

Now I'm stuck eyeing every software update warily in case it screws up some critical piece of phone functionality - like the last system update, which caused wifi to stop working and required a full reflash and an £8 network unlock code to fix. Thanks Orange...

I honestly don't mind too much if some extra software is installed when I get a phone - as long as I can remove it!
when ios supports the w3c device api allowing local camera access from javascript.
Hopefully, I will add the pseudo-code today.
I'm one of the authors of this book - thanks for the mention and the (mostly) positive review. I definitely agree that it could have used more in-depth examples, which is the main criticism we've been hearing.

For future reference, though, what kind of examples are good for a book of this type? We thought of putting in an extended example of a GUI application, or a web server, or something like that, but felt that that would take an unreasonable amount of time to introduce the required libraries and domain knowledge in a beginner-friendly way.

Stuart Halloway's book actually tends to get criticized for its extended example, the lancet build system developed over the course of the book. Many people just find it irrelevant and boring, since it doesn't seem worthwhile to delve into the complexities and requirements of a particular system like that if that's not what you need. We wanted to avoid the same thing, but it looks like we went to far the other way.

Any tips for the future? I've heard some people mention that a "Clojure Recipes" type book might be welcome.
Thanks for setting me straight on all points.

This means, I then assume, that the usage of WordPress (for example) is regulated solely via the "Terms and Conditions" for WordPress, and the GPL is not a factor?

If that's the case, couldn't WordPress simply add a line to their "Terms and Conditions" stating that all access to WordPress functions via Themes are limited to those themes released under the GPL?
If they can produce this cheaply enough and if it doesn't need too much shaking to make it work it could revolutionize children's toys. A lot of kids carry around their toys a lot in comparison to the amount of time the electrical parts are actually in use, so there should be ample charging time. Lots of toys only need their batteries replacing every six months to a year, so I assume they are fairly low drain and would suit this well.

Edit: Battery compartments that children cannot get into a also no doubt a part of the manufacturing cost, so batteries that never need replacing that can truly be built into the toy wouldn't need battery compartments and could simplify design.
Thanks for your feedback. The silence was honestly worse than harsh feedback.

I'll add a "clickable" next time and time my posts better.

"Noise in my Twitter stream" - I'm very interested in avoiding that and worried this app won't help if one follows with it doing unsolicited deal updates right now.

I really liked the concept of capturing a user's intent and using that to help them keep an eye on deals as they become available. People don't always buy things the moment they are looking for them. When something is looking for something big like an HDTV or computer, they can afford to wait days to see a big discount come across. That's the idea anyway.
They were tools to make marketing and SEO easier. Think keyword research, ad submission, etc/
The VC industry will probably shrink by 50% or more
Summary: The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble. But VC is an “illiquid asset” so funds didn’t disappear quickly. The VC industry is shrinking. This means that some funds will disappear and funds that raise money will be smaller.
Super angel and seed funds are proliferating and VC’s are doing earlier stage deals. This is producing a bubble in early-stage investing.
Summary: The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble. But VC is an “illiquid asset” so funds didn’t disappear quickly. The VC industry is shrinking. This means that some funds will disappear and funds that raise money will be smaller.
Super angel and seed funds are proliferating and VC’s are doing earlier stage deals. This is producing a bubble in early-stage investing.
Apparently the Droid X comes with extra hardware that bricks the phone if you try to root it:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2366536,00.asp

http://www.mydroidworld.com/forums/droid-x-discussion/3330-h...

I wish people wouldn't do business with such consumer-unfriendly organizations. Or rather, I wish this was illegal.
Have you tried smoking high-CBD cannabis? If you have both muscle problems and brain fog, then it's possible that the brain fog is coming from the CRP and other stuff that's getting released as your muscles break down. CBD is non-psychoactive and doesn't even act in the brain, it just attaches to receptor sites on your muscles and works as an anti-inflammatory.

It won't fix the root problem, but I'd recommend trying it (in moderation). High-CBD cannabis pretty rare, but they do sell it at Harborside in Oakland.

This podcast explains the science much better than I can:

http://matrixmasters.net/archive/Various/218-Little-TellsCan...
It's in the BYU library. Great lighting and production.
Being a techie and the father of a daughter, I'm sympathetic to the cause. But stuff like

It would be scheduled and located so that women with families could actively do it. No “3-months in Silicon Valley”.

always rubs me the wrong way, whether it "should" or not. I'm a man with a family — in a "coparenting relationship" (kids spend a week with me then a week with mom, repeat) — and am exactly as likely to be able to move to Silicon Valley for a few months as a woman in the same situation would be (i.e. it's impossible).

Not that our field doesn't need more diversity; Lord knows it does.

EDIT: I want to add that I'm not in any way disparaging this project and I wish it the very best. Just wanted to throw in another perspective. As a straight white male born in the USA I've done quite well in the birth lottery, through no special work or talent of my own. But I think it's important and valuable (for all participants) as we move to a relationship/parenting model of each-couple-works-it-out-for-themselves shared responsibility that we recognize the implications and adapt appropriately. Easier said than done.
Since you're invoking the "best current medical research," can you cite the evidence that says that wheat-deprivation-followed-by-a-giant-wheat-meal is more sensitive and/or specific than duodenal biopsy for Celiac? Since you skip around this detail, what is the telltale sign that occurs a few hours after the meal?

I ask because (1) I am inclined to doubt that this is true, but (2) the guidelines always lag the latest evidence, so if it is true then it wouldn't be in the guidelines anyways.
On the other end, writing down the solution, is also a good tool. The number of times I thought I 'figured something out' by thinking real hard (in the shower or whatever) only to find problems during this final stage is large. It is very much the same thing as telling a fellow developer about a bug you can't solve, only to solve a trivial issue half way thru the explanation. The writing down or explanatory phase is quite important.
Other Sen. Schumer Letters (Humor)
> Among these, that if we wish to produce any derivative works (under the GPL's definition of "derivative"), we must also release these under the GPL.

This is not quite correct, in my opinion.

Copyright only applies to your work, and works which are derivative works according to copyright.

You can't write a license that requires someone to release 'all' his work under the GPL, for example. (It may be different if it's a contract.)

That's just what the FSF wants you to think. Of course, it usually doesn't pay to go through the legal hassel to defend yourself from unjustified claims by the FSF -- thus it's an effective chilling strategy.

For more information, see http://www.law.washington.edu/lta/swp/Law/derivative.html
Fun and easy way to share ideas, Feedback on a Web Page, Bounce
All recent OMAP processors have exactly the same hardware, including prior phones that don't brick when you root it.
Of course it hurts them to have a huge sector of the economy seem like it's not a viable option.

People here seem to be using the fact that girls/women frequently "decide" against or don't "want" a career in tech to obscure the question of what determines why they decided that way or didn't want to pursue it, and whether those determinants are fair or beneficial.

A more extreme example that demonstrates what's wrong with how you guys are using "free", "decided", "wanted", etc. would be something like a minority "deciding" against running for president in a country where the majority is racist against his kind, even if he is free to attempt it. Note that I'm not claiming any moral equivalence here, or that the problem of females self-selecting themselves away from tech is primarily the result of discrimination. But there's a real sense in which the decisions being made, and the ideas of what someone wants for themselves, are being generated in less than optimal conditions.
A Coder in Courierland: http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2005/3/19/133129/548
"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." - Mark Twain
Scaring thousand if not millions of potential music thieves straight: priceless
I'm curious how many videos of this style will appear in the near future..

This library is now diamonds.
Using crowdfunding to take on Apple's questionable practices? Mr. Ozwald is trying to do just that.
Giving money away seems to be a full time job, so Jobs he is still working at Apple and doesn't have time yet. Woz, he cashed in a lot of his stock when it was $24 a share (much of it to give away). I am not sure how much he has left but I don't believe he truly has enough to just give any more away.
| Is the concept of using 2 languages at the same time so
| scary?

Yes, but it seems to be inevitable. Python + C. Haskell + C would be my choices for large scale modeling/data analysis. For apps involving a GUI, I would like to hear others thoughts.
great advice (as usual), edw519 ... have you thought about starting a blog with an FAQ mined from your responses from "Ask HN" questions? an easy hack that someone else could even do would be to troll through "Ask HN" threads, extract the ones where your answer was highest-ranked, and slap them together on a webpage somewhere. then that could be manually filtered and curated. i think that this would be a helpful page for young programmers just getting started with their careers
Wait a second, this is cool. It does what I want it to. If it makes a mistake, it's because I screwed it up. Not because it doesn't like me...

This really spoke to me when I was a kid. Young me was really attached to the notion of creating your own destiny and taking responsibility for your own successes and failures. Back then, felt like a lot of people were just big fat whiners.
That's an interesting question, and in a bit of searching just now I wasn't able to find any good data. I'd love to see an estimate of gender-% for new prof hires per field across all U.S. universities, for some recent period.
> "...if you adjust for accidents and homicide, two things that aren't affected by healthcare."

Healthcare is quite involved in dealing with the effects of accidents on humans. So I would think that death rate from accidents, broadly speaking, is not independent from level of healthcare. Or is that a technical term that already distinguishes between those that survive the accident long enough to possibly receive treatment and those that don't?
Can anyone explain this a bit deeper, or point to a resource that does? I find these dumbed down articles more confusing than stuff full of precise jargon (even if i know nothing of the jargon, at least it usually isn't some weak analogy with big holes).
The Mystery of the Prime Numbers
His scene lip-syncing to the Killers in Southland Tales is one of my favourite cinematic moments from the past few years.

Which is saying a lot because that movie is awful in such a unique and special way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ7aS01JpK0
Did you have trouble returning?

No.

Was it hard finding jobs, getting interviews?

No.

Did you have to take a pay cut when you returned?

No.
I really wish we had a culture of portfolios like other professions do. Of course, it's hard to do this because of the nature of our work; the code we create every day is not only company property that is generally kept secret, but is very hard to judge the quality of by means of a quick review with no sense of context. Furthermore, if you choose to merely judge the products the person has coded, assuming they've coded the lion's share of it, it's hard to tell what is going on behind the scenes and any judgment would be based on hypotheses, which would generate tons of false positives and negatives.

Still, something like portfolios are a very practical way of evaluating candidates because you're looking at real, concrete things the person has actually created. A modern coder interview is more like kicking the tires on a used car and then immediately deciding if you want to buy it or not.
I did not even notice the big yellow box until a few minutes later, sorry. Maybe you could add it below the list.
Well, the reason I asked is to start a debate as to whether regulation is desirable or otherwise. I tried to emphasise that a one sides argument is being put forward which is slowly trying to lessen the resistance to regulating the internet. Thus there is no debate and we know that "schooling" works.

I don't like oligarchies for the same reason that I do not like monopolies. There are big players on line, but I do not think there are oligarchies. I think instead we are slowly moving towards that direction.

I don't know how old you are, but I do not like paying ten pounds or twenty when I leave university. And that is while the internet is present. That might not be a great amount, but I sure could have used it in much better ways as a student.

Also, if you are like 14, you live on pocket money, so being charged is not cool.

Besides, my point is much larger. You might have your textbooks and the like in America and your parents might be willing to buy you any book you like and as many as you like, but, someone, somewhere else or even in America might not.

For example, why do I have to pay for a research paper or an article journal when it is their job to produce the research or write the journal?

Also, why should I pay for Faust when it was written more than a century ago, or Dante's Comedy and the writers are dead?

Why should a poor kid be penalised just because he was born in a poor family by not being able to watch a film, or read classes, or books, or music.

In the real life we know why, but should that apply to the internet too? Are these things really expensive overall, or is instead information expensive because some would like to make millions, some billions, accumulate an obscene amount of wealth at the expense of all others.

But, there are arguments for regulation too, so to finally answer your question I have not made up my mind because I do not think you can generalise so I thought it would be great to have a debate, but maybe that is for another time, or maybe we'll never have it because it will be too late.
YES! I was just thinking of something like this last night for things like car-key transmitters and the like.

Lots of stuff (like remotes) sits around not being used except for a few seconds every couple of hours (or days).

Really awesome, good job, Brother.
> defend yourself from unjustified claims by the FSF

Has something like this ever happened?