skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Also the Gates family seems honest about it too. Bill Gates Sr. (co-chair of the Gates foundation) also advocates changing tax policy, on the logic that every software or biotech company benefited from federally funded research, which they got for free, not to mention those just renting office space to them.

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/publications/url.cfm?ID=90058...
Ask HN: How to Disrupt?
Thoughts, ideas and suggestions?

We have great articles on "How to become a hacker":ESR and "How to start a start-up":PG. I though it would be interesting and useful to explore "How to Disrupt?"
1. I avoid leaving it around in public places.

2. If I were to think about leaving it in a public place, I'd think of ways to make people not want to steal it - it's a laptop, it takes about 2 seconds for someone to grab it and run if it's not secured. No alarm or tracking system is going to do anything to PREVENT theft if the thief doesn't know about it.
So if we outsource stuff to India, all the sit-down resturants in the United States will be forced to close?

What?
"Most employees in the West are spoiled brats & deserve to be shaken a little anyway."

Sure, we should know our place like good little slaves, right? Hauteur and arrogance are not a valid basis for rational argument.
The Planet and Softlayer Merge
At first I thought, "awesome, I need to do that!" Then I felt ashamed for both of us.
> you're trusted a stranger with a lot of money

"A stranger is just a friend I haven't met yet." - Will Rogers

The term stranger is a useful tool to prevent children from trusting shifty individuals. As an adult, calling people strangers seems to me to be a good way to live in fear and fail to meet interesting new people. Most people are basically good.
We've had a hard time finding quality candidates. In my experience, the Craigslist job board seems to be dying out. Is hotjobs your first stop in the hiring process?
Churchill ordered UFO cover-up
This book has some interesting ideas:

http://www.squeezedbooks.com/book/show/5/lateral-marketing-n...
I worry about Google. But then I remember that they can barely return relevant search results these days without getting confused by keyword farms. Remember that Schmidt has to talk up Google's capabilities. In reality, he's oversimplifying the situation and Google's shear size and age will be its demise just as it was for Microsoft.

Google's 20-something and early 30-something employees who had no problem working for 10-14 hour days this decade will begin to pull back and/or leave the organization. This will be followed by a slew of lacklustre product and service launches (e.g., Microsoft Vistas) until Google is but a mere shadow of its former self.

Of course, that does leave another company or government to actually do to Google what it in turn did to Altavista. And it's that entity which scares me because it might be a foreign government or corporation with a completely different culture and set of constraints around freedom, privacy, and ethics. We know how bad companies/governments act in the Western World where we try to uphold individual rights. But what if another government or company in an area of the world where individual rights aren't respected gets there first?
Netbooks are great for this. I took a trip to Europe this spring, and I bought a $300 EeePC just so that I could check email, post to Facebook, etc. I could carry it into any café (or more realistically, McDonalds...free internet!) in France, and not really worry about theft.

Install Linux on one of those little guys, and you've got a reasonably useful hacking terminal that is practically disposable.
A Collection of Examples of 64-bit Errors in Real (C/C++) Programs
Cheers,

We have been around for a while, but tend only to shout in music circles, HN isn't really the right place! We have absolutely no idea what people are going to make on this. We have seen a lot of screen scrapping of our main site, and had loads of emails requesting api access. So figured it was about time we opened it up!

So far have seen guys build last.fm scrobblers, cue timestampers, an android app, and charts, so keen to see what people come up with! We will be setting it in stone for the upcoming Music Hack Day, and sure some interesting stuff will come out of this. http://london.musichackday.org/2010/

Mat
UFO files: Winston Churchill 'feared panic' over Second World War RAF incident
I just wanted to chime in and say how much I adore your slogan (or catch phrase, whatever they call it these days).

"Connoisseurs of Fine Database Products"

Awesome!
If the disk is encrypted, I'm not sure how Prey project is useful since the thief will not run the original OS but reformat/reinstall one.
> Hassle of getting something similar (US keyboard) over here in Italy.

I have a similar problem in Brazil. Only once Dell offered me an apology for not having a Brazilian keyboard on one of their laptops. If I want a laptop with US layout, I have to either import one or buy a compatible keyboard in the gray market.
fyi, blog link isnt working for me right now. no page returned.
Don’t Confuse Business Motion With Momentum
I know some people who got through and some who got rejected very early on. Regardless of volume, my very limited sample tells me they were very strict in choosing.
Ask HN: Which PHP Dev Book?
I have dabbled in PHP for a number of years, really just doing a tiny bit for one of my websites and then moving on, never investing much time in the language.

Now that has to change, I really need a book to sit down with that will teach me the core basics without over complicating things, and then allow me to move on to harder books.

Would also like to know if there are actual online study groups/classes where I can learn from my peers?
This is exactly the problem with people implementing split testing and they're hurting their business.

They hear about it, run off and implement the a/b versions of their pages and add some tracking. Proceeding then to draw incorrect conclusions and make bad decisions based on them. They don't go read up on it enough to understand the statistics behind it. I used my stats book from Uni (I knew it had a better use than a laptop stand, a java book now has that honour) but there are plenty of tutorials out there. For example: http://visualwebsiteoptimizer.com/split-testing-blog/what-yo...

It really is a toss up between statistics and medicine for which is the most misunderstood of the sciences.
My car had a "Radioactive. In case of accident, please contact xxx-xxxx urgently".

I never had any break in incident with that car.
That poker bot answer was awesome. That's good OC for a blog.
Cancer cells feed on fructose, study finds
Disruptive ideas should be push enough to make then your new need. Now days we use google, for almost everything online search, bookmarking, history, cache, research... essentially google disrupted market so much that it has become a daily need(if you are online).
One of the sites he links to: http://pokerai.org looks really interesting.
The Ineffective AU Filter (Or get around the filter with a question mark)
I think what I'm most troubled by is two things,

1) The level of false amnesia regarding all things Taliban, Afghanistan and Al Qaeda. There are some very not nice people there that would kill rape and murder every single person on the planet until they could convert the survivors to their particular brand of Islam. This is not a fantasy, this is their stated intent and has been demonstrated throughout the world for at least the last 10 years through a policy of terror attacks against soft targets from subways to nightclubs that have killed thousands of civilians. Anybody who pretends otherwise is a moron. I'm sorry to go to name calling, but I simply cannot have a productive debate with anybody too stupid to understand this.

2) The same idiots who think that our collective response should be...? What exactly? Whatever it is it certainly shouldn't be a military response followed by nation building.

The number of people here, right here, on Hacker News of all places, who obviously have commanded military and intelligence operations against non-uniformed combatants blended in to the local populace (and by the comments we have quite a few 3 and 4 star super generals with decades of counter insurgent operations experience), who know exactly the capabilities and limitations of not only the modern armed forces of industrialized nations, but all of the intelligence capabilities of the target countries. This is not a board about startups, the Pentagon and the intelligence agencies should come on here and discuss serious strategy, this place is a gold mine! Imagine, all these experts, on one board, and all they want to do is startup tech business and make iPhone apps! Amazing.

By the number of these self-same experts, my reading of their comments is that apparently the response to a global terror campaign is supposed to be a petition and letter campaign, sent to the Taliban HQ and 12345 Terror Lane, Springfield, Afghanistan, asking them to please kindly reconsider a policy of killing the infidel in foreign lands as part of a plan to establish a global Caliphate. Apparently this kind of thing is not only possible, but works! With the vast historic precedent put forth by all the experts here, it's amazing how misguided NATO is with their silly sniper teams and drones. Silly NATO!

Anybody who wants to talk about how Iraq was a stupid war and diverted resources from the real problems will find my agreement. Likewise if you want to talk about how the Afghan war was mismanaged, underfunded and stupidly run by incompetent bureaucrats for the better part of a decade.

But the response to the wikileaks leak should not be "OMG You mean when we conduct counter-terror operations with the combined might of NATO forces civilians might die! Holy crap, I didn't sign on for that! Let's pull the hell out and resume being terror targets because that was so much better!"
How to get the file extension for a mime type on iOS
I think savvy developers will increasingly want to dispense with the commitment that being hired entails. If there are so many companies in such dire need of talent, why can't talented developers become highly skilled migrant workers? I just think it's too difficult to keep a talented person satisfied, in one job, for years on end -- the ability to ramp-up and ramp-down without the overhead of a full-time employment relationship or sleazy middle-men, is the future of software employment, I hope.
> "Imagine if the concept of "electronic mail" was invented today. "

I don't think it'd be all that different from launching the concept of microblogging or social networks. Startups did fine with that.

What Google should have done, having a technology on their hands and not a product, was make their other products either built on Wave or compatible with Wave (Docs, Chat, Mail - using Wave. Calendar, Pages integrated via robots, etc).

Then, you'd have a huge built-in user base that can ignore the complexity until they grok it and if they want it. And all their data will be waiting for them.

In the meantime, Google could develop and throw robots into their products as features. Being able to directly send messages to a robot for publishing on your blog platform of choice, or directly drag attachments to a robot that populates Dropbox/Flickr/whatever? Being able to add a plugin to schedule a party into an email chain that automatically updates Google Calendar? Having a service that detects tracking numbers and provides mouse-over summaries?

Even for users who would never want a Wave-like client, those features would make Google's existing products better and stickier. And none of it would involve burying every would-be user in complexity on day 1.
He was ironic. I am always fascinated to see people that do not understand that kind of humor.
It seems that if an A/A test is showing a variance then your sample size is too small.
A crash course on human growth
Your logic is impeccable. The problem is that most idiomatic English usage is very peccable. Many people will misunderstand you, even if you are logically unassailable.

You meant that anything under 100K seems reasonable to you. I would recommend that where possible you should stick to the positive form, as it is less likely to be misunderstood.

I think that's a shame, but it's my experience.
I'd be willing to accept that if we were talking about Microsoft. I thought Google was still better than that?
I think that is a great point. It makes me think of the future of "Google Me", which is going to take them more than a year to get serious traction as well.
I laughed a little on the inside. Then I laughed out loud.
Better not let Zed Shaw read this.

http://www.zedshaw.com/essays/programmer_stats.html
Well you asked for advice ... I would suggest switching to a CS degree because (1) you seem more interested in that than maths; and (2) it is a more 'useful' qualification given your aptitude.

You don't need a CS degree to be a good programmer, but given two good programmers one with a degree and one without, I would hire the one with the degree. Just like I prefer to go to dentists, doctors and lawyers who have good degrees and lots of experience.
I am sure there is some correlation that can be made between cute girls and trustworthiness!
Without going into a point-by-point agreement disagreement. I actually largely agree with your characterization of the situation. Which is the most powerful argument for why NATO must remain in Afghanistan for the time being. Until the situation is improved to the point that we can be reasonably sure that the festering cancer of the Taliban is no longer a threat to you and me, we have to try and improve the conditions there.
A site like Ebay can be interesting in the beginning with just a handful of sellers. Back then there were no auction websites, so the novelty alone would attract sellers, and the buyers would follow. If you were starting that site from scratch today, you could start with a few dozen friends and family, and maybe a few dozen more beta testers/early adopters. 50 people selling a handful of items each and you have a few hundred products to attract buyers.

Visa is an interesting example because they started out as BofA Bankamericard, so they had the backing of a large bank, who could get retailers on board. They got thousands of merchants to accept it, and then just gave away cards unsolicited. It is unlikely that you could achieve this with a startup because you won't have $20 million (of 1958 money) to spend. If you were a startup wanting to do something similar, you would have to form partnerships with a few merchants, and then pitch to their customers.
Ask HN: Do you design your own website?
I've been trying to learn some CSS to design a website i'm working on, but all my designs turn out to be horrible and on top of that, i really don't like web design nor do i like learning CSS. However, i do know that the design of a website is very important and i believe that it can make or break your app. So do you guys design your own website or do you hire/ask someone else to do it?
OP, if you are asking this b/c you are wanting to find a co-founder yourself, I'll offer this advice: be wary of anyone who says (1) they did find a co-founder through these types of techniques, and (2) who has been with that person for less than one year (or possibly two). I've seen guys who say that they have a startup and then find a co-founder but both are still working full-time on their jobs while trying to get the startup ready part time. That doesn't count to me - if I was looking for a co-founder, I'd want concrete answers from people who had spent 60+ hours a week together for a year or longer.
Best events I've been to over the last few years:
SXSW (more so in previous years)- due to the large number of activities outside the panels, and tons of people.

f8 - facebook puts on a good show, has great food, and its not too salesy.

I'm a big fan of barcamp/wordcamp events (when PROPERLY organized), not a fan of "what can I sell you" type events. I prefer hands on, and accessibility to the presenters as well.
Nexus One Developer Phone
You can always use ssh to proxy yourself anywhere you have a server.
In a world of asynchronous threats, it is too dangerous for there not to be some way to identify you.

What does he mean by "asynchronous" threats? Did he mean to say asymmetrical?
Sold by people who promise everything and deliver very little after a lot of high priced consultants customise it to what they think your requirements should be. Costs a fortune to buy and several more in 'maintenance' fees. New, incompatible version, is released a month after you go live.
> "Hey, do you mind watching my stuff for a minute?" works pretty well.

It works pretty well with people who are street-smart enough and really care about other's possessions. I once trusted my purse to a friend of a friend because I had to go on stage to act. When I returned, my purse was hanging from her chair, unwatched. So, it's not about honesty, it's about people really caring about your gear and being able to look after it. Environment matters, too. That time it was a crowded place. A library it would be different.
I was expecting to see a mixergy-style talent story where they got 10 geeks with intuition and little spending. I don't see the intuition or talent here.
I'm pretty protective of my laptop by not leaving it alone, but one thing that I do is ensure my laptop is not too desirable to thieves. I have a half-dozen stickers on the back, primarily as a theft deterrent (they make a good conversation starter, too).

I'm actually deterred from buying a new laptop because I've put several years of effort into abusing my machine to the point that it's cosmetically not worth selling.
Has Google ever sold off a product or service? They certainly acquire but if I am not mistaken it is also common practice for large corporations to rid themselves or projects they are no longer interested in and sometimes this involves a monetary transaction in their favor.
Have you ever read anything about conditions inside Afghanistan under the Taliban? I mean this as a serious question because by your response you seem absolutely ignorant.
'But in point of fact, this notion of reducing a subject to its “necessary” elements isn’t a universal principle of design. It’s a principle of modernist design.'

Depends on what is meant by "necessary". Baroque art achieves a particular effect by virtue of its ornamentation.

Still, offering a definition of good design that happens to describe minimalism obviously isn't helpful. It's the sort of question begging that just leads to needless arguments.

It's more useful to try to understand how you can have a minimalism site on one hand, and an ornate, busy site on the other, and they can still both look good.
We realize that. I was an employee not too long ago. Every few years I would jump to a new exciting and challenging job. It allowed me to build out a solid skill set enough to start my own company.

I want to hire people that have genuine passion for what they do. If they're passionate about my company, that's just icing on the cake.

I expect that they'll move on. I want it to be on good terms.

True engineers will always want to learn more. My goal is to provide an environment for a massive amount of learning.
Not to mention I think this sort of scheme would go a long way towards correcting a lot of the excesses with regard to how developers are treated in a lot of places. Boss is a total douche? Move on...
At what point do the unnecessary deaths caused by war outweigh the unnecessary deaths caused by terrorism?
Feel free to send over any comments or suggestions of more podcasts to add.

I would like to get an inclusive list going for the community.
I spent 8 weeks in Buenos Aires last year - a high theft city. I worked out of a favorite coffee shop, and frequently went upstairs to use the bathroom whilst leaving my laptop out downstairs.

tips -

1. always be comfortable in your surroundings. Know who's coming in and out, the type of people, whether you can trust the staff.

2. make eye contact with someone, best if it's a staff member, and ask them to keep an eye. Most people will, and staff will often hover by your table till you get back.

3. Put your screen to sleep and half close the lid. Helps if you have clutter on the table -- don't draw attention to it.

4. be quick. :) obvious but useful to know.

finally: have insurance, backups, etc.

One more thing-- i've found having a kensington chain to be useful where i have things in longer-term situations which i leave unattended for a while (e.g. my display in the coworking space i'm at). Those are pretty lightweight and really easy to install. wrap one around a table leg and lock to the machine. Done.
If you have top-notch engineers, it takes very few of them to manage very complex problems. At that level there is also an advantage to having few people: it reduces the communication and coordination overhead. Assuming the general rule that a great engineer is 100x as productive as a typical engineer, reducing overhead is 100x as effective as well.

It doesn't work this way for all situations. In the case being described here, the data is huge and the algorithms are complex, but it sounds like the software itself is probably rather small. That makes it suitable for a small team of very good engineers. In situations where the software is huge but none of it is particularly complex, you're better off with a large team of average engineers. (Of course, if you put very good engineers into that position, they will probably re-factor your software down to something more manageable.)
Stupid. IE6 won't be around forever and upgrading to IE9/IE10/IEx will not be cheaper then.
Generally speaking, I agree with this but there's a downside too. Don't be surprised if you get tossed out on the trash heap the minute you turn 40 or 50 and are no longer perceived as a young, alpha engineer.

Things like blogs and github are great learning resources but I think they're also starting to skew people's expectations of the average programmer.
Can't wait for someone to sue for malpractice when confidential documents go viral, originating from a leak in India.

I believe the average case in India's civil courts is over 5 years and I would guess most companies are judgment proof and insurance won't cover outsourced work.
Microsoft shipped both IE7 and IE8 as critical updates.
You're a genius, you should publish a strategy paper and send it to President Obama on a realistic strategy for counter-terror operations that don't involve killing people. Please put a link up on HN because I'm sure the community of experienced Generals here would love to give it a read.
Two guys work on PYMK, but the entire SNA team is much bigger. It is amazing what those two guys get done, though. They sit by the window and grin all day, so much ass are they kicking.
I have not yet read, but have heard good things about, "Statistics in Plain English" by Timothy Urdan.
Yes, a negative correlation :)
I think it would be most sensible to at least create a strategy for moving away from IE6.

The UK government's current stance doesn't address the problem .. it postpones doing anything until support runs out in 2014.

What will happen then?
6 credit card secrets
Be a part of history. Sign the National Entrepreneurs' Day petition to Obama.
I have, and my worry stems from how many people proudly proclaim how much they relate to the persona[1].

Today, we have remarkably effective medications to treat depressive-spectrum[2] disorders, which are easily enough accessible to the affluent. The hope I espouse is that people do access them.

As much as I admit to being a cynic, I do believe that people are basically socially well-behaved, if not outright honest. Still, truly urban (as opposed to metropolitan suburbia), dense[3] environments appear to me to have a much higher concentration of those who aren't, so I avoid them in general.

[1] No protagonist, in my view

[2] If I may bastardize the Autism- term

[3] e.g. New York, of course, and, here in the Bay Area: San Francisco, Oakland, downtown San Jose