skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I think it does lead to what you call "legitimate altruism", because the scope of poverty encompasses many things: hunger, increased illness, increased suffering, etc...

Being poor means you experience all of these burdens, more so than those who are not poor, and so you can understand the plight of those who experience it.

>> "more charitable toward problems they understand and people they empathize with?"

Can you be charitable to problems that you don't understand? I don't think so. If you gave your money away to anyone who asked, that's not charity.

>>> "Social programs to help the unemployed are, economically speaking, little different from something like TARP."

I disagree with that statement. The TARP is a calculated move by the government to prevent economic collapse. The motivation for it was self-preservation, not altruism.
If github were open source i might consider it as well but as it isnt i am avoiding product lockin by using indefero, setup was easy and its basically a git version of google code so its familiar for most users.
It isn't going to be as bad as the housing market crash, because degrees are revenue producing assets for the overwhelming majority of people and houses are costs for the overwhelming majority of people. Also, student loans do not have any mechanisms in them which are designed to induce payment shock, like ARM resets are. (I am only half sardonic there.)

If your loan repayments are $700 a month when you graduate, they will be $700 a month for the next ten years. There is no mechanism by which they'll suddenly jump to $3,000.

Even for degrees which you wouldn't expect great things from -- like, say, English -- the value of the degree exceeds the price by huge amounts. The NPV of a bachelor's degree in English is about a million bucks. You still come out ahead with virtually any college/loan combination possible, as long as you find a job with it, and unemployment among college graduates is still at ~4.5%.

There are a few degrees which are exceptionally bad decisions, but they are the exceptions rather than the rule. One example is culinary school, particularly the ones which will load you with the federal max of loans so that you can get a $12 an hour job as a line cook. There is one glaring sore thumb in the data for master's degrees, too.

If folks are interested, I'll blog about this in a few weeks. I did a project for a client looking at government data and a few other sources to try to get numbers on the worth of degrees by majors. The work is 99% over but, clients being clients, there are some more steps it has to go through before they want to launch it publicly.
"I just got out of college and am afraid of responsibility"

For such a person, his advice is very sound.
Ask HN: Silicon Valley faces
I have idea that want to share with HN.

When I am visiting some events, I met quite famous people I've heard about, but don't know precisely they background. I.e. companies they financed, what are they interested in. I do have long flights and instead of watching movie, I could train myself to recognize the face and get knowledge about that person as much as I could in advance.

I see this as iPhone/iPad application with faces and questions like:
did this person invested in:
- google?
- foursquare?
- linkedin?

As an architecture i see wiki (crunchbase.com?) that is collected by HN and presented as questionary in iPhone/iPad application.

Next time I will have higher chances to know about the person more, before I meet him.
I agree that gov backed student loans are making the situation worse but removing them would be disastrous. Maybe and I can't prove this but maybe, if the gov was the sole lender, they could pressure universities into reducing tuition?
Twitter Launching Official Tweet Buttons This Week
One thing no one talks about, why do all degrees virtually cost the same in most universities. Why would a engineer pay the same as a liberal arts student. The reason I saying this is maybe the cost should be proportional to the expected earnings?
Build your own WISP with SilverLining's recently Open-Sourced Captive Portal
Unless you are in a great need of cash, I will strongly advise you to go to college. Few years of college will do you better that just get you a degree.

When you are 18yo school is really important, not to be paternalistic here, you have all the time to really figure out what you want to be in life. If you were founding a startup with friends I would say go for it; if you parents support you I will say go to college please.
With Twisted at least there are usually asynchronous versions of commonly needed libraries. Given that, it sounds like they're probably fairly analogous then, right? I assume Node will have the same problem the moment someone grabs a package that's meant for a Javascript framework that isn't explicitly asynchronous.
Not in a way Wall Street would recognize. China is following the Japanese development model - firm state control of key firms and financing, with protectionist regulation and capital controls to ensure that foreign companies have little access to the domestic market and are unable to pull out what investments they're allowed to make.
> And? How is that any different than leasing a car for X years?

It's not, but it's certainly different than using public transportation or biking.
Try http://www.awayfind.com for the email part. It's working brilliantly for me - it'll text, gchat etc. you based on rules you apply. It can also do a custom auto-responder based on similar rules.
Yes, and we are going to have economic correction regardless of whether the government print or not. Printing just makes the correction even greater and the suffering more pronounced.
But I am entitled to feel betrayed by someone who first pretends to be so much more ethical than the rest and then isn't. All people are asking (and I agree) is that Google should have been more honest.

3-years ago was a whole different situation. THAT's the whole point people are talking about. When people argue of an old Google and a new Google, taking an example from 3 years ago to as a point in favour of the new Google is a bit deceptive.

I agree btw, that the bid for spectrum was a good move. But then if you believe that and therefore you believe in net neutrality for wireless, how can you justify Google's current behaviour if not as giving in?
I disagree. A team of good but not great coders who work well together will probably produce better code in the long run than a team with a great asshole programmers who poisons the team.
It's a cultural value to Americans, too. That's how we got into a bubble and then a recession--it was such a cultural value people tried to become homeowners even if it made no financial sense at all.
>Upper-class participants said 2.1% of incomes should be donated. Lower-class individuals felt that 5.6% was the appropriate slice. Upper-class participants who were induced to believe they were lower class suggested 3.1%. And lower-class individuals who had been “psychologically promoted” thought 3.3% was about right.

What's with the assumption that charity should scale linearly with income? With the numbers they give, people making 250k wanted to give $5250 and people making 25k wanted to give $1400.
Here's a vote for "interested".
This is why, in 2001, I made fun of Rhapsody. Why wouldn't you want to actually own your music? I mean, that's the whole reason I have this HUUUGE iPod, right?

Now I stream Pandora to my phone. I think I have 4 CDs ripped on my laptop.

Funny how times can change...
At NYU (where I used to work), a CS major requires 12 courses in CS and 32 courses total. The degree costs just short of $93,000.

Do you really believe that a liberal arts education is worth $62,000 tuition + 2 years of lost wages (roughly another $140,000)? Particularly when, to borrow a phrase from Good Will Hunting, that liberal arts education is available to anyone for about $4.25 in late fees at the public library?

http://cs.nyu.edu/webapps/content/academic/undergrad/majors

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:CS5fT5z...

http://www.nyu.edu/bursar/tuition.fees/rates10/ugcas.html
I would go with b/w microfilm but anyhow see here http://www.ifs.tuwien.ac.at/dp/timecapsule/home.html
Well, maybe they should make it so that degree can be legally reposessed by the bank - even if they can't resell it, that would still be a deterrent. Stating that you have a degree while you don't should be then treated like criminal fraud, and any future employer, seeing lack of degree would know to inquire about the details.

Now that I look at my plan, it looks rather evil. But I will publish it anyway, for the sake of discussion.
What, exactly, is an "economic threat"?

You seem to be operating under the mistaken belief that in an economic exchange, one party is a winner, while the other is a loser.

Nothing could be further from the truth. In any voluntary transaction, both parties will improve their situation -- else they would not have entered into the transaction voluntarily.

Aggregate that from the micro scale to whole nations, and you'll see that it's perfectly possible -- in fact, if the market is free, a certainty -- that both nations will be better off. It's not a zero-sum game.

And if you're worried about the military, consider the words of Frederic Bastiat, who said, "When goods don't cross borders, soldiers will."
I dropped out at 18 to work at a startup. I got the gig through a co-op placement via my high-school. It was pretty sweet.

I did eventually finish high-school, but I never went on to university or college for computer science. Things have been good without it: I'm a firm believer that anything you want to know you can learn on your own (the compiler is a good TA and the Internet a great teacher). However, in todays rat-race I'm kicking myself in the ass. Five years of experience and no one will believe that I can actually program anything. Even the most mundane programming jobs building PHP websites will probably ask for a CS degree.

It's an uphill battle if you want to go against the mainstream. It can build character if you're up for it, but be prepared to lose a number of battles. I only recommend it if you're comfortable being independent.

But I also know now that you have no idea what you want when you're 18. You'll change your mind in a few years no doubt. I recommend just doing what you want and getting on with life. Maybe even forget the career thing and just focus on partying or travelling or something.
If you haven't moved your keyboard or mouse for a duration of 5 minutes, then you would start logging idle time. This is an issue of the job at hand, because jobs like your job (and writing/designing/thinking) don't require the worker to always be on the computer.

We considered periodic webcam screenshots, but we find that to be a bit creepy and overbearing. oDesk does that, but I'm not sure thats something we want to do.
Hoarders can justify anything, what matters is what can you justify with those rules?
Please read the post. The poster was talking about the bailout. The average gas price after the bailout in LA is around 1.69. The average gas price right now in LA is 3.13
Kacy - We aren't currently issuing invites. There has been some confusion about this, but we clarify this here http://banksimple.net/blog/2010/08/10/our-invite-process
I am not arguing that a correction is not needed. Is the speed with which you do it that creates problems.
This was exactly my point. I think there really is value in learning the arts, and in learning other unrelated fields. I'm a big music enthusiast, and sociology was one of the best classes I took. But that doesn't change the fact that they are totally unnecessary to a programming career. If you're interested in them, you'll find your way to them, and you'll probably do it a lot cheaper.
My girlfriend's mother has MS and has been paralyzed from the neck down for the last ~3 years (attack happened practically over night). There was some talks from local MS support organization of possible visit from their clinic from Italy (we're in Croatia, so it's very close) to here for some patients. I have heard nothing concrete from doctors on this though, they have been on a seminar about this and there is no concrete opinion from anyone yet.
"might be"

Name 3. If there are countless apps fitting that, I'd love to see them. They should of course have the same quality, utility and polish, too. Not Glossy Fart-o-Rama +.

I mean, even the darling of iPhone app developer angst who constantly ranted publicly about pricing and poor sales, David Barnard of App Cubby, made over a quarter of a million dollars last year from ostensibly 3 mobile apps, _and_ signed a deal with Fram for a branded version of an existing apps (terms of deal undisclosed, of course).

There is money (sometimes millions) to be made in the app store and in mobile apps in general. You just have to have a good idea and execute to the same quality you would any other business you really want to succeed.
If you are trying to get people to actually use this, I'd suggest letting anonymous visitors create a list immediately (and then register to save it). As a random web user, I'd need a more compelling reason to register, let alone hand over my email address.
I used to think shared lanes were good too, until I was hit (in SF) and my cousin was killed (in London) on the same day.
Go back and read through Thomas's comments here regarding attacks on encrypted passwords.

Try this: http://www.google.com/search?q=bcrypt+tptacek+site%3Anews.yc...

Find all his warnings, and don't make any of the mistakes he mentions, and I'll bet you will be fine.
My idea..
include with the data storage devices (5tb data on them), the complete but unassembled parts of the data reader (maybe a full computer ready to go) plus instructions on how to assemble a compatable power supply for the time it's being recovered in..

vacuum seal everything, with a packet of silica.. no air at all, moisture removed.. part by part.

1) then vacuum seal the container
or
2) pack it with closed cell insulation

no light, no air, no corrosion or UV damage.
advantage to #2 is that it would be ruggedized for hits & transport.
Firefox 4 Beta 3 Released
Some basic planning yeah but focusing on building something and then getting feedback seems better for me.
Jason Fried once said "Planning is guessing." ...and I totally believe him. :)
Running a start up dedication like this
Will Sony Ever Become Tech Leaders Again?
This week, after teasing it with a countdown, Sony America announced the release of their Android smartphone, the Xperia X10.
I see. All I can tell you is, it sounds like you have a legitimate need, but the solution to that need is insanely risky, and probably not worth it to most Node apps.
Well, what is the university charging students for - the services that they produce to give you your education, or the expected value of your salary after graduation?

In theory, universities are not for-profit.

Is there something about an engineering school education that is inherently more expensive than a liberal arts education?
Actually, the commercial real estate market crash will dwarf both the student loan and the housing market crash.

"Over the next five years, about $1.4 trillion in commercial real estate loans will reach the end of their terms and require new financing"

Elizabeth Warren Warns About Commercial Real Estate Crisis, 'Downward Spiral' For Small Businesses, Local Banks
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/11/commercial-real-est...
"It isn't going to be as bad as the housing market crash, because degrees are revenue producing assets for the overwhelming majority of people and houses are costs for the overwhelming majority of people. Also, student loans do not have any mechanisms in them which are designed to induce payment shock, like ARM resets are. (I am only half sardonic there.)"

Degrees clearly are great revenue producing machines for the portion of the workforce currently unemployed with degrees. I remember a few years ago, "The housing market can't crash, it's impossible, it's the only safe investment vehicle after all of those silly tech stocks".
The programs were not quite equivalent.

Sure, they may not be identical but they were teleologically equivalent. Newly minted PhDs from both countries proceeded to compete for the same jobs on a seemingly equal footing.
The Cyborg: Kevin Warwick is the World's First Human-Robot Hybrid
Having Verizon agree to the consumer protections are a move forward. They are the only telco to have so agreed, and several others have violated them.
> It isn't going to be as bad as the housing market crash

then do you think that there will be a crash in this area, and if so, how bad do you think it will be?

i imagine it wouldn't sneak up on us like the housing crash because of the nature of the loans, but that it could lead to a longer, lingering problem kicked off by the housing crash.
I second the vote for the article. Would love to read it.

I think most people got mortgages because it was a sure thing investment that appreciates over time. That didn't hold true.

I'm arguing that a college education doesn't exactly equate to a higher salary these days.
> Of course they're accountable. Ever heard of a little thing called democracy?

He addressed this directly.

> Too bad you're not running things, then we could clear all this inefficiency right up. What's your budget plan?

This kind of snark is not constructive.
Hey there, very neat little application, you've done a great job.

Suggestions: don't ask for an email address/password right from the get go, you can simply use a cookie for the first session, and ask people to sign up once they add a few entries. Then you associate their old entries with the newly created account. Also, give a reason why you need an email address, that's a huge barrier otherwise.

I've been toying around with todo lists as well lately, but you're much further along than I am. (I'm using the todo list concept as a way to try out various frameworks, never thought of actually releasing it to the public).

I like the very clean design and minimalist user interface.
get a suit, try to look a little older, and apply to any 'contractor' or temp position in a big company.

i will tell you. it doesn't even matter if you can read.

some 3 people show up to interviews, one get hired regardless of anything.

oh and it also doesn't matter if the contract is for some 2 or 3 months. you will be there for at least 2 years if you want to.
About the security content of the iOS 4.0.2 Update for iPhone and iPod touch
Shouldn't a virtual assistant by definition be virtual, i.e. a bot or piece of software that has some AI baked in?

I rather like the idea of "virtual" assistants but you're talking about outsourcing to cheap offshore labor.

Why can't software do what you describe?
I keep coming back to this from Wired - "Openness in the mobile market is no longer in Google’s best interest"
In Scheme (vs. Common Lisp) sequence operations are typically defined in terms of cdr, which operates on [singly-linked] lists.
Evidently, the market value of awkward social obligations to strangers combined with having to move around a lot is several hundred dollars a month, because I can't imagine doing either of those for free rent unless I was desperately broke.
Mobile Development: Launching Android Apps
10,000+ users in 24 hours & YC funding a few days later: lessons learnt
And it isn't like Wal-Mart based their business model on delivering cheap goods from China.

Throughout the '90s their big marketing point was "Buy American."

Looks like they have tried it both ways and have evidence for what the people want.
Performance aside, being able to write both client and server code in the same language has a lot of advantages. After seeing how well the NodeChat worked at twich.me, I am definitely interested in trying it out. I think building a real-time networked game entirely in JS would be kinda fun.
- Get rid of standardized testing and change the culture of teaching for the purpose of passing these tests. On the subject of just regular in-class exams: they are a necessary evil in many cases but only should be used for a mid-term or final exam. Teachers need to challenge students so that they have to work together to solve complex problems.

- Increase teacher salaries and promote the hiring of teachers with advanced degrees.

- Let people fail. Stop holding hands as much. On that note, stop catering to the lower end of the curve and holding back the smarter students. Set the standards high if not impossibly high so we can raise the definition of average.

- This one is a pipe dream: more specialized science and math schools. There are about a dozen or more sprinkled through the nation. I attended one for high school and it happened to be residential (and totally state funded). Seriously life changing.
Besides not knowing how to post it properly...?

The looping sequence, I imagine, doesn't need the if else queries. Probably simpler way to code it. I am definitely untested with larger projects.
The Trillion-Dollar Metaphor
I keep neglecting that side of the issue. I am so focused on learning the languages, I lose sight of the experience I have. The noob factor is frustrating.
Approaches to web content strategy
I recommend against studying CS in college unless you think the school has a really stellar program. Since the OP is self-taught already, he can keep his software development hobby+job, while officially studying math or econ in school. That will give him a broader POV. YMMV of course :-)
Whoa, there! What discount rate are you using? For the median degree, I get an NPV less cost of $47K. Here are my assumptions:

* Discount rate of 6% (we're talking about an asset with a 40-year lifespan and zero terminal value).

* $25K in annual school costs.

* $25K in annual opportunity costs. (May be conservative for people who are college material but didn't get a degree.)

* Four years to complete the degree. Which is very aggressive.

* $23K earnings differential. (The current average.)

* Forty years of post-degree work.

In this model, you get to breakeven 26 years after you start school. So, to the current high-school senior: assuming the job market in 2036 looks pretty much like it does now, treat these projections as solid.

It gets worse. If you assume a more realistic graduation timeframe of six years, the value is -$18K after 40 years. Of course, you can keep working; you'll hit breakeven after 54 years (at age 72).

See sheet two for my assumptions:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AjzB7A88UMCBdGVrUUN...
Scary thing is that the government will be the sole backer of educational loans. We all know how slow and antiquated they operate. I don't know if this is going to be a good or bad thing for the economy.
Thanks for the link. Python is next on the list.
Took one Java class. Maybe Android apps would be good too.

Thanks again.
> I hate the idea that each publisher is going to try to create their own 'app' and we'd end up with huge images and inconsistent layouts, etc.

This variety is exactly what is amazing about books, magazines and all media: imagine if wired looked like the new yorker. The whole point of 'new media' is not abandoning design, otherwise we'd just read our blogs and websites in w3m.

The point of treesaver (from what i glean) is not to abandon design, but merely to provide a basis for creating a more sensible ui for engaging with rich media that adapts to the viewport.

The revelation that this design offers is adapting multiple variations of the design based on the current viewport size. (as a dynamic version of http://www.alistapart.com/articles/responsive-web-design/)

I wrote about this but without a generic demo a while back here:
http://nsfmc.tumblr.com/post/647010330/pages-the-fold-and-me...
and also here
http://nsfmc.tumblr.com/post/468243524/revisiting-newspaper-...

good work, and if people run with this sort of usability and create multiple, good looking apps, all the better.