skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Loners are not necessarily lonely people.
Perhaps it was only my impression reading the article, but in some sections, the author tends to confuse "loneliness" and "solitude".

True loners are people "suffering" from schizoid personality disorders.

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

I should use the term "suffering" carefully because true loners actually enjoy being alone, they admire self-reliance and feel stronger by not _needing_ others.

The beauty of modern society is how easy it is
to isolate yourself from others and live like a king -- compared to hundreds of years ago, where people were needed to get the little things in life.

About _meaningful_ friendship:
The Internet and the ability to travel (if needed) helps you experience the third flavor (shared pursuit of virtue) without being limited by a physical location, face to face communication and simply helps you find like-minded people.
Oracle vs. Google over Java in Android is only the start
Diary of a Zergling
I'd be happy for him to take his time, and release an update in 3-4 months.
Ask HN: Sorting massive text files?
I've got a ~35GB text file full of data, and I want to parse it so I only have unique results in the end file. In the past, I've had no problem with cat FILE | sort | uniq, but I've never worked with anything of this magnitude. Even running a line count takes an extraordinary amount of time:

time cat FILE | wc -l
2608560847

real	11m18.148s
user	1m35.667s
sys	1m33.820s
[root@server src]#

Any suggestions on how I can go about getting unique records from this type of file?
I do hope I don't fall into that camp. I learned programming in BASIC, moved on to game development in C/C++ and DirectX, programmed professionally in Java for 6 years, learned Scheme, learned Clojure, wrote a book on Clojure, am now learning Haskell...

But I was motivated to do all of that because of people I respected who said "This contains some genuinely new ideas worth learning." So far, I haven't heard anyone say that about APL, and so I guess I assumed that either its differentiation was only in a hyper-terse syntax, or that it was not generally suitable for a generalized programming language (similar to regex).

If that's an invalid assumption, then please point me towards an article elucidating what's great about APL, and I'll read it sincerely.
Except ... not really.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-STAR#Criticisms
This article is really spot on, but the trick is that you have too be good. The market is flooded with designer come JS hack who learn a little jQuery and pitch themselves as a front end developer. I have done alot of development over 15 or so years and freelance doing Java, .NET, Database, SOA, iPhone, Android and JavaScript over the past 8 months I have not had a contract doing anything but JavaScript. I am so flooded with JavaScript work that I could not even get to one of the other projects even if I wanted to and JavaScript development seems to afford a 30% premium over any of the other work, iPhone coming a close second. Like the author said, it feels almost like the .com boom all over again.
Perfect timing, your great insights will serve me well as I just became a father to an updated version of me 5 days ago :D
do you think it might push them more towards iphone than android? i'm not clear on that part of your comment. i agree re python vs java gae pushing folks more towards python...
It's a parody of Ruby on Rails and the Ruby on Rails website: http://rubyonrails.org/
That web site has been around since java was the new kool aid
Is the date overflow thing some kind of y2k reference?
Oracle v Google: Why? What does Oracle hope to gain?
if i want to distribute an interface without implementation, some utility should look through the implementation and produce a header file for me.

leaving it up to the programmer is a waste of time.
"The experience I could gain at that new company is probably loads more than I could ever get slogging away on my own."

It kind of seems like you've already made up your mind here. If you think that you can get more value out of the job for the time being, don't feel bad about taking it.

I see the big variable that you haven't talked about here is your commitment level to this particular startup. Is it something that you love doing? Or is it just something you are passing time with.

In my experience, I've built startups that I could have jumped ship on. With others, that thought wouldn't have even entered my mind.

So I think the variables here are more than just should I take the job or not. We don't know your situation well enough. My guess is you are already leaning one way though.
Oracle America vs. Google – Software Patents on Trial?
Nor was it meant to be 'really' funny. It was just an observation, one that I think is fairly accurate. I'd never seen an article on the HN frontpage with so many upvotes (for so long) and zero comments.

By lack of humor, I meant an inability to take one's self less seriously.
... and if the owner of somerandomdomain.net lets his domain expire, you're faced with the choice of (a) put his SSL key (along with a couple thousand others) on the global CRL, which then grows to monstruous proportions or (b) let the old somerandomdomain owner play man-in-the-middle games with the new somerandomdomain customers?

Also, would that mean that VeriSign (.com registrar) would be your only option for a .com SSL certificate?

(I'm not saying it's a bad idea to limit CA authority to a certain top-level or second-level domain, it's just that I see certain problems with doing it wholesale and in parallel).
Sorry, Steve: Here's Why Apple Stores Won't Work (2001)
The idea I'm working on is definitely something that I want to do, and it's something that I truly believe could be useful to some people, so it's not something I could turn my back on at a moment's notice.

The other factor also is that I'd like to at least prove to myself that I'm able to launch something of my own, which, honestly speaking, constitutes a large part of the hesitation I'm facing.

I see benefits in both situations – self-validation vs opportunity, so I wouldn't say I'm leaning one way or another particularly.

All the same, I think your comment has given me some perspective to think about, thanks.
Doesn't help - the patents aren't for Java as such, they were on the basic concept of a JVM. The same thing could apply to any other JVM or even C# and dotNet

But Oracle doesn't want a patent war with IBM and Microsoft just now.
Microsoft could simply ban Oracle from running on windows, or ban any windows machine from connecting to a site using Oracle (a bit of Apple style licensing text is easy to insert)

And you don't want a patent fight with IBM - they probably have a patent on using oxygen for breathing!
1- I expect Google to support python on Android better and better. Is something they can control, hey Guido works there!. And I would love (but don't expect) they supporting c/c++ better.

4-Yes, MySQL competes with Oracle, so... they will let it die slowly. They want db systems to be expensive, not cheap.
Eventually, complacency and failure to innovate will probably kill off Facebook. I know it's hard to look at Facebook now and see the possibility that they will be much less relevant in 10 years. But that will probably happen.

Prodigy, CompuServe, AmericaOnline, Friendster, Myspace and to a certain extent even Yahoo and Microsoft. At one point in time they were all pervasive, disruptive, and dominant. And now they've either gone or are having to pivot into a niche to maintain viability at a fraction of their former glory.

The internet and technology will keep growing. Facebook will get marginalized at some point.
Slightly OT, but I think we/society needs to find a better word than "sacrifice". To me, it invokes too much of an image of giving up power and of one-way giving.

I've had this conversation with friends (as a conversation, I mean, not an accusation nor negotiation), and usually there is agreement. At the moment, I feel I'm not recalling our best substitutes, but I am thinking of the word "contribution". We contribute to relationships. Like an investment. We put in something of value and hope/expect to grow that investment.

Like an investment in work you enjoy, it should -- on balance -- not feel like a burden. And all parties need to be contributing. Contributions may vary; at times, one may have more to give while another has less. At times, someone may need to borrow a bit of equity, e.g. when they are acutely ill.

It's when, over time, the contributions/investments do not balance, that we need to have concern. Those are not sustainable relationships. Unless, perhaps, they are offset by other relationships and we chose to accept this trade off. For example, when a family member is seriously ill, we don't necessarily withdraw our support. Friends help to balance the equation and get us, and indirectly so also our family member -- who is relying on our support -- through.

I don't see sacrifice. I see collaboration. And working with a really good team can be one of the best experiences of one's life.
Just like nailers now dead comment stated, this is still id Tech 3 and the games are from 2001 and 2003 respectively. While probably a little bit better than Quake 3 it's still old. For age reference, the original "Call of Duty" was based on id Tech 3 and released in 2003. (Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory != Enemy Territory: Quake Wars)
English Essay: An Importance to Written English Format
Wide spread use of English language is a result of the colonization by Britain. English language is one good thing that is left by the British for their former colonies. When writing an English essay students must follow correct rules of grammar.
I know lots of loners who want friends but have none, because of fear and a lack of drive, not a personality disorder.
Why I'll never do Test Driven Development - TDD
How prescient:

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2010/08/14/coincidence
Hear, hear. I'm an American and I get dirty looks when I mention that I don't talk to my family - that I didn't invite my mother or brother to my wedding - that I don't care about them. People don't believe it.

But the friends I've made -- once I got over my insularity and fear, and decided to trust unless proven otherwise, to be a friend instead of hoping for friends -- are my chosen family. They've treated me better than my family ever did.

I know that if something happens tomorrow and I'm homeless, I have 20 people who'd put me up, feed me, and take care of me until I could do it on my own. And I'd do it for them, too.

And that's because of effort and willingness and bravery and love (the verb), not accident of birth.
Warning: videos in the first link need Silverlight/Mono.
"Living on the road is no more expensive than living anywhere else. Less usually, since there's no rent or car payment involved. I can live large in Thailand for $500/month."

When I say "travel", I mean living in other countries for extended periods of time, which as you pointed out, is cheaper than living in many cities in the US.

" Any money earned above that goes straight in to the "retirement" fund, in quotes because frankly I consider myself retired today."

so..are you wealthy or not? It sounds like you are agreeing with me.
Ever hear a business idea disparaged for being a "lifestyle business?" For one reason or another startup culture looks down on business models that provide modest wealth via ongoing profits, rather than a big exit. Maybe it's the influence of VCs, maybe it's something else, but it's definitely there.
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You do realize that Washington is one of the cheapest states, right?
You know, you're acting like a dick all over this thread.
How To Design a Maintainable Web Page
That would mean the title is not poking fun at RoR.
Jonah Lehrer: The Dismal Psychology of Power
Great to see a response. Regardless of your previous bot, seems like you have a good application now and it is worth getting off the ground. I will try it again in a couple weeks once your Corpus is rebuilt.

As far as the design, I would suggest the book icons come through in full color, and when you mouse over you could highlight them, or even better provide a short summary (just like how Netflix provides mouse over summaries of movie suggestions).
I think it's been mentioned before that standardization of social networking protocols might work, to the point that they become part of the Internet itself, like e-mail. I think it is only a matter of time (2-3 years) before the majority of Internet users will simply use distributed systems where their social data will be spread over several services (proprietary or open source), and the sharing of that data will follow a standard protocol (maybe a future blend of ActivityStea.ms, Salmon, and others).

Facebook will survive, most likely, but I think its influence will slowly wane to the point where they will be just another "media company" like AOL and Yahoo.
Microsoft may back off of .NET languages
Caller-ID for websites: more leads and better retention customers
One Hundred Fears of Solitude
MongoDB - What's this all about?
After seeing @ruby_news latest tweet about MongoDB, displaying the Mongomatic Gem (which I think looks rather neat) I'm starting to wonder about all these new technologies popping up (MongoDB, CouchDB, etc...). Is MongoDB a good place to start? How many people are using it in product and what advantages/differences can I expect from the traditional SQL environment I'm used to?
is that what freedom means?

I'm halfway through Harry Browne's "How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World" (recommended by someone on HN) and he has an interesting definition of freedom. Freedom is spending more time seeking pleasure than avoiding pain.

I'm paraphrasing, but I think that's the gist of his definition. Good book.
Thoughts on Peer Index
It doesn't seem too likely, but there could be an increase in privacy awareness in the common population.

Or it could become fashionable to do stuff in the real world again.

It might become like TV - mass entertainment, but not really exciting anymore.

Honestly, whenever I log into Facebook, I feel at a loss as to what to do. I just tried playing a game, and it asks for all my information including friends list, before I even know what it is all about. Uh, I just want to play a game... That kind of thing might start it's demise.

I suspect at the moment there is a lot of pushing and nagging to keep users active ("do you want to send a purple cow to your friends"?). Eventually people might just tire of being manipulated.

Even if not, and it remains the biggest thing on the net, there might still be a significant number of people who want something else.
> absorb that data, let it affect your gut reactions, and then make a decision based on everything you know

An important point in this. Where possible, allow your gut/subconscious some time to integrate what's been taken in.

Being in general proactive can help in this regard. You aren't rushing at the last minute to assimilate everything.

There's the balance, you don't have to turn everything in as far ahead of deadline/necessity as possible. And with respect to that, often conditions and requirements change anyway, requiring adjustment. But by tuning in early, you give your whole self time and space to work on the problem. That magical "intuition" is then more likely to show up when it's needed.

EDIT: Hope I'm not being too redundant with my comment.
Well, just imagine if they didn't have the pod/touch/phone/pad.

How many computers do the stores move in comparison?
For any $5 donation you could give the person a pair of sandals. Not a bad idea!
Well, I'm glad to hear you say that. I actually read you as leaning the other way. I'm glad I was wrong. So let me jump in on this side.

The question is not opportunity vs. self-validation, it's opportunity vs opportunity. If you believe in what your doing, and you can keep chugging along doing that, that's what I would do. Thank the company for the opportunity but tell them you are committed to your startup, they will respect that. And if they don't, you probably didn't want to work there anyway.

On the note of experience. At the job you are being offered, most likely you would gain specific technical experience. But you get hordes of experience from running a startup too. The startup experience tends to be on more of a macro level and you will find it useful in many aspects of your life. Running your own company will force you to put on lots of hats and give you a more complete look at how things fit together on a grander scale.

Not saying that the job experience is not valuable. Just reminding you not to forget about the experience you are already getting at your startup.

Self validation is cool too.

So what's this startup? =)
HN is so slow, this was on /. 9 years ago ;)
I know exactly what you mean. For some people their biological family is their chosen family. For some of us it simply isn't. I don't think I will have any contact whatsoever with my biological family after this year. It's not just one sided, but they've made it pretty explicit to me.

On one level it's really hard to deal with, but on the other it has taught me things in a small period of time which usually takes decades to settle in. I've learnt how to sense emotions, and whether or not I can trust someone. I've learnt the difference between anger and deep seated hatred. I've learnt the difference between the storms that pass and an eternal jupiter-esque red spot. I've learnt so much that I simply can't condense it into words, let alone a comment.

No matter what I have gained though. I still wish that things weren't like this. Everything has taken it's toll on me. The most direct result is that I have deep seated insecurities and fears about things like rejection, failure etc. The most worrying result is that a part of me, no most of me, is just old and dead (the other part increasingly vanishing part is roughly 13). As someone pointed out I am 18 and I talk like I am in my 30s & 40s. What worries me is that I really can't remember the last time I had a genuinely happy day. It's like I can't have fun. Everything from conversations to thoughts just spiral down into that survival mode. I hate it, but it's almost a part of me now and I can't imagine an existence without it.

So yeah life sucks, but at least I have a family that helps me to deal with it. Does it truly matter what's in their veins?

P.S. - I can tell that you've been through a lot of pain yourself. Is there any way I can help you to deal with it?

Take care.
Here is the downfall of FB.

1. FB will go public in the next 5 years.
2. 5 years after that it will become filled with old people.
3. There will be a reemergence of social networking startups trying to displace the then bloated solution with a more elegant alternative.
4. One of these will win and become the next FB.
5. Repeat.
World's first 20 minute voice call from a Free Software GSM stack on a phone
BBC: HTML 5 in danger of being undermined by others pushing their own agenda
Hah, I was clearing out my dad's collection of computer magazines (not throwing them away, just making them not a huge pile in a corner!) and there were some absolute gems from the early 80s. I ended up getting half way through and just flipping through the magazines looking at the ads :) thousands of dollars for a megabyte of storage! that sort of thing :) I love this sort of nostalgia :D
I've never seen numbers on users vs. number of games played, but an anecdote: I and many of my friends are pretty heavy Facebook users but few of us play many, if any, games... just status updates, photos, and messages. But I also have a few friends that seem to play 50 games for every status update they post. I wonder if there are two groups of Facebook users, one that mostly chats and one that mostly plays.

That's how I tend to think of it at least. So if I were trying to make a Facebook killer, I might attack one of those two groups... provide either a vastly better social/chat/discussion/link-sharing scheme or a vastly better scheme to play games. But I don't have any ideas on either -- they both work pretty well apparently (the completely technophobic all have Facebook pages at this point!), which makes me think it'll be really tough to compete with Facebook.

And, besides, if you did compete that way, you'd still be at a disadvantage because of the network effect and that you appeal to only a subset of the existing Facebook crowd -- as I said, I don't play a lot of games, but I still want to be friends with people I remember from high school and that do.
The actual quote, from I, Candidate for Governor: And How I Got Licked:

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."

A terrific read. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0520081986
This is a fine example of why I don't trust pundits. It's near impossible to tell those who are right from those who merely sound like they're right.
One of the most thorough explanations I've seen on any question.
Has there been any standardization of those protocols yet? I know Diaspora was working on an entire site, but I don't recall them using any standards... Or even making them.
Exclusivity used to be Facebook's greatest strength. You could post photos of yourself getting drunk in the dorms without worrying that your parents would find out. Now that Facebook has gone mainstream, a competitor could attack Facebook by offering privacy within well-defined real-world communities, authenticating membership by email address, IP address or moderator approval.
This is stuffed full of howlers now we can look at it with hindsight. Just goes to show how out of touch the core computer market was growing with its customers.

Still, one wonders how the market would have looked if Vista hadn't been such a disaster.
Link above takes you to page 2. Here's page 1:

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9178558/Google_to_use...

I was hoping for a more in depth description of why or how CSS3 increases speed so much.
first i'd split it up into a bunch of smaller files, maybe 100 files that are each 350 MB?

then if you have multiple cores on your machine, you can run multiple instantiations of the same script on those smaller files and aggregate the results later.

if you're more ambitious, you could look into using a lightweight MapReduce framework
Have you looked at indexing the data using something like lucene?
It's an interesting ratio, how many articles on Hacker News are new articles and stories, and how many are old news submitted ironically.

It's hardly news, but you can learn a lot from looking at old articles--one benefit HN has over alternative news sources is that it values this.
Betting on Incubators to Create Jobs
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RE: #2. Too late. Facebook is already filled with old people.
Never did something like it, but can't resist thinking about it.

Maybe a kind of divide and conquer could work? Split into several files, do the sort | uniq on each of them. Then merge them, checking for duplicates on the way. I think merging should be almost as fast as line counting, at least linear in the size of the two files.

Edit: I guess it would be slower than counting, because presumably it would write to a new file (the merged file). But still, it should be linear.