skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I suppose a ardent communist might agree with you, however, I think your logic is flawed to assume that where a person lives determines their character or renders them powerless to attempt to empathize with someone of a different race and economic status.

If you were talking about the impact of immigration you might have a point, such that politicians and 'liberals' maybe less affected by migrants moving into, usually, poor areas.

Here though, she theorizes that an innate lack of empathy with different races may account for American attitudes. Personally, I think her argument is flawed or at best too narrow, simply because many countries are fairly happy to live with people of the same ethnicity in poor conditions.
People go to bars and have conversations that they find pleasant. You need to go and have conversations that you find pleasant, which for you probably means stimulating and informative. You're probably talking to people who like different kinds of conversations. Find new people!

Alternatively, get interested in people themselves instead of just what they talk about. Every conversation can be mined for information about the person you're talking with. I'm working on this myself by reading Studs Terkel.
An open-source, App Engine-hosted Flash-based shooter for Facebook
Design contests are evil.

Why so:

1) It takes the design itself to be a matter of taste. Obviously taste is important, but to design based on taste means designing without knowing anything about your company.

2) People entering the contest have nothing at stake. As they do not receive anything to just participate, they will invest very little. You would not do something you care a lot about if there is a very big chance of it turning to nothing.

3) It takes the "billion monkeys randomly typing" approach: assumes that variety must lead to quality. In doing that, it precludes depth. You have 100 ideas that took at best 1/10 the time a consistent idea would require to develop, and hope that luck will do the rest.

4) It fails to value the person creating the design: It implicitly says that they were not good enough to be sought after. And more importantly: It gives them no power whatsoever to control how their art will be used. If the company decides to paint it green, the guy just has to suffer it.

5) It fails to be "open source" because contests feed competition, not collaboration.

6) And further it fails to empower the community because collective involvement is at best a poll for the winner (AKA mob-think). No one in the community can suggest changes in an already proposed design, for example. There are no community practices of design-using involved, and so on.

And just as a final comment: 7) If you don't care about a logo enough to go to the Uni and find a teacher who will use your logo as an exercise for a class, why not simply have your programmers get together and do some fancy 133t svg thing? At least then it would have some connection to the people it is supposed to represent...

Notice that i all for "designers are not as important as they make themselves to be". But a contest is just not a good way to design, no matter what.
England may be something of a special case; as I understand it, from around 1,300 until sometime post-WWII it had a steadily declining crime rate. One or more things prior to the more recent wave or waves of immigration changed that.

(I have my own thoughts on that, starting with e.g. the 1950's court decision(s) that effectively eliminated the right of self-defense, but that's for another discussion.)
A startup whose founders can go on holiday for a week can afford lawyer's fees.
Unfortunately happiness doesn't work like that

Three steps to putting out a fire:
1. Identify where it's hot.
2. Throw water on it.
3. Repeat
I lost. :(
Sorry to be so blunt but in this setting, friendly and manipulative are synonyms.
Yes, and you can play anywhere in the world, on all different operating systems and platforms.
Don't get too excited about randomly leaving unless you have a particular plan in mind. If you don't have equity, it's definitely a good idea to separate yourself emotionally - but if you've got a steady paycheck, there's no reason not to keep cashing them until you have your next step sorted.
for(B=i=y=u=b=i=5-5, [...]

Is there a point in saying 5-5 instead of 0, other than wasting two characters for the fun of it?
"give out shares at this point would require additional lawyer fees" -> translate: they don't want to give you shares.
Unpredictability brings anxiety and hope in equal measure to the 8,000 Aborigines in the Pilbara, who hope their third-world living conditions might be raised by the China boom. Tony Wiltshire, an indigenous mechanic who runs a guild of Aboriginal businesses and tradesmen in the Pilbara, says the mining boom's benefits could sidestep the local population.
Satire Essays Writing
Getting their point across when writing satire essays, requires writers to use irony and hyperbole. These essays are mainly aimed at popular figures such as politicians and celebrities etc. The technique used to write this essay is different from that of any other. Therefore, knowledge should be acquired before writing.
The trade off you speak of rely on the unspoken assumptions that (0) applying formal methods costs more than not to, and (1) the astonishing complexity of our programs is actually needed.

I highly doubt (0), at least when you take into account the costs of errors: crashes, wrong results, security breaches… These costs impact the user instead of the programmer, but they are costs nonetheless (plus, letting customers pay for these strikes me as not nice).

I highly doubt (1), at least when you take into account our overusing of low level programming languages, and of course anthropomorphic thinking.
They are more like what I would call a shopping cart provider, but the effect is the same for many businesses.
Programming hierarchy, from David Plass
So two programmers and the company would already have 4 levels of hierarchy? No thanks.

Says something about their idea of a 'business'
Those tests don't seem to include anything graphical - Flash has a lot of higher level graphics stuff that you would have to implement yourself if you were using Canvas.
Cute! I'd prefer this in web app form, though, because I usually have my laptop with me when I'm cooking.
Building iPhone Apps using Titanium and CoffeeScript
Real-time streaming of Wolfram Alpha queries
How is that position illegal? A black pawn could have eaten some piece at h3, then advanced two squares to be promoted to queen.
I'd like to add that the founders simply aren't pulling their weight. And one thing I've learned is founders don't get more generous over time.

A good founder, who cares about their employees would get the necessary legal instruments to get you shares. Period. A good founder would (a) probably also cancel vacation before launch, but (b) if they all took vacation, they'd make sure you took vacation after the launch completed.
I can't agree with the comment above enough.

I have seen this situation far too many times (both with myself earlier in my career and with friends) - employees feel loyalty to their employer, but it is a one-way street. You have the added pressure of shouldering all of the technical work for the company.

There are too many red flags in your story (legal fees being too high to give you stock should tell you how much they really value your work). I think it is shocking that they didn't put you on a stock vesting schedule as soon as your trial period is up, considering that you are building the product. You should be the CTO/VP of this company, and part of that founding group - yet they want you to build the tech but treat you as a low-level employee.

Find a new role and quit asap. You were smart enough to see that the company is sinking, so use the experience you have gained from working for this company to find yourself a good role in another startup, or work on your own and teach these lessons to others as a consultant.

The alternative is an example that I went through myself. I was in a similar situation - in the financial field with a solid group of founders, the only tech guy etc. The company (this was 99-00) was running out of money. I re-negotiated my role to be the CTO, negotiated a solid slice of the company stock and built a fresh new prototype of our platform in 6 weeks - complete with integrated analytics, customer management and support (using a third party platform). We used the prototype and business plan to raise a new round - I got a pay kick at that point and a budget to bring in 5-6 developers. We fired a lot of the business people who were not doing a lot (they bought their big financial company work ethic with them to the startup). 18 months later we were acquired by a large financial firm, which was a solid outcome for all involved.
Yet another fun challenge in the form of an AI challenge. I really enjoyed the tron ai contest and I am looking forward to this one.

Good luck Colonizing and coding.
Its the classic catch 22, no work experience to put on the resume, hard to get a job to gain the experience.

But I think it is a lot easier now then it was in the past. There are lots of opportunities to work on open source projects. What I look for in student or recent graduate resume is decent list of technical skills (languages, db, methodologies, etc.) These you can pick up at school. The biggest issue for me is to see some code. You can learn a lot about a person by looking over their code. So I'd publish a few of your personal projects. Reference the website where the code and documentation sits on your resume.

I less concerned about buzzwords. They don't tell me anything. They may help you get past a resume screener, but they will not help you beyond that. If you have experience in the area, you should specifically list that.
it's not a fucking startup if you don't have equity.
Plus all of that libc. Not to mention the megabytes of kernel. How big is a bootloader these days?
This is spot on. I think at this point I'm seeing the light, but just because things are looking like they'll end badly doesn't mean I'll put myself in a worse position because of it. Good call.
Apple appears to have added vibration motor to iPod Touch
The original post was interesting because it attempted to simplify something (the role of CEO) to its core, which is an exercise that is always thought provoking and revealing.

This post is more just a run-of-the-mill HBR-style article. It seems to be more a clarification for people who won't get the point anyway. To paraphrase the first clarification: [setting a vision involves developing one in the first place...] Yuhthink?
We want what we can't have.
What's interesting to me is that the least people "wished" to be younger. This extremely rational result was very surprising. What do you think most HNers would "wish" for?
It'd be interesting to see what word everyone types first, cos i typed "love" and then "eats" in that order as well!
I actually don't have the emails I question, because the article is not about me or a client. They are, from what I've been told, a fairly scary sounding "one strike" template, nothing special.

The FAQ pages in question are linked prominently in the article. They have an entire section on this topic.
A little info on the poster:

http://www.wikisposure.com/Onemilligram

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/12/american_in_egy....

http://www.red-alerts.com/filthy-degenerates/american-al-qae...
Cool, the steamflow thing sounds interesting. Is there a top level example or test-driver somewhere in the github project showing what typical use-cases are?

E.g. - I have a test-driver here:
http://github.com/roboprog/buzzard/blob/master/test/src/main...
(although I have barely started the library I was tinkering on)

Any example client program for your allocator? I'd like to see what use cases you are handling.
A prime example would be many of the negative comments regarding scribd.
Thought proper polygraph tests were not so much designed to detect lies as to detect reactions to information that giveaway the subject's involvement in a crime. For instance say they're asking random control questions about items of clothing, then amidst this they show/describe the exact clothes that the victim wore - an innocent person will be oblivious whereas a guilty suspect might be momentarily startled. There's various approaches but none of them are just 'did you kill this man? Were you really at home watching TV?'
Well, considering that this is J.D.'s primary source of income, I suspect so.
You can give notice, but in many positions, you'll be out the door within the hour. Nothin personal, but that's how it is. I've given 2 weeks notice and been escorted out the door within 30 minutes, and I've given 2 weeks noticed and asked to stay longer. Whatever you give, be prepared that that's your last day, and plan accordingly. They may see it as an act of betrayal or a loyalty issue, and will have you leave that moment. Or they may not.

Stop thinking in terms of this being a 'startup'. That term means almost nothing any more, given that companies with millions in funding that have been around for >2 years are still called 'startups' in some quarters. You work for a business, and may leave. Be prepared to leave. Give them a notice that you'll work out 2 weeks to wrap up and document stuff, train a replacement, etc. Don't give any more consideration to the long term health of this org - they've not given you any consideration. To that end, don't go out of your way to be a jerk, whether that's withholding info, trashing files, installing spyware, etc (I've seen it all happen). Just be professional and get out.
We think in continuous terms all the time when we use big O notation. If you have an O(n) (or O(n^2)) algorithm and make the input a tiny bit bigger, the computation becomes a tiny bit more complex. Dijkstra is too rigorous to let us get away with that, though. In theory, big O notation says nothing about any particular finite value, only about limits, and in practice, this manifests in big O notation's failure to predict big jumps in resource costs when internal limits such as cache sizes are exceeded. To create an abstraction as nice and well-behaved as big O notation, we have to gloss over the real behavior of the machine.

Is it not possible that one day we will invent a computer language that supports writing very "robust" (in the sense of source code sensitivity) programs?

If you apply an edit distance metric to source code and a behavior metric to running programs, it would take a ridiculous amount of work to write programs in any system where small changes in source code resulted in small changes in running systems. Also, very often people want small changes in input data to result in small changes in behavior, but just as often, they want small changes in input data to result in large changes in behavior, so we have external requirements to make some parts of our program "robust" and other parts extremely sensitive. A language would need to support both requirements.
Totally disagree on all points. Some of the most iconic logos on the planet were designed in an afternoon (Nike). There are a lot of design efforts that require depth and iteration-- logos aren't one of 'em (note: I was a designer for a good chunk of my life and still sling pixels pretty frequently).

Entrepreneurship is all about risking work for the POSSIBILITY of reward. You can build/launch a product that fails. You can spend 40 hours trying to land a customer and have it fall apart at the last minute. This is no different-- it's an army of design entrepreneurs who think the reward is worth the risk. And yeah, if you offer a crappy reward, you'll get minimal effort. Offer $100k and you'll get tremendous effort.

"But a contest is just not a good way to design, no matter what." The growth of 99Designs seems to indicate otherwise. I know lots of startup folks who have gone that route and have been VERY satisfied. In my opinion (again, with a design background), a contest with a big reward is the PERFECT way to get lots of perspectives and leverage the global economy to your advantage.
You might want to look at something like:

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

I seem to remember that Dijkstra was keen on identifying weakest preconditions of different statements that can be used to prove a program correct.

However, I warn you that if you try this you will soon find out what this kind of formal reasoning about programs never caught on that widely - at least for imperative programs.
Researchers Devise the First Test of Controversial, Confusing String Theory
Thats the difference between maths and engineering.

A proof that has a single exception is wrong, a brige that stays up with a broken rivet is correct
Probably because he wanted to keep 1-letter variable names, and 1024 is more interesting than 1022.
Show HN: Groupie, my life's greatest achievement (for the iPhone)
Thus far at least....

I've spent the last year developing this with my cofounder. Overall it's been an incredible experience that has consumed thousands of hours of our time and tens of thousands of dollars. We had a false start about 6 months ago but now we are finally ready to go live. I would appreciate it if any of you would take a moment to check it out and post your thoughts.

Throughout this process we have learned a tremendous amount about developing an app (from business plan to business scope and hiring developers), finalizing legal docs (ie acquiring trademarks, defending them, etc) screening graphic designers, trouble shooting and project management in general. I am happy to share our findings with anyone who has questions and interested in going down the path mobile entrepreneurship.

Link to download on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/app/groupie/id330225210?mt=8

About the app: Groupie is a group-oriented social network for the iPhone that allows you to create, join, and manage social groups on the iPhone.

Every group has a message board, GPS-enabled map, and member directory. Groups can be public or private, listed globally or tagged with GPS coordinates to appear in our local only listings.
Ship it or Shut up - an oldie but a goodie
Attendance Clocks - Attendance Time Recorder - Time Tracking Clock
Time attendance clocks are specially designed for the business organizations. Our attendance clocks calculate and record the working hours and attendance of employees.
Previously: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=603364
Under most circumstances, private companies cannot get paid that money. If vouchers were universal then that $8k per student would have a pretty good business case.
In the personal finance niche- that's enough to get rich! He can easily get $10 CPM for his posts. At 150K pageviews a day that's $1500 a day profit.
How much do most small-businesses need in terms of logo quality and cohesiveness? While there is plenty of crap there, http://99designs.com/logo-design/store seems to have a mess of logos that are worlds better than what many small businesses end up with when they work with a freelance designer. And most importantly, this (and contests) entirely remove the scariest part about logo design-- that you'll pay thousands to a designer to get something you don't really love.

I spent years as a designer (I still do a fair bit of design, though only for my own startup efforts usually) and if I had a friend starting a small business, I'd actually suggest they go the 99Designs route with a bigger-than-average bounty (though I'd probably tell them to browse the ready-made store in case they found something they loved).

I agree that you won't get a gold-plated identity package with most contests... But do most small businesses need that?
From your description, I'm guessing that the company will go under the day you quit. The founders can go on for a while on empty, but they need you if for any of their hail mary plans to have a chance to succeed.

However, their only obligation to you is payroll. As long as they can pay you, they surely expect you to keep working for the team, and they probably wouldn't be happy if you jumped ship early.

Obviously, it's up to them to be candid about the situation and give you advance notice if money runs out. So, if I were you I would put it on the table. Make sure they understand you will quit if they can't pay you, and that you expect them to give you 30 day notice.
Twitter XSS (do not click that bit.ly link)
I'd argue that writing a blog is not exactly a doing. Much less blogging about getting rich.
> While the asset prices (ie houses) keep increasing that level of debt remains serviceable.

Isn't this just another way of saying that the bubble is fine until it bursts?

You mentioned our increasing population but I thought both of our potential governments where now committed to a 'sustainable Australia' (A.K.A. reduced immigration).
The Mythical World-Class Manager
Ask HN: Help me start a different sort of startup: an airline
Hey guys

I know this is a lot different than the usual concepts/ideas thrown around here, but I thought it'd still get a lot of interest.

I'd like to start an airline. Not a low-cost one either, but a full international airline, focusing on ultra-long range travel (trans Pacific to start [Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland -> LA, SFO, Vancouverish]). I'd like to work on improving the airport process (as all airlines say they do, but I'd like to digitise almost everything from tickets, to boarding passes and baggage tags).

I feel that long distance travel requires an entirely different approach than just buying a bigger jet and providing the same services as ~2 hour flights. There are a few airlines doing well but I still feel there's room for improvement. A few hurdles though:

1. I don't know what to do now. There isn't too much information available (especially here). I'm leaning towards talking to a lawyer (maybe? don't have any money though) and have been reading the Airbus/Boeing "Jump start" [1][2] areas. Informative and helpful, but mostly if you already have the money.

2. I live in Australia (Perth) and there isn't the greatest amount of money here I'd imagine. At least compared to American sources. I'm aiming to find the money to afford the
consulting fees of Airbus/Boeing and going from there to see the viability. I'd likely move to Sydney or Melbourne and try to take it further once I have a more concrete plan.

3. Right now most of what I have is a load of notes, a huge willingness to get it done (reached a point in life where I'm just saying fuck it and going with something), and a
vision of how travel should be for those who can't regularly afford business/first class.

4. I understand the industry (well, from what I can glean). It's a tough, cutthroat business with very little profit in general. I'm ok with this. I'd still like to raise the bar with air travel from where it is now.

Most of you are probably extremely skeptical or doubtful and I understand, but I'd love any advice, help or even just a short mail.

[1]: http://www.airbus.com/en/services/start-me-up/airline-v-plan/

[2]: http://www.boeing.com/commercial/startup/index.html
maybe I will!
I'm not talking shares for money: I'm talking about they pony up a share and money like they're getting if they want you to suffer through the broken/poor part of the companies existence.
Skydiving from the edge of space: can a human break the sound barrier?