skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
"Many household security robots are designed for simple Internet operation, which makes them insecure. Will your
humble Roomba vacuum cleaner be used to transmit naked videos of you?"

Does Roomba make a 'bot with either wifi or a camera? I can't imagine why they would (okay, maybe wifi.) I understand the Author's intent to make the threat "real," but this is a poor example.
Boxee's thoughts about the Apple TV
> Were I a particularly evil warden, I could meticulously place all the boxes in the same such "jumble" after each prisoner left.

That's nothing. I'd make all of the boxes too small to even see, and I'd turn out the lights. Oh, and I'd shoot all of the prisoners.
I was recently told a very funny story about a guy who works at the C-level for F500 corps. Paying the guy a visit, the usual chit chat, oh what are you doing?

"I'm Google Blasting myself!"

Huh? What the hell is that?

"Well you see, I need to stop having all my online activity appear on page one on Google when people type in my name. So I paid this company to clog Google with a bunch of fake, generated content about me. Hopefully the real information about me which I want to hide from casual searchers will be drowned out in the fake information."

I had never heard of Google Blasting for the common end-user before this, but it's a brilliant idea. And I bet as all of our lives end up being more public through Google, Facebook, Foursquare, etc, the demand for services like Google Blasting will grow.
It sounds like a great business idea, though the timing is still wrong, since we're at least a few years from reaching a mass-market demand.

Ultimately, I disagree slightly with Gibson saying We never imagined that artificial intelligence would be like this. We imagined discrete entities. Genies. Simply because it will be far too easy to spam and blast this form of AI.

True AI in the sense of Wintermute/Neuromancer will happen, inevitably, just not yet. And the day it arrives, Google is instantly dead, a relic of a past era, an antiquated technology we'll all smirk at in history books.
What if I'm asleep in bed?
Related, but unrelated - this is some advice for events like weddings or any open bar where there is a crowd (think SXSW).

Go to the bar early. Talk to the bartender, take $20 out of your pocket and tell him/her/them:

"Hey, this is for you. I don't have change and I want to tip, and I have no idea how much I'll actually drink... Thanks!"

I started doing this because I used to bartend and a lot of people skimp on tips at events or just don't have change at a cash-bar (who has a stack of $1 bills on-hand?). Its extra effective if there is a no-tipping policy.

The result: You'll always get a drink ahead of everyone else, especially when it gets a little crazy. They usually start pouring what you last ordered when they see you approaching.

Also, if there are more than one person it helps to have the conversation within ear-shot of any other bartenders. Feel free to introduce yourself too and give your name. Most 'drinkers' are meatheads so you stand out further.
its surprising how quickly people go out of their way to be friendly and helpful to you when you're a model customer. and i mean model as someone who is easy, friendly, regular, and consistently tips.

most service industry people can't outright reject customers without a really good reason, so if you can make someone's day easier, they'll typically reciprocate it.
Socialism has a definition - it was coined and defined by Marx

The definition of socialism has evolved since then. Raganwald is a socialist, in the same sense in which the ruling parties in many Western European countries call their form of government a 'social democracy'. It's only in the US that 'socialism' is a scary word that nobody wants to be associated with. To US standards, 75% of Western Europe votes for socialist parties.
No: http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_ipod/family/ipod_...
Reddit says, "please stop referring to reddit as 'small'".
Government officials are not a part of the market economy.

It's paying for service, it just goes through unofficial channels. I live in a small college town. I eat at the same vegetarian restaurant for lunch almost every single weekday. I sit at the counter with a book, and make small talk with the cooks and servers as appropriate. I unquestionably receive preferential treatment from them. The cooks sometimes slide me extra food if it's not enough to sell as a full meal, or if someone sends back food that's fine to eat. The servers take my order almost the moment I take a seat at the counter and it's usually served the moment it's ready.

I don't tip extravagantly ($2 for an $8 meal), but I'm friendly, easy to serve and they know they'll see me every day. I get preferential treatment, but I'm also giving them preferential treatment by coming in every day.

You have a right to be treated the same as everyone else by the government. You have no such right at a service establishment - yes, they cannot refuse service for the all of the standard prejudices. But they most certainly can offer a higher level of service to people who pay more.
15 Kinetic Typography Pieces Based on Popular Films
Do films require video to be entertaining? Take away the people in a movie, and what left is there? Add in cleverly designed typography, and you’ve birthed life into something that was lifeless. Below are fifteen examples of stunning kinetic typography pieces timed to fifteen different popular films.
Top Reasons for Entrepreneurial success
The truth is I'm not sure how the financial markets work in Vietnam, but in most Western Countries your dollar probably goes further when it comes to helping people out sitting in the bank than over-tipping and being kind to people.

Granted it is probably good for you psychologically to form these relationships of mutual kindness, and to see yourself putting a smile on someones face on a daily basis. But in terms of "Giving back" and "spreading the money around", keeping your money in the bank is probably a better move.

Again this is based on my limited understanding of the financial system in western countries and of economies. It is very likely that my understanding of economics is flawed and/or my comparison of Vietnam to the US is a bad comparison. If so, ignore everything I said.
If it's open source, anyone can run a "DropBox sever", and charge what they want. This would mean DropBox does all the hardwork and is then undercut by someone else charging less than them.
What did they do a week after when the novelty wore off?

Certainly giving people a stimulus can reward good behaviour. I recall reading that drivers of (normal engined) cars with a fuel consumption live readout get higher mileage than people driving the same cars without the display.
Exactly where I was going. As a crude generalization, working at Google signals that you're really smart, and working at Apple signals that you're a cool guy/girl who also happens to be smart. For most social situations and especially in attracting members of your preferred sex, the second image is better.
Honest question: What's the easiest way for two developers using git to push and pull from each other, if they're running Windows and on an isolated LAN?
Obviously the utility of the concept depends on how it is defined, but I have always understood it in the following two senses:

1. The "self-organization" of novel entities. The paradigmatic example is the glider in Conway's Life automata. Gliders have properties their substrate entities (the individual life cells, perhaps) do not: direction, motion, information transmission, speed, and a whole logic of destruction/creation (from which, e.g. Turing machines can be constructed). Are gliders as ontologically "real" as the substrate cells and update rules that comprise them? I don't know, but clearly they are novel in some sense, and the term "emergent" seems to naturally apply here.

2. Conflation with the notion of "downward causality". Downward causality is a concept that arises mostly in philosophy of mind. The basic idea is that it seems to be the case that conscious entities control their bodies (including, to some extent, the neurons in their brains - for example if I want to imagine a pink elephant presumably "I" am causing some neurons in my head to fire differently than they were before I was envisioning a pink elephant). And yet, conscious entities as we believe are comprised of their bodies (including, to some extent, the neurons in their brains - presumably their is some necessary subset of neural activity in my brain comprising my conscious volition and the like). Downward causation is the idea that from certain patterns of activity arise sub-patterns that control or have causal influence on the underlying activity. And in this context the term 'emergent' seems appropriate.
Yes, I know it is available at present on their store. I am asking about its future prospects. Jobs made no mention of it, while claiming that they were updating "all" the iPods. What is the future for a device like this?
Not many are using Dropbox on servers yet, but if their users upload files, they should.

My itty bitty part-time startup has a better uploader than Flickr, thanks to Dropbox on the server. Users share a folder with the server and copy photos into it that they want uploaded. They can be choosing photos to upload even with no connection, e.g. traveling with a laptop.
I've been to one in SF and one in Mountain View. In SF, people basically showed up, the organizer had pizza (which sponsors paid for - in that case it was WePay and MixPanel), and people just talked and hung out. Very informal. Very low-key.

In Mountain View it was the same story, except for the first 30 minutes or so there was a talk on the evolution of db technology and pros/cons of different platforms.
You only get to choose your government every n years, so as part of their pitch to you, they make a promise (in law) that their officials will not be bribable - any subsequent bribe violates that promise and that law. By contrast, you can choose which restaurants you visit (on a day-to-day basis), so they have no need to make such formal promises or contracts, so they don't. They are then free to offer service x for price y, you are free to accept or reject, and they are free to change it the next day.
Right, just like in Canada, the UK and France...
That $99 ARM box looks like it could be a lot of fun for unintended purposes.
I played poker a lot for a couple years and would routinely drop 'quarters' (25 bucks) to runners on busy nights to skip the line. Considering my hourly rate was just under $100/hour saving an hour+ wait on a Friday night was a bargain.

note: Most casinos you would be tipping the 'floor' not the runners, but in this particular one the chip runners were doing the seating.
I would guess Dropbox has this same problem on Linux, though I can't say with certainty. What I can say with certainty is that they're thinking about the problem.

As is often the case, you learn a lot about a company through its jobs page. Their latest challenge for applicants looks very much like this problem.
I believe his point was that if you're going to call this unethical, then you have to also consider, say, an inferior television costing $200 and a superior television costing $800 unethical.
Thanks man. I appreciate it.

To everyone else who offered to help: thank you too. It meant a lot.
Did you hear about the Qantas jet with the extra engine?
Yes but what about long-term value? I may be wrong but I thought options given to employees don't allow them to sell for some amount of time after an IPO.
I'm going to bet that most of my fellow betters are about as far off in their predictions as all the people saying "Who actuall wants a giant iPad Touch?" a few months ago.
The effect on society can be much, much worse than neutral. If it happens enough, all of sudden it's expected and then people will start intentionally delaying service/making it difficult unless you pay them. (for reference, see any country with petty corruption/bribery problems)

What's the difference between this and say slipping the building inspector a hundred dollars to "not have any problems"?
Wildly entertaining read.
Why Users Fill Out Forms Faster With Top Aligned Labels
There probably isn’t. They will most likely continue to sell them unchanged but as soon as the iPod touch more or less catches up in terms of capacity (I’m guessing 128 GB) the iPod classic will be dead. (That could happen in one year.) As you said, Jobs said nothing about the classic (even more extreme: he said that shuffle, nano and touch are the entire iPod lineup), that certainly should tell you something.

I say good riddance, the iPod touch is terrific, all the classic has going for it is capacity.
did you read the post? any color as to why not?
because not everyone is a faggot douche like you
Take the same advice, and apply it to clubs/lounges. Or, anywhere there is more demand than supply.
I think it's fair. On any given night there's probably quite a few people in the bar who outspend you. But you're a regular. That means that over a long period of time, you probably hand over more money to the bartenders and the bar itself than most people there that night. They are both rewarding and encouraging that behavior.

What you described is the original "rewards program."
The term "libertarian socialism" is being used here to describe the opinions of the article's author, which focus on an economy rooted in voluntary participation and cooperation.

But how can you have an economy based on voluntary cooperation without the understanding that the voluntary aspect depends on the disposition of property at the discretion of its owners?

If some external authority can overrule you as to how your computer or your farm equipment or your land is used, your choice is between complying with their demands or surrendering your means to participate in the economy altogether; in this scenario, voluntarism is undermined.

Without a concept of private property, a voluntary economy cannot exist.
No, you don't. The difference is one of transparency. Information about various televisions and their pricing is freely available to anyone who asks, whereas reliable information about the necessity or possibility of bribes is hard to obtain. The end result is a less efficient market.
I wonder if that's why the pizza and bagels taste better in NY
Interestingly, this sometimes works the other way around too. I frequented a coffee shop in my town for a few months (I later moved house). The baristas came to recognize my face, even though I didn't make smalltalk or introduce myself. I would come in, order a coffee, and work on their wifi for a few hours before leaving, more or less every other day.

One day the barista recognized me and said, "this coffee's on the house." I was stunned--stuff like that usually doesn't happen to me because I'm usually fairly quiet when it comes to interacting with service people. Grateful, I put the money I would have spent on the coffee into the tip jar instead.

Over the course of the next month the barista would occasionally offer free coffee again. The cup of coffee costs them cents, but it brightened my day so much that I actually started tipping (for the first time at a coffee shop, ever) regularly.

So in effect, for the cost of a "bribe" (a few cups of coffee to me), the barista had established a relationship that made me feel like reciprocating with cash.
I thought Facebook famously has/has a relatively small engineering staff - ~300 people - are they trying to rapidly expand this?
"Fair share"? As if each person deserves to be served? Talk about a sense of entitlement. The restaurant will serve whomever it likes. You wouldn't think it unethical for the restaurant to give regulars a friendlier smile, or a specific table they like? If you have a personal relationship with someone, no matter how tenuous, they will give you better service. It's not "cheating." Especially for busy restaurants, there is no reason for them to serve an "average" customer and ignore a "good" customer.
I do like Boxee. I use it myself. But the new Boxee Box is going to cost twice as much as a new Apple TV, and I'd bet my right nut the hardware wont look as nice. So it better have some good advantages.
Growing up, I rarely was in a situation to tip, but these days, living near Palo Alto, i've noticed something interesting:

out of the places I go to eat or get coffee, a few are small independent businesses owned by locals. At the ones where I was getting consistently good service, I started tipping 20%+. Within a few weeks of this, I was surprised to notice that they began discounting my food and drinks without mentioning it, and they were more likely to remember my name and what I usually order. The result is that other than the money I spent tipping more initially, this improved service doesn't cost me anything.
I wondered this too. Frankly, I don't understand why there isn't a 1TB iPod classic. I understand that eventually flash will replace hard drives, but it just isn't economical yet for the largest sizes.

64GB Touch: $400

160 GB Classic: $250
What's Paul Graham's twitter handle?
I don't get the bribe terminology at all - offering better service to people willing to pay more is a pretty standard form of price differentiation.

We certainly don't call it a bribe when a webservice charges more for faster responses to support requests or access to a dedicated rep. We don't call it a bribe when an airline charges more for more leg room. Why should we call it a bribe when the restaurant's maitre d' charges more for priority access to tables?
Most of this 8 hours isn't first run TV shows & most of these hours are watching the same TV show since they're watched communally.
They give you a special kool-aid. ;)
[CSS3] A smile for web standards
Thanks for posting. Now I don't feel so lonely.
Why do you find it unethical? I'm not being glib. You can see why I don't find it unethical in posts below.
org-mode.
You're not the first person to have that theory http://www.slashfood.com/2005/09/26/new-york-pizza-is-the-wa...
Efficiency is not everything. If you steal something from me, it's incredibly efficient for me to come over to your house with a gun, but nobody would argue that it's moral. We should be looking to make a society that's morally acceptable first, and then optimizing for efficiency afterwards.

Secondly, while capitalism is efficient on paper, it often isn't in the real world. There's no such thing as a free market, and nepotism, politicking, and incompetence still run rampant. Every societal system has its share of problems.
I agree with you in spirit, but I don't trust _our_ government to do a similar job.
Alexis is awesome. He flew down from NYC to Boston a week or two ago just to come talk to a bunch of young startups (well, I'm sure he had other reasons too, but it really meant a lot to us).

P.S. Cupcakes are generally a great way to introduce yourself :-)
This isn't "buying" a better table (although that can happen). This is about building a positive relationship with a person. You do something positive for the maitre'd, and now he's on your side. It's more about making a contact with someone "on the inside" and less about making a purchase.
Differences between Google TV and Apple TV
Flagged for right-wing fear mongering.
I agree-freedom is worth the $100.
The Boxee hardware looks AWESOME!

Box: http://vimeo.com/13398124

Remote: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcm95c_ces-2010-handson-wit...
6 month lockout is standard, maybe even SEC mandated? Which is plenty of time for initial IPO hype to wear off and the price to crater.
I was curious, so I checked the dictionary definition (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bribe):

Definition of BRIBE

1: money or favor given or promised in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust

2: something that serves to induce or influence

I think it's important to distinguish between uses 1 and 2. You're describing, and I've defended, use 2. As far as I'm concerned, use 2 is indistinguishable from paying more for something better. I still consider use 1 unethical, assuming that the person in a position of trust is supposed to treat everyone equally with no favoritism of any kind. I don't consider a maitre d' at a restaurant to be in such a position of trust.
The business does what? Your skills are what? You have 13k users and have been featured in lifehacker and mashable after a few months... there's something you're not telling us about why your cofounder has moved on.

Fill in the blanks please.
Frankly, I always considered it extremely rude and boorish to not remove shoes when entering someone's house (I'm american, if it matters). Think about it- would you drag an object through city streets, gutters, mud, sewage, and other bad areas, then drag it all over the floor of your house?
> Statistically, Genghis Khan will eventually be born somewhere outside your society and eventually show up at your doorstep

It's true. We need to look no further than the Spanish Revolution to find a great example in history of this.

Then again, the Most Powerful Military In The World is still playing in the sand, almost a decade later. A ragtag band of individuals is still fending them off.

As far as Jack the Ripper goes, I also agree with you. This is why I'm only sympathetic to anarchism, and not a full-blown anarchist. I have my own questions about how these kinds of situations would be resolved.
Ask HN: Make money w/o banner ads or subscriptions
I've been helping work on a website www.kayak411.com and we just had a major re-release. We're not really doing it to make money or a company, we just like kayaking. It would be nice to make a little money off of it just to cover hosting costs + a little (think craigslist).
So, we're looking for really creative ways to make a little money without sidebar/banner ads or subscriptions. So far we are planning on getting a cutback on camping referrals and maybe a small fee to list things in the marketplace.

Anyone have any other unusual ideas?

www.kayak411.com
Reminds one of the invisible clams in Scientology.
Obviously, it's a bribe because it's pocketed by the employee rather than passed up to the employer.
Bah, they should get their ass together and release an update to their iPods so that you could manage your music without having to use their bloated crap.

You know, like the standards that apple talk about so much.
Amazon is $59B. (http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NASDAQ:AMZN) Amazon's user base is probably comparable to Facebook, and they're monetarizing the hell out of it. How is Facebook supposed to almost double that?
I imagine it's mostly down to the grizzly corpses that won't need to be pulled out of the rubble?
In summary, it is really hard to guarantee ACID across scalable, highly available, shared-nothing systems due to complex and high overhead commit protocols, and difficult tradeoffs in available replication schemes.

It's hard, but it's doable. I find it quite striking that no one ever seems to mention the two leading high performance parallel databases, HP Neoview and Teradata. Is it that people don't realize they exist?
On a tangent, I'm glad Apple went with a matte black case for the Apple TV. Hopefully that will help kill the highly absurd Piano Black trend.
Mars is very cold right now with almost no atmosphere, and it has remained relatively unchanged for billions (yes, billions) of years.

Terraforming it would entail thickening the atmosphere and heating it up. That'd cause a lot of changes to its surface. Water frozen for eons might start flowing, gases currently frozen in the ground might start evaporating etc.

Eventually it might start raining, which would start massive planet-wide erosion. There's a reason you see craters on the Moon and not on Earth: It rains.
And a less efficient market is necessarily unethical? I also don't think the situation is opaque: tip well, be genuinely friendly, and you'll receive better service.
As a developer, that sounds excellent. It will be a total market failure. :(