skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
What you are proposing, while great for the consumer, will not happen any time soon, due to the inertia of millions of merchants and their existing POS terminals, and also due to the fact that very few people have smartphones.

Also, how widespread is the problem of people handing over their credit cards to pay for something, and the merchant types in a bigger amount than you want to pay? It doesn't happen, or happens negligibly often. The bigger problem is not that merchants get to ask for as much money as they want when you are there at the store paying for something, but that they now have your credit card number and can, if they are malicious, use it later, or sell it on the black market.

In comparison to your proposal, the new card being proposed can work today without any merchant making any change to their equipment.

And this new card will become very useful once they add something akin to SecureID: That is, after every swipe of the card, the credit card number automatically changes to a new one. This is done on the card, and on the credit card issuer server, so that when the user makes their next purchase, both the card and the card issuer agree what number is being used.

This would make it useless for people to steal credit card numbers. And having this built-in to your credit card, instead of having to go online every time, like some existing systems, makes it extremely convenient and easily adopted by users.

Basically, this would mean no change on the part of users, no change on the part of the merchants, and only change on the part of the card issuers (they need to upgrade their servers and issue new cards), which is great because it is the card issuers that are most impacted by credit card fraud, so they are the most motivated to make a change.
Slingbox at a friend's house for the football stuff.
Well, I'm not American and I'm not especially familiar with all the details of US history, so this is the first I've heard of this particular event. However, I'll have a read of the wikipedia article (there's a longer article about the actual event linked from the one on the location) and see what I think.

Well, it certainly doesn't fit the definition of "Civil Disobedience" under any circumstances. Whether it was justified or not is a question I'll leave to others with more knowledge of the era... but to me it certainly doesn't seem to me like it was a good way to pursue the political aim of ending slavery.
Is this ethical?

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/404957/donorschoose.png

The opt-in is for an extra 15% of your donation to be "optionally" donated to the charity. Because it is "optional", this 15% doesn't count towards the official "% of donations used for operating expenses" metric used to gauge charities, of course.
IOS C64 emulator gets BASIC
I wonder the same, perhaps, this is the new HN.
A game layer on top of the world. That explains it -- nowhere man reality. I knew reality was fucked-up.

I won. meh.

God says...
sickness wicked bustle Although forgivest admonished succeeded
struck striking nothing strengthenedst EITHER pastime
company unjustly uncorruptness loquacity cold toward DOMAIN
cast court g pains hindrance depraved strengthened helped
troop ceased sated smiting spider concubine idols Whosoever
See if you can recall an exact phrase (even if short), and google for it (in quotes of course).

It's amazingly effective - provided you get the phrase right. It's quite easy to mis-recall, but for articles that strike me, there'll often be an arbitrary fragment that stays with me. It's even better if you happen to recall the end of one sentence and the start of the next - then, even two words can be enough.

BTW: I found this (but it hasn't been submitted here): http://www.librarything.com/topic/98543 It's an example of someone actually doing this. Here's another http://glovepie.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=185&st...
I usually pay zero attention to commercials. I'm not interested in being sold something while I am trying to relax.
Its still nothing new. IBM was doing this with mainframes in the '70s. The mainframes they installed typically had more horsepower than your were licensed for. When you needed more power, the IBM rep came over with an impressive suitcase of equipment, locked himself inside your server room and simply flipped a switch and then ran some diagnostics for an hour or so to further the illusion.
Efene - a little more object oriented (a language for the erlang vm)
The Shell Haters Handbook
The screen-signing solution is very fast - I was talking about paper-signing.

I'm in the UK now, but I'm talking about Denmark. I'm probably pretty biased by my experience with my Danish chip-card that still requires a signature here. I'm often asked by confused checkout assistants if I have a pen. Not fast.

In the beginning, when the chip-cards were rolled out in Denmark, they were very slow, on the scale of what you're describing, but it's much faster now.
They'd probably argue you're circumventing the copyright protections on the portion of the chip you didn't pay to access, just as circumventing DRM for pre-installed DLC for a game would be a DMCA violation. Anybody's guess what the courts would say about that, that is to say, I'm not saying I agree with this argument, just that I think it would be good enough to get someone selling $25 unlocks into court with a decent chance of serious losses.
But is this really a problem? I can buy a quad-core CPU restricted to 1.33GHz on the cheap and 6 months down the line I can put down a little more cash to get it unlocked to a 2.00GHz.

Why is this a bad change? Currently if I buy a 1.33GHz and want to upgrade later to a more powerful one, I'm buying the second processor and dropping a lot more money than I'd be putting down to unlock more processing power of my existing CPU.

This would be like selling all Kindles with 3G built in. You can save say $10 off the activation of 3G if you buy it already activated, or you can wait and pay a little more in the long run, but less up front.

I don't see this as a bad thing, but I understand why people would misunderstand as to why it is.

If you put a restricted CPU in a budget computer, it's the same as putting a flawed under-clocked CPU in a budget computer save that you can upgrade it later for less money than replacing your CPU to the equivalent. (Edit: note that it also puts less strain on CPU manufacturers as they're not producing 2 CPU's whenever someone buys a computer to upgrade, which in the long run would probably mean more quality control could be implemented in the production process meaning less flawed CPU's)
Google cache for the article, since the site seems to be down
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:z3Hq_TK...
I wish they would of just linked to this site. as a side note, I hate slides because I have no idea of the slides context in the presentation. Usually during a presentation, a slide is only complementary to what the actual presenter is saying, so why present just the slides. Also google indexes slides so high in search. I've never found a any good content out of just slides.
I'm looking into getting a Kindle and I knew all you said before I've even picked one up. Perhaps it's only amongst us HNers, but this was a given fact for me before ever taking hold of the device.
Well, I've been around for longer than that, but your point stands. I don't hate Haskell in the least and often enjoy "technology X in Haskell" articles. I now notice that dons was even the submitter of some articles I enjoyed.

This particular submission I found irritating, though. The target audience would seem to be either someone deeply integrated into the Haskell community who might find this sort of thing cute or anyone with Haskell experience who is learning his alphabet. I notice this kind of article on reddit/r/programming, but don't usually notice it on teh front page here. Thus my comment.
Visualize data with Chernoff faces in R
I've had mixed experience hiring PhDs for jobs that require mixing research and coding. Often they don't accept how little they know about software development and are less willing to do more grunt-work type tasks which are essential to actually turning research into a real product.

Of course, there are PhDs who are great coders as well. They are gems.
this doesn't seem like an Ask HN. you basically made a blog post conveying your position on something. except you did it here under the guise of Ask-ing HN something. ;)
Do you live in the US?
Why Flash Drive Density Will Stop Growing Next Year
My coffeehouse nightmare
No TV here, threw it away about 5 years ago, never looked back. You can waste enough time on the internet if you want to do so.
I basically stopped posting after this: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1433950
What worries me more is that if software can enable parts of a chip, software could, also, cripple the processor by enabling conflicting parts.
Like most of the recent about face with Apple's policies regarding the App store, one can only marvel at what a complete and utter waste of everybody's time and energy their previous policy was.
Please review my Hack Day project: RickRemoval
I'd like to think that if I ever created something like Twitter, I'd do cool things like this, too.

I hope they keep it up.
Interesting but it's a shame that R/WW only dedicates a few lines to this. I'd have loved to have scratched beneath the surface to discover more about how the founder balances dev tasks and admin, and also stuff like product acceptance testing if he is also the engineer building it.

I'm not ratting on R/WW per se but I am disappointed by the 'bare minimum' blogging to just rack up a page impression rather than deliver an insight.
"... what's happened is this kind of lightweight, superficial herd mentality, with folks striking out fairly deep responses and then nothing ever gets settled ..."

Clay Shirky has a copy of a speech explaining the mechanics of this phenomena, "A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy" ~ http://www.shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html
IANAL, but I think every argument here would fail in court:

1. Probably not. While it's created from the original work, it does not contain the original work in any meaningful way. If it is, in any sense a derivative work, it probably qualifies as fair use.

2. Modifications to the Linux source code can be made without the key; they just can't be run on the device in question. Nothing in GPL2 says modified code has to run on the device the original code shipped with.

3. A Linux kernel compiled from the same sources can be installed on another device without the key.

4. The fact that a specific machine refuses to execute it without the key does not make the key part of the executable; other machines will execute it without the key.
Percona is what I've been using lately.
Not having a co-founder isn't usually a choice. But if not having a co-founder stops you from doing what you want, then that's a choice. You should always keep going and make the best of your situation, co-founder or not.
> I can buy a quad-core CPU restricted to 1.33GHz on the cheap and 6 months down the line I can put down a little more cash to get it unlocked to a 2.00GHz.

Actually, you're buying a 2.00Ghz part on the super cheap, you just aren't allowed to use all of what you bought under this kind of payment scheme. This brings up two downsides to this:

1) Consumer's know that the thing they purchased is not really under control...many people want to be able to do whatever they want with what they purchased. This is basically the same as a pay-per-use license like with software today...which most people absolutely hate.

2) It tells the market that the 2.00Ghz part is way overpriced. It's a powerful signal of how bad of a value the company is offering since you actually can but the 2.00Ghz part at the lower price, it's just artificially broken. How long till crackers figure out their way past such a lockout scheme?
Not sure why satellite is not an option for this guy, though. Dish network has some pretty cheap plans.

I know the building MG used to live in - it is a modern downtown condo and you cannot install satellite very easily in those. If he is living where I believe he is now living, it's the same issue.

I've heard that the FCC says everyone is entitled to erect a satellite dish if they want but that's useless if you live on the wrong side of a condo building or don't have a balcony. And expect flak from the HOA if you do, esp if it's an up-market condo building.

What happens is cable companies do deals with the building developers to have cable run to each condo ("cable ready") and in return the building agrees not to let anyone install a satellite dish on the roof. Or they do have a communal satellite but it doesn't have an HD-ready LMB, which was the issue in my old condo.
The sinking of the Sleipner A offshore platform
The API Contest Submissions
Well for the many people out there that don't care about football not paying $4 a month straight to a station they never watch feels nice.
Apple Approves Another Google Voice App for iPhone
3G USB Modem, Data Card
A test that isolates a unit of work from the main program. It can be many functions or one. The idea is to "exercise" your code. That way when it's used in a full integrated flow there are no surprises. Check out TestDrivenDevelopment methodology.
Last time I checked, Lexmark tried to use the DMCA to prevent third-parties from selling toner cartridges that work with Lexmark printers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexmark_Int%27l_v._Static_Contr...

Lexmark lost.
Large companies who handle a lot of call volume, like cable and credit cards, have had IVR systems with that capability for years, but now, with Twilio, it's so much easier and cheaper.

Two things you've said or done, that have really made Twilio click for me are:

1) It brings smart-phone web capabilities to every simple voice phone.

2) As a dev, your appointment reminder demo just slaps me in the face with the concept that a phone call and web session can essentially share the same session id.
Agreed. I struggled to make things work with my ex-co-founder for three months before deciding to go solo. It's working out just fine.

Everyone will tell you you can't do it alone. I'd modify that a little: don't do it alone if you have a choice. Otherwise, go right ahead. Be your own data point.
I think that this highlights (perhaps an extreme example of) what is expected by founders. To be workaholics, sacrifice social life, home life, hobbies etc in order to build their companies.

While it's obvious that a lot of people do this and succeed it's not something that I'm sure other people want to do, it's certainly not something that I want to do. While others may see this of lack of commitment and consider me a non-serious business person, I don't.

I want to build a successful business that makes all the other stuff in my life better, more resources, more fun, more people to meet etc, but maybe that makes me a bad investment to VCs.
I don't think the average consumer has a clear enough understanding of how a computer works that they would automatically view this in a negative light.
Ubuntu May 'See' and React to the Physical World
A general business person is not much use to a technical startup early on. To paraphrase Peter Drucker, every business has only two core functions: innovation, or marketing. So any "business" co-founder had better be awesome at marketing/sales (those are related, but not the same), preferably with domain knowledge and people-access in the market of interest that's difficult for outsiders to get. Typically, you could evaluate those skills by outputs: reading a marketing document, seeing a presentation, and drilling them with questions. Just like with programming jobs, titles don't mean much; there's no shortage of schmoozers and BS'ers who can't actually do marketing well, especially in the fluid, fast context of a startup.

Beyond those business skills, you'd likely want the usual requirements of any co-founder: integrity, and a record of getting things done.
Developers On Google Apps Marketplace: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
Hi I'm one of the co-founders of the project. Will definitely put this in the queue as we work on the next release. Thanks for the feedback!
E5830 Router
IBM didn't even pretend that that they "sold" you the mainframes, though; they were explicitly rented.
Ask HN: Should I move out West?
I live on the East Coast, near Washington, DC to be precise. I work in a typical programming job out here; which is to say that I work for a firm that works on security conscious contracts for the government. I work for an atypical employer; we are not very big, and I've come to love the idea of the small company. We always have a hard problem to solve given the constraints (on limited hardware, and even specific versions of software) but lately it really hasn't been enough to keep me interested. I fell in love with Linux in the late nineties, followed by Python in the early 2000s, and thankfully I still get to use both professionally today. But the programming problems of the government get boring fast and I think I've hit my limit.

I'm feeling stagnant.

As a long time participant in HN, I feel like I'm living on the outside of a world of awesome. This world provides a virtual porthole with which I am able to peer inside. As a Mid-Atlantic voyeur, I get to read about so many interesting startups and small companies that are all working on the cutting edge. Live or die, they all get to have fun doing it. I envy this.

I seem to be locationally challenged. I'm contemplating a move.

Is the West Coast still the place? By the numbers, of course it is. But since I don't live there, I don't get a feel for the situation on the ground. Is the West Coast going to be The Place for some time to come?

If so, it's at the top of my list. If not, where should I go?

If the West Coast is still teh hotness, where specifically? I'm drawn by the awesome weather of San Diego, but it seems like everyone has set up camp outside of San Francisco.
Thanks for the feedback. It'll be a straightforward fix.
All sites don't have to use it to implement it. Check it for sites that have it and fall back to just url checking for sites that don't.
Do you seriously log out your bank session every time your wife / gf / ... is in sight or the same room? One quick look is enough to spot some stuff.

Never having the banking page open when she's around must look really suspicious.
If you can make a credible application (eg academic or sw publishing involvement) to http://develop.scee.net/ my understanding is that a test unit + SDK is under $2k. It won't play commercially available games/DVDs/blu-rays or dump the hypervisor, but I doubt that's why you want it. Twice the super-fast RAM (or maybe expansion slots for same), RSX access & Linux-compatibility. As it seems quite secure there is a limited trade in used units, which I've seen for under $1000.

If you can live without access to the graphics core, older Linux-compatible models can be had cheap on eBay, like $3-400. Sadly the Cell doesn't seem to have much future outside of industrial-scale computing.
It's an interesting story, but I had to stop reading when I read this line:

"The cloud was actually CO2 mixed with air. "
> My personal pet theory (for some of the graphs) is that someone is just loading up the book at many price levels with unlikely-to-be-filled limit orders to gain priority (for the rare occasions the market makes big swings).

Only works if big swings deviate from intrinsic value of the stock. Let's say a biotech stock fails its FDA panel and drops like a rock, its fair-value suddenly drops from $8 to $2; your 100 limit buy orders at $6 suddenly gets hit and you'll have to sell them at $2/share.

> Some other graphs have perfectly innocuous explanations - for example someone probing the depth of the book or filling a big order piece-by-piece.

You probe the depth of the book by building the book not by submitting out of the money orders. You sell block order periodically over a day or days via VWAP by not revealing your true order size. Submitting a bunch of limit buy orders at once even if they are out of money, especially under the same MPID will reveal your hand and the size of the buy/sell interest.

> FWIW, you can't really pull a serious DoS against most exchanges. Most decent ones have pretty strict rolling-window rate limits.

The point is not DoS against exchange but to make your competitors process messages slower than you do. They can still process messages 15ms at a time, but you could do it at 10ms. In this game where everyone's colo'd to the exchange and have the same arbitrage algo, having a 5ft. cable to the exchange trading server vs. a 7ft. cable is a competitive advantage. The same case is with slowing your opponents' message processing rate down by 5ms.
Based on the recommendations here, I just got this book by interlibrary loan. I haven't read much of it yet, but I'm glad I didn't buy it sight unseen. It's an understatement to say does not meet the expectations I had for it. Perhaps one could develop a good course around it, and I'm sure there are good things an experienced coder could gleam from it, but as a standalone text for a beginner I think it would do more damage than good.

I thought at first that the code samples he was giving were examples of "what not to do", and then was astonished to find him defending them in the text. From page 36, after some horrendous code for Atom_int() page 35:

"When the conversion is done, s points to the desired string, and this string has &str[43] - s characters. str has 43 characters, which is enough to hold the decimal representation of any integer on any conceivable machine. Suppose, for instance, that longs are 128 bits. The string representation of any 128-bit signed integer in octal - base 8 - fits in 128/3 + 1 = 43 characters. The decimal representation can take no more digits than the octal representation, so 43 characters are enough.

The 43 in the definition of str is an example of a 'magic number,' and it's usually better style to define a symbolic name for such values to ensure that the same value is used everywhere. Here, however, the value appears only once, and sizeof is used whenever the value is used. Defining a symbolic name might make the code easier to read, but it will also make the code longer and clutter the name space. In this book, a symbolic name is defined only when the value appears more than once, or when it is part of an interface."

I'm glad to see his priorities presented in such a clear manner. If you feel that your current code is too readable at the expense of "name space clutter", this might be a good book for you. But otherwise, just say no!

ps. In case this example didn't convince you, the following chapter on using setjmp() and longjmp() to roll your own macros for exception handling might be worth glancing at in the online version before you confirm your purchase.
The success of a venture is going to have much more to do with WHO starts the company than whether or not there is one or more of them. Look at history and we see all kinds of successful companies that were started by sole founders on the one hand and more than one founder on the other. Maybe there is a statistical likelihood of a company being more successful if there is more than one founder... but no entrepreneur in their right mind is going to base their decisions on those kinds of stats. So much depends on the unique circumstances that you find yourself in. I particularly like this quote:

'But Grieselhuber argues that entrepreneurs should worry less about having "everything perfectly meet other people's criteria," and instead focus on, to quote Nike, "just doing it."'
yes. i moved from dc to sf. different climate in many ways especially if you're interested in startups and tech.

Like my mom said, you are who you associate with.