skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
From an investor point of view, correlation can be good enough. If startups with property X are measurably more likely to succeed, it doesn't matter whether X causes success or if X is caused by some other property Y of the startup that causes success but isn't easy to determine in an interview.

In your example, X = "has multiple founders", Y = "first founder is not impossible to work with". Clearly Y causes success, but X is easier for investors to determine.

From a founder point of view, you want to focus mainly on the real causes of success rather than appearances, but give some thought to appearances. Customers are far more influenced by appearances than investors (because they have less time to dig in), so when you devote time to appearances you should think mainly about customers. Customers tend to be skeptical of one-man shows.
slightly offtopic, but startup related:

why Sam Altman would post on atrium.co website?

when checking their services, they provide incorporating and other legal services,

is it more custom legal service than clerky.com? any idea about pricing?

I'm looking to incorporate but slightly more complex than clerky standard templates
The continual drama bothers only a relatively minor group of power users. A lot of newcomers to Reddit are casual submitters who neither know nor care about it.
I don't know about rich but they have seemed to hit it off in semi rural Georgia with "pickup" for groceries. We are in the grey zone for Amazon. Close to Atlanta...too far out for grocery delivery. ...and we need cars/trucks for commute, farm, school, etc. Not having to drive would significantly change the equation.
Note that `unsafe` code blocks (or having some unsafe primitives) fundamentally results in some kind of UB in the language as a whole, and you totally can create tons of problems from it, since the rest of the language has invariants it can't itself violate, but the unsafe code can (potentially much easier than C, if there are more invariants) - that is the "UB", and the invariants that can be violated are what the compiler optimizes based on.

Lest we forget, any language with a C FFI capability must have some notion of UB, because the FFI effectively includes the C code in its own semantics (unless fully sandboxed, which may be too expensive to be done).
Let's not get hyperbolic and compare data mining to murder.

What, in your opinion, is the correct number of disclaimers before one is allowed to respond, "duh, I already covered that"? Besides, organized crime involves a much broader set of actions than just killing people. Traditionally it has included such mundane activities as trash collection. Nothing wrong with collecting the trash that people leave at the curb, right?

Regardless, it's tech companies jumping on the hype (derived from the word "hyperbolic") train to tell us of the woes that will befall us should such a thing pass. The world hasn't yet come to an end with the passage of GDPR, I doubt it will should this regulation go through.
Some of the things you state are actually liabilities and some outright falsehoods.

>It can’t be counterfeited,

It can be double-spent, and the integrity of the transaction ledger is dependent on no one miner controlling over 51% of the compute on the network.
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Irreversible_Transactions

> it is deflationary

It can not, therefore, represent an economy that expands in real value as it grows to include more people engaging in more trade.

> it is very costly to produce

The network presently costs the Earth as much energy as the entire energy usage of the country of Denmark.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/12/bitcoins-insane-...

And the network gets little real utility from this energy usage. A transaction can take "anywhere from 30 minutes to over 16 hours" to be recorded in the ledger.

https://coincentral.com/how-long-do-bitcoin-transfers-take/

> it is divisible to 8 decimal places

That there is a limit on the divisibility of a bitcoin makes its deflationary nature even more of a liability.

>it can be stored very cheaply.

Bitcoin has been stolen from marketplaces and web wallets with impunity. Even air-gapped storage is not invulnerable.
> I still haven't seen a good explanation for how UBI on a truly universal scale isn't going to just raise housing prices to capture the surplus. I mean, if my landlord knew I (and anybody else who could theoretically live in my apartment) had a spare $2000/month, forever, I'm pretty sure he'd want it.

This is one of the reasons why a local UBI doesn't really work.

If you have a national UBI, people can move. That landlord may try to capture the surplus in California, but with a UBI you can simply move somewhere cheaper.

People in the middle class forget that simply moving is expensive and requires a remarkable amount of cash up front.
>Software engineering is what happens to programming
when you add time and other programmers.

To preface, I think there's room for a wide variety of meanings people assign to words and nobody has a monopoly on what "engineering" means. That said, I offer an alternative:

Software engineering = programming that accounts for real-world _constraints_ such as performance goals, technology limitations, monetary budgets.

Whether engineering a bridge or engineering a circuit board, they share a common theme of optimizing multiple constraints (materials, cost, maintenance, durability, etc).

An advantage of this view of engineering is that it can also be applied to solo programming. The single programmer weighs the tradeoffs to a possible solution.

The other concept of "add time and other programmers" that the blog author is talking about is also important but in my opinion, I'd prefer the industry find another catchy label for it. I've seen others call it "software factory design" instead of "software engineering". The "factory" of optimizing how multiple programmers work together is what books like Mythical Man Month, Peopleware, etc talk about.

To apply my concept of engineering (constraints) back to the Go language... let's say I interview a candidate and ask what his favorite language is and he says "Go". I then follow up and ask "Ok, Go is good. What is Go not good for?" If he responds that he can't think of anything negative, it means he can't do engineering with Go. Engineering means you know the stress weaknesses of concrete, or corrosion properties of steel, or the warts of programming languages. If the candidate then tries to answer with the universal "well, good and bad programming can be done in any language", that's just a restatement of the Turing Tarpit[1] and you can't do effective engineering with that view. Assembly, C/C++, Haskell, Lisp, Javascript all have weak points that work against particular engineering goals.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_tarpit
Great idea, but charging more than it costs to get Office365 was an immediate nope for me.
That's funny, I've been using Dvorak on KDE since probably around 1998. Works fine.
"The bill also requires companies to offer people the same communications services whether or not they agree to have their data collected."

This is the most insane part of this clueless and destructive law.

It's like europe has resigned to the notion that they don't have a significant internet company so they are determined to destroy the whole industry. They don't seem to be as petty or as prolific in churning out regulations and limitations on other industries.
We learn to see patterns, but we see through physical and cultural action patterns that are simply present, not learned.

It’s like a river flowing... yes, the water molecules each “discover” the their path, but the path of the river is a property of the landscape. It is not learned.
I've been moving some libraries over from T[] to Memory<T> and Span<T>.

I've found it's a little tricky to get used to calling Slice() all the time. But it opens up so many doors for allocation reduction and perf improvement.

Also, it is so nice to not have to pass (array, offset, length) around everywhere
"This isn't "logic", this is well established science."

No, it very much is not.

"It's like gravity"

Gravity behaves the same way every time you observe it. Economic activity most certainly does not.

"And you clearly didn't understand what price elasticity of demand means."

Because clearly anyone who disagrees with you is only doing so because they don't understand?
They have over 200 million users in the US.. https://www.statista.com/statistics/398136/us-facebook-user-...
I have recently created a software package and wanted a forum to have my users post "fun" stuff that is not strictly technical since it's sort of a hobby. I have decided that it is way too tedious to host my own forums, so I chose a middle ground that is to create a subreddit. It is working out pretty well.

There are be several reasons that hosting a forum/fanclub on Reddit is better than on Facebook. Facebook mandates real name use, one username for everything that not everyone is comfortable with, I'm sure everyone on HN is already aware of that. But I think there is another subtle reason.

In the past, I have relied on Facebook to host another hobbyist project, and it was super active. I thought what is more convenient than having one place to notify users about the ongoings and stuff and plus having a mobile app that kicks ass, right? It turned out, after a while, the group died. No one would interact with our news anymore, even when we don't spam them with junk news. I think the subtle reasons is that Facebook is way too aggressive on interaction. Maybe something exciting is happening and many people flock to comment on it, and so Facebook spams everyone with notifications and emails about the current ongoing that many of the users don't care about. If a user gets annoyed and decides to mute the group, then I will lose a good, caring person forever. Reddit has no such jealous nudging mechanism, the user has to explicitly check that subreddit to know. So the participation becomes much more passive and the user can choose to update about the ongoings at their own convenience.

It turns out being more gentle for hobbyist groups wins over being aggressive. Not that I only have those two choices, though...
Atomic-scale manufacturing now a reality
CME and CBOE volume paled (and still pales) in comparison to Bitmex, where traders can and did short Bitcoin well before the regulated markets launched.
You get register allocation back if you deny taking the address of variables declared with the `register` keyword - and we've gone full circle!
It's really annoying

It seems the committee is more interested in adding optimization gotchas (that nobody cares about for the most part) while making it impossible to write correct code without relying on convoluted code (which denies the benefit of "extra optimization") and "UBing everything"

C is broken, let's face it

- Builtin strings are a joke. stdlib functions are even worse.

- It was not developed with modern systems in mind.

- DIY Memory management: malloc/free is like giving a kid a chainsaw to play with. Sure, every C programmer had to work out with this crap. But yeah, please complain how my static void * should really be a volatile char * . Idiot. (of course it's not wrong to complain, but that's like complaining about a faulty blinker in a car without brakes). And of course the compiler is going to ignore the 'volatile' part of the pointer because f. you and item 7c of paragraph 3 of the spec lets us do that, even though it is blatantly stupid to do so.

Rust is a step in the right direction.

Making string and (memory) slices a fundamental part of the language helps. You can have null-terminated memory pointers for interoperability, but having it as a fundamental construct eliminates several problems. Also greenlets/threads/multiprocesses.
Besides credit default swaps on notional bond values, what were the other shorting instruments besides taking a short position in bank stocks?
I don't see that as an issue, especially not one that justified adding a trillion dollars to the deficit for barely any benefit to most people.
Yes, the money has to come from somewhere, but the traditional form is that UBI distributions replace most or all other forms of social services. Right now, I'm paying out and receiving little or nothing back directly (and I am not arguing that I should -- I don't need, say, food stamps, or subsidized housing at the moment, but those programs should be there for those who do). Why wouldn't it be rational for my landlord to want my UBI money?
> "is it OK to have web sites mine your data to provide you with targeted ads and free services like search, maps, email or you wish to pay $5 a month" and see the results.

But is it right to let companies track users simply because the users say it's ok?

To put it another way: I think the EU would be right to consider it's citizens not as adults that are able to make decisions on integrity or privacy.
That is not how any market works. Just because your customers have more money does not change the supply or demand for your product. A luxury apartment fetches a high price because there is demand from tenants willing to pay the luxury price. No one is going to pay more for the same apartment unless there is more demand for apartments than there is supply like you have in NYC and SF. More income causes prices to rise because people start outbidding each other for everything. Why sell your house for 100k when someone else is offering 120k
why do these boats need to be autonomous?
> It wouldn't really be UBI

None of these "experiments" are. They all fail to simulate the biggest downfall of UBI which is that when you do it at scale, prices go up. It happens for all the same reasons that guaranteed student loans have driven up the cost of college in the past 30 years.
Flying on a private jet is clearly better than flying first class. You don't have to own the jet though. (Renting time is probably more flexible than owning, but there are peak times where rentals are tight)

It only takes a few minutes to walk from the parking lot through the general aviation terminal and onto the plane, there's no hassle with luggage, and you don't need to wait for the rest of the passengers to get on the plane. You can fly into smaller airports and pick the schedule that works best for you.
I totally agree. Current pattern is very similar to the four-five previous bubbles, which the author doesn't seem to take into consideration or even be aware of.

Besides, futures trading has existed a long time on chinese platforms before CME and CBOE joined the party.

It really is a waste of time to speculate why bitcoin price is going up or down on such timescale.
A lot of his talks and writing are like this. Fluffy, hand-wavy; but nothing you can actually do anything with. But that's not what he's good at - he's good at being an airbag. Which, while cynical is not an invaluable lesson what works.
Read this for a good primer

https://medium.com/@super.crypto1/4th-dimension-bitcoin-mani...

There are also documented case studies of banks paying to fund studies designed to harm crypto currencies or produce content. For example: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/22/poland-central-bank-paid-you...

A lot of the FUD attacks in the media have also been fake in order to create panic selling. For example:
http://m.scmp.com/business/article/2132379/us-news-groups-ta...

There are also clear coordinated attacks from CNBC such as a couple weeks ago when Warren Buffet, Charlie Munger, and Bill Gates all got together to trash Bitcoin.

These are carefully timed and executed attacks.
What if it's not spare? It's their only $2000/month so they're not going to pay that much for rent, and someone else will offer lower prices to get that money. These same people aren't tied to a job, so they can more easily move somewhere cheaper too.
An OpenBSD Workstation
Alright sure, let's assume for a second that you are correct about the relative lack of interest that you claim is rooted in truth. Even then, the statement in the article does not refer to interest at all, but rather it puts a constraint on ability to comprehend something that is totally unrelated to gender, and that is incredibly damaging. Imagine telling your daughters "it will be hard for you to get math because you're a girl." Or imagine someone telling you "Typing will be really hard for you because you identify as male or have a certain skin color," and consider how much damage such blanket statements can do.

Honestly, most things people do in their daily lives are much more complicated that this simple system. I mean, does your wife not use a smartphone or is she unable to figure out how to use a washing machine? The statement in the article, even if it was intended as a joke, is one of plain condescension, and thus quite horrifying indeed.
IBM partners to offer AIX and System i VMs for open-source people to use to port their software. Links that were posted elsewhere:

http://osuosl.org/services/powerdev

http://openpower.ic.unicamp.br/minicloud/

https://fit-rhlab.rhcloud.com/powerlinux-openpower-developme...

https://ptopenlab.com/cloudlabconsole/
What are cotton buds?
So the .NET Core SDK and command line tools do not require VS at all. VSCode works fine or whatever editor you like that supports omnisharp.

But if you are using VS you will need to update to 15.7 to take advantage of some of the features/
This doesn't seem right. Many languages have only a single way to do FFI (e.g., usually via calling a dynamic object) so the concept of "statically linked FFI" doesn't even apply to many languages.

The whole GOT/PLT thing is kind of C/C++ specific, since that's compiled into the calling code, and supports specific C ABI features like symbol interposition, and so is not a necessary component of calling a dynamic library. Especially JIT-compiled languages don't really need either of the features the GOT or PLT offer.

I think the main performance are really (1) dynamically linked C/C++ with GOT + PLT, (2) statically linked C/C++ and then (potentially) separate categories for the FFI mechanism for various high level languages, which may happen to coincide with (1) or (2) or have some other behavior.

Certainly the very slow results for some languages indicate that they are doing something other than a plain call via mechanisms (1) or (2).
"The journey is the destination" isn't the worst of motivations and/or inadvertent side-effects =)
One of the most powerful ways to lead is by example. If we can do the hard work of figuring out how to get sustainability right, it will be easier to help everyone else get on board.
As He Heads Back to Prison, a Man Says 'Goodbye' to the Life He Hoped to Build
npm had 24 packages at some point too :) Rome wasn't build in a day.
> But is it right to let companies track users simply because the users say it's ok?

Yes. Are we not free individuals capable of consent?

> I think the EU would be right to consider it's citizens not as adults that are able to make decisions on integrity or privacy.

I find this paternalistic, authoritarian attitude to be immoral. Sad to see the ideas of the Enlightenment, of Locke and the founding fathers, so casually discarded.
That's probably a bit of an exaggeration but I daresay that there are very few people who own a car solely to run errands today. If I need to own a car to run errands, I probably need a car for other reasons too.

What is true is that there are people who live in cities and use Zipcar, Uber, regular rentals, etc. instead of owning. If that's the case, the cost calculus changes if you need to pay in order to run errands.
Nice article for laymen. On HN I want something more technical, more in-depth.
My personal MBP has been chugging along. It's a late 2011 15" MBP, I swapped out the RAM and put in 16GB and I also have a 512GB SSD. And it keeps up with several of my co-workers devices, the only real issue I have with it is the Graphics Card, but it's not like I'm playing all day or anything. The only issue I've had, was when I had send it to Apple for a Logic Board issue; my MPB was a 2.8ghz i7, when they returned it after repairs it was a 2.2ghz. When you go to purchase a mac, that extra procesing speed is hundred of dollars. But after complaining the credit card charges were dropped and my repairs were free. (Even if I'm sure it cost them next to nothing to do the repairs.)

But I'm more than ready for an upgrade, I've actually bought a few Refurbished Mac's in the past and they've always seemed to be a good price for exactly what I needed.
I know this reveals I'm a rube, but what is the "alpha" from "generating alpha"?
US-CERT issued an alert on two malware associated with North Korean HiddenCobra
Why C Should Go Away
Q-tips
Q-tips: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_swab
Build from the source tarball, or a bootstrap build? For me, I can't get the later much below 10 minutes and often much longer.
Naive question:

Are there any compiler optimizations that -Ox makes possible which couldn't have been written originally as readable C code?
I am always happy to see old ThinkPads on the cutting edge of open source.
You can write kernel modules for netbsd in lua.

http://mail-index.netbsd.org/source-changes/2013/10/16/msg04...
Over 90% of ocean plastic waste is from 2 rivers in Africa and 8 rivers in Asia. This is an infrastructure/development problem, banning plastic items in the developed world is myopic.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/nov/05/terrawatch-t...
This is a pretty ridiculous series of statements, especially if you count YC as a mid-stage startup when he joined (which it was).

If you add up all of the successful YC companies since he started leading YC, it's a pretty breathtaking number (the count, the valuations, and the value created). YC was having pretty serious scaling problems when he took the reins-- from my understanding, he resolved those pretty effectively. YC's growth since he's been leading it (in a lot of directions) has been impressive-- full-stop.
Intel Announces Optane DIMMs
You may be interested in this talk from one of his collaborators (I’ve not watched it):

https://vimeo.com/238266313
What's noon? Depends on who defines it. This is the problem with time.
Great project!

Maybe the project description/post title could be more specific about it being an AWS tool.
> is a very small price to pay for this place to exist.

this place can exist elsewhere, too. Upvotes should be for quality, not servitude.
The GDPR seems to be been designed to do the opposite of this by imposing a maximum cap on fees that could total many multiples of revenue for a small business but which will never be greater than a 1/25 the revenue of a large business.
This is an astonishingly bad piece of analysis.

The CME contract on bitcoin futures DOES NOT EXERT DOWNWARD PRESSURE on the spot price. Bitcoin futures are cash settled in dollars. "Bitcoin futures are financially-settled and therefore do not involve the exchange of bitcoin." [http://www.cmegroup.com/education/bitcoin/cme-bitcoin-future...] . Therefore when you buy a bitcoin future you exert as much pressure as betting on the NBA finals affect the outcome. There is a perhaps a media effect, but that is of second or third order.

If one were able short bitcoin, or one had to deliver or receive bitcoin on tract expiry, that would create downward pressure.

Similarly the authors contention that it was the growth of asset backed CDS which brought an end to the housing market bubble is simply not true either. ABCDS had been traded in volume for a long time before the crisis. The proximate cause was (as it almost always is) credit and leverage. When the liquidity dried up, the prices came crashing down.
Atrium is a YC alum
Plastic chopsticks and disposable plastic lunch boxes.
AKA cotton swabs or "Q-tips". (Except the brand-name product is made with a rolled paper stem, not the plastic type that's under threat.)