skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Your original post implied google is being a freeloader: "...they benefit in no small part from that money. [...] Frankly, without government money, Google would not exist."

I'm just pointing out that if google limits their exposure to 25% of what it might be, they are still paying for all the services they use and far more. They pay not be paying for all the services you want them to pay for, but that isn't the same thing.

I'm also pointing out that it's not quite honest to list only the useful government services, when they are dwarfed by wealth transfers. That's a tactic worthy of congress, similar to naming a law "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide earnings assistance and tax relief to members of the uniformed services, volunteer firefighters, and Peace Corps volunteers, and for other purposes" (where "other purposes" == bank bailouts).
So they preach that the government doesn't spend money on the right things, but then in practice don't want to give money to that government? The hypocrites!
Unless there's something I'm missing, the headline here seems a little exaggerated.
HN isn't always the right demographic for feedback. I could this particular service improving to limit/filter feedback in a way that would make them more useful.

Also, there are a number of other improvements that would really make this site a lot more valuable for getting feedback than HN, such as rating feedback givers, incorporating Silverback, etc.
They might as well just start the NFL as flag-football.
mma gloves are there to protect the puncher's knuckles and not the punchee's face
I wish I'd never answered. It's a religious war - no one will win. Lots of people will end up bloodied. I should've known better.

Still, I did reply, so let me tell you of my personal experience, and then I'll leave.

My experience is that working in a Microsoft environment as I have in the past, everything seemed bloody awkward and more annoying. Working in a Linux environment I've had far fewer hassles, and the system just doesn't get in the way.

My experience, my circumstances. I don't hate Microsoft, I've just found I'm more productive in other systems.

And I'll say nothing more on the subject. I can't care enough to do so. In fact, I couldn't really care less.
Utility for camping: I know I would never use it.

Utility for home use in low/zero-infrastructure countries, refugee camps, etc: Humongous. Wood gasification is very, very efficient and low-emissions compared to an open fire (which is still the only way to cook in many places around the world).
I especially like "short variable declarations" (aka type inference, http://golang.org/doc/go_spec.html#Short_variable_declaratio...). Just type one more character than you would in Python for assignments, but you get static typing.
"Imagine..."

It isn't necessary to know what they are. GavinB is just saying that there could be others.
I think the argument is that, by and large, Australian football is no less violent than American football. However, helmets incentivise poor tackling technique (i.e. leading with the helmet). If you took off the facemask, the game would be just as quick/painful etc. but you wouldn't see defensive ends driving quarterbacks into the ground with their helmets... instead, they'd be wrapping up and tackling the way they did back in the day, before the "human bowling ball" approach became popular.

EDIT: by the way, kids in peewee football are taught from day 1 to tackle with the head up. The "big hits" you see on ESPN are fundamentally poor tackles... they just seem to get the "oohs and ahss" because they look cool to people who don't understand football.
Changing your cultural armor is hard
Oh no, I lost that karma way before I whined about it. I knew as soon as I posted that it's just a karma burning exercise. Any contrary (or slightly contrary) post in a discussion about Apple is pretty much treated like leprosy. I know that going in. I was just observing that the algorithm appears to have changed and now downvotes are all counted regardless of what the displayed score is.
Rate my startup: BuckToBid
We have created a penny auction Facebook App. One of the biggest complaints with today's penny auction sites is that they could be cheating with auto-bidding bots. With BuckToBid you can see the public profile of each person you are bidding against. So you know its not a bot.

If any of the site concepts are not clear or if you have any feedback at all please let us know.

http://apps.facebook.com/bucktobid

Edit: We lowered the security settings for flagging accounts. Thanks for the heads up!
From the last.fm post: "Why is this happening? Licensing music is a complex and labour intensive process." Interestingly, Dalton Caldwell said the same thing at Startup School, except he added "Don't start a music startup." If you're interested in the expanded "why" behind last.fm's change, its probably somewhere in his talk. Video at http://www.justin.tv/startupschool/b/272178844
Won't staff and professors have different usage patterns than the average college student? It might not show realistic usage ...
Mitochondrial symbiosis may only have happened once, but I'm not sure I buy that it's such a leap - mitochondria aren't the only symbiotic organelles. There are also chloroplasts. So unless chloroplasts are modified mitochondria, it seems that the eukaryotic leap happened at least twice. That tells me it's not all that improbable, or so I imagine.
If you want help setting up CheddarGetter, we'll walk you through the process. CG also has its own gateway (CheddarGateway) so that's one less thing you have to worry about.

We'll also walk you through setting up a merchant account, which can be a bit mind-bending.

team@cheddargetter.com
I appreciate what you are saying, but I can not take the full responsibility for helping other people realize that they are making a mistake. The bulk of the responsibility has to stay with them. Each one of us is responsible for the extent to which we stay in touch with the reality of the situation we face. Mind you, I've dealt with some folks who seemed determined to avoid facing up to some painful truths, especially when things go badly. And in those cases, I think sometimes a certain amount of frankness is called for, even if that seems negative. I've written abut this before, talking about a real business that I had to deal with:

http://www.teamlalala.com/blog/2009/04/06/the-importance-of-...

I hope you won't mind if I share a personal story with you. Its about when my father died of cancer. The thing is, when he was dying, my mom and I were deep in denial about it. Every time a doctor said something ambiguous, we would interpret in the most positive way possible. And the doctors and nurses we dealt with avoided being frank with us, because they worried that would be rude. They worried about hurting our feelings. But in the end, when my dad died, my mom and I were caught off guard and unprepared. And in retrospect, I realized, what we needed was for some doctor to be brutally, awfully, harshly honest with us. None of the doctors we dealt with had the courage to do it. And of course, to some extent, my denial is my own responsibility. The only fault that can attach to the doctors is the fault of not giving us information clearly.

So, nowadays, when I deal with entrepreneurs, I try to be as honest with them as I wish the doctors had been with me. It's a gift to be that honest. If the entrepreneurs want to call me negative, then perhaps they don't deserve the gift that I'm trying to give. But I try to behave the way I wanted the doctors to behave: brutally, awfully, harshly honest.
I don't know who Buchheit is, but Microsoft Research has employed three Turing Award winners (Tony Hoare, Butler Lampson and Chuck Thacker) for a decade or so. I doubt they'd have stayed if they felt mistreated.

In general I wouldn't put much stock in media anecdotes, as the media (or maybe just humanity in general, sadly) seems to love reinforcing preconceived narratives.
How I Snuck Into The Ivy League. And You Can Too.
My point was that when a company uses a foreign tax regime (which is what google does, btw) it completely escapes any incentives created by it's own government that are related to tax avoidance. Apparently the parent of my previous comment (pg) doesn't think that US government's purpose is to give incentives to US companies to move to Bermuda. Btw, I never implied that moving to tax havens is some kind of a sin.
First, you aren't too old at all. We recently hired a programmer in his late 50s, and man are we glad we did (and btw, age was never a consideration in the first place). He's great, and we're probably going to use much of his work as a reference point for future apps.

As for getting into it... glad to hear you've had some success with interviews. My biggest bit of advice to you is to get your hands on a good data structures and algorithms book (Java is fine), and learn the crap out of it. Since you like programming, you'll enjoy this, and it'll help you in interviews and as a programmer. In particular, make sure you know:

linked lists
binary trees (be able to code insert, traverse, find on the spot; read about delete but don't worry so much about keeping it all in your head)
sorting (quicksort, mergesort, maybe a few others)
read about balanced trees, b-trees, etc, follow and try out the code, but don't worry about keeping it in your head
Hashmaps (what's a hashing function, how to keep good performance)
Graphs are fun, and once you can code trees, you have all the tech skills, but the algorithms in graphs are very interesting... and now and then does come up in an interview.
SQL - I still get asked about this a lot... know the basic stuff (select, conditions, joins) cold, and also make sure you know some of the grouping functions (HAVING) and how outer joins work. Anything more elaborate will get you points, but probably won't hurt you if you don't know the answer.

Personally, I find it slightly obnoxious that interviewers rely so heavily on this stuff, but it is actually kind of fun. I always review this carefully before an interview. It can make the difference (in fact, I'm pretty sure I missed out on a job because I let it get stale and fumbled around too much... it's a shame, if I'd spent my usual 8 hours preparing, I probably would have rocked it).

It's a lot to learn, but it sounds like you enjoy this anyway.

One other thing... to get experience, try taking on a small software project for your current employer. Once you've done it, you'll have "official" experience. Sounds like I started in a similar spot to you (math major with some CS coursework), so I had to work a little harder to convince employers I could write code. I think EE would probably put you in a pretty good spot, so you really just need to convince them of this thorough those technical screens (which is why I so strongly recommend you read up on data structures).
OK, let's make it clear once and for all:

22.2% - overall effective tax rate in US in 2009 (compared to 27.8% in 2008)

2.4% - average overseas tax rate 2007-2009 (that's what they pay to the Rest of the World, where they earn 88% of profit)
But not everyone keeps all their old software on the original CDs. This is the point: the decentralization of the distribution mechanism meant that everybody was free to use different methods of storing them. Even if everybody was restricted to keeping stuff on the original CDs, the chances of all CDs failing is a lot lower than any single one failing.

FWIW, I don't have any CDs (including cheap CD-Rs burnt over 12 years ago) that I can no longer read in any CD drive; some aren't readable by some drives, but they are readable by other drives. But I've since moved the small amount of data on them (and it is small, by today's measurements) to my file server, which is both RAIDZ and backed up remotely.
I would not use that currently, because I know how to use chef either for me or my customers; so basically this is almost free to configure a new machine now.

But this is not for everyone neither I think, so I definitely think there is room for your service somewhere in between!

Small point: I would definitely expect such as service to provide passwords in an encrypted manner (as you need to communicate them at the end I guess).
Out of curiosity, how would they know this? "Aero Snap has been used 150,957,478 times in the last month."

Doesn't seem like an estimate...
I really don't understand the appeal of the Air. Macbook Pros are only slightly more expensive and will see a refresh soon. As a grown adult male, the extra 2 lbs of weight does not bother me.
> It would likely be very different than the relatively free/open roads, GPS and internet we have today.

Oh, I'm in violent agreement with you on this one.

"The infrastructure" in my comment is meant to refer to something roughly comparable to our current infrastructure. For example, if the government didn't build roads, something would fill the void of a service that facilitates transportation -- not necessarily roads.

> And does anyone believe that a privately developed GPS system would be anything but horribly expensive or unreliably? Just look at satellite telephone.

Remember, public infrastructure isn't free. No infrastructure, no taxes for infrastructure, more money, which one could choose to spend on an expensive satellite phone. It's certainly not that simple, but that's my general point.
There is no mention of programming or technology in the piece, but it struck me as relevant anyway. I'm an engineer with one foot in the software world and sometimes I have trouble shifting smoothly. And as a bonus, there is a great D&D reference (all the way at the end).
I am so hard right now.
It would surprise me more if Google wasn't doing everything within the law to reduce tax rate. I'd say very few people here would put there hand up to pay taxes they aren't required by law to.
ditto for me in San Francisco
>SoyLatte Project Goals

> - Support for Java 6 Development on Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5

> - OpenJDK support for Java 7 on Mac OS X

> - On-time release of Java 7 for Mac OS X
All I know is that it is certainly comforting to think so ;)
didn't even know this one: "7. Aero Shake: Aero Shake allows a person to grab an application with their mouse, and “shake” it to minimize any open application window except the one they are holding with their mouse. Sometimes I have so many applications open at the same time; I just “shake” them all away (minimize them all at once) to keep my focus on what I’m doing in one application."
I think the web is too young to know what is worth saving.

What would historians say about my several neglected webapp domains?

"Here's a web site for an idea someone had but never executed. So sad."

Zeitgeist of the times maybe?

Of course, it also too soon to say what will be relevant 100 years from now.

I'm impressed about the size of the data.

"The groups have already collected several petabytes of data (a petabyte can hold roughly 10 trillion copies of this article)."

When you use astronomical sums to describe even more astronomical sums you know you have a lot of data.
I'd suggest approaching this from a slightly different perspective.

Find a simple problem - say and ajax driven to do list for instance - and mock up a simple HTML front end preferably from scratch, hand-coding the HTML. Reference sites abound but I keep finding myself at w3schools.com which was previously mentioned. As you solve individual UX problems you'll quickly get the hang of how HTML does its thing. Pay attention to standards and validate you code using the W3 validator. A good HTML editor like Dreamweaver (free trial available from Adobe) will do you wonders.

For user interactivity (alerts, browser validation, submitting data asynchronously etc) you roll out some Javascript and try solving the problem with plain vanilla javascript and then with a library like jQuery or ExtJS. I think this is the only way to grasp the utility of these libraries.

Then on the server end a web dev framework (Django if you love Python...) will get you done. Again, try solving the problem without the framework and then phase it in.

A couple of weekends later you can add "Web Developer" to you resume : )
What sort of development are you doing in 2005? I never had much of a stability problem until doing stuff with WPF under VS2008.
Because it does not benefit them in the short run and to eliminate the possibility of saying something that could land them in legal trouble.
Here is a conspiracy theory I've got, and I think this article and Apple releasing the app store for mac backs it up: Apple is going to drop Intel chips in the next 3 years. My time may be off but I really think this is what's going on.

All of this fighting between Intel and Nvidia is really only hurting customers; namely Apple. So what can Apple do? Create an app store that makes devs standardize on an API and shift the underlying arch. An arch that 67% of their product sales are using.

Don't get me wrong, this is going to be a difficult transition, I think apps like Steam are really going to get screwed, but this is Apple's end game. They control not only all the software but also all the hardware.
Can I ask a question back? You were obviously in a UK startup. Why don't you want to invest in the UK?

Not judging here. Just curious as I'm scoping out the startup 'scene' in London.
Not all ability, you still have tags and artists. But not personal tracks you have tagged and your loved tracks radio, i will miss my loved tracks.
“Who is it that paid for the underlying concept on which they built these billions of dollars of revenues?” Briloff said. “It was paid for by the United States citizenry.”

"The U.S. National Science Foundation funded the mid-1990s research at Stanford University that helped lead to Google’s creation. Taxpayers also paid for a scholarship for the company’s cofounder, Sergey Brin, while he worked on that research."

Wait, wait. Just because I took a scholarship from you means that you own everything I do? So does that mean if I sponsored some kid with a scholarship and he became successful, he owes me?
If we were to use that same faulty logic, doesn't that mean all of the advances in technology are paid for by taxpayer money that go into public education?
I was under the impression that scholarships are for advancing technology or helping those in need, rather than using it as an excuse to take credit for my ideas.
Examples where the "extra overhead" caused an actual problem?
That's what they're planning to do. This is a test, not a deployment.
It's true that it can be simpler to directly begin with a framework. I actually began with Prototype.

If you want to build plugins for your Framework of choice (JQuery in your case), then it is also a good idea to understand what is happening behind the scenes.

There are many situations where using a Framework is not really suited. Do you really need to embed your framework of choice (JQuery in your case) if the only thing you need is show or hide a single element of your page ?

I think "begin with a framework or not ?" is a long debate (whatever the language is).
I don't have a good answer to this but in the long run knowing the language you use is recommended.
Regardless of how lame or false it is, Facebook still has to present some semblance of privacy to keep their business going. As soon as they ditch all privacy settings, the mainstream media will cover it, and the average user will start to think, "hey, what if my boss/parents/boyfriend see my inappropriate pictures and comments?" and start to rein in their sharing. It's precisely the cavalier attitude of sharing that keeps Facebook going, and what makes it valuable to people.

As it stands, those people think, "it's cool, there are privacy settings." They haven't set them up, they don't know what they are or why they work, but they're there, so everything must be alright.
I highly doubt intelligent people drink more alcohol. Anyone have additional information about this?
Their reasons aside, if you ask, you can usually get it.
I originally thought you were implying that low tax rates to lure in business was the cause of debt:

rmc: "In Ireland, these kinds of tax breaks are one of the foundations of our economy."

You: "And that's the reason Ireland has something like 1000% external debt to GDP"

I pointed out that a property bubble was the primary cause, and that low tax rates are unrelated to this. Lets put aside your original argument, and focus on the new one. You assert "more multinationals->higher debt for local business and government". Could you explain this step?

As for why Ireland was hurt more than others, their bubble was bigger:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ireland_house_prices.png

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c1/Median_and_Ave...
If you pivot this into a language-learning tool, you'll probably be more successful because the market is much, much larger.
No. I'm considering an upgrade from a 2007 17" MBP. The only reason is that I've come to rely more and more on running (Linux) VMs. The MBP is maxed out at 3GB.

My next Mac will have a faster CPU, 8GB+ of memory to support running 1-2 VMs, and 500+ GB disk to store them. The MBA just doesn't cut it.
the error handling model in Go sounds pretty badly broken

Broken in what way and what have you read? I'm genuinely interested.

I don't want to end up doing language advocacy for a language I hardly use, but you seem to be confusing error handling with exception handling - something the design of the exception-like mechanism was designed to prevent. As I understand it, in this approach, errors are things you expect to happen (but are errors) and exceptions are things you never anticipated.
What's keeping you from upgrading to VS2008 or VS2010 and targeting the 2.0 framework?
More privacy headaches for Facebook: gay users outed to advertisers
Nah, I use both platforms, I have no axe to grind. Just correcting a factual error. If you are on Windows and want to (learn to) code, the tools are readily available (and barely more hassle to install than apt-get).
Paul, build something..no I am not joking..

what got me back into programming..my A.A.S. 2 year degree is in accounting and Computer Science..my time at Purdue University was in Molecular Biology was that I started building computer applications while at Purdue University.

Once you get something built and start showing it to people..someone shows up sooner or later with a job offer.

also what helps ..show off your projects here at HN..

Your are not nuts.

So Paul if you could build any Ruby on Rails Application what RoR application would you build?

Side Note: In fact all my successful interviews involved me showing something that I built.
It does sound uncanny, but has potential to be awesome. The issue isn't the pitch bend but the synthetic voice. Auto-tune the news is pretty awesome, for example.
I highly doubt that big-time football will ever change while it is still making so much $. Yuppie American parents _are_ paying attention to the risks of head injuries and they are voting with their kids feet by putting their kids into lacrosse and soccer. Football won't change until it starts losing irrecoverable ground to lacrosse and soccer.
Downvoting is a legitimate way to disagree when you don't have time or anything useful to say. It's not true that it was intended only for the cases you describe. This is one of those debates (like the decline of HN relative to Reddit) that will never go away despite the fact that it is settled.

That said, I think it's pretty foolish to downvote Anechoic's argument, which is cogent and grounded in historical fact. I don't see how anyone can argue against the role of the public sector in creating major technological infrastructure on a bloody internet forum.