skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
The idea is that you don't have to write a DB - it is already there, usually even deployed and monitored by your ops team. Even if it gives absolutely no other value, thats a big plus.

In terms of randomly distributed requests:
I'm surprised the topic of "working set" is not part of the question. Even with huge amounts of data, if the working set can be stored in RAM and only rarely swap data in and out, its a much different problem than 5000 disk reads a second. Lots of databases are optimized to efficiently maintain cached data in memory and swap as little as possible and as efficiently as possible.
Sure, but the movie was called "Field of Dreams." I.e. he was motivated by dreams.
So how should teachers teach English in the classrooms or teach kids how to type?
> Do your professors talk about the state of healthcare in the USA / share their opinions with you?

Yes, especially healthcare reform. As you can imagine, it's a game-changer and there is significant discussion on how they will be impacted. I think the general conclusion I've gotten is that the situation is still very fluid, and most people in medicine are as confused/uncertain of its effect as most laypoeple.

> Could you estimate in rough percentages, if at all: Of your peers in medical school, how many of them are interested in becoming a doctor for purely altruistic reasons?

I think there are a variety of factors and influences that cause an individual to want to become a doctor and most medical students aren’t seeking to become martyrs (ie. not purely altruistic). It would be just as simplistic as to say Facebook was founded solely because Zuckerberg wanted create something. While the ability to help people is important factor, the amazing complexity and beauty of the human body, the opportunity to work in a constantly changing, dynamic environment, the ability to apply science, and the respectability of the profession are also motivators. I would say, in many ways and to most med students, these factors outweigh the financial rewards (if that's what you meant by non-altruistic reasons).

> How many defaulted to med school because it is something appropriate for intelligent people and pleases their parents?

I think that is an incredibly difficult question to answer, but I will try to rationalize my non-answer. It is slightly difficult (no exaggeration :P) to get into medical school – if a person is not motivated or passionate, it is difficult to simply default into medical school. That said, this question goes back to the previous question about motives and incentives. I would say a significant proportion of my classmates have a significant experience with physicians – either as a patient or having relatives who are physicians. Whether having physician parents and that it might “please their parents” is an important factor, I wouldn’t know as I did not have that kind of background.

I personally do not think that “defaulting” is a common occurrence because at my school, there is a large proportion of non-traditional applicants who have had previous careers. With classmates ranging from former investment bankers, Olympic swimmers, opera singers, and park rangers, I imagine they methodically thought about the opportunity cost of changing careers. Too bad we don’t have many former developers. :) For better or worse, medicine is a desirable profession, and I would venture to guess that a lot of people will at least try or consider a career in medicine. Without then actually developing passion or interest, medicine is a tough path to continue.
Good evening all,

Quick intro: This is my first submission at HN but I'm a longtime lurker. I am a recent college graduate working as an SEO Analyst at a small but busy agency in Chicago. I also do internal Ruby on Rails development, mostly working on apps to make my SEO job easier =P

Anyway, this is a significant development in the SEO world and will definitely affect any startups that target the local markets. If you aren't already listed in Google Places, you should do so ASAP!
In my experience, it unlikely to find something new by following the same paths. Perhaps you will find joy in mechanical engineering at some point in the future, but you are unlikely to reach that point unless you change how you are living now.

If your perceived sense of self-worth doesn't improve or worsens, your brain will undergo physical changes that result in a state of clinical depression, which is defined far more by a lack of passion/engagement than by feelings of sadness. You will remain entirely in control of your actions, but the pool of available actions will become smaller and smaller as this continues. Eventually you will reach a point where you no longer can keep up the facade of control and your academics will shift from something that you don't enjoy doing to something that you can't keep up with. As someone intelligent you are likely to rationalize this disengagement / drop in grades by saying that the classes aren't worth your time (or other self-defeating thoughts). If this happens, you need to find an counselor who can be the mirror that tells you what a self-handicapping idiot you are being.

Or maybe this won't happen and you will graduate with honors and receive job offers from multiple companies. Things will likely change that will lift you past your current opinion on life. Often one good thing leads to another and you would be amazed at how quickly your perception on your future can shift after meeting a remarkable new friend(both guys AND girls). If something academic comes into your life that interests you, embrace it and do not let go.

In my opinion you should take a year off, or at least a semester. I did that after high school and it was the best decision of my life. Find a place to get started, tap into your webdev skills, there is great demand for them. I found a webdev job on craigslist for a company in Costa Rica where I had a hour-long surf-breaks at hightide. This experience of work as both productivity and play redefined how I defined 'success' in my own life. Pick a place that you have a passing interest in visiting, go to craigslist and look for internships/jobs that will pay enough to cover your room and board there and get the hell out of dodge.

You will go back to finish your degree when you are ready and want it or you will be happier in your new place. Win either way. Your family wants you happy and successful, neither of which are correlated with regretful career decisions.

I hope all goes well for you.
We just got our application online yesterday, would love some feedback:

http://www.hiringsimplified.com
Just because you can commit wiretapping crimes with the application doesn't mean that the app is illegal and should be removed. It's not illegal for people to install this app on phones that they own, possibly for added security in case someone steals the phone and uses it to send text messages, or if you just want to log all of your text messages at one number.

It's like removing a torrent application just because you can illegally pirate music with it. I oppose Google's decision to remove the application from the Android Market, as the application is appropriately labeled and does exactly what it says. It is not malware or spyware.
If by "remove" you mean "not install as a default component of the OS" then yes.
I disagree; it might seem pretty from a distance, but that's about the only good thing about the design.

The font is almost unreadably tiny, the lines are too long, and the links are in simple boldface, rather than underlined and/or in a different color. The headings are also represented by boldface text of the same size, which actually stands out less than the link text. There's very little visual distinction between the body of the article and the navigation junk surrounding it, making for a visually confusing layout.

This is a prime example of why the Readability bookmarklet is great.
Sarah Palin Email Hacker Wants Probation...Feds Want Jail
Sounds like you need to fall in love. With a girl.

Or a boy.
> As an Indian person you will have to probably over come a significant amount of resistance in order to even be allowed to attempt to chart your own path, but even that permission is not theirs to give.

It's... not that easy.

Most people would agree that parents have a duty to take care of their children. India has a value system where children are expected to reciprocate when they grow up. Parents sacrifice a great deal for their children in India, and I'm not just speaking of financial aspects (though that can be substantial). In most families, the children, their education and their future success are the "grand projects" that the families' day to day lives revolve around. Even as a human unconditioned by any cultural idiosyncrasies, I think you do have a responsibility to treat them kindly.

However, this doesn't mean that you have to blindly adopt their notions of success. In my case, I had to negotiate with them to redefine their ideas of a meaningful, fulfilling life so that I could be free.
"Hack" can be used in a lot of valid ways without implying that non-computer-people are hackers.

If pg thought painters __were__ hackers the book would be called "Hackers: Painters, Programmers, and Socially Manipulative Psychopaths"
Incorporate Before Year End
I vaguely knew there was a special deal on capital gains until the end of the year. I hadn't realized that it was a good deal for new startups.
I have gotten solutions which implement custom stores which I have had faith that the candidate could build, but not many. I am not dead set against it, but I will press for an estimate and a good explanation of it if they want to go down that route.

I try to emphasize that I want to know what they would actually do, on the job. Other questions (typically other interviewers) will explore algorithmic stuff, and folks I work with have used this question with that intent -- I use it to see how they think about building systems.

Another thing I didn't mention in the blog post is that up front I tell them exactly what I am looking to learn. I am not going on a fishing expedition, or trying to trick anyone. I find that kind of "second guess the interviewer" thing to be asinine, so strive to avoid doing it myself.
Ask HN: review startup uptimerobot.com (free uptime checking)
Uptime Robot (http://uptimerobot.com) is a free (for now) uptime checking service. The idea is that maybe an ad-supported model can work (instead of a pingdom type subscription service).

Would you use this?
Is the $10/month for pingdom inconsequential and it's more about the features for you?
Thoughts?

Thanks!
Here are some backtested results of some RS ETF strategies. Specific industry, asset class, and country ETFs just haven't been around long enough to really backtest for long-term out-performance, but these seem to indicate you can beat the overall market with lower drawdowns with an RS ETF strategy:
http://etfprophet.com/two-simple-relative-strength-rotation-...
http://www.bpas.com/media/HBT/dent_tactical_r3.pdf
isnt that the same as cisco routers that secretly provide packet data to the NSA? Are we surprised? What about the AT&T closet that provides physical access to your backhaul?

What about the google fiber to the home project?
Raising Standards For Teachers
If your business take off, drop of colleague. If your education will get you a $25K/year job and your side freelancing can make $70K, then leave. After all, colleague just increase the odds of getting a job and never guarantee one.

Your family is afraid because they don't know that little screen. That's their culture. But since you make money, it doesn't matter. If you make money and spend for your family expenses they won't really bother you and your choice will just be "their".

People in your social circle. They really don't care about you (okay, unless the old high school friend, may be one or two). Nobody really care whether you are a high school drop out or a ph.D. If you have money, you'll buy anything you can afford and you'll please yourself and your family with it. Don't care about what others say. Do they have an extensive Internet culture and knowledge to speak about decisions?

Take the most secure path. Think well before making decision not to regret later. Don't be afraid and don't care about what other people are saying.
Competing for the time and interest of talented programmers means being well-written, useful and interesting. Clang is more of a library than just a compiler, so it doesn't have the exact same goals as GCC. I think this is a situation where competition is a good thing- Clang will provide new, useful tools and GCC can try to improve on them or try to offer some other kind of advantage.
City I live in pays an average of 34 to 40K as a programmer. I'm sure that moving 2 hours away and getting paid market average plus 10% is worth it.

It would be nice to see the outliers. What cities have the highest pay and cities with lowest pay. I'm positive that the city I'm in would be an outlier for lowest paid.
Hey man, I've been through pretty much everything you list here. Drop me an email if you'd like to talk. zaid.farooqui at gmail

I too found myself in the school's counseling center at 19, depressed, with assignments due, feeling physically and mentally ill. I got my idea for the next startup few days later and soon entered some of the best time of my life. A similar pattern repeated few months ago(I am now 23).

I too am Indian so I understand some of the "cool" things we inherit from our culture :) Happy to chat with you if you'd like and help you figure out how to get out of this crappy zone.
Captain Kirk Was a Lousy Tech Manager
If you don't enjoy anything in mechanical engineering you should probably choose a different major or course for your life, if your college is cheap (if you are in India that probably isn't the case anymore) it is only another 3 or less years (maybe less if you change into civil or another engineering that has similar pre reqs). But if you enjoy a few subjects, like maybe vibrations or controls or mechanics, it might be worth it to stay and just apply or work your way to a job into that category.

I lost motivation in my ME classes as well and the best thing I did was cut down in course load, it gave me a break and was well worth it for an extra semester added on to the degree.

Other than that engineering coursework sucks, you do it because you like learning and you like solving problems, sometimes it takes extra time and sometimes you burn out but if it is what you want to do you keep at it. Just be aware that a single internship isn't necessarily what a job will be like.

I don't know how much help that all is but maybe something good will be in there.
Falling in love is best done when things are going well for you. Particularly since the median love interest won't work out.

And "with a girl" seems oddly specific. Assuming he's straight, he's probably not going to fall in love with a guy, and if he's gay, this is terrible advice. Or do you mean with a girl as opposed to a hobby, career, field, etc.?
If there is someone who has figured their lives at 20, believe me s/he is a) an exception, or b) thinking wrong. Study a lot, make lots of friends, and get laid a lot.
Thanks for the feedback! Chrome extension is in the works, expecting a mid December release.

Also in the works is an integrated shopping engine to compare across a variety of e-tailer sites, not just Amazon.

Our "send to friend" feature simply emails your friend a link/video without actually using your email account. It's like a simple form for your email, your friends, and a short message.

Thanks again for the ideas.
-=Vin
Google News

Much as I love them, I've been getting so frustrated with the declining quality of their news page that I'm not sure if this is a good example. I know I'm not the only one.
Very disappointing but better a little late than very buggy. If any Moz Foundation folks linger around HN, my disappointment comes from how excited I am for FF 4 to arrive!)
In your view you can just do this:

- form_for concertgoer do |f|
= f.submit "Submit", :name => "music[jazz]"
= f.submit "Submit", :name => "music[classical]"

That's HAML... let me know if you want to see the ERB. If you want to abstract even further you can do:

# In app/helpers/concertgoer_helper.rb
def music_submit(form, genre)
form.submit "Submit", :name => "music[#{genre}]"
end

# In app/views/concertgoer/get_ready.html.haml
- form_for concertgoer do |f|
= music_submit(f, "jazz")
= music_submit(f, "classical")

Then in your controller you can just do:

music = params[:music].keys.first

That variable will either be "jazz" or "classical" depending on which button was clicked. If you want to have different behaviors you can use a case statement:

case params[:music].keys.first
when "jazz" then concertgoer.put_on_turtleneck
when "classical" then concertgoer.pour_glass_of_wine
end
You say you don't believe that mashing together frameworks is actual development, yet you recommend the jQuery framework for front-end coding. Do you draw a distinction between front-end and back-end - is front-end work not really development?

In my experience, the time it takes to become proficient with an existing framework is generally a lot shorter than writing a framework yourself. And, generally, the existing one will have been vetted by thousands of people before me.
Goshdarnit. I just sat down and started talking to myself about hash functions, filesystems, the wire protocol, and partitioning scheme for half an hour instead of making dinner. Nerd sniping?
I have to agree with some of the other posters that the expectations you're butting up against are very likely complicating things drastically. "It’s so hard when I have to, and so easy when I want to." ~Annie Gottlier

The expectation to provide, the expectation to have more friends (possibly, obviously I'm reading into your comment), the expectation to follow-through with whatever you're currently doing...

Life is definitely supposed to be chaotic at this point on your journey- it's genetically built in- it allows you to do things no one has ever done before- it's a steady pull away from mediocrity. Some people let it pull them into prisons and homeless shelters, and others let it pull them into great things. What you're currently doing is basically trying to ignore it as best as you can.

It _will_ pass eventually- that pull to go out and chaotically find your own passion (note I'm not talking about being hedonistic or bumming around Europe - I'm talking about making things or doing things that you feel tap into your very best qualities and things that stretch them). Don't get to the point in your life where the drive to strike out in your own direction starts becoming silent only to think "well, why _didn't_ I?"

I've never met anyone that regretted trying to live life more fully (except for those with poor definitions of fully. Hint- if it feels wrong at a deep level it's a less fully lived life). Sooo.... Channel the urges, embrace the chaos, do something amazing. And, ironically, your family may be fine with the support you end up giving. Anyway, we're looking forward to what you can make of this.
No question here, just a thanks for putting up this handy and concise list of proto fab resources - good stuff!
I am currently working on this problem with one client.
We are doing different sorts of market analysis, by analyzing products. In particular, we are looking at optimizing profits by choosing product titles more effectively, as well as optimizing profit by choosing price points more effectively. This can be used purely automatically, as black box decisions, or this information can be presented in a visualization interface for a human analyst.

We've also talked about several other ways of turning historical sales data into actionable business intelligence.

One thing we haven't looked at is doing market analysis based upon customer profiles. This is an interesting idea, and I have some thoughts on how to do it. Essentially, finding different ways to cluster users, and then "explaining" who these customer segments. The explainability is based upon figuring out the most important features they have in common, and exposing these features in plain English.
I agree, and I try to make clear that I really want to understand how the candidate would approach it -- if they genuinely would try to find a perfect hash and keep a hash -> offset map in memory, then mmap a big data file, that is fine. I will ask how they will find the perfect hash, etc. If you can describe well the approach you take, then this is fine.

Ofttimes, though, candidates have started designing a general purpose on-disk hash database. That is fine and dandy, and we always need a better database, but it is pretty orthogonal to the immediate problem.

Actually, ofttimes engineers have implemented general purpose on-disk hash databases as part of j. random project, so that path certainly does occur on real projects :-)
Put them on commission.
I'm just awe struck that an app that you have to go seek out, download and install on your phone is classified as "malware".

If I download Firefox on your desktop and hide it, is it really fair to call it malware?

edit: Especially since it's not on the Market, so someone has to be messing with your phone quite a bit to go find the link, download it, enable non-Market sources and install it. Again, I just don't feel that it deserves to be lumped in as "malware". I feel like malware is something that a user gets on accident. Not something that someone physically intentionally installs.
Our observation was that when any two of our kids are in the house it is noisy, but an order of magnitude less than when all three are.
Oo, very nice. This is going to get explored Thank you for the link!
"There is no way to remove the BSD layer without removing the entire OS"

Yup, that's the joke I was making... grandparent comment would have us remove all our software...
Just wondering, but is there a reason you chose not to write this 100% in node?
As much as I want to defer to the expertise of the author, to say that there's been a 30-year bull market in bonds is to say that there was at least a 20-year bear market before 1983. This may be the long term trend, but within that is up and down like you'd expect in the business cycle. The confusing thing is that those who are buying bonds are bearish about the economy as a whole. You have to be buying these things thinking they won't be wasteful when interest rates rise. If interest rates skyrocket like many voices claim they will, those who are holding 0.25% paper are going to be unhappy when they are unloading it at 80 cents on the dollar.

His discussion of the matter seems very confused. The problem with the bond market right now is that there is no inflation, but real returns elsewhere are often negative. So bonds are a safe place to put money. It's certainly not being invested. Now, one can argue whether the Fed has any ability to affect that. The clock may have run out on quantitative easing, as I have heard argued. That means the Fed would be somewhat irrelevant and the US economy would falter in the absence of fiscal stimulus.

There aren't many voices articulating sense in this discussion. Many have simply said "deficits bad" and called on increasing unemployment as the solution to our concerns. Good luck with that. I think the solution probably requires preventing the unemployed from becoming the desperately long-term unemployed, at a minimum, and also using the favorable bond situation to repair infrastructure, which is apparently in huge backlogs across the country.

To some extent, I wonder if Bill Gross is really just sort of pandering to his clientele, who are not sophisticated economists and who are happy to agree that politics is full of apes. After all, at the end, his call to action is for a vote of confidence in PIMCO. This article doesn't give me much faith, but I suppose if he hit the right buttons, his investors might just pull that lever, and keep sending the money his way.
All Eyes on France as Officials Enforce New Antipiracy Law