skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Objection. Look at first generation iMac G5s which had the entire back panel come off granting access to practically every part of the logic board, followed by the next generation G5s that only offered user upgradeable RAM to the C2D intel iMacs only offering an upgradeable RAM slot. Consider also the removable battery of the pre-unibody laptops compared to the built-in one on the unibody MacBooks.

Progress is relative depending on what you want out of your machine. I want matte 16 bit screens back.
Ask HN: Python and ORM's?
Inspired by some recent posts on HN, I am attempting to try a few projects in Python, moving over from PHP.

One thing that I'm noticing as I'm browsing through the docs for different frameworks, Django, Pylons, and Turbo Gears is that one of the big features that they mention is the support of ORM's out of the box.

I have never really used any ORM's in PHP... I tried one once and I found it to be too cumbersome, seemed like a lot of work defining database tables in a particular fashion when some simple queries would do the trick.

I didn't see any benefit, other than turning everything into an object which I guess could fit some cases, but never seemed to benefit projects I was working with. I'd also read that too much reliance on ORM's could be a problem, and sometimes were considerably less efficient when raw SQL would do the trick. I may be completely missing the boat though.

I guess I'm wondering what the benefits of using ORM's are in Python (or PHP) frameworks in comparison to raw SQL, how and in what situations are they best suited, how much of a time saver is it really, and whether anyone uses raw SQL as their primary means within these frameworks.
Reggie Watts and his iPhone rock Sirius XM
My brother-in-law played Star Wars at Ground Kontrol for 54 hours, 10 minutes. http://www.groundkontrol.com/archive3.php
Rip, Convert and Put DVD Movies to iPhone 4 on Mac
A step by step guide about how to rip, convert and put DVD Movies to iPhone 4 on Mac. Get iFunia DVD to iPhone 4 Converter today.
Sounds interesting.

Hit me up ak (youknow) garmz (theother) com
Not sure of the exact date of the YC Winter 2011 interviews, but put it adjacent to that date and you might catch some people from out of town.
I dreamed in code last night. It was the actual code, in different colors against a black background. I don't think that means anything, but it probably has a lot to do with staring at TextMate for 10-12 hours a day.

I'm actually going to implement the ideas I came up with in my dream, they were pretty good.
Thanks for sharing your story; and it does seem similar to what PG experienced:

http://www.paulgraham.com/yahoo.html

Seems that the aphorism: "don't explain concepts to someone whose salary depends on his not understanding them" applies.

With regards to this particular topic, then, I would concur with the popular opinion that Microsoft's Windows and Office cash cows are too valuable to be offered as sacrificial lambs at the altar of cloud/mobile computing.
Scientists estimate tens of billions of Earth-size planets in Milky Way
flag. Not something that I generally do, but (a) clojure won't be in any spellchecker, and (b) your snark adds nothing to the discussion. If you wanted to say "and that language was clojure", you could have left it at that.
Andina is great food, but a pricey option.
Is it just me or this does sound like an extremely elegant stack in the making? No VMs, just plain native Unix-speaking software.

Prediction: lots of emerging startups who are basing their code on Python today are going to resort to this (or PyPy, but that's unrelated) when the scaling pain begins, or simply to attempt making things run a bit faster. I think this is great. Most people I know avoid C completely because of the hidden pitfalls every novice has to go through, but maybe Cython will slowly change that. It just needs a bit more maturity and some endorsements to pop up around here... which shouldn't take too long.
+1 for pok pok, although I like whiskey soda lounge more. Across the street, same owners, similar menu, excellent whiskey and scotch selection, and authentic (i.e. no ketchup) pad Thai.

Regarding the gorge: some hikes are fine on weekends. Eagle Creek Falls trail requires a $5 per car day use fee, which keeps out the crowds. It's one of the best trails in the gorge. Skip it if you don't like heights though, and be careful if it's raining.
I think you overestimate how difficult following a recipe is. It pretty much just tells you exactly what to do. A machine could do it.

...

...anybody want to start an auto-recipe-cooking-machine startup with me?
I did, actually. Arizona SB 1070 was superseded by SB 2162: http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/legtext/49leg...
It's pretty straightforward, actually:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/1389/saturday-night-live-dont-buy-...

Seriously though (on second thought, that was pretty serious), about 5 or 6 years ago this offline app helped us become completely debt-free (and saved us a bundle on interest fees in the process):

http://www.zilchworks.com/zilchstandard.html

If ReadyForZero offers users similar functionality and the pricing is fair, it will more than pay for itself.
Presumably only blacks and native americans are safe?
Are there any other HNers out there with other disabilities that cause you to modify how you interact with your computer or how you program?
October 28 2010 - October 6 2006 = 4 years. FYIFV?
I use msysgit daily on Windows 7 against a github account. For the most part things work fine but there are a few things that annoy me:

- Disagreements about case insensitive paths sometimes confuse git. Renaming a folder simply to change its case is the most common one that catches me.

- I run everything through the bash shell which works fine but is a pain to connect to Windows batch files. This makes automation harder than required.

- Line endings... I just turn off any automatic conversion and use a decent editor that doesn't mind.

I initially used the GUI that comes with it and that works fine but I find the command line faster to work with. The advantages of git make the above problems worth it to work around for me.

I don't run my own server so can't comment on that. From what I have read linux setup would be much easier to do.
What about just going cash and debit for everything?

Are you afraid of not getting a good rate when it's time to get a mortgage? I've often heard the anecdotes about without debt but no credit card history getting turned down for loans, but I've also wondered if it's actually true.
Sometimes it's easy to overlook the benefits of simply working in a great organization for a while rather than pursuing your 'dream' such as teaching surfing or doing your startup full time.

The author makes a great point that being a mechanic is not about loving cars. It's about unscrewing stubborn stripped bolts while lying on your back.

Similarly, teaching surfing is not the same as having a fun surf session with your mates! As a former snowboarding instuctor (my 'dream' job at the time when I was 19 ((now 30)) I can personally attest to the 'dream' being different from the reality.

If you can find creative ways to gain rare, scarce knowledge and generate a large network of contacts while benefiting from the resources available through employment at a large company (administrative and operational support) then you'll have a larger base of potential customers from which to draw on when you start your startup.

For instance, if you build a strong network of 500 contacts, and each of those people has 3 people in their network who might want what your startup sells, you suddenly have 1,500 people who you can easily reach out to.

In this case, your 'day job' that initially seemed so terrible is actually an excellent platform from which to 'build' your startup.

Of course, some of you will want to go full time into your startup, and all the power to you if that's what you choose.

Coming off a recent startup failure I need money, and the prospect of having some support and access to resources is sounding pretty good right now.

It's always possible to build the startup at night and on weekends if it's meant to be, and that's my plan going forward.

Apologies for the verboseness - I didn't have time to trim this down.
Oddly, this correction doesn't appear until the middle of the article:

Clarification: The RenderMan/Azure demo shown was a proof of concept.
I think it's probably real. Having played with similar concepts which skirt the copyright issue in similar ways, there are plenty of people out there who send out templated C&D letters to stop similar competition.
Can a mutant douchebag change his life?
Food carts!

http://www.foodcartsportland.com/
awesome work, I've always avoided the php orm's because of the bloat factor. Gonna check it out now.
Sweet, keep it up! I build furniture in my free time, my house(an a few others) is filled with my creations. I also find it therapeutic after long periods of staring at a screen.
The lack of scale is probably cooling people's interest in investing in this - realistically it's not going to escalate into something that produces returns by a factor of N. It doesn't mean it's a bad idea - but this is basically hobby / small business / home business territory.

Meanwhile, if you have good ideas, have you considered working on the design side, getting together with a few people and moving towards small scale mass production for your gear?

edit: sorry, mass production as in finding a manufacturer somewhere who can make bulk quantities of your furniture, wood or otherwise.
Rent real Dutch bikes at Clever Cycles (call ahead to reserve)

http://clevercycles.com/
I also don't use any kind of Visual Studio plugin for it sorry, I usually to find they don't handle things outside the solution structure very well.
Why? Linux devs have already chosen, and when compared to the potential Windows developer pool they are fairly insignificant in number, so why devote resources to changing their minds when you could devote resources to convincing current Windows users to stay with Windows?
It's true, Voodoo is overrated. It's fun but not wait in line for 45 minutes fun.
Lots of moving shapes, especially if there are threads. Usually they are visual-kinesthetic representations of how the data structures fit together, what they do (as movements), and what it looks like when there's a bug.
Do you have a reference for citizens being able to be sent to jail for not carrying papers? I was under the impression that there was nothing in the bill about putting people in jail. I haven't read the link yet, though, so perhaps it has more details.
Thanks! I was not aware that a more general audience would be interested in what I am writing. I am writing mainly to organize my own thoughts.
> If you're a US citizen and you're not carrying proof of citizenship, you could get thrown in jail for not having your "papers".

...if you are lawfully stopped, detained, or arrested, you may be held until your immigration status is verified. I don't see why this is a big deal. There is no grand scheme to sweep the countryside and round up everyone with brown skin or a Canadian accent.
Thanks for that. A lot of them seem to be one-off projects. I'm still trying to find how much of EC2 runs windows but can't seem to locate that figure.
I tried installing lamson, fwiw. After two days of googling and having some friends who know what they're doing, python-wise (jdunck's former coworker, actually) we FINALLY got it up and running. Barely.

So yeah. My experience says, stay away from lamson as a learning tool.
Here is one I submitted to YC under the cool non-computer hacks:
In the early days of ppc advertising when it was straight auctions. I would call up all our competitors and have them bid just 1 cent more than the previous guy so they wouldnt loose their place but dropped our cost per click to 1/4 what we were paying before (we were ranked first).
I think Google changed there bidding system because of me :)

Another one was where we replaced a site created by March 1st for over 1 million dollars with a Yahoo! store in 48 hours for about $50.00/month
Can we go back to the real world where "ask" is a verb? I had trouble getting through this. Isn't this sort of something we all learn growing up? I dunno, seems like "don't be pushy." Maybe the rubrik for small - huge is useful. Please stop using "ask" this way though. If it makes you feel better, I will be ok if you want to start every sentence with "so."
If you have a chance to get out of town a touch try the Evergreen Air and Space Museum, home of the Spruce Goose, a Titan II missle, SR-71, B-17, a few space capsules, and various other goodies for aero-nuts.

The collection is fantastic but the knowledgeable volunteers really put it over the top. All are friendly and the level of detail was incredible. One gentleman walked me around the J58 (from the SR-71) and knew temps and pressures at various stages, cruise airflow etc. It was pretty damn cool...

http://www.sprucegoose.org/

btw... Voodoo is an experience, but the donuts aren't that fine.

For beer I'd recommend the Tug Boat, right downtown. Cool little pub with lots of crazy old books stacked to the ceilings...
Do share! This cheered me up!
Coffee! In Portland it's practically religion. There's at least a dozen microroasters and hundreds of coffee shops. My favorites: Spella (5th and Washington) Stumptown, and Barista (you choose the beans for your drink!)
Icons in iMove and iPhoto 11 lose their color
I don't want to learn some toy language.

My advice is to learn a toy language.

This is where your analysis paralysis is coming from. You need to come to grips with the terrible realization that nobody cares whether your web app is built out of a "serious" language or a "toy" language. People care what the app does. The ratio of the number of visitors to the number of people who will ever see your code is going to be a thousand to one, and that's if your app is a failure.

Web publishing is about the content. Deliver the goods. Use whatever is handy. There are about a thousand ways to build a web app, and most of them work. As a rule of thumb, the stupidest thing that could possibly work is the best approach to a new problem. If static HTML works, use static HTML.

The other thing to realize is that you need to learn many approaches. You will attack problems of many different complexities. You will solve problems that will take you years, and you will solve problems that should take you minutes. You will be programming for years and years, so you have plenty of time to learn some "toy" languages and some "serious" languages and everything in between.

Here are some exercises. Do them in any order. Do them fast. These are toys, so don't forget to smile while you're playing with them.

Build the best web page you can using nothing but HTML, CSS, and static assets. Practice thinking and working like a designer.

Build the best web page you can using only Javascript, HTML, and CSS. Client-side Javascript for starters. Then look into server-side Javascript.

Build a website the old-school way. Use PHP and MySQL. Bonus points for skipping the PHP and working directly in C. No frameworks, no Django or Rails, no OOP.

Write a web server in C. You say you can handle C? Now's your chance! It doesn't have to be a fancy web server: Write the dumbest web server you can, serving up HTTP GETs. Once it works, aim some tool like Siege at it and make it cry bitter tears. Compare its performance to, say, nginx. See if you can figure out why your web server sucks compared to nginx. See if you can at least double the throughput of your web server.

Build a site in Drupal. (Shameless plug: www.drupalgardens.com. But don't forget to export your code, put it on your own server, and install a module or two just to prove you know how. You're a CS student, after all.)

Build a web app using Rails. Google Michael Hartl Rails for help. Tell him he owes me a dollar for the plug. ;)

Build a web app using one of the many Lisps. Arc, Racket, Clojure, Common Lisp, take your pick.

Build a web app in Erlang, Haskell, or Factor.

Meanwhile, and now I'm being totally serious: Learn Emacs, VI, or Textmate. Learn Git, Bazaar, or Mercurial. Learn to install Linux on a VPN. Learn regular expressions. These things are not toys; these are going to be your bread and butter.
The freaks and geeks who made a difference
Out of interest, full-time or part-time? And what's your startup (couldn't find it in your about page)?
Since there is no product you can sell them, there is no conflict right now. Particularly if you are not involved in the selection processes.

If and how you pitch it depends on the corporate culture, your relationships to the decision makers, and the amount of money involved. Keep in mind that they could make writing the software part of your job requirements.

As an aside, I don't recommend doing work on spec for a single client.
You've definately got to spread your wings and move on. Be cordial with your old boss, offer to help them out/transition as you leave. The fact that they subbed you out means that they aren't ignorant of your market value - they've just decided to exploit you. On the bright side, the designer you leave behind might get a raise when you leave. :-)

In the meantime, start thinking like a contractor.
I keep a log to help my remember what I was doing on such and such a day [I swear I must be senile sometimes] and I keep track of every minute worked. I wrote a program to total up the hours. I do this if I'm working for a client or an employer.

When someone phones me at work I say "Hold on, let me get off the clock." and write down the time. Then I talk to them as long as a I want. When I'm done, I "punch back in" and resume working. I do the same whenever I feel like taking a break.

This system removes any guilt I would feel about taking a long lunch, talking to a friend on the phone, coming in late, etc. It also makes it easy to answer the question: "What did you do last week?"

Here's a sample log entry:
2/9/2010 Tuesday 11:05 AM - 12:47 PM 2:49 PM - 3:21 PM 5:13 PM - 6:51 PM
Working on depth sorting.
Transparency is sort of working for one gamut - the last one drawn. Need to sort polygons for faces for all gamuts at once, not each gamut individually. Doh!

Tomorrow: See if order of drawing Gamuts is enough to fix transparency problem (draw closest gamut last).
Well, to be honest its not really investing since you'll get a product in return, but yeah I see what you're saying.

For right now its just me doing the design and fabrication. I'd like to keep it that way as long as possible. I think the fact that they're not mass produced is what people really like about it.

If it does somehow get to be more than I can handle, then I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. ;)
Regarding coffee: albina press is good but has been surpassed. Most of the original crew left to start their own shops.

Red E on N Killingsworth is my favorite. Barista, in the Pearl and also on NE Alberta, is similar and somewhat more famous. Both serve Coava a local roaster that sells single origin coffees, meaning the beans are of one type and come from one farm. Their stuff consistently wins awards in the coffee world.
I would actually have found the C&D letter more convincing if it hadn't been so well written.

Still funny though.
They are and the system demonstrates how badly it works compared to Apple.

I had a Dell with a faulty touchpad - it took 12 TWELVE onsite visits to fix it. That included 2 visits where the tech had been given the wrong part and 2 to replace parts that had been broken by the previous tech.

Every visit was a new person, none of them knew that the part they were swapping had already been swapped 6times before - until finally they stopped swapping the touchpad and replaced the motherboard.

But the info that this release MB was faulty was all over the net - it was only Dell that was unaware of it.
Yeah, but it's cheap. It's also not bad with some crackers. :)
Why choose protein powder instead of natural protein?
> - I run everything through the bash shell which works fine but is a pain to connect to Windows batch files. This makes automation harder than required.

What are you using bash or batch files for? Have you tried PowerShell as a replacement for batch files?
Webmock is an excellent ruby framework for solving this problem. My current app intereracts with both github and heroku and it's come in very handing for filling in what would otherwise be gaps. It's newer than fakeweb and is much better at letting you specify interactions on a per test basis rather than the entire suite.
The thing about failed projects is that they're not seen as failure by your next employer, they're seen experience and potential. At the very least, you learn from it and use this knowledge on your next project.
There is a fear that many startups have in using Python that when they do grow they will have to move large parts of their code into C due to speed limitations of the CPython interpreter

I feel that PyPy and Cython alleviate that fear.
"Ramen profitable" should be "oatmeal profitable." Whole grains ftw.
While I appreciate the inductive nature of this problem, this problem is more likely to demonstrate that the candidate has done a Google search for interview questions (http://www.google.com/search?q=google+interview+questions) than an understanding of algorithmic theory.
That's pretty cool. I like the method chaining.

There's definitely a need for a 'great' PHP ORM. I've been rolling my own for a couple of years since I've never been satisfied with what's out there. Here's the kind of syntax/style I use on mine (that class definition is the entire code I need to write to get working abstraction).

class Person extends Model {

const TABLE_NAME = 'people';

const TABLE_KEY = 'id';

}

$person = Model::find("Person", 1234);

$person->name = "James";

$person->save();

$persons_named_james = Model::find("Person", array("name" => "James"));

foreach($persons_named_james as $person) {

print $person->age;

}

$person = new Person();

$person->age = 26;

$person->save();

I should really upgrade to 5.3 so I could write Person::find(1234); instead.
"no dead hobos on lawns" is not a good, it's a service. Various goods might contribute to that service, such as "homeless shelters" and "welfare checks".

I suppose "functional criminal justice system" is actually a service, as well, while "prison" is a good.
Thank you for the thoughtful and insightful comments ScottyAllen, Albahk, IamDave and Wdewind.
But a: F# has had this for a while, and b: this isn't a language feature. It's a general workflow feature, and async is just one way of using it. Contrast that to C#, where it's specific functionality baked into the compiler and not something that can be extended via a library.
Can relate, I work in the arts so theres always a 1:1 cap on the production / profit aspect of it (excluding soft copies like prints and digital editions). Though, given, that's completely discounting the return of the enjoyment of the craft itself.

You could very well do both, produce and sell the originals, shell out a second business that mass produces the more popular designs, etc.
As a programming novice, I think that's a great idea. (I haven't seen anything like it... the closest might be stack overflow, where the best solutions generally get voted to the top, but it tends to be fairly narrow in scope.) It would be especially great if some or all of the code was annotated with something like docco http://jashkenas.github.com/docco/
Tortoise git is very usable, it's as good as tortoiseSVN for day-day use.

I don't bother with VS integration, I prefer to checkin the folder to make sure I get all the extra files that aren't shown in VS
Probably because he wants more than the natural amount of muscle.
It's easier to eat in large quantities. (For some people. Personally I can't stand it.)
Have you checked around your community for a shop you can use/rent time in?