skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I'm aware that there are other community sites for various kinds of techies.

My question is whether those other sites have the kinds of services that you think are valuable.

For example, do any of these other sites have a "follow" feature? (Second question - I can imaging the benefits of following someone, but what is the benefit of being followed?)

Same for "custom engineer profiles"? Heck - why wouldn't I just use a link to my LinkedIn profile? (Maintaining multiple profiles is a pain....)
Nothing to do with OPEC using the dollar as its only accepted currency, meaning if you want to buy oil you need to get dollars by selling things cheap to america?
it's true. typing is pretty much what made the iphone. before the iphone it was just assumed (even by me) that a soft keyboard was simply not usable.

if you cant type on it, it's worthless.

ed: and it's important to point out that typing is also a surprisingly easy experience on the ipad.
This also works for Jobs. By doing so, he keeps his executives on the hop, adds to his personal brand/legend, sends a clear message to those rumoring about his health status and to the developer base that has been complaining for some time.
That's really interesting thought.

In the US and specifically Silicon Valley, they got a check for $100,000-ish to help them in the early years. In most any other country (or even most other parts of the US), that money wouldn't have been available to 2 unknown people, regardless of how smart they were.

That's not the only piece of the puzzle, but it's significant.
Doing things for the sake of doing it, even with the best intentions. See 'Best Practice', 'Competency Based Framework' or 'Standards Compliance Management'.

I'm not saying those things can't be good, but they're not panaceas. If you're aiming that high your sights are too low.
Health.js: CPU usage streaming and notification for Node.js
I completely agree. To an extent there'll always be a certain cachet associated with violence and 'fighting back' .. it's the macho thing to do, and - by supporting a general violent response - the original poster _could_ be accused of trying to project a more macho stance himself. Thinking about all situations in the same way, is fantasy .. and imagining that violence will always redeem the oppressed is a romantic and foolhardy notion.

Not many people want to be thought of as weak - but strength doesn't need to come from aggression; sometimes confidence and defiance can go a long way to providing any necessary 'short, sharp shock'.
I really like Flickr still. I worry about what will happen to it longterm.
Selling into and servicing the SMB (small and medium business) market requires a lot more SG&A. There's less scale than selling into large enterprises.
Adult society is way ahead of kid society at making injustice socially unacceptable. Kid society can become civilized in the same way as adult society: law and order (doink doink).

Children need a justice system that they can respect, which will only happen if the system respects them back -- treats them like first class citizens with a voice and control over their world. The adult system can't do that, so they probably need one of their own. As their educators, adults need to help them build it.

Children want civility as much as adults do, but as long as they have no control over their world, they will not feel any responsibility for it.
13b - do something that warrants the eff coming to your rescue
"The project required no financing. The robot that mimicked the cat’s tongue was built for an experiment on the International Space Station, and the engineers simply borrowed it from a neighboring lab."

It's mindblowing enough that it took until the year 2010 to figure out how cats drink water. How do we live in a modern world with all the unimaginable wonders of science and integrated circuits and space travel, with more people studying exotic data from space probes and particle accelerators than there were scientists of any variety 500 years ago, and yet until now a cat drinking water was a complete mystery to us? The fact that figuring it out was a side project using borrowed equipment is a punchline.
Because they control the medium of exchange: the American Dollar is the de-facto standard for all currencies of the world.

I've heard (or maybe read?) a quote to the effect that the US dollar is one of the top things that America exports.

It's also the reasons Banks are rich, even though they don't practically produce anything. If they were simply accounting firms managing people's money and doing nothing other than book-keeping, without the ability to "create" money out of thin air, they wouldn't have become so rich.

Japan and China on the other hand, became rich solely due to their hard work.

I'm particularity fascinated by how Japan raised from the ashes, literally, to become what they are. The quantity and quality of creativity over there is just amazing.
The Right Way To Go Viral with Enterprise Social Software
Example where it did work: Mustafa Ataturk was trying to modernize Turkey and make it more secular. One part of that was banning hijabs, Muslim head coverings. He knew that banning headscarves on women outright could lead to rebellion, or at the very least severe social unrest.

His solution was to make hijabs mandatory for prostitutes at all time. It was one of the most successful mass persuasion tactics he ever used, and if you visit modern day Turkey almost no one wears hijabs.

Edit: Scratch what I said above about modern day turkey, my data is old and unsourced.
imho an intermediate bytecode makes no sense, as silentbicycle explained.

3 alternatives:

1) make every browser vendor implement multiple runtimes

2) x-to-js translators

3) interpreters in implemented in javascript

ad 1) multiple runtimes: not a good idea, because of multiple reasons.

first, versioning hell. javascript is ~15 years old, and browser vendors are still not able to provide 100% compatibility. you'd have versioning hell, only worse. second, it would hurt javascript performance, because browser vendors would have to split ressources. third: which languages should be supported? you just couldn't please everyone, so there would be ongoing "why is language x supported but not y?" problems.

ad 2) translators: are in use now. see coffeescript, gwt and ghcjs, ...

pros:

- almost native javascript speed

- already possible

cons:

- small translation overhead (depending on if it's JITted or precompiled)

- not everything is possible. if the javascript runtime doesn't support tail call optimization, the translation won't have it either. certain magic just doesn't translate.

ad 3) interpreters implemented in js

afaik there are some, e.g. js brainfuck interpreters.

pros:

- the sky's the limit

- already possible

cons:

- slow (adds an emulation layer).

that said, i'm against additional browser-provided runtimes except NACL. you could use javascript for your day to day work and NACL for your special needs. i'm not sure if NACL would be a complete stand-in for JS thought - would it be possible to communicate with the DOM (or at least JS)? if yes, there you have it - problem solved.
So, does this only impact food and eating?

Because I can see something interesting happening here, when compared to UI and processes. People hate 'harder' processes, even when the end result is better.

We're told that we need simple UI's, and given what people think of even "simple" (to hackers) complexity, I think this principle is NOT in play. None of my relatives ever said "I really like watching this show, it was HARD to program the VCR to record it!" (Yes I know).

The again, as a hacker I DO derive more pleasure from completing a difficult task. So maybe it's problem solvers VS everyone else.
Before embarking on new venture, everybody should watch the "Treasure of the Sierra Madre", a great movie, directed by John Huston, starring Humphrey Bogart. There you will see that the real problems begin once you have a whiff of success.

Oh forget it. Go see the "The Social Network" if you want to see that. Give a huge majority of shares to your technical cofounder and try to stay on his good side.
Does anyone have a mirror? The link isn't working and Coral Cache doesn't have it.
My name is Steve. This was on a Commodore PET (8032 I think), then as a general rule I did this on every system with BASIC that I could as a check to make sure everything works, and as a little in-joke for myself.

I've done equivalents in nearly every language I've written in. I'm sure if anyone sees me doing it they must think I'm a right idiot but it's my personal equivalent of Hello, World.
> Bullying didn't suddenly "spring" into existence when schools started earnestly preventing violence.

He's not claiming otherwise. He's explaining how he's going to keep his kid from being bullied.

> schools started earnestly preventing violence

Assumes facts not in evidence..... (A policy isn't a result.)

> What I disagree with is what I believe is your assertion that it's some kind of recent policy change that makes bullying possible or causes it to flourish in some way.

The policy change is that bully's victims will be punished if they resist? It lets bullies say "go along or the school will come down on you". Why do you think that such a change doesn't encourage bullies? (The policy change doesn't affect the bully's punishment.)

Yes, there were fights before, but since there are still fights.... (Under the old scheme, one party might not have been punished for a fight. Under the new scheme, both parties are, but since the instigator wasn't deterred by the threat of being punished in the past, it's unclear why you think that the changed policy, which mandates punishment for someone else, would deter the instigator.)
Funny that the standard response is to fight back the bullying kids. Another possible reaction is to outsmart them.

Just make fun of them. Make them the laughing stock of the whole class. Bully them verbally. Make fun of them and suddenly you'll become more popular - which will likely insulate you from any further bullying.

Maybe I was lucky, but this strategy worked wonders for me back in the days.

I'm sincerly surprised that a community as educated as HN only suggests brute force as an effective response to school bullying.
From looking at the companies' websites, they seem to be nearly all started by founders living in Seattle or the Northwest, so probably not.
Cats exploit fluid inertia to defeat gravity, pull liquid into mouth [pdf]
The dumbing-down of programming (1998)
Yes, here is a way to do it (not theoretical, worked in practice) -- get the adults involved. Make sure that your kid feels it's OK to tell you that he's been bullied (he's not being a snitch, he's bringing the problems to the knowledge of the right people). Then talk to the kid. Talk to the kid's parents. Make sure that if it doesn't stop, you will escalate -- you will talk to the school principal and the teachers. Make sure that the principal understand that you're willing to escalate further -- that you will make sure that it hits the local newspaper, that you will complain about it in the PTA meeting, and that you will be filing charges with the police for "assault".

When kids realize that there are consequences for bullying, and that they have to stop, they will.
(The above goes for physical abuse, mostly. The solution for verbal abuse is "learn to insult them better". They either learn to stop insulting you, or they fall back to physical abuse, in which case, see above.)

That's what my parents did when I was bullied in middle school. They called the other kid's parents, and he stopped. There was one time they did need to threaten the principal with calling the police, and she pleaded with them not do it, promising that the kid was getting psychological help for his issues, and they agreed to conditionally back off (and he never threatened me again).

Bullying is already socially unacceptable -- it's against the law of society. We can solve it the same way we solve every other criminal activity, which is by involving the law enforcement authority.

Edit: Changed "socially acceptable" in the last paragraph to say "socially unacceptable" (was a typo).
The one I see most wished for here is "Know when to fold and when to call."
Brands on Auction: Meister Brau, Braniff, Handi-Wrap, +Dozens More
We used to carry bulkier phones in the 90s. It didn't seem like a huge burden. Smaller is (all else equal) better so phone got smaller. Despite the range in prices before the current android/iphone crop, most people used them for calls and text and little else.

Now, all is not equal.

If it makes sense for pretty much everyone to carry iphone sized phones for the screen, wouldn't it make sense that for some people a bigger screen would be worth it?
No I think it's a problem when women aren't allowed to do anything else.
I've never heard of anyone who thinks that Salesforce is a well-designed, easy-to-use app. Disclaimer: I haven't used it much, so this is just based on other people's opinions.

Disruption: sure. Bound to happen. Someone is going 37signals this thing at some point (i.e. make a simple app that does everything you need but no more). The hard part: busting through the Salesforce marketing machine. The name is everywhere, and I expect to start hearing "no one ever got fired for choosing Salesforce" any day now. It's just like IBM used to be: big, mediocre, and widely used.
There are other factors.

For example, Linus went to a university in Finland, it was free so he stayed there for 8 years or so. If he was in the US at the time, would he have had the time and freedom to work on a Free kernel full time? He would probably be in a deep debt like most students.

The point being, there are many other things that other countries have that America doesn't have.
Well I guess I should really just speak for myself. I am less of a fan than I was before. The fact is that good customer service does not extend to posting customer's full names and addresses on a public forum as part of some kind of fucked up dispute resolution process. Period. If I had been one of those customers, I would be pretty pissed off and justifiably so.

I have no problem with 116 orders going awry out of thousands, apparently through no fault of 27bslash6, shit happens sometimes. The way they handled things after this initial problem is what generated the majority of ire against them on Reddit (so it seemed to me at least). Just because his/their actions are in character does not excuse them. If he wants to continue his asshole persona to even dealing with people who are his direct paying customers and his customers are happy with this, then they get what they deserve. But count me out.

And yeah, I read about this story yesterday and didn't think it particularly HN relevant. But seeing as someone did post it and to me - after thinking about it - it is a story primarily about customer relations, I thought I may as well comment.
I have seen Bing ads on other search queries...that was the one I could think of that gives me a Bing ad 100% of the time. I think it makes sense to advertise for the keyword "search engine" because you may catch people who are looking to leave Google but don't know the alternatives. Seeing a Bing ad might be what lures a loyal user. And it could be that the naive user is the one who is more likely to click on ads once there.
If only there were some sort of voting mechanism that could be used to allow the readers of HN to determine, on a collective basis, whether a given article "belongs" on HN.

I'll have to see if I can code something up.
I think the the tenacity and perseverance of the American character results in a nation that is better equipped to produce wealth than any other nation. It is founded on entirely different principles than the rest of the world. Americans are optimists and that leads them to have the courage of conviction to do things like a Marshall Aid plan. America realizes that it stands on top of the world and thus the only way to lift itself up is to lift everyone else up with it.

For many years America was one of the freest places to do business. Because of that and their geography they were able to leverage massive industrial power to fuel the Allied war machine while charging a large portion of that back to their allies. After WW2 they correctly realized that they needed a plan to get the rest of the world on track, because they were the only ones left with functioning industry, they gave and sold the world the means of production. (Marshall Aid plan)

From these acts they became the worlds reserve currency and leveraged that into massive monetary expansion and reaped the rewards of seigniorage.

The problem is that American has adopted a very anti-business climate (Sarbox, Dodd-Frank, etc) and is still acting like it represents 60% of world GDP.

It's pretty much Silicon Valley that is still keeping the US in the game.

Also, not to forget is the Americans were smart enough to offer to pay the Sauds their bribe to be able to protect them. The British scoffed at this offer and the rest is pretty much history. Basically, the Sauds said 'someone pay us for the privilege of protecting us'

I'm not American but hold a deep respect for the things the country has done for the world.
With the name that Salesforce has, their only issue would be convincing SMBs that they need a CRM -- not that Salesforce would be the one to pick. Maybe they still need to convince those SMBs of their need for CRMs. Maybe.
I agree that evolution did play the crucial part in developing the drinking method for cats, which is now part of their instinct, but the precise frequency can be learned during their lifetime, it does not have to be instinctive. Cats train their drinking technique daily for long stretches of time, so they have plenty of chance to optimize their drinking frequency. And the thing is, that is feedback as well: cats, being quite impatient, try to drink water as fast as they can, so they try to move their tongues faster, only to discover that they are spending more time getting their drink, so they slow down their tongues again, and get more water.
Ironically, by stating that "usefulness as a sex object, baby producer, and/or domestic slave" is somehow inferior (ok, let's skip the slave), you actually cement the classic world view. Men are usually only appreciated as "providers", and it seems in your world view that is also the only worthy way to be a human being. Good job.
And, part two: http://www.salon.com/21st/feature/1998/05/13feature2.html
My life as a veteran front-end developer in web agencies
Isn't that a bit "nobody else has tyres as good as ours, so buy our car?" Just write a good synchronisation library...
The yyyTimeStamp form could be useful if the program also dealt with postage stamps, rubber stamps, and food stamps.
Just soldering doesn't make anyone "technical". Woz's designs were the technical assets that made Apple a successful startup.

Furthermore, that experience certainly didn't mean a thing for his second tenure at Apple since 1997, during which the company became bigger than ever. I also doubt he had anything to do with the technical aspects of the operation during this time.
Startup Quote: Ben Horowitz, co-founder, Andreessen Horowitz
He also has a book:
http://www.amazon.com/Element-Finding-Passion-Changes-Everyt...
"Stolen"? Seriously? I suppose the next article I can expect to read is "Why Your Ability To Read Is Just An Illusion".

(I dislike the titles that invoke the "The Thing You Suppose Does X Actually Does Y" like that's a bad thing. The badness is in the supposition, not the deviation from the supposition. What the brain is "supposed" to do is a human construction, not universal truth.)
"It's another thing entirely to make 90% of the women you do depict into sexbots"

Could it be just your imagination that turns those women on the covers into sex bots?
Ask HN: Stuck making a decision whether to hire
I have a contract-to-hire employee who has done satisfactory work for the past 3 months. I need to make a decision soon on whether or not to hire. I'm stuck on the decision.

This person has 6 years of experience. I would consider him a relatively average, mid-level developer. We have one other developer who is very good and experienced - along with me.

The average person has taken feedback well, has shown some improvement and is meeting the requirements. I haven't been impressed, but I also haven't been disappointed. When I ask him to do something, he does it but doesn't do much more. He seems to struggle without structure and predefined tasks.

PROS: He's very eager to learn, humble, has a great work ethic, picks up new technology fairly quickly, takes feedback very well.

CONS: Has grandiose ideas that are often irrelevant to the task at hand. Gets distracted easily. Has difficulty taking an abstract concept and breaking it down to actionable pieces.

Should I be hiring only A+, "rockstar", talent or is there a place for an average developer in a startup? Cost is not really an issue. How can I move past this point of indecision?
Endpoint Encryption for WebApps [novel key-distribution]
It's a bit sinister, though, don't you think? If you're dealing with a vengeful bully, the threat never really stops until you've injured him enough that he will be unwilling or unable to hurt you back later.
> But hitting back only works if you're stronger than them. Otherwise they'll just kick your ass and things will get worse.

I rarely assume that someone who threatens me with violence cares about my well-being.

You're assuming that if you comply, you won't get your ass kicked. Sometimes, you're going to get your ass kicked regardless so the only question is whether they're going to pay a price for doing so.

Curiously enough, bullies don't like the risk of damage, even if they "win" the fight.

> where intelligence can triumph over brute strength.

"can" is often by the grace of folks who have brute strength.
Too bad Japan decided to save the banks in the 90s crash, and drain their citizen's cash savings by keeping interest rate at 0%. Fast forward to present day where the savings rate is close to 0%, and they have 200% GDP public debt.

US is trying to do the same thing, but alas, it won't have the same effect as Americans have a negative savings rate, and dollar will suffer massive inflation in the process, dooming 60% of the population that live on less than 40k a year.
It's like your read from my personal list.
> I could imagine a text-only interface so that the sight-impaired could have universal text to speech access.

Gopher says hi.

Also, how does baked in anonymity mix with identity management? Can't really have both at the same time, and having to switch kinda defeats the point of having either baked in.

The Web, as it is, is good enough: it has a way to evolve, like it evolved from the first days, through blink tags, animated gifs and java applets, to flash and html5.

Quite a long way. And the sign of a good design is that it can evolve fairly painlessly. The web, as far as I see, is very close to that goal.

Certainly, a few things could be improved, there were great mistakes made, but you can't fix that without fixing the internet itself, as a whole.