skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Author here. This is my first relatively serious try at writing an article about current events in the field of ML/AI, which is something I've wanted to do for some time now. All feedback is welcome, although I know attention is a scarce resource in the internet, so my expectations are adequately low :)

I tried to hit a scientific communication tone. My background in ML is relatively shallow still, although I'm working on it. It's a work in progress.

This article goes into a very positive (very likely too positive) direction, and glosses over lots of complexity and problems along the way to making good use of computational agents. My intent is to write a series of more in-depth articles on the roadblocks and dangers of this path, or similar paths, and to link to research in this field as I find it (and try to understand it).
It's not like teaching to the test works better for humans.
Seems like we need general solutions to overfitting, not just in machine learning.
Yeah although calling it 'slime' is basically just trying to bring about associations with, for instance, rotting meat or vegetables (which often end up with a slimy texture) for the sake of shocking people and bringing in an audience of predominantly more well off people who "would never eat that".

So rather than give it a name which is deliberately off-putting it's probably better to give it something vaguely neutral and otherwise let it stand on its own merits, whatever they may be.
Yeah, you can 3D print key-caps reasonably easily. Sorry, I can't remember the exact 3D model, but there's a free Cherry MX switch model around somewhere that surprisingly has the entire interior mechanism modeled. You can pull out the key mesh and tweak it a little bit to meet your needs, then it prints really well and fits nicely on Cherry (or Gateron) switches. There's also a handful of pre-created 3D printable keycaps on Thingiverse, however when I last looked into it I wasn't very happy with them.

Although, I must admit, whilst I've had all my components (including RGB LEDs and transparent Gateron switches) for what must be over a year now, I still haven't gotten around to finishing the project!
My email address is in my profile, please feel free to contact me.
That is just another required course to pass though? I mean unless the teacher is especially good (which they practically never are if for any part of a non lap course there is compulsory attendance) you regurgitate the subject and forget everything the day after the exam, right?
I remember a friend who needed to have naps the afternoon, but his 'ethos' didn't allow him to do so. So he fought sleep for hours while doing nothing productive..
Which is ok, but when grinding is not involved calling something ground is directly misleading.

If I sell a taco and never mention what it’s made of then sure. It’s only when I sell taco and say this is made from beef but actually mostly contains soy that people are going to get upset. Similarly, if I say ground beef, I would expect actual grinding to be involved not some other process.
It might be harder to tinker with The Device, but tinkering kids these days are not bereft of options. When I was a teenager I remember badly wanting a "386 single board computer" which I saw advertised in the pages of Popular Science for hundreds of dollars. Imagine the things I could do with a whole computer small enough to hold in one hand! It could breathe new life into my projects and bring my tinkering to a whole new level! Sadly this marvel was beyond my budget at the time but today you can buy dozens of such boards for a fraction of the price. Boards with a dizzying array of integrated peripherals teenage me wouldn't have even known what to do with. Today there are uncountable open source projects you can download immediately to run on these boards, whole sophisticated stacks which can be imported now and torn apart to be stitched back together tomorrow. A tech-interested teen today can buy devices with their pocket change that have more power and flexibility than any of the platforms I had access to as a kid.
Ask HN: Is there a step-by-step guide on how to create a successful startup?
I'm looking for a step-by-step guide on how to create a successful startup, from start to finish.

For instance, the first step could be "find a problem", the second step "validate your idea", third step could be "create MVP", then "get feedback", etc. etc.

I guess some sort of methodology that if you follow causes you to very likely succeed (or the opposite, e.g. skipping one step would make your startup fail.
Computer-generated fake human faces for Sketch (free plugin)
Retirement is not very predictable at all. How long will you live? What medical treatments will you need and how much will they cost? Are your skills going to pay what you think they will for 20 to 40 years in the future?

We can’t even predict 2 years into the future, what chance do we have decades in the future. Only certainty I can see is if one decides to kill themself once they are no longer self sufficient. Even then, planning about doing it and doing it are very different things.
Affluence and status signaling using clothing: is there an inverse correlation? Any recommended scientific literature on this?

Personal anecdata:

* I notice a more relaxed attitude to mended clothes in my native western European country than in my eastern European second home country.

* I also noticed a pattern in secondary school. In the economically privileged environment I went to school, kids cared less about clothing brands than at the less afluent schools in the vicinity.

* I carry mended clothes to work every now and then.
كلمات اغنية بحطك في قلبي نجيب المقبلي
Misinformation Is About Who You Trust, Not What You Think
Startup news roundup – Week ending 17th Feb 2019
FYI: The bavarian police law has passed though many people tried to stop it. That also happened with a lot of other laws throughout the last years.

On the other hand people also love stuff like AMZN echo and trust all information to their smartphones.

What's going to stop this development then? A miracle?

How do you know providers don't sell data? Did they tell you that or promise it somehow? :-D

The obvious conclusion of this development is that we need technical solutions which work without the consent of governments and without putting trust into private companies.
So the government shouldn't be able to record if you paid your taxes or not? That's a very extreme position on privacy.
> I bet there's a story there...

No real story. I'm not a BJJ expert or anything, but my experience has almost always been starting from the knees. I have seen more MMA style gyms that I would avoid at my age. I'm too old to be punched in the face or thrown from standing :D

> Also +1 for "make sure the people you roll with are not idiots"

I broke my ankle playing basketball b/c of a new guy who showed up to play and ran through me while I had an open layup. I would have gotten in a fight if I could walk haha. Instead we had some choice words for him, and never saw him at the game again.

> Further, make you that the person that you are 2 minutes after the roll starts isn't an idiot....

Great point (and I'm going to get meta here), this is important to learn in life. How many times are you at work and a couple minutes into a discussion you or someone else loses their cool? It takes discipline to see that and stop it from happening. Martial arts really do teach so much beyond the activity itself.
You may have meant "bullshitable result".
Yeah, but not all startups are created equal. Sometimes you can spot an opportunity that is much more likely to succeed. Maybe the cofounders have already had multiple exits, they’ve raised money from some very prestigious investors, and they already have a very impressive list of customers who are paying to use the product.

That’s not anywhere close to a couple of first-time entrepreneurs working on “Facebook but on a blockchain.” But I think both of those startups are counted when people talk about the high failure rate.

The statistics are quite different if you just look at YC companies: https://www.quora.com/What-percentage-of-YC-startups-eventua...

And even better if the cofounders have a wide network, a strong track record, and an impressive product that people are already paying for.

Sure, startups are still extremely risky, including the ones with prestigious cofounders and investors. But they can also pay quite well at the same time, so it’s not like you’re working for free. A senior engineer at a well-funded startup can still earn $150-180k, plus significant stock options.

I personally enjoy the risk and excitement and much prefer to work at early-stage startups than FAANG companies, even I end up earning less. Working on my own products is even more fun.
You know how a tyrant acts when he is losing control of his empire? He starts getting really insecure and conspiratorial. America's unipolar moment has passed and it's about time they acknowledge it instead of continuing to drown themselves in hubris.
> Why are they still selling iMacs with hard disks rather than SSDs?

The iMac has driven me crazy since the day it was introduced, way back when the display was still a CRT. What is the point of integrating a computer and a monitor in the same enclosure? These two products have completely different life cycles. The iMac forces me to replace them together for, what, aesthetics? Bah.
Will assume you are programmer, here, if not the dynamic might be different.

The presumption is that you get paid less when you work less. And this is true, to an extent: when I've negotiated a shorter workweek I've typically gotten paid correspondingly less, e.g. at 4 days a week get paid 80% time.

But—

1. My experience (https://codewithoutrules.com/2018/02/11/working-long-hours/), and that of others (https://lobste.rs/s/hvjwd6/how_become_part_time_programmer#c...) is that working less makes you more productive. You learn how to prioritize, how to avoid wasting time, you're force to plan more... basically you end up a much effective programmer and employee.

As a better employee, you can get a better baseline salary. So you're getting 80% of a higher salary.

2. The key to getting a shorter workweek is negotiating. If you have better negotiating skills you can get a higher salary, e.g. merely asking for more than the company's initial offer will usually give you a 10% boost (https://codewithoutrules.com/2019/01/18/negotiate-like-6-yea...). Knowing how to present yourself in a job interview and resume can also give you a salary boost (https://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/01/23/salary-negotiation/).

So again, it's possible to get 80% of a higher salary.

You'll still get paid less than you could have otherwise... but beyond a certain point I and others at least have found time to be more important than money.
I see your point but if we're talking here about a lengthy marriage, where the stakes are really life-changing: the sharing of a mortgage-free home, life insurance policies, savings - that all takes 20-30 years. I would hope, that of after decades of co-habitation there is a breakdown, the friendship between the partners should carry through to a reasonable conclusion. If the breakdown happens in the first few years, there is little to lose.

It is seriously possible that a couple could be married 2-3 years, have it break down because of unreasonable causes e.g one person shows their true self, and then the other person must pay alimony the rest of their lives? If this is the case, then sure I'm in agreement with that being absolutely stupid.
Today, all things are too cheap. We need include the cost on the environment within the cost of our goods. Altering the price of goods is an extremely important mechanic to move us towards sustainability. It is ok for us to have fast fashion if it can be done in a non damaging way, if it cannot then we will have to learn to mend again.
So everything should be aseptised because a few women feel insecure when seing image of beautifuller ones? The real gender issue here lies in jealousy and the utterly harsh competition that runs in-between women.
Platitudes like that often don't work out in practice. Take my life for example; what do you suggest I substitute in return for time spent mending clothes?

* Time spent with the family / kids? That contributes far more to my wellbeing (and theirs). Sure I could mend my clothes with the kids but that isn't something they'd enjoy (nor me to be quite honest) and there are already enough chores I make them do as a family.

* How about time spent cooking and cleaning? But unfortunately I already pay different people to wash the windows, clean the house, mow the lawn... there isn't much less responsibility I can hand off there.

* I guess I could spend less time tinkering with my own hobby projects - but that amounts to very few hours a week and given it's my own personal time, I think I should do what I find more rewarding and relaxing and that isn't mending old clothes.

I barely get time in the week to do fun things as it is. I mean stuff like going on bike rides with my eldest son (who's 5) and I certainly don't get any time to look after my own personal health (I used to run 5k several times a week - it's not much but it made a difference. These days I'm lucky if I get one 5k run in a week). So if I can outsource stuff I don't enjoy to someone else for a reasonable fee then my time is most certainly worth it.
Very clever use of virtual memory.

Unfortunately I would expect this technique not to scale well with increasing page size, and I sure hope that we will be slowly moving to >4k pages as years go by since the TLB is a very common bottleneck.
Don't forget Rendition and their Verite chips.

They had an absolutely insane card that had both pci and agp connectors.
There were some security issues in systrace. /http://www.watson.org/~robert/2007woot/
Sounds like fake news

Kinetic energy = 1/2 * m * v ^ 2

1/2 * 10000 kg * 3000 * 3000

45000000000 joules

Tiny Hiroshima was 63 TJ

63000000000000 joules

Hmmmm no, but to lazy to prove - "Lazy Dog projectiles (aka "kinetic bombardment") could reach speeds of up to 500 mph as they fell to the ground and could penetrate 9 inches of concrete"

See mythbusters dime off building for a start, sounds like it wouldn't even kill let alone get into concrete.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHxvMLoKRWg
Greatest Text Editors for Programming
Nice article but I think the trend of popular science writing can be traced to 17th century to Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems published in 1632. He wrote it in Italian not in Latin to reach the interested laymen. I think to this day it reads as a great popularization of science. It is a true scientific treatise but written in a fun way. One of my all time favorite books. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialogue_Concerning_the_Two_...
My thinking is that it's and advert for the brand rather than the specific product to get people into the ecosystem of rpi.
"and most of the hardening seems questionable at best." - Don't do this, please add rationale, not bullshit.

"Some of the headers that is suggested have some implications that aren't really explained at all. Like HSTS including sub-domains." - This repo also contain "Force all connections over TLS". However, I understand your attention.

"And you don't set the `default_server` as this document suggest. `default_server` is a parameter to the `listen`-directive. The only reason the docs might work is because the first server-block defined, when no-one is defined as `default_server`, becomes the default server." - You're right, your suggestion is very well (it's also from Nginx official handbook) and rationale, thanks for this! I receive this criticism, My mistake.
Mesh networks: An alternative way to connect to the internet gains steam
So much effort just to type on Cherry browns. Without the stiffness of a plate mount even.
I'm old enough to know how to mend, but surely even younger people could just watch one of countless Youtube tutorials if they suddenly decided they'd like to learn this? Knowledge is more accessible than ever before, nowadays we just "know where to look" whereas previous generations knew what they were taught (or, sometimes, learnt from books).

The real issue seems to be that people are helpless without the Internet - and that our consumerism has brought a throwaway mentality with it.
This is a common misconception. In key benchmarks, it is the same speed (a few still lag, but not due to inherent weaknesses in the language). Earlier versions of rust were slower because the compiler didn't have the insane optimizations that many C++ compilers have.

In fact, it may be easier for developers to write code that runs faster with rust than C++, thanks to much error and exception handling code that you simply do not need in Rust.

Most importantly, however, is finding Rust developers who are experienced enough to write high-performance Rust. I would imagine that it's a lot easier to find C++ devs.
Besides, in a world obsessed with copyright and take-downs would her image have circulated so much today? Would she have become so iconic to enter our collective unconscious?

She’s like the Amen Break.
How to Optimise Port-Scanning with a Multi-Threaded Approach
I'd put the top more or less at the rise of Linux, the BSD's and similar systems. While fiddling with CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT might have given people the impression that they were 'programming' their PC's in reality all they did was find the right incantations to get their games to work. Porting one of the free OS's to new hardware is at a different level from shoving some drivers in high memory to make room for Doom.

A bit of this lives on in porting e.g. newer versions of Android to hardware which has been left behind by the manufacturer without a shred of documentation or care. If and when one or more of the alternative mobile operating systems get a foothold this might open another avenue for this type of hacking.
Creating a sepia filter with Python
It's not every day my worlds collide like this, so I'll plug https://freesewing.org/ for those of you who have an interest in making clothes and are looking for a place to start that is a good match for the hackernews crowd.

Full disclosure: I'm the freesewing maintainer
Using "beef" to mean "unspecified bits of cow used as food" isn't exactly butchering the English language.
The other detail is what they counted as a pushup. My understanding is the military is pretty strict and most gym-goers aren't. Having your arms out perpendicular to torso is noticeably easier than tucking then in towards your chest and there's a range of places one might stop at. At that pace, I think you'd be doing doing fairly shallow pushups.

Or maybe I'm just making excuses for not being able to do this.
> I am in my 30s. I do have chronic health issues related to digestion and I am usually a bit fatigued and somewhat sleep deprived.

Are you me? (Chrohn's in my case).

Sounds normal to me, I'm productive compared to a lot of programmers I know who don't have health issues and have a decade on me.

You need to be kinder to yourself, stressing about not been able to work for extended periods just makes it harder to concentrate - It just becomes a self-reinforcing downwards spiral.

In my case my hobbies are what keep me sane (you don't mention those), Chess for mental focus that isn't work (and social life) and Cycling for getting away from screens.

Otherwise the usual advice applies, try to eat better (hard with digestive issues I know) and get more sleep.
> you can't get published as an honest ML researcher

If you research ML, you can publish in ML journals, there are several. If your research is about applying ML to domain problems, are you then an ML researcher or a domain researcher?
Some days ago there was a post here on HN about a post doc who failed to get tenure.

And every other comment was like: “What did he expect, he had much less than the usual two papers a year.”

So it seems that even here on HN, the mindset of quantity over quality still persists.
I am fascinated with your ability to be contrarian! But are you really sure you can't understand why it should upset you?

We generalise a large part of your understanding of the world down to words. When someone (in this case UDSA) redefines ground beef to mean something else that you find icky, of yourself you are upset.

I do think this is a problem since redefining foodstuffs will eventually lead to people distrusting the whole industry.

Ground beef should be parts of beef that have been ground down. Not slabs of defatted chemically treated leftovers. It is a redefinition of a phrase that is directly misleading to customers.

I am all for eating everything from dead animals, if we are to continue eating them. People are fricking squeamish.
I don't know what I learned from this, but it was as touching a eulogy as I would ever hope to receive.
John Gruber praises iCloud as one of the best things but do people really feel that way? I feel Dropbox or Google Photos / Drive is way better on software experience.
Tom Cade, a Savior of the Peregrine Falcon, Dies at 91
Curious (possibly naive) question: isn't there a fundamental difference between the goals behind creating models with ML vs the "old-fashioned" way? That is, in modern ML applications, you're creating a model with dozens/hundreds of potential variables, without a hypothesis of how they relate or contribute to the target (other than that they might, hence your including them in the modeling process). You're using the model for predictions more than for explainability (though there is work ongoing into improving explainability, but it seems kind of post hoc to me). And there's an expectation that you will retrain, or at least tune, the model as its predictive accuracy decays over time.

By contrast, traditionally in science you're coming in with a hypothesis ahead of time about what variables predict what target. The goal is to come up with a model that is consistent with your hypothesis (and possibly some existing theory), and which can be applied generally, and which should need no tuning. For example, the very simple model for Beer's Law-- absorbance vs concentration. That is a law that will apply in every other circumstance, but if modern ML methods had been applied, the scientist might have chosen the model with a slightly better score but which includes nonsense variables in addition to concentration.

All that to say, it seems to me the problem stems from scientists' lack of hypotheses at the outset of a project, and/or the understandable desire to get the best bang for their buck out of an experiment by measuring dozens of variables at once and hoping the magic of ML can find a hypothesis for them.

Hope that made sense.
A specific issue with machine learning is overfitting and non-interpretability.

The first means it is possible to get results that don't generalize (even if they survive cross validation). The second means it is a lot harder to detect use of correlations that cannot possibly be causal.
I assume GP is referring to people who arent actively working out, but floating around the gym mostly playing on their phones, checking social. As though time spent in the gym was the point rather than the exercise itself.
> Annual reviews

Oh man. This alone is reason enough for me to be a freelancer.
Transatlantic race for small autonomous boats
This is the real issue.

Getting data is always expensive in any field so it's much easier to analyse data that already exists as you don't need a large grant application.

Furthermore, I think the use of certain ML techniques may be akin to resume-driven development particularly for PhD students given that the career prospects in Data Science in industry (and using the HR buzzwords like AI, ML, Deep Learning etc.) are much better than the thin pickings that remain in academia in many fields.