skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
"How could wikileaks' bias come in to play? Withholding documents where people sound good? Withholding documents where the "other side" sounds bad?"

Those are two really good examples. Is he doing this? I really can't tell. For every "bad" or "good" docment he releases, there could easily be others that are event "better" or "worse."

More importantly, he choses whose documents to leak. Lots of classified U.S. documents in there. Where are the classified documents from other nations?

As I mentioned, there are other factors besides which documents are released: the timing and context of the releases also matters greatly. The mere fact that highly sensitive diplomatic wires were leaked will have a negative impact on all of our current diplomatic efforts, regardless of the actual contents. Diplomats who don't feel confident of confidentiality will be much less likely to speak frankly. Is it that hard to imagine that this release was timed to derail a particular diplomatic effort?

In relation to your quote from OP, I think that the single biggest indicator to support OP's position is Assange himself: he has a history of making provocative remarks which demonstrate a clear hostility towards the United States, or at least the U.S. government. It's hard for me to believe that this animosity isn't having a profound effect on his priorities. If nothing else, I get the definite vibe that this latest batch was released primarily for the reason of jabbing his thumb in Washington's eye.
But if you're filling a RoR web development position does it matter?

Yes, it most certainly does. In the long run, the developer with the better grasp of fundamentals (e.g., discrete maths, data structures, algorithms and so on) will produce better code. NB, I'm not saying that the "naive" web coder can't produce good code. Nor am I implying that CS education always makes you a better developer. On average, however, that's exactly the case.

Even with generic web 2.0 stuff.
Maybe it's in the works. We'll see what the outcome of the rape charges are. Could give him a good reason to "off himself".
This is also an outstanding resource of things to review before going into a job interview.
Websites Screenshots are Essential
Yet another completely ineffectual captcha that completely misses the point.

http://scr.im/test

Are you joking? There is a 1 in 9 chance of getting the captcha right if you pick completely randomly. If I was writing a program to scrape these addresses your entire captcha system might add 2 minutes of programming time to the job.
On an Innovative Device, Apps Lacking Imagination
Etherpad's team was initially put on google wave (the reference to bad interface above) before that was shut down (also referenced above). Etherpad itself was shut down before a replacement was made available (by google - the code was released which was nice).

My point is that there's typically this huge gap between acquisition and any demonstrable positive action. During that gap, there's either no change at all or the service is hobbled/impaired, during which time competitors could come in to the market.

In those tech acquisitions, the barrier to entry was kinda high (hard to write a good replacement for etherpad quickly). The barrier to entry in groupon-space is nill - there's dozens of copycats already. If Google takes its time as its done with other acquisitions, they may end up owning the #2 or #3 player in this space within a year.

You'd think with the muscle of Google behind them, nothing could go wrong, but if Google doesn't choose to do anything useful with them (perhaps only buying to prevent MS or Yahoo from owning them), it could still stagnate.
Wedding Insurance
Wedding Insurance, Wedding Cover, Honeymoon Insurance. Wedding Insurance from &pound;18.99 with 4 levels of cover to choose.
Can you give an example of any industry revolutionized by any company?
> Nevertheless, I get a little thrill out of having made something that allows me to type (define cube (lambda (n) (* n n n))) and then (cube 3). It's like magic.

This is great, and it's really true. I've just finished the Metacircular chapter of SICP and felt the same way after reading their code and doing some of the exercises. I think "90 lines of C++" is kind of a silly goal (just because LOC is silly) but it's still a great learning experience. I'd love to try a non-metacircular evaluator after I've read more SICP.

The author might be interested in http://michaux.ca/articles/scheme-from-scratch-introduction

I think I found that on HN somewhere, it's been in my TOREAD for a while.
Care to elaborate? I'm not very well aware of funding in the biomedical field...

I will, however, say that all scientists that I know of spend a significant amount of time chasing grant money. A streamlined process would be very desirable.
I have to say I'm a huge fan of these "X in 100 lines of C++" adventures. They're a great starting point for people like me wanting to learn about a subject in a programmatic way.

This global illumination ray-tracer was posted a while back: http://kevinbeason.com/smallpt/
One thing that strikes me as odd is that this blog is completely focused on sharing "technical interview questions and tips." I just skimmed a few of the posts and there seems to be little to no mention of a practical application of the algorithms, only "asked in interview at X, Y and Z."

When interviewing candidates for PHP web development position, I used to ask simple questions about simple data structures. They were adapted from an assigment about stacks and linked lists from the 1st year of my CS studies. I was totally surprised that most candidates were absolutely clueless.

Without doubt, there are practical applications of knowledge about data structures and algorithms. I just wonder how relevant this knowledge is for an (entry-level) developer position and wether this kind of question is a good fit for interviews. Any opinions?
Just bought one and it worked just fine.

edit: it explicitely says it's only for e-books and videos.
Unbelievable balancing robot - stabilizes an articulated inverted pendulum
This seems to come around on a regular basis, so there's got to be something to it. To summarize my thoughts on it: 1) yes, there are tons of things that could be improved in it, 2) even with such improvements, it's a fairly limited tool, and thus, 3) you can't place any more importance on this than you'd place on, say, a resume.

The most useful part about this tool, in fact, is not the specifics, but to see how the candidate rates himself, and compare your rating of his skills and experience to his own. If your rating and his come out radically different, one of you has a problem. :-)
As a web developer, this would be a good place to start: http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Main_Page

Systems-level security programming is outside of my domain. Anyone want to chime in?
I would do, but I really don't like this approach to describing people - we are all rather more than a set of discrete competencies and by focusing on these kinds of measures (largely because they are easy to evaluate) I tend to feel that the really important factors in determining
success in this field are missed.

YMMV.
Real Life Keyword Research for e-commerce sites
> // Scheme Interpreter in 90 lines of C++ (not counting lines after the first 90).

It's actually 333 lines.
tl;dr: undo what you did that persipitated the "disaster"
>Basically, what he needs is SVG. :-)

Yes. It's incredibly frustrating that we can't rely on embedding SVG in HTML. (Last I looked--about 2.5 years ago, admittedly--only Firefox could do it, and only with XHTML.)
Just today I tought of a counter in the speed control traffic lights to count how many time the light turned red. This could incentivate drivers to stay under the limit and keep the traffic flowing.

It's really annoying to be stopped by another unaware driver just over the limit, this could make everybody fight for the lowest score and be ashamed when they contribute to it. What do you think?
"My point is that there's typically this huge gap between acquisition and any demonstrable positive action. During that gap, there's either no change at all or the service is hobbled/impaired, during which time competitors could come in to the market."

ok i agree. it does take _forever_ for google to convert its acquisitions over to their infrastructure, often with no improvements to the service initially.
How do you know that's the original? I'm not saying you're wrong, but the submitted article cites other sources than that one.
The VW transparent factory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd5WGLWNllA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeYi87P31UQ
You forgot #5: plain dumb luck.

I index for a very good reason, some of the smartest people I know chose to work on Wall Street, and they're putting in 60+ hours a week working on this stuff. If you have tens of thousands of people like that, I don't care how smart you are you just aren't going to beat them. Better to insure you are at least average (which net fees probably puts you in the top 30%) than to chase being in the top 5% and failing miserably.
I just bring my bike into the store with me.
Insider Trading and Expert Networks - Efficiency vs. Fairness
Martin Fowler's Refactoring. Changed my life.
That's well above the "O(log n)" level from the rest of the list. After all, "algorithms O(log n)" is not "you are Knuth".
Expertise in an IT organization where flexibility is encouraged
> What's the last useful LISP program you have used? What proportion does it consist among the other useful programs you use?

Was that a subtle dig at those who spend too much time on HN?
I'm both a Lisp and a C++ fan and I really like the idea, but I'd like to make a couple of suggestions.

- Use the STL algorithms more. There are way too many "for" loops in this code which are trivial std::accumulate or std::transform calls.

- When I see the eval and tokenize functions I ask myself, why not use Boost.Spirit.Qi?

- I'm not sure working on a list of strings is efficient, why not work on a list of pairs of pointers instead?

- Use smart pointers to avoid leaks.

Just a small contribution, I really like the idea.
"The real question is... how to monetize the blokes wanking."

Only on HN... :)
I sleep five to six hours a night. The information I find usually says that something around six to seven hours is ideal, and that less than six hours is a bad idea (It's usually stated that there are some links to health issues and lower longevity. This is also true for more than seven to eight hours.).

But then I also find information saying that it really varies from person to person, and that it's best to make sure that you don't feel tired during the day; if so you're probably okay.

(Note that this is all second hand. I've never really sat down to read studies themselves, I just read journalist interpretations.)

Anecdotally, I've had little problem with my sleep schedule. It gives me an extra chunk of time in the morning which I find extremely helpful, and I rarely find myself worn out until a little before I normally go to sleep.
Ask HN: What is the best way to manage updates on a Windows server?
Hi HN!

How do you manage your security updates on your Windows server ?

Auto-install at night? Painless but risky...

Manual install? Painfull but safe...

Thanks!
Wait, did you count the lines after the first 90?
Try LuckyBackup and plan safe backup on Ubuntu
New European Startup Programme Resembles Y Combinator Model
I'm probably asking for trouble with this question, since intellectually I think I know some of your answers, but most business decisions are made emotionally and that's where I am with this one.

I have put together a plan for a start-up. The key to success will be sales (and, to a lesser extent, marketing), but it needs a technical,web-based back end. Nothing that hasn't been done before; indeed, I imagine an experienced hacker could probably create the back end from various open source elements that are around. So there's little technical challenge, in a not-too-sexy B2B space.

Am I better off sitting on this idea, stagnating it, while I try to find the right technical co-founder? Or pay the ~$10,000 I've been quoted to build the first iteration, knowing that if it's successful I could employ (or otherwise structure and energise) that technical person to re-create (or revise, but I imagine they'd rather start again) the base code in an improved way, at some future point, possibly to time with a product or market expansion?

Edit: I appreciate me 'imagining' what an experienced hacker can or can't do may be akin to a blind man imagining colour; but that's also been the feedback from outsourcing companies I've met with.
How about coining it "cargo cult captcha"[1] :) It seems there are lots of futile CAPTCHAs popping out these days.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult
Basic SEO Lingo to Know
Probably something like:

Level 2^n: uses string concatenation in his SQL, for web forms passes plaintext passwords around in Javascript, has already been rooted and doesn't know it.

Level n^2: uses stored procedures, knows that cross site scripting and sql injection is bad, stores passwords in a form other than plain text, may block certain kinds of 'naughty' inputs (e.g. http://xkcd.com/327/ )

Level n: uses whitelists to validate input, does not use windows or SQL Server for anything, understands that security has a price (eternal vigilance) can explain what salting and hashing are, can protect your password against malicious database admin.

Level log(n): can protect against social engineering, audits OpenBSD for jollies, has transcended the need for users to create accounts and enter passwords, is completely unable to communicate with outside world since all their email has been PGP encrypted since the late 90s.
Pay Attention to What the Market is Telling You
I'm nitpicking, but actually any C or C++ program can be written in one line, but otherwise it's a great experiment.
You're better off getting it built now if that's an option and if you can afford the consequences if things go badly. I imagine a successful idea won't be as hard to attract a co-founder to work on as your idea in its current state.

If what you're building will depend less on technology and it's not a complicated idea it seems reasonable to outsource it.
He explains it in the FAQ.
The bad thing I see about that is if (for whatever reason) it fails and falls you (and possibly that company) will have your pants sued off. Also birds perching on your bike seat and doing their business...

All and all though nifty idea.
I know, but I had "underlines for books, quotes for shorter works" hammered into me.

Incidentally, "NB." is the comment marker in J (http://jsoftware.com/). That makes me smirk.
> Just because modern dynamic frameworks abstract away lots of "hard" stuff does not mean that your dreams wont come crashing down without any understanding of computational complexity theory etc.

Your post is missing any supporting arguments for this claim.

I know a lot of 'Rails guys' and their dreams certainly aren't crashing down. If anything, they enjoy their lives more because their programming education has been focused on making things, before making things fast.

Conversely, there's a lot of guys with CS degrees who ended up jaded with the idea of making things and became Unix admins, mid-level managers, or PMs.
EC2 Micro Instance as a Remote Bittorrent Client
HTML5 Web Messaging
I guess I wasn't explicit enough with this bit of my comment: "give you extra-credit insight into their way of practicing their art". Certainly simply having a blog and spouting drivel doesn't benefit a candidate, but I sort of expected that to be understood.
Instinct is nothing more than using memory’s bias.

Check out AIGA’s case study on how Second Story redesigned their archive viewer:

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/case-study-aiga-design-archi...

I talked to the lead UX designer, and he really emphasized their iterative process. AIGA’s site isn’t graphically styled heavily, but it is very well designed.
idk I think it can mean that they're egotistical, stuck in their ways, believe their way is the only way to do things etc. (For example 37 signals type blogs)

It can also mean they'd rather write blogs than code.

Obviously it depends, but I don't think having a blog is necessarily a bonus and could well be a negative.
Quoting their FAQ:

" The Captcha (humanity check) is way too simple, I can bruteforce it with a script!

It's exactly how it should be. It's not an unbreakable locker. We prefer simple captchas, ease of use and convenience over undecypherable and cumbersome enigmas. "

Not convinced...
Prime Numbers Get Hitched
And Visual Source Safe ("VSS") was called out by name too.
Yeah, I don't understand how that helps with the goal of protecting my email...
I have a friend who went the "pay $10,000" route, became successful, and are now employing a bunch of people, and decided to accept some venture money to continue to scale up operations.

It can be done, but it is risky.
Sure anybody can post on the Internet sensible information, but for this information to make its way up to you, that's another story.

There's more and more information. Relevant and reliable information is harder and harder to discriminate.

News are faster and faster but less and less reliable.
Let’s know Essay cheats
If you need to get rid of the tedium of writing your essays, obtaining the services of an essay writing company is recommended. Although many will feel that this is an “essay cheat”, if the task is handled in the right manner it will not get you accused of cheating.
The US has around 37 million people (over 10% of the population) who receive food stamps, and that number may be greater now. Some of the people on unemployment may also be receiving food stamps, but not all of them. Another 4+ million are on some sort of state welfare or aid program (again, some those may also be included in the 37 million number). So Germany's 7.5 million people in the social welfare program doesn't seem that bad.
1. read the prospectus. if the fund is comprised of stocks as opposed to derivatives it will be comprised of stocks. Of course fund will only buy whole and large amounts of shares, so say you put 1 ETF share worth $100, the fund won't be hurrying to buy shares with it, until they got $1000000 to start buying wholesale.

2. Of course if fund is derivative based all risks associated with derivatives come into play for fund investors. Same is true for any securities that are owned by funds - their risk is transferred to shares of fund. But I think you're familiar with risks associated with equity investing.

3. Maybe, maybe not, depends on stocks and market conditions. Of course the company is "more valuable" if it's included in some popular index like S&P, but then again ETF's and funds can make purchases wholesale, so there might be some benefit too.

4. Yes, but since traditional non-derivatives based funds are linked 1-to-1 to underlying shares, I don't see a huge problem. Unlike with derivatives-based funds.
Prof. Arne Astrup, a colleague of mine, was the principal investigator of this study when I was in Denmark. Interestingly, I will see him this weekend in Quebec City for the PhD defense of my wife. I agree with you guys that the title is too strong and we have to be careful when interpreting studies. Only few people fully realize that the obesity problem is complex and multifaceted. Nobody is immune. The causes and paths to weight gain are manifold and a narrow focus on the Big Two factors (unhealthy diet and physical inactivity) is not enough. For some people, factors such as short sleep duration, mental stress, socioeconomic status, drugs, etc. can cause weight gain and thereby should be included in the big picture. The main problem lies in the current 'obesogenic' environment that encourages overeating and sedentariness, and people are not able to swim upstream against those strong pressures. A change in the environment is more than needed at this point, because telling people to eat less and exercise more does not really work.
Morgan Stanley Tech Analyst Mary Meeker Joins Kleiner Perkins As Partner
The fact that people with a CS education are better coders does not imply that the CS education made them better coders. Without more evidence it's just as likely that people who are, or will become, good coders anyways tend to get CS educations. Do you have any evidence besides correlation that a CS education makes you a better web developer?
Conrad is a catalog-based mail order company for electronics, tools and so on. From the final image of the video, I think this is a commercial for the Conrad company, showing the cool things you can build with their parts and so on.

I don't think Conrad is developing this bike lock as an actual product.
A Blog Can Be A Startup’s Most Valuable Investment
I still don't get why anyone would want to use this service. First, if you've had an e-mail for long enough, chances are you are already getting spammed like hell. Second, if you really really wanted to keep your e-mail free from spam, you would use a truly unbreakable captcha.

IMHO, the only viable solution to spam nowadays is filtering - not prevention.
> The table also mentioned Powershell, VS.Net and VBScript

Mentioning a Windows-only technology doesn't make it Windows-centric.

Mentioning only a Windows-only technology? Now that's Windows-centric. However, I see no example of that in the list.

I bet nobody would flinch if they saw reference to a UNIX-exclusive technology, either. (I saw VSS was called out - but had this been written three years ealier, Git would be in that same boat.)
What happens if another guy with one of these locks comes along and parks his park on the same post as yours?

Also as far as I can tell this lock relies on the poles/posts being of a certain diameter
Startup incubation for the Y-combinator generation
Sorry, the CAPTCHA is completely pointless. Here's why:

1. Go to http://scr.im/test

2. Click the upper right box

3. If you receive an error page, click "Try Again" and go to step 1.

4. You should arrive at this step in approximately 9 tries (on average) taking less than 15 seconds.

What the heck is the point of a "human test" if it can be automatically attacked by a bot with literally no effort at all. The funny thing is that there is a more traditional CAPTCHA at http://scr.im/test?failsafe=1 that is much more secure.

Why is the default CAPTCHA pointless? Because it attempts to test for "human-ness" without requiring any human action what so ever. Click a link, the same link, over and over until it is correct is what a bot will do. On the flip side, using your eyes to interpret slightly out of skew characters is decidedly much harder for anything other than a "human" to do.
We have these things in Miami
http://miamibikescene.blogspot.com/2010/09/secure-bicycle-pa...
Atlanta based hacker originally from Mumbai (Bombay!). Luckily, I'll be there on the 6th. Look forward to meeting everyone.
Those are the least of this concept’s issues. Who would take the time to design, QA and build this phone, not to mention put it into production, all the while not co-opting or diluting the vision put forth by Mozilla?

There’s a lot of hating on business-people who “just need a technical founder” to take 500 bucks and actually build the app. This concept just needs an entire business to re-vamp it’s R&D division to implement Mozilla’s idea. Physical production’s a ton more coordination and effort than most apps, and it doesn’t seem fair for HTC or whoever to take complete stake to do Mozilla’s bidding.
Some comments:

Level n: as much as I dislike it, Windows' security isn't actually all that bad nowadays. This, of course, assumes that you don't ever start IE, install no Adobe products, configure it properly, etc - but that's common sense for a server. Also, "eternal vigilance"? I think you need one patch to make a five-year old OpenBSD server as secure as pretty much any other system out there.

Level log(n): again, you can be pretty secure without being completely useless. Should include HMAC and PBKDF2/OpenBSD's Blowfish scheme/scrypt. May include full-disk encryption.