skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Migrating to modern Perl, which I admit involves various scripts spanning from "let's use globals only" to "proper architecture and tests". I can tell you the general areas that were problematic, but not the exact situations since I honestly don't remember all of them: Strings with utf8 flag, encoding, etc. - some CPAN modules simply didn't care about it - it's hard to find such bugs (different types are much better for this). Handling half situations with error codes and others with exceptions (I'm not even going into modules which find `dualvar` useful...). Continuing past failures (even if I force some behaviour in my code, other modules don't have to). Possibility to do silly things like mistake `eq` and `==` - if data source changes from number ids to strings, that causes a lot of fun (yes, you can argue this is due to the programmer's inexperience, but then we can't find people who can do this job, let alone those who can both do the job and know perl perfectly). Minor annoyances like re.pl not being very friendly just add to the list.

So yes - of course you can write the best modern Perl and live happily. In practice I have to mess with old code and tricky things left by people saying "Perl is not that bad once you know more of it" - really, it's just setting up someone less experienced for failure. And you can be sure that there will be someone less experienced working on your code (while you're not available for any review). I prefer more explicit code, stopping completely before you do something that might not be exactly what you want.

Re. Perl 6 - it brings in more new syntax, more operators, more different ways to do things, more unknown problems and less people who know it well enough to use it properly. I really don't see the reason to play with it now.

I really don't want this to look like trolling, so I'm not even advocating languages I prefer. You may not agree with me, but this is just something I experienced for the last 3 or so years - those simple problems occur over and over again.
First Puzzle, then Gun
This is a very unusual puzzle. Take a look why.
Personal experience - The author, Stephen Baxter, at a signing at the old Andromeda SF bookshop in Birmingham, UK, looked pretty sad because, despite being surrounded by fans, nobody actually wanted to approach him.

The legendary Kenny "R2D2" Baker at a convention I attended looked dreadfully alone; nobody even wanted to go up and ask for his autograph.

At the same convention there was a massive guy dressed like a Klingon warrior. He actually looked a little uncertain until I came up and regaled him with a couple of Klingon words. Then we got into some curse warfare and he was in his element. Yes, I speak Klingon as well.

I can cite many such examples, usually of some TV or movie celeb attending a convention and looking so bored, sitting there on his own. Dirk Benedict. Erik Menyuk. Michael Dorn. Many others.
Great project and a nice demonstration of Backbone.js. I second the Markdown idea. That would be very useful.
Thanks for that.

From my own experience, service mode on a lot of embedded devices typically exposes some diagnostics maybe let's you load some things you couldn't otherwise load, I assume it's the same on the PS3. I also assume this doesn't compromise Sony's ability to sign software or allow third parties to sign software, however in service mode you might not need "signed" software.

Heck, there are off the shelf solutions for this stuff, there are chips you can load a set of keys in to at manufacturing time and they contain all the crypto in the chip such that there is close to no way it could "leak" out. I'd assume IBM, Toshiba and Sony would use something like that and if they properly generate keys the only real way the "master key" could escape would be a rogue employee leaking it. They knew people would attack the platform.
After a few months of pair programming, I can only agree. At points, when my partner saw a better way of doing things, it was insightful. In the end, however, we found that it was more efficient to split up the work, merging code when necessary.
If you mean he is dying from cancer, actually no, he is now free from cancer.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/297665
I believe it was recently thrown out.
I read the Guardian as a primary news source as I have a great interest in world politics and it's the best source - their wikileaks coverage was pretty exceptional. nyt is ok but I find the layout too busy and there's rather a lot of obscure American politics that I don't care about.
I got to the point where the other person started typing when it wasn't their turn.

First, pair programming has to be between near-equals, or it just doesn't work. If one person knows a lot more than the other, most of the time is spent in training.

Second, if the other person just starts typing, it isn't really pair programming. It's what we call 'peer programming' where you peer over someone's shoulder and they do all the work.

'Peer programming' happens a lot with mis-matched skill levels.

I didn't read the rest, but I assume it's all as much a bastardization of Pair Programming as the first bit.

PP didn't fail you. Your coworkers weren't using it.
$50,000 to get somebody at MS to even look at a regression?

For $50,000 you could fix basically any bug or add a significant feature to an open source system.
> I am not trying to say that Chinese startups don't have good ideas. But why do they have to blatantly copy US startups that are successful?

Because the US startup had a good idea but made it US-only and/or English-only. It's like 20 years ago when Detroit was complaining that it didn't sell many cars in Japan, one factor (there were many others) was that Japanese drive one the left-hand-side of the road and the US car-makers didn't make right-hand-drive models.

With physical businesses (like zipcar or netflix) it's hard to build infrastructure everywhere at once but don't comlain if you ignore 6.5 billion customers ( 1 billion of whom are "rich" ) to concentrate on 310 million and somebody else decides copy you.
Andrew - I really enjoy your interviews but video content during a busy weekday is a tough proposition.

I imagine that’s true of most of your core audience.

I realize you're building your model on video the associated CPMs but I would come to your site for EVERY interview if you had a summary and takeaways posted in conjunction with the original video release.

Maybe do it "slide show" style like business insider / forbes etc with a key sponsor for each point to recover some of the premium CPM value?

The transcripts are helpful, the Jimmy Wales "edited excerpts" much more so.
It's clear from the vulnerabilities found that it is more the communities fault for not jailbreaking sooner (lack of need) than to Sony's futile attempts at protecting their console. I mean come on, using the same Random value for all ECDSA keys and signatures?
Original article on ReadWriteWeb: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/history_job_posting_for...
You digest and sign, not just digest.
No risk no glory!

Only the ones that are willing to fail repeatedly are the ones who deserve to win. What I'm trying to imply here that taking risks while maximizing your odds is also a skill.

A super hot woman (or GS executive) both appreciate confidence and candor. They don't want to be treated as "different" - to return to that hot woman - she doesn't want to be treated as special. Looking into mirror is enough to get her depressed. She wants to feel ordinary, to be appreciated for being a woman or at least not a freak.
But which of these logos are going to look bad on a full-color ad or a decent-quality t-shirt?
The key difference here is one between a message authentication code [1] and digital signature [2].

A digital signature uses public key cryptography: one person can generate and sign messages, everyone else can verify. A common one is the DSA[3] -- but there are many others, including freakishly fast elliptical curve versions.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Message_authentication_code

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_signature

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Signature_Algorithm
That might be true, but $400k is a whole lot more than breathing room.

But regardless...my point is that this doesn't help instill public trust at all — especially in a massively down economy. My worry is of the double-edged sword: if they fail with a big cash influx it's easy to point to them and say that new thinking in/around nonprofits interfacing in mainstream industry is a failure.

They were given enough capital to last beyond one year...I just hope the gamble pays off so we don't see experimentation in the space end with them.
The algorithm was asked for its side of the story, but was unavailable for comment.
> First, pair programming has to be between near-equals, or it just doesn't work.

That depends on what you think the goal of pair programming is.

> If one person knows a lot more than the other, most of the time is spent in training.

Which is part of the intended effect of pair programming. It forces everyone to share their knowledge with everyone else both about programming, and about the code base. This brings new people up to speed quicker, allows the more experience to better share their knowledge, and protects the company from having too much knowledge locked up in one individual.
Paul Allen Files Amended Patent Lawsuit; More Ridiculous Than Originally Thought
> The problem is, there's no great alternative.

Always remember, Google (by themselves) lives and dies based on original content. Google supplies very little OC (other than perhaps Google Maps). The millions and millions of sites that present themselves at the doorstep of AdSense are seeking a quick and painless way of funding themselves. These same site are providing the OC that supports AdSense (while others provide the advertising spends). Google is the switchboard between the OC and the advertisers. I see no particular impediment (other than Google's size) preventing another from entering the same type of market.
Cool, thanks. Just installed this and it works great. Do you know a good way to send SMS programmatically (as you mention)?
It really shouldn't matter to you what long term value you have to offer her. Being able to take a picture with her and put it on your Facebook albums is worth quite a bit imo.

There's no legitimate excuse not to try to associate with higher value people, you can only go up.
Optimus Smart Prime - Cache preloader for websites with XML sitemaps
Imagine the portions of the logs not released by Wired and the Washington Post include Manning discussing his sex life, opinions about other as-yet-uninvolved private individuals or active duty personnel, medical/psychological details, or cable contents even Wikileaks hasn't (and might choose not to) release. Further, that the logs aren't conclusive either way on Lamo's other statements, perhaps because the logs Wired has are only some of the Manning/Lamo communication.

Then Poulsen/Wired's selective disclosure is perfectly reasonable, and there's no journalistic obligation to play '20 questions' confirming/denying every hunch Greenwald has about the logs, or release a meticulously 'redacted' set of logs which could just set off more wild speculation about the redacted regions.

They made a call about what excerpts were newsworthy, and have stuck to it. Even if they erred around the edges, with a few other sentences having some interest to those with a compulsive interest in coloring in every detail — well, opinions vary and errors happen. It wouldn't help to trickle out new marginal details in response to Greenwald's barbs.
try /r/coding or search out more specific subreddits.
When it's JPG artifacts in an image best suited for PNG you blame the publisher.

When it's slow loading times you blame the pipes and the piper.

Me? I blame three letter acronyms.
Why I Love(d) Wave
I replaced slashdot with alterslash a long time ago...
Some context on the feedback expected would add value to the points given and received.

As an artist I can't say I'm moved by color selection, shape relation and overall story of the logo.
Is that a serious question?

Government has many special powers. Government can issue new laws. Government can put you in jail. Government can legally spy on you as long as they have a warrant.

The accountability should be proportional to acts.

If you want to execute someone, you better hold a fair trial and provide ample proof of wrongdoing.

If you create a straightforward agreement where only use of your non-essential service is at stake, you don't need accountability at all. It says right there that the agreement can be voided at any time by any party for any reason.

The size of Google has nothing to do with it. They are using the same legal framework as everyone else, big or small. If you were running a 2-person startup offering a service over internet you would be a fool to not include similar clause in your agreement with the exact same amount of accountability.

If you don't like that such agreements allow Google to act that way, that's fine, but accept that if you eliminate this possibility for Google, you eliminate it for every other business, small or big, internet-based or not and that would not be a good.

We don't want laws that treat big or small companies differently in cases like this (regardless of which one would be favored).
http://twitter.com/#!/shitmydadsays/status/4811790555
When I say 'emotional' I mean feeling emotionally compelled to take some action. Everyone feels some emotion toward sites even if it's just loving Amazon.com for having low prices. However, unlike the crowd at HN average Internet users don't even know what a browser is (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4MwTvtyrUQ) let alone how AdSense ads work. So, no, I don't think multiple average site visitors would have it pop into their brain to click loads of ads then comment and email about their actions if unsolicited.
But even if you search from the address bar you land on google, so it's just the homepage hit (that is cached anyway) that does not get counted.
True but the same could be said for Facebook and Mobile apps. 95% of the time I consume Facebook content on my iPhone these days (with the other 5% being times I just happen to consume content while I'm specifically going on to create content)
Thank you for explaining better than I was able to.
I was thirteen - my parents didn't know what a computer was good for - so i didn't got one. so i had to write my first programs onto sheets of paper (lot's of them).
i had to do lots of typing when i finally got my c64 ;-)
This seems like a common excuse I see to criticisms of pair programming. If this technique is so fragile, perhaps its just better to admit up front that it is delicate and easy to get wrong, and only works in particular situations with particular people.
According to this study, "visits to Google properties combined cover 9.85% of all site visits". Google.com makes up 7.19%, and YouTube.com makes up 2.65%, combined for a total of 9.84%.

Do the rest of the Google properties (Blogger, Orkut, etc) really only cover 0.01% of all site visits?
The Neurosis of Long Term Habit Change
I've pair programmed quite sucessfuly for several years. However, it is a very hard practice. It requires trust between people, first and foremost. Besides that, it requires knowledge that you can't do it all day. It is too intense and tiresome, and this lack of slack is bad for creative thinking. About the pride: it is like co-foundind a startup, where you build something toguether with other people (it is all yours).

Some other links:

- Dijkstra Pair Programming: http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?DijkstraPairProgramming

- Some notes on Pair Programming http://wp.me/puh71-1y

- How Pair Programming Really Works: http://bit.ly/5oOd4C

- Why I Don't Like Pair Programming (and Why I Left Pivotal): http://mwilden.blogspot.com/2009/11/why-i-dont-like-pair-pro...

- The real motivation behind pair programming: http://bit.ly/9DNurb
You claim that rules are "unfair" but don't provide a standard of fairness you're using or any evidence to support your claim.

You claim it's easy to violate the rules honestly. You do not provide any evidence for that claim.

In this particular case the guy admits to violating the rules by encouraging his visitors to click on ads. I think he was treated very fairly: his account was suspended, just like accounts of other people who do click fraud.
Thanks for the answer.

Well, I've had similar problems with others' code in other languages. (Unicode problems are hardly Perl specific. 3rd party libraries will always have different problems. '='/'==', etc.)

What you are really saying is that expressibility is bad?

Cargo cult programmers might get more problems in expressible languages. But these languages are arguably more capable tools for competent programmers. (Moose is the standard example this day -- the OO subsystem ripped out of Perl 5 and replaced with something like Perl 6/Common Lisp.)

I like Perl because of the nice, smart and laid back community -- and because Perl is fun. This makes me motivated. The main disadvantage is the learning curve. (-: Well, and the trolling from the competition... :-)
One thing that converted me from Mootools to jQuery was how much control I have over my code with jQuery. With Mootools I found myself constantly constraining myself to the design patterns the Mootools team found best. Although those design patterns aren't bad, they sometimes don't suit the most intuitive solution to a problem. jQuery on the other hand, lets you do whatever you want. You can use Mootools and jQuery at the same time (which is a killer combination if you use the "Core Builder" for Mootools).

Also, the jQuery UI package is fantastic. It is without a doubt a great way to do progressive enhancement: it uses a css framework, sprited icons, and js for the interaction in separate layers. Mootools More feels disjointed and unfocused, while the jQuery UI project feels crisp and professional. Any functionality you like in More is available as jQuery plugins, which brings me to this point:

I find it much easier to modify the code for a jQuery plugin than I do a Mootools class. I personally find it much simpler to change a few function calls than redo the structure of a class.
I could share anecdotes but don't want to get into it, and you're busy blaming the victim anyway.
??

How does the target audience (outdoor hobbyists vs software consumers) matter?

Next, Patrick did not say anything about the guy not being hard working. Nor did I find that he was taking a dump on him. (really, what kind of language is this?). He only wrote about his experience as an Adwords/AdSense advertiser.

And why are you comparing billboard and TV advertising with AdWords? As you mentioned, it is extremely hard to target and measure traditional advertising and that's one of the main reason why AdWords and AdSense have become popular and more and more business are spending money on them.

Also, I am pretty sure that no one advertisiting on AdWords/AdSense is expecting that each and every click through will convert to a customer. Let's say I advertise on Hacker News. After a month, I find that the click through rate is 7%, out of which I am able to convert 1% of those clicks. Let's say PG wants to buy Mercedes and tells HN visitors to click the ads. Suddenly click through rate jumps through the roof at 14%. As those clicks are not because someone is interested in my product, my conversion rate drop s to 0.50%. So my advertising spend doubles and I actually make less money. How is it fair to me? If I was a direct advertiser for this guy's website, I would definitely call him and ask him about this unusual behavior. I will try to figure out what's happening and if the publisher doesn't co-operate, I will stop advertising on his site. The only difference in this situation is that Google is the middle man. I think it's in interest of Google to monitor unusual spike in CTR and take some action.

All that aside, I completely disapprove of Google's current approach where there is no transparency and they are allowed to take money from the publisher without publisher having any recourse.
That's amazing (the WordArt and typography not so much). I've always held the belief that most blogs should ask themselves if their site could ever be published in book format. If it can, it should, and if it can't, it's worth reconsidering whether you should keep writing it.
See http://www.27bslash6.com/reddit.html
فوائد الشاي الاخضر
Look Ma I hit the HN front page
Recursive call.
There's a simple solution: don't engage in fraud click.
You are right that he was careless and didn't look after his own business interest by studying the contract carefully and thinking through the implications of such statements.

I don't think anyone has to "study" Google's terms for an AdSense account to know they don't want fraudulent clicks. I'm pretty sure Google tries to make that very, very clear during the account set up process. As my earlier comment notes this guy seemed to know something was wrong with openly encouraging AdSense ad clicks.
I think the examples fall into two categories:

* There's an obviously good idea, people have tried it and "proved" that it cannot be done. Then somebody ignorant of this fact goes ahead and does it anyway. A famous example of this is Spencer Silver of 3M inventing the adhesive for the Post-It notes. He is quoted to say "If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can't do this."

* There's a good idea, others have implemented it with modest success. Then somebody comes along and blows it out of the water. Best example I can think of for this is the iPod. MP3 players were common before Apple, so it wasn't a new idea. Yet, they re-invented it in so many ways. Another example is, of course, Google, going against established search portals when they came about.
Hey, the Seahawks are hosting a playoff game if they can top the Rams next week. Of course, they're still 6-9.
Don't forget that && though. Off-Topic: "Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon."

So yes, things that gratify one's intellectual curiosity. But typically if it suggests a new trend.

By way of example (of what I think not what the rules are) YOU may find articles on high frequency trading to be intellectually satisfying. The majority of HN may not. A few articles as the trend emerges will be generally interesting to the whole crowd here as an emerging trend. But after that it is probably a very specific area of interest that is much less of what we all want our front page filled with.
This has been reposted 2 or 3 times in the past week from various sources, hasn't it?
My advice would be similar: if your app needs the new features of HTML5, use it. If not, just go with XHTML for now. It's easier to convert forward than backward I'd say.
"the more attractive the girl, the lower the probability of a successful response."

If a really hot girl sends me a message on okcupid, I will probably ignore it. Why? Because 9/10 it's a spammer.
Why do people people crap like this?