skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
The UI sucks (ugly, inconsistent).

Relative to iOS there is a much, much higher ratio of shitty apps to killer apps.

It is too customizable in that non-technical users have a hard time with many features (my girlfriend had no idea how to install, setup or in any way manage widgets, and she is by no means whatsoever computer stupid.). The install procedure for NoLED is a great example of Android's failure to be 'good software' IMO.

The devices are various and the vast majority are poorly designed. Battery life, shitty button placement, etc. Yes this is not a software issue but Google allows the software to be licensed to shitty hardware, so they are ultimately culpable.

Android allows vendors to include their own forced, uninstallalble software. This is complete bullshit.

You are able to install apps that just don't work due to a lack of curation, fragmentation of hardware, and multiple, conflicting app stores.

Also, i would argue that your comment is more flame bait than mine was.
My market is private tennis clubs.

I am currently offering a free, no obligation 1 month trial with no long-term contract. Each customer has their own domain name and I customize each site to match their existing website's look and feel.

I show them testimonials from current customers, examples of how much time can be saved by moving from old systems (usually paper or an Excel spreadsheet) as well as dollar translations from time saved.

Once a customer signs up for the trial and begins using my system, they have already made the decision to keep it for years. The hardest part is having them make the jump, and the price keeps on showing up as the only obstacle. I've tried determining if it is a "fake no" and they have other reasons, but so far that honestly seems to be the only reason.

When you say way, way less, what would you expect for CPM? From reading around, a highly targeted audience (in my case, I know exactly what sort of income bracket, age, etc.) would have higher CPMs, up to $35. If I saw $5 CPMs I would be around $350, so I would need 3.5x the number of customers. I just don't know if $5 is even a number I would be close to reaching with my audience.

$50 a month should be a non-issue for my customers, even non-profit, member-owned ones.
انفجار سيارة مفخخة أمام كنيسة القديسين بالإسكندرية
Actually sold - http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/03/samsung-sells-one-million...
I would agree that the iPad is essentially a giant iPod touch. Owning both an iPhone and an iPad, i see this as a massive compliment.

I disagree that you can't compare an iPad to a Galaxy Tab. Of course you can. They are both tablets. If Android 'isn't ready' ready for tablets then they shouldn't be selling them. But they are. Which means you can make comparisons and draw conclusions about iOS vs Android in regards to tablets.
Chat site
tl;dr Guy receives a CR48 with windows 7. Contacts google/google groups. No one has any real answer how this could have happened. Google product guy sends him an email with RMA details. Participant complies. But before sending it back he dumps the BIOS out. Some one from chromeOS forums successfully flashed their BIOS with this one. So this works.

I fully understand that one should use these CR 48 laptops for what they are intended to be for. That is testing purposes.

ChromeOS forums: http://www.chromeoslounge.com/cr-48-chrome-notebook/607-wind...

Youtube link: www.youtube.com/?v=sy9JzYTP4xc

Right now google uses Verified Boot, meaning that only Google-signed images will be bootable. More info on this process here. http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/chromiumos-design-docs/v...

CR48 doesnt have a regular bootloader like grub or lilo. Some more info on CR48 BIOS from their site. https://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/dev/chromium-os/deve...

initrd is typically handled by the bootloader, which reads the specified image from the disk into RAM and passes the address to the kernel as it's invoked.

The Chrome OS BIOS is a modified EFI BIOS. The bootstub is a standard EFI Application, but it's embedded in the kernel image in a dedicated partition type, rather than accessible through a FAT filesystem. To decrease boot time, the BIOS does not discover or pass the standard disk drive handles to the bootstub, so the bootstub doesn't know anything about disks or filesystems. There is also no Compatibility Support Module in the BIOS. In theory elilo or grub2 could replace the bootstub, but they would have to reimplement some of the device discovery functions normally done by an EFI BIOS.

If you want to take this on, go for it. That would let us create a kernel partition that just contained an EFI bootloader, which could then chain-boot to external USB drives, etc. That might be kind of cool.
Even with an arbitrarily fast internet connection, I can read a lot faster than anybody talks.
So, he's been coding since he was 15? So that's what, -3 years, cause he definitely looks about 12 in that picture.
RIP and thanks http://i.imgur.com/I6lTy.jpg
The thing is not many people care about how smoothly their lists scroll unless it actively hampers what they are doing. The people who care are mostly the paranoid ones - I know several people who use Android phone (one an $29 Optimus) and I bet you they will have a puzzled face if you told them anything about list scrolling! Good enough is good to go for them.
Charlie Stross: Reasons to be Cheerful
What's the law school problem? I'm not familiar with it. This link breaks the groupings down into more distinct pieces: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_271.asp
Technically yes, but they were all considered failures. I recall that before it became clear what Apple was making (somewhere late 2009), there was a lot of speculation along the lines of, "well it can't possibly be a tablet PC, because nobody has ever had success with that".
That would have been enough. I neither own a TV nor live in the USA (where I imagine he's more well-known?), and while I do spend the greater part of my life on the internet, I had never come across his name before.

Thanks for clearing that up. =]
I'm working for a German based non-profit on a project called spenden.de (roughly translates to donate.com). We are planning to do something inbetween www.guidestar.org an www.charitynavigator.org (the regulatory framework in Germany is much different therefore the comparison is very rough). Currently there is only a placeholder on the main page but you can find our prototype at http://beta.spenden.de. The new site is developed in RoR.

We are thinking about making the code available as open source and are able to provide donation receipts but the latter would probably only help you if you fill your taxes in Germany.

Currently we are relying on freelancers which are doing a great job and don't charge their usual rate but since our budget is extremely limited we could move much faster with some extra help.

I even started to teach myself some programming but might never be able to contribute significantly to the project (codewise).

If this sound at all interesting to anyone please let me know. I have very good experience with people working from abroad so at least that shouldn't be an issue. Besides actually code contribution a mentor helping me to improve my RoR skills would also be very appreciated (I'm currently at chapter 4 of railstutorial.org but without any prior programming knowledge this might be a long journey... ).
I think the issue is that for me, the edges are what make or break it. I can't stand one little thing that bugs me every time I use it (for example, the iOS monstrosity of a notification system).

I'm sure Google can make polished and smooth experiences -- just look at Chrome for a great example -- they just haven't done so yet with Android. (Another issue is the embarrassing lack of actual upgrades (likely due to the sheer number of devices) on Android: any improvements won't help if I'm locked into a 2-year contract on a device they won't update.)
I know many more people who have Kindles or iPads and nobody who own a Nook or a Tab... I live in the SF Bay Area but still, it's an oddly different market where you are... where are you?
Almost every single Facebook comment and status update made in the past two years has been from an iPhone or iPad. Every comment made in this thread has been from my iPad.

Almost all of my email is sent from my iPad, and I write a lot of email. I send vastly more email from iOS than OSX/XP/W7. I use all four operating systems between my personal and work machines, and prefer iOS for almost all tasks.

Touchscreen typing is weird at first, but, just like using a physical keyboard you start slow and eventually become proficient and comfortable.
3D ChemDoodle web components (using WebGL)
Funny, I spend the majority of my time on the couch using an iPad (and happily tapping away on my lap, if I have to use the keyboard, which I usually don't).
I'm not sure how you got this out of what I said. But I'll trust you're just having a bad day.

1) Me not being an all-star programmer, and also not having an interest in pursuing a career in software development doesn't have anything to do with my question. I simply added it in to let people know why I feel I'm unable to continue to pursue some ideas on my own.

2) Clearly I already feel that me getting discouraged is a detriment, or I wouldn't be here looking for help in the first place. But when you're a relatively new programmer and you're trying to express your grand idea's, it's easy to get frustrated when you don't have the skills or knowledge to get it done. I've read countless posts, articles, and interviews where people have run into the same feelings. I know I'm not alone, but I do applaud you for fully following through with every idea you've had if that's the case.

3) Without knowing any of my idea's, I find it rather ignorant that you assume I'm looking for somebody do do all the work for me. Not only are you unaware of the idea's or whats required to make them succeed, but I never once mentioned that I was looking for _free_ help, just that I'm looking for somebody that I can trust and discuss my idea's with

You appear to be a new member (newer than myself even), but I'd take a look around and read more comments. HN is a great community and everybody's very supportive of one another. Instead of taking the first opportunity that presents itself to prove your arrogance, I suggest you take a deep breath and try to offer more constructive advice instead of attempting to ridicule and criticize for no reason.

Happy New Years :)
Techcrunch Report Of Space Jam Page
"""Marco Arment, John Gruber and company are so obnoxiously biased against anything that is not Apple that it isn't worth clicking on any links pointing to their sites. It's deja vu all the times if you do - no one can compete with Apple, everyone other than Apple is doomed. Ad-nauseum. """

I know how you feel.

And the most annoying thing is how they always come out right: first the renaissance of Apple and the Mac, the iPod, then iTunes, then the iPhone, then the App Store now the iPad.

All of these getting great sales, redefining industry, and gathering higher market share, while tens of competitors sink or at best manage to offer knock-offs a couple of years later.

Why don't Gruber and company write more like enlightened pundits like Paul Thurrot, Rob Enderle and John Dvorak?
That "crosh" shell is actually extremely limited, only allowing a handful of basic commands. (ssh, ping, traceroute, top, a couple of other misc utilities -- but no text editor.)

You still need to enable developer mode to get to a "traditional" linux shell:
http://www.chromium.org/poking-around-your-chrome-os-device
I think you are right for about 30% of the population -- those who manage the society, even if they don't own it. We (I am a member of the 30%, luckily) get to build organizations, create processes, develop stuff; even if we are doing it for a paycheck and our employers own our patents, it is still fun. However, for the 70% that work as cogs in the machine, capitalism sucks -- but then so did feudalism or state industrialism like the USSR.

The 70% who are cogs in the US generally don't know they have any options, though they do (let me give a hint -- start at community college....). If they all figured it out at once, there would be chaos as all the forklift drivers, fry cooks, and widget assemblers would say (basically) "fuck that" and walk away.
Creating a market equals popularizing it.

A market of 10 people is not much of a market at all.
If you're willing to give a slightly larger commitment, try Code for America: http://codeforamerica.org.
The problem with this, is that the random bytes in one iteration of the loop might be closer to the page than the next iteration, so there would be reverse progress in that instance. This entry would be disqualified.
The link seems broken, it didn't get me where I wanted.
http://www.goincase.com/ipad/
Bandwidth deals? :)
Actually, that's 93%.
I didn't say infallible. I said efficient.

There are certain things markets are not efficient or even particularly good at.

I also don't think deliberately misunderstanding and demonizing it, then applying foolish and poorly-thought-out first-order-thinking-based controls are a good idea either

Agreed. We probably need a better understanding of meta-markets.
Anyone interested in this topic should also check out "Nature's Numbers" by Ian Stewart (ISBN 9780465072736).
One missed in that article is chrome://system which brings up a bunch of hardware-related data. (For example, cpuinfo output. If you're wondering: Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N455 @ 1.66GHz.)

As other commenters have mentioned, a bunch of those work well in the Chrome Browser, too. (I'm on dev channel, 10.0.612.3)
Good lord, that's not what that expression means.

It means don't argue about unimportant things. If your spouse wants something that you don't have a strong opinion about then roll with it. Don't sweat the small stuff.

If you're keeping your pickup skills sharp, you haven't really gotten married, you just did some mock ceremony and happen to be living together.
I've never played with another Android device to compare, but I think that the Nook is actually somewhere in-between.

From what I can tell, the Nook runs a customized version of Android. The most important customizations are the home screen (the desktop that can only show Nook books purchased from BN), the overall UI, and the fact that you can't install apps on it without rooting it.
+1 for soekris (I have a 5501 sitting on the counter with me right now, one of 5 that I own [I use them as both VPN endpoints, and firewalls at work]).

I remember when I got my first one and had a problem with it. I literally just called the company and heard "Hello, Soekris engineering...oh, hold on, let me get one of the engineers for you."

Absolutely worth the money. Awesome in every single way (and they look badass too :-D).
I think a $199 wifi iPad 1 is a few months away. The user experience on such a device will knock the socks off a similarly priced net book.

I believe you're right about the desktop in the office though. The fact that XP is still commonplace in offices goes to show the staying power of the form factor in that setting. I mean, the design of most cubicle farms alone is more suited for desktops than tablets.
LittleBigPlanet 2 Beta simulates Windows XP
Harsh! I didn't read it like that at all:

- admits to "not being very good" -> modesty; I would much rather see this than someone who thinks they're a hotshot programmer;

- is into web programming, not for the money, but because he has an actual interest in it -> motivation;

- enjoys challenges and the thought process -> more positive qualities in a developer.
Yep - Microsoft has closed shop, Android is not selling at all, Amazon hasn't continued to gain more music selling share, no one is buying Kindles as there is the iPad. And Adobe was going to be in serious trouble too - http://mosspuppet.com/2010/12/21/clearly-adobes-in-real-trou... . I get it yes - for my non-reasoned definition of right I can be always right. Doesn't mean much though.

Oh yeah and market share is not the success criteria - I know that as well. What I "feel" is the criteria.
> I still think it's fairly readable. Compare it to the readability-required status of even big-name content pushers like the Chicago-Sun Times. My site is an order of magnitude easier to read, even if their body font is a bit easier in block form.

I agree. But I don't think comparing your site to a horribly formatted, but established, site is a good argument. IMO the font is not good for reading even if your site is the most accessible site in the whole world. At the end of the day I think it boils down to whether I have to squint and get distracted by the flow in order to read the content.

Also when there are more than one person complaining about the font (and others who have not complained but upvoted the complaining comments) its something to think about. They might not be necessarily right just because its a relatively popular opinion, but they might be in to something.

Such a well written post deserves a better font. IMO.
There's an infinite ratio between the killer apps that Android has on its system that Apple doesn't let into its walled garden App Store because it would compete with some included software.

Long-presses are a key interactive element of the Android system. The fact that your girlfriend didn't know about it is no more the fault of Google than Apple's for people who don't know that you can swipe with multiple fingers as actions on iOS.

You're locked into one device. You can't have a physical keyboard with it, you can't use it on any other carrier, it has the same battery life as Android phones, which ends up becoming worse battery life since you can't carry an extra around with you on long trips. There's no cheaper models either. If you're outside of the US you basically have to dump an entire paycheck or two in order to purchase one.

You're forced to spend thousands of dollars on more Mac equipment if you want to develop for iOS. You're forced to use iTunes to sync to it. You're forced to continue to pay Apple a subscription if you want your app to still be available for sale. Developers can sink tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment and employee time into developing an app that will just end up being rejected from the App Store. This is complete bullshit.

There is no real notification system. An alert box that you have to immediately react to is horrible UI design. You can't glance to see notifications in summary, and theres no indication that an app needs your attention after the initial alert box unless you happen to browse to its shortcut. And even then the quantity badge does nothing to inform you of what kind of notification it is. It lumps everything into a vague, undefinable number that could mean any combination of things.

There's no ecosystem nurturing inter-app communication, which is a nasty bi-product of their half-baked multi-tasking implementation. On Android apps can hook into actions menus that are used by other apps. I can attach media from other apps or send data to be used or edited by another app instantly. This doesn't exist on iOS at all.

I can keep going if you'd like. Or you can admit that both products are good on their own merit and at this point it's just a matter of nitpicking and personal taste.
I try not to conflate my personal experience with Android to the world at large, but after owning two Android phones, I can't imagine ever buying another one (where "ever" is defined as the next few years).

The first (a MyTouch 3G) was mediocre software marred by lackluster and underperforming hardware.

The second (the T-Mobile version of the Galaxy S) was fairly nice hardware marred by really shitty software (I blame the completely non-functional GPS on the software, as Samsung alleges that it can fix it with a software update).

From my perspective, there is one thing Android does better than iOS (notifications), a bunch of things that are approximately equal, and a bunch of things that are terrible.
Obvious Software Trends for 2011
Not sure if it's still as good as it was in the early 2000s, but http://www.idealist.org is a wonderful directory of NPO and NGO volunteer opportunities.
Happy New Year Hacker News, what are your plans for 2011?
I'm curious what you're planning on doing in the next year, my plans are to (1) get a reprap and make some stuff with it and (2) to move to a place that is a bit more in touch with humanity.

What are you going to do?
I trust Google and Microsoft enough for the benefits I get in return (faster loading clients). Sure they can screw me over but not too badly. Worth the risk for some applications.
Shades of Ian Dury :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reasons_to_be_Cheerful,_Part_3
Removing the abstraction of a pointing device and interacting directly with the GUI is a big deal. If you watch most people use a computer they spend the vast majority of their time tracking a pointing device and occasionally typing some text. Laptops are designed around the idea that most users are going to spend the vast majority of their time entering text and occasionally using a pointing device to track on-screen. Of course for some people this is perfectly appropriate because they do spend the vast majority of their time entering text.
i'm gonna develop a facebook application that focuses on user engagement through positive reinforcement, get rich and buy a Porsche. And quit smoking.
Im a social entrepreneur who just started volunteering my programming skills to various non profits. Im working on probably about 5 projects right and could certainly use your help. Plus im looking to connect with other volunteer programmers as well to establish a group of some kind to talk about issues and projects we can build to deal with them. Whats a contact for you?
One of the most interesting thing about TechStars to me is that Jared Polis was a co-founder. He is one of the sharpest politicians in office today, in my opinion, and the first openly gay congressman to even be elected.

http://www.techstars.org/mentors/jpolis/

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/24693...
caution. prudence. applying the wisdom that you want to have as few moving parts as possible to reduce complications. not fear.

i don't play with dynamite because the upside doesn't interest me and the downside bites hard. same for playing on highways, jumping out of planes, juggling swords, etc. is it possible to do all these things and come out undamaged/unhurt/unhassled? sure. but there are alernatives available to me that have similar upsides or better, with less downside. YMMV
Sorry but why would you want to use drupal. Its a very limiting piece of software that is non scalable and non customizable. Why dont you create something custom that allows the site to be flexible. Im working on moving some non profits i deal with off drupal and joomla as well since both are crap.
Yeah, that was what I did when I didn't know anything about programming, too.

The next step is to learn why web scraping is discouraged, and how to use public APIs instead.
I had to stackoverflow a lot of it so I claim no credit but thanks anyway :) BTW, what do you mean by idiomatic code? UPDATE Ok quick google for idiomatic code. Gotcha. I wonder what non-idiomatic code for c# looks like?
Wow. The site this link takes one to is perhaps the most annoying website I've seen all month. Possibly all year.
Another way to think about it is when you do something all the time it becomes a second nature. You don't always have to ponder hard on every decision you make, some decision becomes default choice.

I don't know about minimalists not having a sense of humor (actually first time I heard this) but I agree you are less likely to do things just for shitz and giggles; but I don't know if thats such a bad thing. Some people just don't enjoy doing things for shitz and giggles. I guess it boils down to personal taste and preference?