skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Could the Mac App Store eliminate boxed software inventory?
Don't really like the title here, didn't change it because mods always change it back. The story in my eyes is that the US Department of Commerce has brought the proposal for mechanisms to allow national TLD censorship (not that it wouldn't be trivial to implement anyway if you could get everyone on the same network).
This has already happened in a significant way in many European cities (often fuelled by downtown destruction during or post WW2). The suburbs of St Denis, Sarcelles and Aubervilliers in Paris are good examples or the manufactured suburb of Thamesmead in London.
How is this news? Have they not heard of Betfair, which has been allowing this kind of thing since 2000?

The only thing required to make betting like a market is for the gambler to be able to take the bookie's side as well. Many bookie's use Betfair to hedge their positions in fact.

In financial markets terms, a gambler is much like a prop trader. They're betting on a particular position. That position, unlike a more traditional financial instrument, will be the outcome of a race, game, etc. But this isn't really all that different to, say, betting on oil futures.

A bookie on the other hand operates much like a spread trader. They (try to) take a neutral position and just make money on the spread as the difference in the odds between taking and making a bet is really a bid-ask spread.
I do hate when people don't even bother to read the article.

It's 1.5kb of CSS that doesn't require any javascript.
Craigslist claims of eBay's anticompetitive "fraud" still in court
Thanks for the excellent feedback.

We've tried to do everything we could to get those old VPS memory problems out of the system. In our experience, most performance problems with VPS systems are due to overselling of resources on the node level, or plans that simply are unrealistic (i.e. 64MB of RAM) not actual client limits. We're ensuring that each server has dedicated resources allotted to it. We don't oversell our systems.

We've tried to offer the best possible price for the resources, so although memory usage is not optimal for smaller systems, we have tried to offset this by offering realistic server resources for a good price.

The 32 bit issue is something we'll definitely revisit; however, there's a technical limitation with pygrub that will only run a 64 bit kernel when loaded from a 64 bit dom0.

There's two different ways we can overcome this: the same way that everyone else does -- by loading a 32 bit kernel & managing that, or by having dedicated 32 bit hardware nodes for our low memory VPSs.

Internally, either option has its own drawbacks & problems.
What we know about Apple’s iPad 2 and iPhone 5
Game Theory Series Probes Videogames’ Big Question
Ask HN: going offline for a long time?
what would you do if you were forced (say, vacation) to be offline for a month, two months, or more?
Not just offshore. I once worked as an employee at a company that was paying me $60k/year (which works out to roughly $30/hr), and billing me out at $250/hr. There was a lot of pressure to work billable overtime, too, and as salaried employees we didn't get paid for it.
Having just started to play with audio software, I was wondering why on earth everything except Ableton Live had such crazy complex UIs. This is an interesting viewpoint, thanks.

Do you think this sort of UI is still important and relevant now, in 2011?
Id say your first point is correct. I mis-wrote when I said "right". Anyone can say think or feel whatever they want.

The problem here is people are up in arms as if neo nazis ran a racist advertisement, when in reality Groupon made a commercial at Tibets expense (if you even want to say that).

The reactions to the commercial are "outrage" and "boycotting Groupon"... Do people not have anything better to do? That's the point I'm trying to get at. Sure you can "act" upset, but was anyone really truly upset at the commercial, or is it just to bring attention to themselves?
This makes sense but is not "hacker news". It should not have made it to one of the top news - it's just obvious common sense.
The field of music production does seem to be a bit of a magnet for this skeuomorphic UI business. Having people coming from physical equipment is part of it, but there is an aesthetic factor as well, which relates to the kind of people musicians tend to be.

However, there is a new generation of UIs appearing in music production software, and the German company Native-Instruments seems to be playing a big part in it. To contrast with the example of Ultrabeat from the article, consider NI's drum sampler 'Battery'[1] which arranges the same controls (plus some more) in a much more visually approachable manner, using strong, clean lines, and tabs to navigate between less-used controls.

Similarly consider their synth 'Massive'[2], which also employs clean lines and visual simplicity, and employs a system of colour-coding and numbering to achieve what Reason does with it's cable spaghetti approach.

Also, I find the Windows 7 Phone UI to be really bland. It is about as far as you can go in the opposite direction from a UI which has some sense of real-world objects and forms, and I think somewhere in the middle would be more desirable.

[1] http://alex.leonard.ie/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/native-ins...

[2] http://static.kvraudio.com/i/b/massive.jpg
omg. How can the same mind who writes and deliveres such a rambling, unfocused talk also produce a useful task manager?

Atlassian might want to pay attention to this, but I think 37 signals is safe from any real competition.
Under Bush and continuing under Obama we have a program of "extraordinary rendition" where we send detainees to be tortured. The new VP of Egypt, Omar Suleiman, whom we are backing as an "acceptable" transition leader, has been the head of the Egyptian side of this torture program.
So the poorest parents in the whole school have a huge incentive to get their kid kicked out of the school for disciplinary problems, especially if they are a minority and can sue for a big settlement. Some people perceive that their most valuable commodity is to be damaged, such that they can sue for it.

In a poorer minority neighborhood near where I used to live I remember reading a report about a super market closing down a few years back -- when times were relatively good. They cited shoplifting and numerous slip and fall lawsuits against them as reasons for shutting.
What this is about:

Some years ago, eBay bought a large minority stake in Craigslist from a disgruntled shareholder. With this, they got a board seat, and access to all sorts of Craigslist confidential data. While eBay was supposed to restrict access to this stuff to the small group which was set up to manage the Craigslist holding, they seem to have spread it all over, and particularly with the team trying to set up a Craigslist competitor, Kijiji.

State of play in this lawsuit (brief, oversimplified version):

eBay: "The agreements clearly allowed us to compete with Craigslist. So they have no cause for complaint, and we move that the case be dismissed."

Craigslist: "Say what? They said we could compete, but they also said you couldn't share our confidential data and plans with the group that was doing it."

The judge: "Yeah. Say what? Motion denied."
CMU as well. Same class year as you guys but I was MechE.

I also adore CMU because of it's absolute fundamentals teaching that allowed me to teach myself web development in such a short amount of time after leaving nuclear engineering.

The one thing CMU taught me was how to work and learn anything. That's what I do and being a startup guy was a good fit for completely unrelated reasons (mainly my problems with authority).

In my undergrad course load, I had very little time to work on the projects I already had, let alone starting something cool on my own. However, that course load was so much tougher then normal employment life, that once I graduated, I could learn so much more while being very underemployed. This underemployment led me to the one place where I could learn everyday and solve cool problems => startups
Why It is Nearly Impossible to Tickle Yourself
No, I got the same message. Probably didn't realize it was a premium article when the submitter submitted it.
If it were for vacation, say I'm backpacking through Europe with a couple friends for a month or more, I could(and willingly would) handle it.
Chicago based Excelerate 2011 accelerator is accepting applications
Ken Olsen, Founder of DEC, Dies at 84
making absolutely no judgment calls on any of the situations, there are definitely a few cases of hasty generalization fallacy in the OP.
Just got back from a kickoff event and it is going to be an amazing year. Feel free to ping me (harper@nata2.org) or @harper if you want more info.
Totally - maybe a good transition would be NerdCore rap.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerdcore_hip_hop
Given the age survey posted a little while ago, most HN members have no particular reason to note this. But for me, one by one the pioneers that pulled me into the world of computers are dying--- I will miss them.
Science Guy Bill Nye Explains Why Evolution Belongs in Science Education
Anyone need a free web design?
Hey guys,

I'm currently working on an idea which would offer web designs for a really cheap price (not unlike the $5 logo site). I'm looking specifically to offer this service to startups, and I need to do a bit of testing.

I'm looking for about 5 or so startups who need a web design and since this is a test I'm willing to offer it for free. So if you are interested, email hackerhomepages@gmail.com or leave your contact information in the comments and I'll reach out to you asap. Redesigns are totally fine.

Thanks!
HackerHomepages
Surviving the zombie apocalypse: Ars talks with Undead Labs' Jeff Strain
Use your product daily
Uh, it seems like an obvious thing to say – but if you’re building products, then you really should be using your product daily.

“Well, we’ve done usability testing and customers really like all the functionality.”, you say.

“But what about you, do you like the functionality, do you use your product daily?”, I ask.

I really hope that your answer isn’t something like, ”Huh, me? Why, I don’t use the product, I just build it!!”
Solving problems, together
To add to your post I attended a school based on the summer hill philosophy and one of the reasons all the students went to class was because the whole school set up the timetable democratically at the start of each semester.

This led to some interesting subjects like yoga and womans rights but it also provided subjects of interest to nearly all the students so there was more desire to attend and learn.

An additional bonus of this kind of system is that often subjects like computer games development require some grounding in maths which makes these kinds of abstract subjects more desirable.

It was also clear that these core subjects are requirements for further education so there was always enough desire from people wishing to attend university to keep the core subjects going.
"Back" to some random place most of the time.

1. receive email notification for two messages.

2. click notification bar

3. go to gmail app.

4. open first message and click a link.

5. you are now in the browser. (clicking back will close the window, but you want to read it later!)

6. you long press HOME button (hoping to select gmail and read the other message)

7. gmail is not in the open app list (WTH?!)\

8. you curse, click home, find the gmail app, click it.

9. now you are on the message with the link

10. press BACK

11. now you are on the message list (aha! not you home screen you came from!)

12. click the 2nd message and read it

(edit: how do you make new lines without being forced to make paragraphs?)
Wow, very virtuous of you. I've always wanted to have a better technical experience and perspective which would be complimentary to my Product Management role. The challenge is finding the time - I'm currently in an early stage startup atm. :)
Unfortunately, places like these still exist.

Read 'The Corner' by David Simon (creator of The Wire and Treme) if you're interested in a more modern take on the ghetto.

Take home message: the war on drugs in its current form is not working and the side effects are places like this, completely cut off from normal society, almost completely out of reach outside of an economic revival (like happened in Harlem).
DEC founder Kenneth Olsen mourned by computer industry
This is truly excellent. You have a lot to be proud of here. Please don't get discouraged, I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product.
The best part is the link to captology at the end. I especially like this video. (I replace "simple" with "easy", because I think it's a better description of what he's talking about.)

http://vimeo.com/2094487

The difficulty/easiness of an action has six components: time, money, physical effort, brain cycles, social deviance, and non-routine.

Thus, the overall difficulty/easiness of an action depends on the resource profile of the person performing that action. That profile varies wildly from person to person, as well as according to context. Awareness of your own resource profile is important for self-control, and awareness of other people's resource profiles is important for persuasion.

The captology site also discusses using triggers to tilt the odds in your favor. The most effective variety of trigger depends on both difficulty and motivation level.

http://captology.stanford.edu/projects/behaviordesign.html
Having the same experience with non-technical content and a crowd of journalists as the grandparent poster, i also not trhilled with those.

but i saw a couple on youtube when they were featured, and i must say they were at best introductions to their platforms than anything else.
I would guess the average passenger airplane flight has 50-100 cellphones on throughout the entire flight.

If cell phone interference crashed planes, no plane would make it off the ground. I doubt there has been a passenger flight in the last ten years that took off without at least one cell phone operating in the cabin.
Cancel at any time -- it's all automated in the control panel; however, there are no refunds for the unused balance. :(
The Downsides of Being Your Own Boss
I'm pretty sure this _is_ actually a point of law. Being released via Wikileaks (or similar) does not change the classification of the information released.
I'm working on the next version of my payment system at http://ripplepay.com. Need a design. ryan@ripplepay.com. Thanks!
I once read this incredible book about a white whale. The logic totally didn't stand up to scrutiny...
I see the argument but honestly, I'm not buying it. It's a valiant attempt to portray this information (a differential) through animation, but it's too noisy and chaotic, particularly when more than a few of the items need to reposition themselves. It looks nice but at least from the demos on that page I don't feel like it's really helping increase the information density of the data being presented.

At the end of the day, I think it's polish that for almost all cases the user will be better served if the animation were to be turned off since it is a waste of time. It is very cool though!
But it is also worth pointing out that data != information. The human eye captures more data than a fly eye, but both we and the flies manage to get the same information out (i.e. avoid predators, find food, shelter, mates, etc.) and both survive.
Love that this article tackled the downsides of being your own boss - so many articles focus on the positives (managing your own hours, etc) that it's nice to see a fresh perspective
Why do you care about that? Unless you're actively trying to have a child?
"My solution? Make attendance voluntary by abolishing truancy laws."

I agree with you in theory, but in practice this doesn't seem to work out so well. Look, for example, at the chapter in Dan Ariely's book Predictably Irrational: about prebinding commitments and universities. In one experiment, he (and his co-authors) took a group of similar classes and divided them in threes: one group was told that it could turn in three papers whenever each member wanted; another group was told it could pick due dates; and the third group was given conventional due dates spaced over the course of the semester. The last group did the best, gradwise; the second did reasonably well too, since most students picked conventional due dates; and the first did by far the worst.

The lesson: people are often bad at committing to things.

I've observed the same effect teaching freshman composition at the University of Arizona. I used to conduct many more experiments by ranging the number of mandatory drafts: sometimes I'd require as few as one, and sometimes as many as five. The more drafts, the better papers tended to be. Even when I only required one, I would tell students they should do at least four to five on their own, with editing from other students, the writing center, etc. Few did. They (mostly) got bad grades and then resented me for it. Solution: require more drafts.

EDITED TO ADD: I would also say that it's relatively easy to advocate no truancy laws on Hacker News (and don't such laws only apply up to 16?); if you were actually a school principal or district superintendent who did, you would probably be fired or voted out of office if such a policy were implemented and you or your community had to face the consequences of it.
Turning the iPhone off is a pain. You have to hold down the button and wait for a while, then select the Power Off button. Turning it back on takes a while too. It's certainly possible that most people don't even know how to do this. Airplane mode is the obvious choice as it's faster to both enable and disable.
OMFG, this is amazing. And they're from Illinois. Someone in Chicago please fund them before they run off to the Valley.
I found it interesting that REAKTOR 5.5[1] and Sonar X1[2] are both upgrades that both tout an improved UI. Maybe a turning point has been reached? (After using Ableton, I can't imaging using the crazy "gear" UIs.)

[1] http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/producer/rea...
[2] http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/X1-overview.aspx
U.S. Mood Throughout the Day inferred from Twitter
Hmm..interesting. I am sick of hipster hype anyway. When are you guys launching? Any dates? I will try your iphone app in the meanwhile. Good luck!
Abeltons UI is very clean and seems to be a good balance between power and readability. It seems that the trend is to clean things up though. Sonar X1 looks like a step in that direction, logic and Cubase seem to be trending that way as well.

I have some experience with real hardware, so I can understand the desire to emulate the look of a real device if you are trying to sound like it. I have also always been hopeful about the "future" of music apps and that maybe we should start moving forward more than looking towards the past.

Part of the problem is the fact that until recently much of the "vintage" gear was unattainable to the masses. Now that we can create 90-95% identical digital copies we seem to want to focus on recreating all the gear we couldn't afford. As for the new gear, we seem to have forgotten that we should create things that sound good, not something infinitely flexible.

Most importantly, I think the biggest problem with audio software is that features are emphasized over robustness. I wish that all of the vendors would step back and just spend 3-5 cycles making their apps stable.
It's very hard for a software vendor/author to actually gauge how good their products are unless they charge money for them. Free software distorts the normal feedback mechanism of the marketplace, which is getting someone to part with their hard-earned money. So, people use free software products (not all, but many) primarily because they're "good enough", given that they are free. This leads the software vendor/author to assume that their existing users will gladly pay money for the software, but sadly, this is often not the case. Once you start to charge money for something, "good enough" is no longer "good enough", and the conversion rate is very low.
worst link you could use.

here's the ifixit teardown

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPhone-4-Verizon-Teardown/469...
How I wish that were true! Most people, young and old, really don't care at all.
More like a human shield.
A how-to guide for creating a Linked Data site
I'm not sure why you're addressing that to me.

You said it was a political movement that you supported. It's entirely reasonable to ask you what that movement stands for.

(Hint: The reason you're finding that a difficult question is that Anonymous is not a political movement and you're just projecting your own beliefs onto it whenever it happens to do something you think is good.)
Probably true, but the money to be made is probably less than what can be made by catering to the 80% of people who buy supermarket tabloids and are influenced enough by the ads therein to drive the ad supported economy...
Some of America's richest people were born to nothing (Gates

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates#Early_life

- His father was a prominent lawyer

- His mother served on the board of directors of a bank and the United Way

- he attended an exclusive prep school
Looks like Quora + geolocation to me. That itself is pretty sweet.
I work in a lab and also code. I was just thinking about implementing a prototype site with this functionality this week. I have coded for a while but have no coding resume, so I don't know if I qualify for your position. But here are a couple of ideas I had, if you'd like them:

- Create protocol versioning backed by something like Git - changes made to protocols are tracked according to the user, and it should be simple to refer to any version of the protocol (which will usually be versioned with words instead of numbers)

- Allow users to upload raw protocols and attempt to parse them for the key sections - maybe have an assisted parsing, where the user can edit the final interpretation

- Make elements as semantic as possible (for example, catalog numbers, repeatable steps, timepoints, notes/advisories)

- Have protocols that are "certified" as being proofread or accepted by multiple, reliable sources or contributors - especially protocols describing reagent recipes

- Make protocols as abstract as possible such that you can change variables (volumes, number of reads, timing) at the top of the protocol, and the rest of the protocol changes accordingly

- Allow a rough graphing option of active/inactive time during the protocol, so that the experimenter can generally gauge how to manage his time

- Allow automatic creation of flow charts if protocol is formatted correctly

I have loads of experience with the pain points of protocols in science, so I'd love to see a good, standard solution emerge in this space.
Few things that I know & like (they are rather heavy but deep):

F. Cucker and S. Smale. On The Mathematical Foundations of Learning. Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, 2002.

Sutton & McAllum : Conditional random fields for relational learning

Pieter Abiel: apprenticeship learning with a helicopter (inverse reinforcement learning)

You can also add the paper of the team that won the Netflix challenge (collaborative filtering), and something about non-parametric learning (dirichlet processes etc.)

Also check out Lasso regularization (L1 norm) for sparse feature selection.
Find Your Engineering Dream Job
Of course not, it'd block the tubes!
Get the website out guys. I don't have an iPhone. Stuck with Sprint. Read about Loqly on techcrunch the other day. I have submitted my email address and waiting patiently.
Unleash the Power of the Nap
Even though that Digital Equipment Corporation is before my time I have read up on the history of computers (New hackers dictionary and various other sources) and I can recognize the importance of this pioneer.