skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I hate the patent system as much as the next guy, but given what the patent system is meant to do, is there a way to distinguish between patent trolls and legitimate R&D firms that invest in technology and license the resulting patents, but don't actually productize themselves?
What's with the sudden surge of Boston tech scene cheerleading articles on HN? I'm new to Cambridge (just moved here a few months ago), and so far have nothing but love for the area (even compared to 8 years in Bay Area). But it's starting to feel like there is ugly duckling syndrome in the air.

Winter's almost over. Hold it together people. We're almost there.

j/k
I read a paper on the subject of transactional memory years ago that was presented at OOPSLA in 2007 (I think). It was pitching the idea that there is an analogy between transactional memory and garbage collection. It made the topic more understandable for me and might be helpful:

http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/djg/papers/analogy_oopsla...

I think this is an interesting explanation. The software product my company makes depends on a multi-threaded program which to date has had only one bug related to the fact it is a multi-threaded application. That bug was very serious mind you but it's the only one we've found (so far).
Until you've been fighting the good fight for years you haven't even tried to win. Winners are decided over years.
Totally agree - we think we have the better product and we have loads of ideas as to how make the site better. We eventually want to change the way people date online
That's not including all of the Android-powered Nooks out there,

I like the look of those.

those cheap $100 Androids you can buy at Walgreens or Amazon

Those aren't doing Android any favors.

and even Windows-powered Tablet PCs (which are mentioned two bullet points above!).

Have one of those. While it is great that I can use any Windows software I want on it, I only use the iPad nowadays. It's just more comfortable to use. Not sure they're the same category as the iPad.
"Quality, will often win out, if you have the better app."

Well said. Build a better app. Market the hell out of it. Prepare for war.
JS.Class 3.0 Released
Never Go Skiing Without Your Jetpack
I've been wrestling with the idea of using contentEditable in my project for a while now. On one hand it's a great way to let users edit text, very friendly. On the other hand, you'll need a javascript toolbar, and you're limited to things that are expressible as HTML.
Disagree, although it was wrong for Job's to misquote Samsung.
Regardless, just because Samsung's tablet sales are "smooth" rather than "small" that doesn't mean that it's selling particularly well. It's not. Nor is the Xoom.
I mean c'mon, honestly how many people do you know who own a Galaxy tab or a Xoom? Or anyone who is even really looking forward to buying one?
And now how many people do you know who own an iPad or plan to purchase one?
Exactly.

Jobs didn't even need to waste his time attacking his competitors. To be honest I, like most people out there probably, never even heard of the Samsung quote until he brought it up, so he may have even given them more credibility now.

And the smart phone game isn't over. Nobody I know who live in other countries wants an Android phone. They want an iPhone. But a lot of people can't afford it.
Trust me that will change too.
I'm not a huge BB user. I use an iPhone. But one of its better features was BBM.

It was installed on every BB out of the box. No signing in, or having to worry about launching the app or whatnot. You simply gave someone your PIN or email address and boom! connected. Truly "zero config".

I had a BB for a short while because most of my friends at the time had a BB, and it was "free" unlike SMS. Then they all moved to iPhones and the point was moot.

I'm not saying its viable now, but at one time, BBM was a very slick product. I wish Apple would do something similar with the iPhone (something slicker than FaceTime, but with a text chat option).
Are you really suggesting that the majority of people who have not coded have no shot at becoming a great programmer? What if they're 5 years old?

Then what's the difference between being 5 and being 20?

Seems very elitist to eliminate people based on the fact that they simply haven't been exposed to a field.
I read something recently by a blind guy who said that sometimes he perceived some amount of light in his dreams. This was because his blindness is not complete blindness. There are varying degrees of it. In his case, he could detect some light changes.
Defining the genre is all well and good, until someone else re-defines it out from under your feet.

At the early stage in the tablet genre we're at, this is largely moot - clearly Apple have a huge lead, both in sales and in consumer mindshare, and everyone else is playing catchup.

On the other hand, things can change.

I'm sure Sony and Nintendo would be quite happy to define the 'handheld gaming device' genre as one in which devices have buttons and analogue sticks, but saying they've got 90%+ of the 'buttons and analogue sticks' genre isn't much comfort if everyone is using their smartphones and tablets for gaming.

Similarly, Newspapers and printed media will be happy to define 'newspaper' to be something printed on real paper and then claim X marketshare, that doesn't mean that they're not losing out to online news sites.

If in a years time, Apple are saying 'but we have 90% of the REAL tablet market!' then the shareholders should be worried.

At the end of the day, it's still a case of No True Scotsman[1]

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman
Tell HN: I'm in yr clouds, watching your servers.
If you love the work that Amazon is doing with AWS, you can be a part of it. Our team is building high scale, high availability systems to monitor and automate AWS cloud resources. This is an awesome problem space that's full of hard challenges.

For me personally, I'm a former AWS customer that loves the product so much that I wanted to work on it!

The official job listing is here: http://aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/cloudwatch-jobs/ If you're interested, or have any questions, feel free to email me directly at newobj@gmail.com.

We're looking for not only strong backend developers, but also frontend/UX folks. So if helping people visualize a lot of data to find the needle in the haystack is a passion for you, this is a great opportunity.

Thanks!
Brian
I don't mind diverging into a bit of political theory here, since it seems important to the topic.

I'd say that if we're going to view 'society' in a meaningful way - that is, not merely as a conceptual abstraction, but as something exists empirically - then we have to acknowledge that society has a definite nature, emergent from human psychology, emotions, physiology, neurology, etc.

And if we accept that society exists, why should we not recognize that the recognition of things like 'rights' and 'property' emerge from the very same antecedents? These concepts are all descriptions of fundamental relationships between people and other people, and between people and their physical environment.

The idea that social conventions exist for the benefit of society is something of a tautology. Obviously, anything that anyone creates or does is something they're doing because they've judged that it will be of benefit to them. The ideas of 'law' and 'government' follow the same rule - these are also just conventions that people established, in the expectation that they will somehow benefit.

But the real question, the empirical question, is this: what are the actual motivations that have led people to establish these conventions? I suspect that the idea of law emerged after the idea of property, as people sought to maintain the relationships they established with physical objects in the context of their relationships with other human beings, and sought a structured and formal way to do so without violence (or perhaps merely dissension and group harmony, given that cooperation is as essential to our nature as competition).

Fast-forwarding to today, with all of that in mind, I think it's reasonable to make a distinction between the conventions that arose from a 'natural' social context and those conventions which are the product of positive law, the latter being a kind of 'secondary' experimental thing, intentionally designed by the mechanisms of the earlier first-order convention.

In my mind, 'theft' is a violation of the first kind of convention, while 'copyright infringement' is a violation of the latter.
IPad 2 first-look review
> In the current crop of browsers, it's a complete mess.

I don't think this accurate.

The Facebook status update box, and other inputs, have been implemented content editable for years now. A good example of this is the field you see when composing a message, where you enter recipients' names. When you add a recipient, their name becomes a badge in the field and you can continue typing as if it were an input.

Some pretty mature JS frameworks have relied on content editable for a while too, including Ext JS.

> Firefox seems like they simply stubbed out the functions so that they could check off the box on their "HTML5 Compatibility Chart", then never implemented them.

Which functions don't work?
Drugs can be patented. Chemistry cannot be patented. Drugs are basically chemistry.
I was thinking since its Mike's company it would be similar in effect, just amplified (and somewhat like torrents). But to make it simpler, what if it's just Mike's personal car? It just seems like if you're getting "reasonable" use from a commercial product, you probably should pay. I get that you may want to evaluate it or maybe used it once or twice, but when you use it regularly as the product intended, that starts to be a little shady.
Then surely it makes sense to link to the root page which has a (single-click) link to the print page?
Exploit Programming Videos (over 300 mins till now)
Very interesting article - makes you think.

The Atlantic is one of the few magazines that I subscribe to in print. There's a nice blend of culture, politics, and forward thinking, and there doesn't seem to be a ton of editorial stance. You'll read one article from a liberal perspective, and then another one from a conservative one. It seems to be an all around solid publication. I don't always agree with what they publish - but its almost always thought provoking.
But the better resolution of the XOOM is irrelevant. The core value of a tablet device to the user is delivered through apps. Users tend not to care or notice how many pixels the device has, as long as there is a variety of good and inexpensive apps.

Not changing the iPad 2 resolution ensures there are still 65k and counting fully compatible apps. Android tablet makers continually "one-upping" each other on specs effectively ensure that much fewer quality and compatible apps will be available for their devices.
There's probably a middle ground between the current exclusionary system and some guy with a mail-ordered Hard Knocks University degree on his wall being allowed to practice medicine on people.
Agreed, if you get the execution right, then even with out big press, things can go viral. Then the press will come to you.
Thought provoking video on what motivates highly skilled workers - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc
Here's an article from '08 investigating that question: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a...
Clickable job posting link: http://aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/cloudwatch-jobs/
I understand, but I really hope you were exaggerating when you said you were "devastated" that another competitor got some press coverage on tech crunch. In terms of the emotional roller coaster that is the start up world, that would not even register on most people's disappointment radars.

You know what's better then tech crunch? Cnn, New York Times, Washington Post - think bigger, and definitely think more main stream then tech crunch.
Previous discussion at:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1426429

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1584200
Here's the project's website: http://www.chartercities.org/
I think the backlash is stronger because Apple puts more into their marketing. They put a lot of effort into making everything "magical", "unforgettable", and "world changing". Naturally, some people have strong adverse reactions to that, and are going to be quite negative in an attempt to even it out, at least as they see it. It makes complete sense if you look at it as a counter/reaction to Apple's heavily positive PR.
Trying to get the top 1% to maintain your CRUD webapp is swatting a fly with a bazooka anyway
That's the general trend that I see shaping the growth of the internet, actually. At first, it was "how do I find XYZ?" Now it's more of "How do I find the right/best XYZ?" because there are dozens of discoverable XYZ destinations available.

At first it was discovery, then it was user generation. Now that there's exabytes of data out there, how do you filter it?
10 standard, must-have Ruby gems for Rails 3
I don't see how the 90% market share statement is wrong unless you include boxes sitting in warehouses or returned products as 'sold'.

What's wrong with the price comparison?

I agree that the smooth/small thing was underhanded, although let's not forget that that statement was made as Samsung admitted that they hadn't actually sold 2m devices as they had previously claimed.
The infrastructure is all there for Apple to do it, since you can now FaceTime someone with an email address.
It's a bit hard to take CNN seriously as a tech commentator, frankly. They published this today:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/gaming.gadgets/03/03/missing.fr...

I've rarely seen a tech article that was less useful or more silly.
Teenage online crime forum shut down
link is bad. (looks like you pasted twice)
For those wanting specifics: for a mid-level Python gig at a large investment bank, base of 80K GBP, bonus between 20 and 40K GBP, expecting base to rise accordingly over successive years.

However expectation was 10 hour and 12 hour days, and work environment seemed, for want of a better term, hierarchically abusive.

Furthermore, anyone who's seriously good is contracting, which should net you around 5-600GBP/day.
Alternatively, it could be because WP7 is mostly focused on the U.S. and therefore has the weird two-year-contract-stagger effect going on. Couple that with the mass appeal of the iPhone and the ubiquity of Android on lower-end phones (remember, WP7 focuses on the high-end).
http://javascriptweekly.com/

Might also want to check out The JSMentors JavaScript Discussion Group, https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/jsmentors
He's probably talking about people with Narcissistic personality disorder and I recall an expert mentioning them gravitating toward VC, Law and management consulting: where they have power over people.

You are their horse, and they ride you into their own perceived sunset, with everybody applauding. When things go sour they put you down. Look out for hissy fits when things don't go as planned, like not being "in on that deal."

Two types of people give them narcissistic supply, and sustain them: people that actually believe the grandiose self-image they project, and others who just try and ride their coat tails, even if they know them to be fake.

Narcissists can get very nasty and use their positions of power to outcast, betray, or wrongly portray anyone that stands in their way, or show them up. Narcissists are very unlikely to change. Keep well clear - you are just a cardboard cut out.

I've noticed that they thrive on taking the credit of others, because deep down they feel deeply insufficient. They act over the top of these feelings. I've found it may have something to do with unloving, competitive, or conditionally loving parents. President may well be a Narcissist.
The Age Of Relevance
Who are these companies? Seriously. Have you used an Apple product side by side with a non Apple equivalent? Does any company come close to the build quality or original design of Apple?

"Close" is a very subjective term. I like the looks of my coworker's phones sometimes. I haven't played with one for very long. I really love the design of my iPhone 4. Nothing else is as good from a tactile perspective, I'll grant you that.

If other companies are almost catching up, it still means they are behind, and, worse, just riding on Apple's success without much idea of why they are successful.

Or they have something of an idea, but they can't execute.
I saw Ben's story on a documentary or news program a few years ago, and it was the first thing I thought of reading this article. I had no idea he had died - a sad note to a series of uplifting life stories.
I'm sure it would be cheap. I'm on 03031. Send me an email with your ship-to address and I'll get it on it's way to you.

I'm not worried about covering the shipping costs. Do something for someone else some day.
Find a differentiator and dedicate all your resources (marketing, development, evangelism) to it.
Related: http://unqualified-reservations.blogspot.com/2009/08/from-cr...

I agree with the upshot of Moldbug's argument: "Thus the practical problem with 'charter cities' is that no one wants them: not the host regime, not the international regime. For both, they simply work too well. Colonialism had to die not because it didn't work, but because it worked too well."
"Toxoplasmosis wouldn't explain a sex-biased result."

Then why does Toxoplasmosis affect men differently than women?
Vivek Wadhwa dissed Boston when speaking at an MIT event and that sparked the topic:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2281824
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2281966

And FWIW my startup is in Cambridge too and I really like it here.
Yep, I'm in agreement with you there. Personal use like that seems to be right in the middle when I query my ethics.

For me, personally, it almost feels like the effort required factors into whether piracy is OK. That isn't really rational, but when you casually download a torrent, that doesn't seem as bad as building your own hardware to pirate a signal. Maybe it speaks to intent? (NB: this paragraph isn't intended as anything other than me exploring my own rationalizations for piracy. Do not use except as instructed by a physician, and all that).
A company that I think many consider less than interesting on HN is "ITA Software," who is solving the age-old O(n) problem of a million ways to purchase a ticket and have made traditional travel agents obsolete (e.g there are 400 x 400 different combinations for BOS to SFO round trip, so 160,000 different ways to fly a round trip ticket, plus 10,000 for fare conditions and booking classes, resulting in 1.6 billion possible combinations). They're the people that power Orbitz, United, Continental, Southwest, Air Canada, and so forth. And they also power HN beloved Hipmunk.
Twitter co-founder dispels IPO rumors
are there really millions of Galaxy Tab users? Anyway, I don't think it's that 'devious' of a lie considering the iPad 2 will simply replace the iPad line, which sells 1 million per month, and will probably do more with the new device. It's not technically true just yet, but it almost certainly will be in a month's time. It would be different if the iPad 2 was a whole new product line.
Minecraft is mind boggling from a business perspective AND a gaming perspective. Are there any other communities that are similar to Minecraft that anyone can think of?

I just find it fascinating that a game like Minecraft has such an involved ecosystem around it.
Actually, building a CMS is pretty difficult and I'd say you want to only use CMSs written by about the top 10%. Not quite rocket science but they're actually very, very difficult. There's a lot of tradeoffs to be carefully made, increasing exponentially as the framework tries to do more (with a lowish exponential factor, but exponential nonetheless) and a lot of ways to make simple things difficult and difficult things impossible. There is no pain like trying to use a CMS written by a bottom-25%er.

Using an already-good CMS to build your site is trivial and you don't need a rocket scientist for that. Depending on your needs you may not even need to be a programmer per se.
Look who’s coming to SmartCamp Bangalore - An Entrepreneur Mentor goldmine
I thought it was a good article until the last sentence:

Until voters can agree on what government services they want and will pay for, it is possible that bondholders will bank the profits while taxpayers, employees and citizens share the losses.

I don't understand the need to take a shot at the bondholders here. This isn't a case where investment bankers took advantage of overmatched finance people. The cities and states offered bonds for sale. The bonds were purchased by average people in return for an agreed to interest payment.
Hey HN, I'm starting a small business. For $50, I'll design a logo for you
I hear they also write much of their software in LISP
"I'm not sure I completely understand how this helps RIM much, though.
BBM is about the only I miss from my BlackBerry, and I would sign up in a minute if it was available on my phone. Still, that doesn't make me more inclined to buy a RIM device again."

I think that's the key.

Making BBM platform independent, while charging for usage, would be a great way to shift their business model in the face of declining hardware sales. They are getting their lunch eaten by iOS and Android, IMO, and offering BBM is a great way of expanding their market across the board.

Will it negatively affect their hardware sales? Yes.

Will it give them a good business model moving forward? I think so.

I think it would be a very smart move, but the results will speak for themselves.
Wordpress.com Suffers Major DDoS Attack
"We built a site but got beaten to the launch by another site."

So what!?!? Get out there and find users anyway. You've mentioned a few benefits to using your app over CrushNotifier, keep going.

If you are not familiar with the story, Google Mint vs. Webabe and look at articles from the past year. Yes, the scale is very different but get some inspiration for yourself.

Good luck!
GHC 7 is released. with LLVM, improved inliner, improved thread scheduler ...
It is actually submissions ranked by HN users whose accounts were created in the first year.
Do a quick View Source on that facebook box, or better still download the source of any of the wysiwig dhtml editors on the market. Note that it's half a megabyte. All hacks to make ContentEditable work at all.

So yes, it's technically possible to do. That's not at issue.

The problem is that it's implemented in five completely separate ways by five different browser vendors. Many things are implemented in mutually exclusive ways. The goal of the standard is to have a single easy way to flip a switch on a piece of content and have it editable in a way that you can quickly hook up your "bold" button, etc.

It's a long way away from that today. Try implementing a simple WYSIWYG editor for yourself, then note the large bald patches on your head and corresponding clumps of hair in your white-knuckled fists. That's not something that you get with other areas of the HTML5 spec.
The doomsaying profession isn't what it used to be. Tragic hard times are coming, and by the end of the decade most doomsayers will be covered in puss begging for pennies down by the local Wal-Mart. If they're lucky.

Seriously, though, this article had a lot of random details strewn about, but not enough thread to connect them. Can cites and states declare bankruptcy? Yes. No. Well kinda, but it doesn't help. Are structural issues like union contracts for future payments in terms of benefits a problem? Yes, but not really: the author just makes a passing reference to "political will" as being a problem, whatever that means.

All I got from the article was the unsaid conclusion that governments can simply not pay their debts without defaulting. I wonder if this will be a viable strategy?
It's 2011, and my IDE still doesn't have a REPL