skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
That's strange, because the closest company to Google scale is Facebook, and they actually use Chef in production[1][2][3] on hundreds of thousands of servers.

[1] https://www.chef.io/customers/facebook/

[2] https://engineering.fb.com/core-data/facebook-configuration-...

[3] https://github.com/facebook/chef-cookbooks/
All good projects (I’m using Snowboy), but these are all just wake words, which are very different beasts from full text recognition.
Why even test? The decision procedure is the same: treat the ill, lock down everyone else at home, avoiding social contact at the max; enforce social isolation and/or masks in "critical" spaces (power plants, grocery stores, ...). What does a positive or negative test change?
Although China has a large internal market, they still rely on exports. If those are curtailed due to slackening demand, quarantine and tariffs, how do they become the "big winner?"
Have you heard of Toggl? It's a time tracker that integrates with your browser and let you click click click on Google Agenda meetings, JIRA tasks, GitHub PRs and hopefully most of the tools you use, to track how much time you spent on it. I've used it since 2017 and it was a game changer: helped me reduce multitasking, produce factual invoices when billing hourly, identify what ate all the time in my day...

I'm sure there are also other alternatives out there but Toggl is the only one I have experience with.
Holy crap! That's an impressive set of data.

The first thing that came to my mind is HIPAA (I know it's US only). There are more than enough details for each patient to figure out who they are. They list employer, when they traveled, family members, etc.
You’ve got this. Sit tight, and stay occupied.
Location/association tracking and risk profiling is being done in China with Alipay Health Code[0].

Flash green at the checkpoint and you're allowed through. If your app shows yellow or red -> checks and quarantine.

0: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/07/how-gl...
DRACO (Antiviral Drug)
Not a subsidiary of Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet.
Static typing wouldn't be helpful for performance and would and take away from the APL like terseness. Static typing can only help for speeding up classical von-neumann-bottlenecked programs, but to go beyond that the program has to run massive data parallel tasks. APL languages, SQL and pyspark show that you don't need static typing for this at all and can achieve better perfomance than classic statically typed languages assuming simplicity of writing parallel code this way. GPU programming is also much easier in higher lvl languages which force you to think in array like sequential operations only. Computers are designed for sequential operations natively, any "random memory access" is just a hardware optimized hack to make it bearable.

My bet is integration with relational processing engines. Blend of APL family and SQL.

The huge shortcomings of SQL is inability to create functions, adhoc tables, select n-1 columns, or any metaprogramming so people use text templating languages instead. Also the relational model is bad for performance because it assumes sets without order. APL, kdb show that order is important and you can achieve much better performance if you can assume order in your data. Most big datasets are time ordered anyway because they represent some log of data updates in time.

My wish is for somebody to create something like Spark or programmable SQL engine, but

- no Java (if you care about performance why choose Java in the first place)
- no 100 line Java obscure tracebacks
- setup as easy as installing a binary and running a repl. Give me kdb like simplicity pls, not days spent figuring out how to install and configure spark
- tables should have notion of order so that you can do merge-joins without sorting (asof joins mostly - it's painful to watch companies try to implement this at scale with full outer joins or other hackery)

I tried implementing a mix of APL, lisp, forth and SQL based on these principles but got overwhelmed unfortunately.
State of Hole Function – Technology for the next generation of serverless
You're not alone; the whole world is facing this together. Please do your best to stay calm, because that is the only thing you really have control of. Be vigilant with your hygiene; washing hands, not touching face, etc. Good luck and best regards!
This sheet is the best that I've found. Yes, you are right,
the data is suspect. But as long as there is no mandatory
reporting for this it will remain a political football
because countries are comparing with each other.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/1RIXWF7wCX-CihFQz...

The best way to approach the figures is to look at serious cases (requiring hospitalization) and deaths. Those are numbers are a lot harder to cook than cases.
How does forcing yourself into routines help with monotony?
Thats a good idea too, and they do make oil-less compressors they are typically smaller but years ago I came across many of these attached to dry sprinkler systems in small parkades.
Only if you hold people to the standard of engaging with an article on the basis of its headline instead of its substance.

We should hold everyone to a higher standard than that.

(At the very least, if the headline isn't enough to get you to read the article, avoid commenting on it.)
I have one issue with or maybe just question about this graph. Why it starts with 100 detected cases? It seems like arbitrary round number, but it also seems to be the smallest arbitrary-looking number that makes SK overlap other countries. Why is that? Why is the initial slow spread in SK irrelevant? What caused it to be initially slower than in other countries?
Operative word is “you” there- I cannot look at your location, and the government can’t without a warrant either, what the OP is suggesting is way more invasive.
It's not really a 1:1 comparison though. The tightly controlled supply of Medical Residencies leaves you with a higher performing pool of 'Doctors.' You might not become wildly rich at an investment bank, but if you under-perform while specializing as a Doctor, you just don't become a Doctor.
It's interesting that George and Esther Szekeres dies within an hour of each other after nearly 70 years of marriage, according to their obit (https://www.smh.com.au/national/a-world-of-teaching-and-numb...)

Here's the Numberphile video on the Happy Ending Problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPk3SZiFEvQ.
Supersonic dash capability can help in some limited circumstances but it doesn't fundamentally change anything. Fuel consumption at those speeds is extremely high.
I remember when I was a kid, I didn't really understand refrigerators. Like I knew that the cold would eventually leak out, so how was it cold inside if the cold would eventually leak out? How does insulation even work?

So, I eventually figured it out. The insulation slows down the heat transfer. The fridge still has to do work to keep cold, but the insulation means that it can keep up with the losses and spend less energy on that.

The countermeasures to COVID19 are like that. The virus is going to spread, but we still need to slow it down, so that the healthcare system can deal with individual cases, and not a flood.

Some people are going to get it, but that doesn't mean we have to be fatalistic about it. We should take it seriously, but also rationally.
The most recent edition of Make magazine had a pretty good overview of some different options. Doesn't go too much into depth but provides a good starting point.
Covid-19 and the Impact on the Homeless
Ask HN: What makes an online course amazing?
For those of you who have taken online classes (MOOCs, at college, etc.), what have been the things that made the best classes stand out? (Or conversely, what made the bad ones bad?)

Why I'm asking: I teach a college data science 101 class with at least 1 section online every semester (and will now be switching to all online for at least the next month - thanks, coronavirus...). At the same time, I'm in the process of redesigning the course, and making new teaching materials and assignments.

I've taken completed several amazing MOOCs in the past (e.g. Princeton's Algorithms I & II, Stanford's Machine Learning), as well as abandoned many more that were simply terrible, so I am no stranger to the online student experience, and I know the things that made certain courses amazing for me personally (e.g. great videos, and well integrated assignments with automated feedback). However, every learner is different, and I would love to hear different perspectives so that I can better redesign my own course.

Was it something about the videos? The assignments? The structure? The instructor? Or something else? Thanks!
> Individual actions have outsized impact in the face of exponential growth.

Are you sure? I think it's the other way around. Nothing I can do (apart from staying completely indoors, which I can't because I don't have enough supplies (food, etc.) to last for months) can prevent me from being infected (eventually). Luckily I'm in the low-risk group (young); I advised my parents the latter (hopefully they're following my advice).
> unknown long term effects

Ultimately, it’s a just a really inconsistent cold. The vast majority of cases are mild. However, if it spreads to the lungs, it’s worse than the flu.

As far as I know, there’s no evidence that it’s any more exotic than that.
I'm in Rome and I called my friend in Japan to enquire his whereabouts and he told me there they're not doing the same way Korea did it. Peoples continue to go to work. No mass screening. So cases aren't really reflecting the reality. It's like in USA. But one thing he conceide is Japanese are clean.
> just another strain of the flu

That's like saying humans are just another type of salmon.
I'd not count on that going through.
The China travel ban went into effect 6 weeks ago. Italy, South Korea, and Japan followed not too long after.

He was even called a dictator for that.

Correction: South Korea & Japan were "do not travel" not specific travel bans.
"APL has been compared to a diamond, which cannot be made into a larger diamond by the addition of a second one. LISP, in this context, is a ball of clay."

I couldn't have said it better myself. I've come to think that APL and Lisp represents two diametrically opposing philosophies about structuring programs. Right now I'm leaning toward the opinion that the ball of clay approach has run its course and is no longer (or maybe never way) viable. The thousands of layers of abstraction is no longer viable, for both performance and productivity reasons.
I'm with you on that. If my staff needed to send me a daily summary I'd worry I'd hired the wrong staff.

However it's not a bad idea to keep a worklog for yourself. Just jot down a sentence for new tasks and then a rough time frame. Just so if anyone does ask next week what you did last Monday you've got some idea. (General advice, not just WFH advice).
Those people are actual heroes.
For many years, I used to have a little html file I called "log.html" (just plain html) and at the end of every day before I left, I'd add a section at the top, dated, separated with a horizontal rule <hr>, with notes about what I did that day, and also little things I learned. When it came time to make my weekly status report, I'd refer back to it. I could also search through it and find various bits of information I'd written down. And if other people wondered what I'd been up to, they could look at it too.
The state of Ohio has only 26 confirmed cases, but two days ago the Director of the Ohio Department of Health estimated that 1% of the state's population (100k) may be infected due to the high ratio of cases being community-spread [1].

This is the likely reason for such a high number of celebrities in the news testing positive -- it's already everywhere; they are the only ones getting tested.

[1] https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/ohio-de...
All the stealth craft also included some IR avoidance as a matter of course, IR seeking missiles existed at the time these were designed. It's unclear if a more modern missile would still be sensitive enough to lock on and avoid chasing flares.

The techniques they used to decrease the IR visibility are pretty neat. The engine nozzles are over the wings and there are a lot of airflow tricks used to cool it down faster so from below there might not be enough plume to track from a surface launched missile coming, from below at least.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_B-2_Spirit#In...
Loom just announced that education accounts are free. Forever. https://www.loom.com
Ask HN: Adopting Teams or Slack Quickly
Hello HN Hivemind! Like many others, I find myself leading a team located in two physical locations that is now scattered by mandatory work remote.

We have in the past embraced remote work on an incidental or scheduled basis, but never en masse for a long period. (At least a month)

We are Office 365 based, and will be looking at maximizing the toolset to adapt to our new reality. Specifically, we want to use Teams to collaborate and build the type of daily interaction that we get in person today. What do you do formally at the Team level? What do you encourage your team to do on their own?
> But like didn’t you go to high school or college?

I was home schooled for K-12 but I did go to college and I was actually pretty effective at working on my own. But I think the nature of the work you’re assigned in college is different from that of the workplace, at least in most situations. For example, college won’t necessarily teach you how to communicate effectively with a remote team, how to stick to a schedule even at home, how to set up a space so you can take calls, etc.

I also think I sort of unlearned the skills needed after being forced to come into the office between X and Y time of the day for several years after college, so when I was suddenly left to my own devices again it was a difficult shift. Had I jumped straight from college to a fully remote job I may have done a bit better.

Now that I’ve relearned those skills I much prefer a mix of working from home and being in the office, that way I get a good balance of focused time at home and social time at the office.
I'm not arguing against that. What I'm saying is that we have been drastically overcorrecting for too long because we refuse to collectively acknowledge the reality of intelligence as a distribution and allocate resources that maximally benefit society.
Details matter.

And getting some details wrong is fine if you accept criticism with the goal of converging on being correct.

Trump rejects the framework of communicating in correct facts, relying on emotional platitudes instead.

Running with your example, it's as if Trump is boasting that he has cured cancer, because he knows someone who invested in a company that made a marginal improvement to treatment for one type. And then when asked for clarification, he doubles down on his blunt assertion while making fun of the questioner.

If you accept a leader as being an authority, then you're still reassured by this. Everything is under control, because he says so. But if you try to analyze the facts you're hearing to form an independent judgment, he's out to lunch. And it's extremely worrying to hear someone who is not in touch with reality insist that everything is fine, especially when that person is supposed to be responsible.
On the contrary. Don't be distracted all the time starring at the IM icon. When working, ignore the icon until you are done. Talk it through with managers in case they don't know how focused work works. If there is really something super urgent, they can call you.

If your managers mistrust you so much that they feel the need to check up on you like a child, switch company quickly.
As a data point: my company liberalized work from home to every employee a week before the first case was detected in our state, under the assumption that it was either already here and just hadn't been discovered in testing yet, or would be very shortly.

When the first case was detected, the office was closed and work from home became mandatory at least through the beginning of April.
> They are about slowing it, so that the load on the health care system isn't too grade.

Again, the load on the health care system depends completely on the demographics of the people who get infected.

By isolating and quarantining people in risk groups, the load on the health care system will be much lower.

The gamble is this: By letting the virus spread indiscriminately through the part of the population that is not at risk, the load on the health care system will be manageable, the death rate will be nowhere near the current measured ones, and once the virus has passed, you have herd immunity in your population.

But if you argue for harsh lock down of everything now, you are also gambling. You are gambling that you can delay the spread until there is a vaccine, without knowing how far away a vaccine is. You are gambling that all the other countries get a handle on the virus, without knowing if they will.
A propaganda poster knowingly conflating the words stealth and invisible, a distinction its intended audience wouldn't be able to make, to mock the enemy? I think I'll stick with the Wikipedia source.
> Motorbikes are the worst offender here.

Although there is of course very obnoxious drivers out there, I believe a healthy level of sound from motorcycles can save lives; a lot of drivers complain they can’t see them. One of the reasons i was initially scared of ebikes
Why pretend there’s a difference?
Keep in mind that your teacher is wrong (or you remember incorrectly). Given that a month has at most 31 days, 0.01 * 2 ^ 30 = 10 737 418.24 (if you sum up all the payments, double that - $20m), so quite far away from "multi-billionaires". The general principle stands though.
Walmart, CVS and the other companies aren't doing anything yet either. It is all just used car salesmanship yet again.

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1239004910269673472
I think there's a lot behavioural science going on with the strategy here as well. A lot of the UK public now seem to realise this is serious and have automatically changed behaviour without government mandating it. Long term, that's a big win, people are bought in (seemingly) of their own volition and there is huge value in that.

The schools issue is very tricky as a lot of NHS staff will not be able to work if their children need to stay home. I can see them going to a softly, softly approach - parents working from home will be able to keep kids out of school with no consequence and they will probably extend all the school holidays a bit as well.

I can't believe this government wants to kill off the elderly out of choice, it forms a good section of their voter base, if nothing else.

I think overall it's good long term strategy, though very risky, which is never going to be perfect, but seems to have a lot of science and rationale behind it, even if not obvious at first.
I tried to use Julius for this. I may have misconfigured it, but it would always match something to what it was hearing. I encoded some sounds in my grammar to error terms that it would detect in quiet noise (like 'aa' and 'hh'), but it would still occasionally match words when nothing was going on.

Later I worked on the Microsoft Kinect with its 4-microphone array. With only a single microphone, it's so much harder to filter out background noise. If you don't find a system based on multiple microphones, I don't believe you can be successful if there's any ongoing noise (dishwasher, loud fans, etc), but a system that works in only quiet conditions is possible.
Currently dealing with remote work involving daily manager updates (manager in “stand ups” that are, as is often the case, not really stand ups but just telling your manager what you did) and no real project management/planning. Didn’t realize just how important 1) not having your actual, personal manager in your project stand ups and 2) week or longer planned-out targets for completing things sorted out by a real project manager were to my happiness (and productivity). Stressful as fuck.
Another nice feature about it is that you can set time limits or number of downloads. So you can upload something and not feel like it will be on the internet "forever".
In a police state
Because it's yet another detail that he's gotten wrong and shows that he's not paying attention. He made several incorrect statements about who is building the site, how many people are working on it, when it will be ready and who the target audience is. It's been a valve of mistakes this week that just show he isn't treating this seriously.
So, It seems that China did some things very wrong in the beginning, but then took some big actions to turn things around. There was a long form piece in the Wall Street Journal last weekend that looked at the timeline. It seems that in the early phases, authorities didn’t want to have bad news leading up to the end of year / New Years period. There was suppression of information coming out about there being a novel virus — to the extent the doctor had to offer a public apology for ‘spreading rumors’ — dots weren’t connected, etc. The Wuhan banquet wasn’t cancelled, number of cases exploded shortly after.

And, look — I’m sitting here in the US where I’ve been horrified at our own response over the last month. But the question was, could it have been contained? Looking at that timeline, it certainly seems possible that it could have been. Of course, we’ll never know.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-it-all-started-chinas-early...
Shame on her

People should stay where they are. Lockdown is not a disaster. People fleeing lockdown are literally the carriers of this disaster.

Stay where you are, wait. Don't travel. Don't fight the locdown. Lockdown is the current, appropriate course of action. A very effective lockdown can eliminate the infection in, well, however long it took to eliminate it in Wuhan.

Fleeing the lockdown now is just going to another area that is going to be on lockdown later on anyway.
I am not sure how this is supposed to work. Should your team members check the calendar before they ping you? and if they get annoyed by your lack of responsiveness you point them to the calendar?
I don't think you can really know. This person needs to speak with their healthcare providers about timetables, possibly moving things up, etc. Some IR procedures are for seriously urgent issues, like cancer, and I don't think it's right to just toss out random assertions about what might happen in a ward we know nothing about.
Boards don't run companies. They represent the shareholders.
The US approach has been awful. Things are running completely out of control. The "aggressive before the hospitals are overrun" thing won't work.

Herd immunity means something like 60% of the population get it and maybe 1.3 million Americans die ghastly deaths.
Keeping notes and referencing them as needed in periodic one-on-one meetings is very helpful.
I would rather have the spread stopped/slowed domestically with aggressive measures than to do little to nothing to stop the spread thinking it will somehow solve the problem.

The UK approach here is basically just accepting that a majority of the population is going to get infected by design. That's fine. It might even be true. (It obviously will be if you don't do anything to stop it, but even in aggressive lockdowns I mean)

But it benefits nobody to have it spread quicker. Maybe life in the UK gets back to normal a little faster for people who are not at-risk or aren't treated at risk but we live in a very global society and if everyone else is locked down then it's hard to see much benefit for the UK itself.

And your parents and the portion of the population who are most vulnerable are more at risk.

An imperfect defense is better than not even trying.
Reverse Tinkerbell Effect
I'm not sure it was a snipe, because there's so often an emergency of some sort or other, causing us to lose focus on the big picture. The "one more thing" to do that will make everything all right.