skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I concur with the Skype 5 degraded UI. I also have a warning to others:

After struggling to see the benefit of Skype 5, I wished to downgrade back to the previous version. However, I couldn't find a link anywhere on the Skype.com website for previous versions. As a result I searched on Google and found a third-party website offering previous versions for download (http://mac.oldapps.com/skype.php?old_skype=37).

I downloaded and installed the older version, and logged into my account. Later that night I received an email from Skype confirming a purchase for an "Online Number" that I hadn't made. I immediately logged in to investigate and I could see the transaction pending. I managed to log into Paypal and remove Skype from my trusted billers in time.

I believe that the version of Skype I downloaded was stealing login credentials. Let this be a warning to others that are trying to roll back their Skype client!

I emailed Skype's security team (after long minutes trying to find a very hidden contact link on their site). The response was cookie cutter, but ridiculously contained a sales pitch for the very feature that was just illegally purchased from my stolen account! This was infuriating - like a slap in the face from Skype considering my state of mind:

<i>If you'd like to get more out of Skype, why not learn about all our great features - like Online Numbers? Anyone can dial your Online Number from any phone or mobile, your Skype rings and you pick up the call – wherever you are in the world.
Find out more at http://www.skype.com/go/onlinenumber/</i>;
It's a difficult problem. The alternatives to prohibition isn't any better in my opinion.

Edit: I'll add this, much of the root cause comes down to poverty as well.

Edit: OK down voter, it's an easy problem. It has nothing to do with the poor conditions in the countries where the drugs are produced.
Actually this is a far better explanation of High Frequency Trading:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-september-30-2009/cash...
I've caught lots of journalists plagiarizing, including Chris Hedges, and none of them have ever gotten fired. I even caught our state senator Toni Boucher plagiarizing an article she 'wrote', and it's not like she was forced to step down.

I'm sure folks do get fired for plagiarism, but it seems to be the exception rather than the rule, where mostly no one cares until the complaints start getting loud enough.
We've been pretty happy with the scalability of Mongo where we use it for RowFeeder. We've got over 1 billion documents over several terabytes. The main challenge we encounter is our indexes are much larger than RAM, but given that we index by date this isn't a huge problem. Inserts are still very fast and only slow down if we have to load old data. 1.8's ability to distribute reads to replica slaves will help with this a lot, though.
Do you see why people might have thought your comment was misleading, with the "fast stuff in C" not in Ruby? :-)

http://shootout.alioth.debian.org/u32/benchmark.php?test=all...
We did this for our most recent front-end hire, actually.

We gave him a two-day project to complete for us, and compensated him with what we thought to be a fair stipend for his time. He completed the project, we hired him, he cleaned up the project, and we actually put it into production a week after his hiring date.

Everything worked out fine, and the developer in question is quite competent, sane, and rational.
I liked my idea better.

The basic proposal is that submissions cost x karma, where x is a predefined value that should be relatively small (say 25, 50?).

To submit a post, you must have at least x karma, and you SPEND that karma on the submission.

If the article is upvoted at least x times, the karma is refunded. If it doesn't, then that karma is gone.

For 'failed' articles (meaning articles that did not get enough upvotes to attain the refund), submissions from that submitter now cost y karma, where y = the previous x * 2.

Assuming x is 25, my second submission after a failed first submission now costs 50 karma, but only has to reach y/2 karma to get the refund. The refund action sets x back to the default, base x value.
Downvoting discourages future posts. Then there won't be any posts that disagree with the prevailing sentiment.
Early Bird Price + Discount for Gary Vaynerchuck/Mike Yavonditte in Dallas
Accidental dongle collection
I applaud you for pushing the English language forward with new words like "kindof".

(I'm actually not being sarcastic. "Kind of" as a concept is one we use so frequently it might as well have its own word)
Biz Stone Talks About Awkward Acquisition Meeting With Zuck On Howard Stern
Your mobile numbers are being stolen by websites
Any idea why they format their javascript like that?

$(window)
.sausage()
;
Fix problems early and often.

I currently work at Japanese company in San Jose, but I don't see this type of behavior. The caveat is that I've only worked for a year here, so I may not be exposed yet.

I'd really like to know if Japanese society looks down on people who have embarrassed themselves. The executives must have a reason to prevent embarrassment and risk lives.
Nice. I'm happy our Linux overlords are so sensible.

Also!: /run/flame_war @ http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.redhat.fedora.devel/1469...
Todo list:

-Allow for URL entry

-Option for putting the separate CSS directly into the head of the HTML document

-Add a link href to the stylesheet in the HTML (and temporarily host the CSS on the server)

-Preview of the page to make sure nothing got screwed up

-Be able to download HTML/CSS files directly

-Be able to have "smarter" class definitions...figure out any common properties between groups of generated classes and make just one class all those elements can refer to.

That's just off the top of my head, I'm open to all suggestions and feedback!
I'm not sure that Paul is that great of a guy either. His company is a bit of a patent troll, for one.

Here are some his "inventions":

http://bit.ly/dXsk5P
What's missing from skype that isnt provided by AIM or GTalk? Is it the ability to make phone calls?
I had trouble with that on the windows version, and also had to explain to a few people how to see the links I've sent to them (smart people btw)
I'm not convinced the reasons he gives for why we're so good at developing athletes are the actual reasons; I think they're methods we do it by, not the reason for which we do it. The real reason we're good at generating athletes, is that they generate large amounts of revenue for the companies they work for. The entire system for creating athletes (youth opportunity, publicly celebrating their success, etc) exists because they make huge sums of cash for their eventual employers.

It's also easier to compare athletes. Each sport has a canonical set of statistics kept. I can easily compare athletes #1 and #2, and decide which is worth more money based on their stats. Not so easy to do with writers, so much of it is subjective.

There also exists a quick and easy test for determining athleticism: the game. They're short, and they generate data. You can hold enough of them in a short enough amount of time to get the data you need to make decisions about/develop an athlete. If we're talking about them as products, athletes are much easier to iterate than authors; the feedback loop is much shorter.
Paul Allen tells his side of co-founding Microsoft without pulling any punches
I quite like the 'karma average' actually. You can argue whether or not it works, but to me, the two highest signal posters (that come to my mind) are grellas and patio11.

They have averages of 26.23 and 18.93, respectively. This, to me, aligns with my expectation that their comments are high value, well thought, and usually worth reading.

Compared to my own measly karma average of 4.57, which is comprised, often, of throwaway remarks and dumb questions, I think it's a fair representation of a user's contribution.

The actual number itself, I agree, is all but meaningless.
Has anyone used this successfully? (Especially on Windows?)

I keep getting errors.
Just to add, for a good percentage of mac skype users, video doesn't work in 5. It doesn't work for me on either of my macs and I had to downgrade.
and try to make a space shuttle out of a car....
A quote from an Agile / Scrum talk I saw last week: "Agile delivers things sooner, not necessarily faster."
> It wasn't that long ago that you got actual windows install media when you bought a computer.

Oh, I'm afraid that was actually quite a long time ago.

However, the last time I checked, Microsoft did impose a condition that mostly affected laptop manufacturers, such that they were required to provide any genuine Windows customer with real Windows media on request, rather than just some not-quite-real-Windows recovery media. Is this no longer the case?

If that is still a requirement for installing OEM Windows on laptops for sale, maybe a campaign where a significant fraction of Samsung laptop customers suddenly started demanding real media would attract the attention of whatever fool thought this was a good idea. This is not mutually exclusive with an expensive class action lawsuit, of course. }:-)
Saw a tweet recently that summed it up nicely: "@anildash: Seems like Skype and iTunes are battling it out for the RealPlayer Memorial Award for Most Annoying Desktop Client App."

If you remember RealPlayer, know Skype for Windows, know iTunes for Windows, you'll know exactly what I mean.
When do discrete and continuous mathematics (in a formal sense) come into everyday development tasks? I don't even really know what those fields are, but I do fine as a developer. What am I missing out on by not knowing anything about them?

Edit to elaborate on "everyday development tasks": some startups innovate by applying some novel algorithm (beyond well-understand and well-documented ones that anyone could implement), but many are just taking well-understood problems and solutions and doing them better. Better UI/UX, better business-model, more integrated with other platforms, etc.
As someone who has used Radian6 before: Good luck, Salesforce... you'll need it.
I agree that your proposal will most likely make people think harder before submitting, but it doesn't solve the problem of sharing karma amongst several people who see the same link and perhaps should be equally rewarded. The scheme lunk to here helps to prevent the rush to submit, and therefore allows time for reflection, while simultaneously rewarding people more equitably.

All the schemes proposed have good points and bad points, but I think gjm11's proposal has lots of good points, and some good features that yours doesn't have.

To some extent, of course, it's irrelevant, since none of these are likely to see the light of day. Having said that, gjm11's scheme seems fairly simple to implement.
That's really cool. It was strange to see the thinking simplify as the game progressed, but I guess chess is a game of eliminating possibilities.
SublimeVideo's HTML5 Player-as-a-Service Launches Commercially
Think about Slovenia too... very vibrant start-up community here, English is a standard too.
He seriously saw this on one laptop and is accusing Samsung of a conspiracy?

He saw it on TWO laptops.

Not that I put anything above big multinational companies, but some due dilligance would be nice.

He called Samsung to report the issue and had Samsung supervisor confirm that keyloggers are knowingly installed on Samsung laptops in order to monitor usage.
> 1. When a link is submitted, it doesn't actually appear on HN until a certain (fixed?) time T has elapsed after its first submission.

And what is T going to be? That means HN won't be able to react quickly if something unexpected comes up.

> 3. Karma from article upvotes is shared equally between all those users.

Doesn't that mean people will submit "obvious" links even more often, because shared Karma off a large cake is still easier than making an insightful comment. At least right now, people have to check whether the link was already posted. With this proposal, I'd just have to submit every Slashdot and Quora link known to man and be assured that I'd get karma for it.

> 5. Breaking news doesn't appear on HN as quickly as it does now; but if lots of people are submitting it, it still gets in pretty fast. (Maybe good, maybe bad.)

I think this is a solution to a non-problem. Even though a duplicate link-checker would be great for HN, the real issue is low-quality links that sometimes make it onto the front page; every once in a while even a submit bot finds something interesting. I'm fine with that, since the overall quality of articles is still very high.

If we're actually complaining about how every blog blurp of certain HN personalities makes it to the front page, then I'm afraid the problem is not with the site's code, but with the way we personally handle reputation around here. And I don't really care which user gets the karma for the next jacquesm story.
Is there a memory use comparison?
When I was 18 I did write a small OS for fun... now that I'm older (24), I do not have the time or the motivation to do that again... the first thing that would pop in my mind would be «why? it would remain only a hobby project. I got better things to do, like find a way to pay the rent».

I miss being young and naïve.
Visualization of when and how VCs invested in leading consumer web services
Which bank? That is very smart. Is the virtual keyboard built into the website (i.e., Javascript)?
Is There Any Chance at All That Tablets Are a Fad?
I do care about lossless format but I don't care about physical products. I'll never buy another CD again but would be happy to pay for a lossless download. Of course there are none, so I frequently find myself heading over to dark side (where there are plenty).
I think the "average" viewer of any show is far from a potential customer. It is a $100K sports car with a range that limits it to commuting (not travel) distances.
That's a very sweeping and unsupported generalization.

Legalizing drugs:
-raises tax revenue

-raises the quality of drugs (eliminating one of the greatest dangers--people ingesting unknown and even more deadly substances)

-lowers costs, meaning addicts don't have to turn to a life of crime to support their habit

-allows society to have responsible, adult discussions about the personal risks of different drugs

-reduces prison crowding and eases the load on law enforcement, costing taxpayers less

-destroys less young lives over stupid mistakes

-lets the focus be on harm prevention rather than punishment

Maintaining drug prohibition:

-is safe and easy for politicians

-makes people feel better when they moralize at others

(I'd like to point out that I don't personally do any drugs, nor do I want to. That's my choice. It should be a choice.)
In my scenario, there is no X+1 award. The only karma you get for a story submission is the karma you get back if it proves of value. There is no award for submitting a very good story whatsoever.
I don't think that's really necessary. It's targeting a niche of people who want to play chess. If you want to learn, there are plenty of other resources out there.
I just checked some random dressing in the fridge. It has 50% more carbs than fat. It has more sugar than fat. It tastes sweet. I should probably toss the piece of junk in the garbage, but then my wife would probably buy a replacement. :/
Skype 5 is what really got my company looking for a different chat solution. The protocol and features are still generally wonderful, but the client is just horrible now.
well it's a personal real-world study to see if the Git/Hub workflow model works in collaboratively editing documentation :) especially since the audience that can help are going to be members of GitHub :)
Yeah doing a binary search in an array is pretty standard. What I was asking though is quicksort since that was mentioned. It's not obvious by any means how it works and I recall that early reference implementations had bugs that were unknown for years even though widely used. It really sounds to me like asking someone to implement the FFT in an interview. What are you really testing for when you do that?
I know what you're talking about. WCF config doesn't come across as easy - sometimes you just wanna say "listen on port 1234 for these messages". The complex capabilities combined with some stupid default settings makes it much more daunting than it should be.

That said, after you get a few basics down, it really is rather straightforward. The gain for me is not having to manually write code to deal with security/encoding/serialization/exceptions. I mean, you define an interface, slap some attributes on, add 5 lines of config, another 5 to start the server, and that's pretty much it.
It seems to me the biggest allegation here is that Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer tried to dilute his shares when he was diagnosed with cancer the first time.

I hate to seem callous here, but, that might've completely made sense. God forbid if Allen had died, the company, still pre-IPO startup whose main product was MS-DOS (pre Office or any version of Windows) would want its shares controlled by people with business interests in the company. When you are a startup you want to align incentives properly and yes, people who are unfortunately unable to contribute, even if it's through no fault of their own probably shouldn't have huge amounts of stock.

Besides that allegation I don't really know what else here is that negative on Bill Gates.

edit: MS-DOS not MS-DOC. Mistyped
In disaster management, you need to go big early. Start getting several projects under way, so if any of them are needed they can jump into effect as soon as the need is clear. Hopefully the contamination is minor, but we already know there's likely to be some significant cesium contamination for a while now, and Japan should have half a dozen task forces starting with the assumption that technology X will deal with the contamination, and figuring out what they need to do to implement it.
I'd love to hear what some of the business implications of this are from fellow HN'rs. (Good and bad, is there a downside?) What sort of local community problems can you solve with an internet that's 100 times faster?

I'm in Kansas City, Missouri. My office is about 1 mile East of the state line. I'm pretty excited about the community impact of this and I only live and work nearby.
Nintendo 3DS giving kids headaches?
I'm going to have to make the same decision w/ my Twitter related apps, though I'm leaning more towards selling them.. on flippa if nothing else works out. They are TweetSaver, Floxee and UseQwitter if anyone is interested!
print version

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2010/01/what-makes...
Rackspace, San Francisco.

Cloudkick (YC Winter 09) was acquired by Rackspace back in December, and we are hiring to fill out our San Francisco office.

Currently looking for Javascript developers and Python/Django developers.

Full listing of openings is here:
http://jobs.rackspace.com/search?q=%22san+francisco%22
Judging by the amount of "pirated" lossless downloads available I don't think that's entirely true.
"I'm not sure Bill would ever have dropped out of Harvard if it wasn't for Paul," Mr. Yoffie said, referring to Mr. Allen's role in encouraging Mr. Gates to leave college to start Microsoft. "I don't know whether Steve Jobs, without Wozniak, would have ever gotten things together."

baloney.
Google Selects Kansas City for Its Ultra High-Speed Internet Project
Indeed, we shouldn't jump to any conclusions. My point was that the author appears to already have, especially given the article's title. There are lots of situations that could explain to origin of the malware (reseller, pre-installed bloatware, etc), but the author chose one.
Color vs Stellar: how to get first impressions right
I have been unable to find an alternative that allows me, a Mac user, to do a video chat with my girlfriend, a Windows user, with no fuss when both of us are behind separate NATs.
Yes, however free supply will drive down prices. The current street price that people are perfectly willing to pay for 1 gram of cocaine tells a lot about the demand, and just how addictive the drug is.

There is no reason legal cocaine would cost more than say, coffee. Now, what would cocaine at that price level do to a population, families and to society?

I've seen the argument before, mostly applied to lighter drugs like marijuana though. In my view it's your argument that is a sweeping generalization. It's also unsupported, where have cocaine legalization been applied successfully?

>It should be a choice.

That's so naive. We are talking about an addictive substance, if it is a choice then why don't crack/cocaine addicts just quit.

Someone is down voting my comment, yet this person doesn't have counter argument, it just happens to not be in alignment with their view.
There's gotta be quite a few auto submission bots going on here...

cough TechCrunch cough

...not that I have any problem with it. I'm just amazed at how quickly TechCrunch (and similar) articles find their way onto HN.
I like bmelton's idea better as well.

> but it doesn't solve the problem of sharing karma amongst several people who see the same link and perhaps should be equally rewarded

I don't see the point why the system should hand out gold stars for effort. Whoever comes first, gets to host the thread. What's wrong with that?
What if the web browser comes second?
Right I could see this being part of some child usage monitoring package. It may be part of some crapware that comes with the computer. I bet Samsung is scrambling right now to find out which crapware vendor included it and will find out it part of a net monitoring suite.
These are the reasons I've really enjoyed playing around with it. Unfortunately I tend to get distracted with many of my toy projects, and so little ever gets seen by anyone. But so far, with Mongo, I don't tend to get as bogged down with data modeling. That means that I usually get further into it before life takes me away.

I have no idea how well it would scale if I did build something that ended up being a success - but it's a risk I'm happy to take if (due to my own personal quirks :), it increases that chances that something that I build ends up being a success.
HTML 5 Sublime Video Player Launches
As I understand it, canadian CANDU reactors use a robotic system to perform online refueling. They also use heavy water as a moderator, and burn unrefined uranium / [can] spent fuel from other reactors pretty impressive machines I think.
I'm an RSpec user, but do feel that Ruby is self-documenting enough that it can be used as is.
There is a port of the spell checker to clojure. What it does is grind the swap file for about two minutes, then abort with an out of memory exception. Sorry, don't have the link handy.
Doesn't interrupt moderation and receive-side scaling (new Intel NICs can even do rule-based queue distribution) sort this out?
Indeed. And also consider the opportunity cost here: all the drive, creativity, and talent that is going into making subs (in just this case; the incentives are such that drug dealers high on the food chain surely do a lot of interesting, creative, and risky things) could be diverted to something else--anything else--more productive. We're all missing out.
Forget job, do you want to co-found something? :)
Ask HN: Someone is interested in one of my domain names, now what?
I received an e-mail this morning from someone inquiring about one of my domain names. I bought the domain a while back and it ended up collecting dust. My question is, what steps should I take to ensure a successful sale? I've never been approached before about a domain and I'm at a bit of a loss.

I'd love some advice/suggestions so I come away from the transaction feeling like I got a fair price, but at the same time didn't insult the fellow with too high of an asking price.

Thanks!