skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
The core problem seems to be:

For instance, overwriting content on a page of the document is not allowed and thus leads to invalid signature verification. Nevertheless, some changes are considered harmless by the PDF applications and do not throw any warnings

I am trying to understand if there is any design consideration behind not signing the entire PDF, but only some sections?
Hi Peter,

I hold a GC and have been working outside the US on reentry permit. The latter has already been renewed once, expiring again in Q1 2021. Two questions:

1. Do you anticipate any impact of changing policies on people holding GCs but working outside?

2. What would be the best time to apply for a third extension of the reentry permit, given the pandemic situation.

Thanks.
Yes, and that's exactly why Nubank acquired Cognitect. They are too deep into the tech to migrate to something else, cheaper to just buy the authors.

So you have deep technical debt with serious scaling issues and bugs everywhere(Datomic/Nubank) and a burnout company(Datomic/Cognitect) get together, makes sense.

Burnout because their "Datomic Cloud" product didn't worked out, it was just a horrible complex AWS cloudformation template that force you to click through tens of aws webpages. It was more complex to manage and to dev for than on-premise but you still had all the same issues and bugs.

Nubank got into Datomic not because of Clojure, but the other way around, they got into Clojure because of Datomic. If you watch their videos, the reason they picked Datomic was because they think it had "time travel", which is quite different from having "history" of transactions, use mostly for auditing and troubleshooting, not for real time travel queries.

In the end, I guess things did work out for Cognitect, and Hickey is now laughing all the way to the bank.

I have being following Datomic for a year because of a system I inherited.
I see it less as a rewrite and more as the founding of a competing company.

> Other than that, Antarctic or below the sea are other viable options to escape to. And they’re right here.

That's the problem. There is no strong barrier to incentivize independence.
I don't think that is how these companies see themselves. For them they are just a source of cheap labor and the only reason a company would engage with them is for their low cost. They think that the engineers and the talent is easily replaceable and they even think they do adequate work nothing earth shattering. So the company's only aim will be to out maneuver the other IT consulting companies by undercutting on price.
> The other commonality is that both countries chose their autocrat by fair elections.

There's almost zero evidence to support the notion that Trump is an autocrat.

He's a badly performing political outsider that is about to go down in flames with one of the least successful, least effective Presidencies in US history. He's going to lose by normal democratic means, being voted out of office. His Presidency ultimately isn't going to matter much at all. In the first months Biden will unleash a wave of executive orders, mostly wiping out anything Trump did that the Democrats disliked. He's about to be thrown out of office by a candidate that can barely make it through four minute interviews, a candidate whose prep team has to keep him hidden away and tightly controlled because of obvious severe problems.

There is hardly anybody in the establishment in Washington that supports Trump at this point. There is almost nobody in the media / press that supports Trump. The press is never afraid to attack him, they do it 24/7 openly.

What autocracy? Trump is closer to a bumbling clown with no business being in politics, than an autocrat.

What did Trump do? He built a wall? No he didn't, he didn't build anything. He banned all the Muslims? No he didn't, other previous presidents similarly blocked many of those same nations for security reasons. He shut down all the illegal immigration, and deported a zillion people? No he didn't, Obama deported more people. He radically remade our immigration system? No he didn't. He abolished the ACA? No he didn't. He took control of the military industrial complex levers and launched a bunch of wars? No he didn't. So what did he do?

Trump's entire Presidency has only a few signatures to it. He cuts taxes, he was wildly divisive (he raged a lot, tweeted a lot), he conflicted with China a lot, he didn't launch any new wars, he failed over and over again to accomplish much of significance, he fought with the press a lot, and he installed a bunch of federal judges (which is going to be limited by his single term anyway). And then he was gone after a mere four years (his polls are so bad, the Democrats would all have to drop dead of Covid for Trump to win again).

So the world is upside down, everything is bad, the US is over, it's an autocratic nightmare, because of this clown that was thrown out in just four years. I call bullshit.
Huh, TIL Vysotsky was pretty ripped.
The difference is that a military junta doesn't give the people a choice.

Contrary to that, the agreement with the EU was negotiated by multiple democratically elected governments and confirmed in a referendum.

They had a chance to make different choices and they still do. No one is taking their democratic rights away from them.
I can't actually imagine what could happen to Earth that would make it worse than Mars.

After an asteroid impact at least there'd likely be breathable air and some water and oceans still around. Most of an atmosphere.

Mars is a radioactive, extremely cold, thin atmosphered dustbowl without breathable air and no life to speak of.
Researchers offer solution for one of synthetic biology's biggest problems
> How is it that you prefer to engineer those workarounds instead of just paying $20/month?

If it isn't clear, there's an issue of trust here, not money. And frankly, a fallback shouldn't be much of an issue since fly.io, AWS Lambda@Edge are like-for-like swaps, so we'd still be "serverless" just on a different yet similar platform (albeit costlier).
See also Olber's Paradox:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olbers%27_paradox
New York bans use of facial recognition in schools statewide
Technically correct is of course the best sort of correct.

The UK transitioned from being part of the EU into a sort of weird temporary EU dependency, in practice; it no longer gets to vote, but hasn't meaningfully left the EU until next year.
We're not yet living in George Orwell's 1984 either, but just because we don't live in the worst possible timeline with a Ministry of Love doesn't mean we can't criticize or ask for improvement of conditions or policies in society today.

To brush off the actions of the police in the US as "not even close to brutal" and "showing remarkable restraint" is beyond callous and demonstrates some pretty bad faith and a lack of empathy on your part. I will remind you that this started over the murder of a man accused of using a fake $20 bill, and __human lives are more important than property__.
That seemed like the whole point of the essay to me and not a side note. His claim is that rule-orientation and assertiveness are present already in childhood (which I think is true), and that those are what determine people's behavior toward rules, not the specifics of the rules themselves.
hashing (sha) is not very appropriate since you're not likely to ever reproduce exactly the same base pair sequence for the same person.
A democracy doesn't give you the right to block traffic and public transportation every weekend because you think you have an important cause.
They'd be better off reading Zubrin's The Case for Mars since SpaceX is essentially just following the plan he outlined in that book.
Top Programming Languages 2020
Except the reforms were not reasonable. More like telling a man to cut off an arm to get a fish. Doesn’t teach you to fish in the future and creates lots of suffering in the present.
> The way yellow-vests were treated in "democratic" France (hint: plastic bullets shot at demonstrators' eyes)

France is in no way behind the USA in repressing popular demonstrations.
I would add that Malcolm Gladwell talks about how much Gates had been programming at his age compared to other people at the time. He wasn't competing with nearly as many people as programmers today are.
I am from India and a recent graduate from a top tier university. I have only recently starting working (1 year so far) in the corporate landscape.
What is the best route / plan for me to get opportunities to work in Europe?
How flexible are the immigration policies of Europe for Indians?

Thank you so much for doing this!
A friend who has always worked in NGOs/charitable trusts shared an interesting observation about all this.

She said that people in the top at these NGOs and trusts are usually get paid filthy rich like a CEO/Director would get paid but it pretty much ends there. Everybody else down the line are expected to expect and accept pittance. She said a salary negotiation among rank and file is frowned upon, especially by the people who are high up on the ladder and they are the same people who crib about not attracting top talent.

Wish passion alone could fill the belly and pay medical bills.
This comment and what you're doing brings me joy.
4 thou isn't a particularly high degree of precision.

For about five bucks you can get feeler gauges more accurate than that, and for about thirty you can get a micrometer that's accurate to 0.0005" over a whole inch. (I checked mine against a set of grade 2 gauge blocks at their calibrated temperature.)

Normal CNC machines, not designed for extreme precision but the sort of thing an exceptionally serious hobbyist or decent makerspace might have just sitting around, will happily hold 0.001" across the entire working envelope, which may be the volume of a couch cushion or larger. The one I'm familiar with (which dominates one corner of the local makerspace) has thermal sensors scattered about the large castings that make up the machine frame, so it can compensate in software for the estimated warpage of the frame depending on how the HVAC has been blowing on it. And that's mid-90s tech, things have only gotten better since then.
At Google, they say "It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission".

I hope you're not under the impression that this is another SV "innovation," because it's been a saying since at least the 1600's.

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2018/06/19/forgive/
Have there been any substantial strides made on merit-based immigration as a partial alternative to the current H1B status? How would that affect the current startup ecosystem?
Ask HN: Which Quant Finance course should I choose?
Hi,

I've got to decide between the following courses:

1. MSc Quantitative Finance (SOAS)
https://www.cefims.ac.uk/programmes/...nance/masters/

2. MSc Quantitative Risk Management with Machine Learning (Birkbeck)
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/study/2020/post...mes/TMSQRMML_C

Does anyone have any opinion on which one I should go for?

They are both part-time. Each one appears to have a different emphasis. In an ideal world I'd take the most interesting modules from each one and have an "a la carte" course. But alas...

A couple of factors to consider:

* I'll probably be able to get a post-graduate loan to finance #2 but not #1 (long story)

* #2 is basically in stages: Certificate -> Diploma -> MSc which is cool if I decide at some that it's not for me.

* SOAS has been doing this course purely on line since it's inception (or so I think). Birkbeck is doing it online until they get the green light to have students in lectures halls.

* Machine Learning is interesting and in vogue :-) but #1 seems a lot more focused on the quantitative aspects

* The relative ranking of the two universities. I don't know how they stack against each other in general and in this field in particular.

There are probably other factors to consider but those come to mind.

Thanks
I'm a Greencard holder who has applied for an I-130 prior to COVID-19 for my wife through the F2A category, I know that spouses of citizens can still file I-130s, but the wording wasn't clear for permanent residents. Will my application be denied due to the executive order?

This is the executive order I am talking about: ttps://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-suspending-entry-aliens-present-risk-u-s-labor-market-following-coronavirus-outbreak/
Building Custom Drivers for Zephyr RTOS
Oh how you have opened a can of 'My pet peeves'

So the tax laws are enormous. And ignorance of the law is no excuse.

Then I contend the US tax laws are un constitutional.

They are a cruel and unusual punishment for a citizenry that has not been convicted of a crime.
Can I ask _how_ you did this? I've done some things like block sites on various devices, etc. But I do find myself still - when I'm waiting for a build to complete or whatever - sliding over to whateveroutragesite.com almost compulsively.
I hesitate to stray into political territory, but maybe we can discuss without animosity or vehemence from others.

As an immigration lawyer, you undoubtedly see the complexity and huge volume of paperwork needed for even talented and skilled immigrants to this country. They approach a book sized application.

Do you ever find it inequitable or frustrating, that some classes of immmigrants are by comparison, basically waved through? What things about the immigration / visa system would you recommend immediately be changed or fixed to improve our situation?
KFC will test 3D printed lab-grown chicken nuggets this fall
Can you do the same for say Duke? Even Googling, I couldn't find an obvious CS superstar name or practical everyone-knows-them Jeff Dean-type. And the whole point of the article is exactly that in the insular tech circles and parties we move in, we don't get to hear or see from the NC A&T folks.
> He has no individual power, and no loyalty to him, the loyalty is to the office of president, which is currently occupied by Trump, but unless he is declared

You should note, the man has shown many times to be able to gather a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people with a few tweets, and phone calls.
> Hopefully we can agree that it's well within police prerogative to prevent rioting, serious property damage(like trying set fire to buildings), possible violence.

No, as it happens.

I mean I get I'm probably outside the Overton window for hacker news, but I think we could probably find common ground on the principle that whatever else, the police should not use deadly force to prevent vandalism.
This should include rubber bullets and batons, and I believe that tear gas also is not justified to prevent vandalism.

I mean you have to understand that there are countries which don't experience the horrific brutality the US is going through right now.
The police in these place isn't better because the government paid out millions to consultancy firms run by former cops, but because the role of the police is dramatically different, and almost always much smaller.

> I am definitely willing to concede that Trump is a tactless brute, and sending the federal agents in like this was far from the best strategy.

I don't like talking about Trump much in this context: the problem is far larger than him, and I think people talking about him alone are missing the point.

The problem is overly-powerful police departments and unions which have massive political power in the cities they operate.
Violence is used to increase this power, which in turn increases their funding and capacity for violence.

We see this all the time with (for instance) the NYPD: their union directly threatened de Blasio's daughter, for instance. They also stopped patrolling in protest of the prosecution of their officers (famously crime dropped during this time).

The only way to stop the cycle is to cut the power.
What about with no degree?
Hungary's Index journalists walk out over sacking
None of these seem to be software jobs though.
Just a quick note that you will also have many tax issues in addition to the VISA difficulties. I recommend also getting one fo the top tax firms to have a look at your situation before you move. (I didn't and it was a very expensive mistake to make)
The US has global reach and dictates quite a lot when it comes to how the international markets operate coming down hard on countries that try to isolate.

America loathing is relevant world-wide.
Are any significant current emulators written in C?

The main emulators off the top of my head, MAME, bsnes (and the related higan) and dolphin, are all in C++.
It makes a pretty tissue box. https://www.applegazette.com/wp-content/uploads/g4cube_tissu...
If they found nothing in the first 5-10 images, what do you imagine they would do? Telescope scheduling is a very tricky business, not one that lets you change courses too quickly.
Yes, but Paris proper is notable for achieving that density with only two tall buildings, both non-residential.

Edit: And a considerable amount of land given over to parks, museums, churches, and other non-residential spaces.
This article tries to make a moral point by (ab)using intellectually dishonest arguments.

It blatantly attempts to confuse meritocracy as a value / goal and as state / belief. Replace "meritocracy" by "freedom" or "equality" or "justice" or "safe driving" - it's a constant struggle, a distant goal that we're continuously falling short of, and obviously the belief that we've achieved that goal results in less effort expanded towards it and falling more behind. That's not a paradox, it's just logic.

> the belief that merit rather than luck determines success or failure in the world is demonstrably false.

False dichotomy; why not both?

> In the UK, 84 per cent of respondents to the 2009 British Social Attitudes survey stated that hard work is either ‘essential’ or ‘very important’ when it comes to getting ahead

Again, why not both? How many successful people are there that didn't work hard? But yeah, obviously you need to be lucky, you won't achieve much if you die at 5 from malaria.

> They found that, in companies that explicitly held meritocracy as a core value, managers assigned greater rewards to male employees over female employees with identical performance evaluations

That's not a failure of meritocracy, it's a failure of a specific policy used to implement meritocracy. Managers / police / judges / assassins are not impartial? Implement policies that enforce more impartiality (in this study's case, if you have a statistical benchmark to compare "performance evaluations" of different employees and contrast them with managers' appraisals, why not use that statistics itself to dole out rewards?)
Yes, it does. It may be inconvenient, but that is part of the democratic game. The option is to live in an authoritarian regime.
>All of those specks which are entire galaxies, and not the single slightest sign of intelligent life anywhere, ever.

You say that as if we could tell with any certainty, at that scale. There could be interstellar civilizations spanning several of those galaxies and uncountable intelligent civilizations that simply never pursued space travel or the constant accelerated curve of energy consumption and colonization we assume they would, only because we ourselves would.

We wouldn't know, we don't even really know what we're looking for, and the universe is so vast that even if we did, we'd be all but certain to blink and miss it.
Actually something I'm planning to do once I get some time. Can't find any sources to get enough websites say, ~500+
is LTE not public airwaves?
So if I uploaded a pirated copy of an ebook for which they do not own a physical copy, they would let people read it? That's what I mean by "any random ebook".
I would be willing to bet there are political considerations at play also.

The popularity of the Space Program in America has fluctuated over the years with a corresponding amount of support and funding from the government. That being said, the Space Shuttle was seen at the time as a major iteration in space technology. Moreover, it closely resembled an actual "space ship" from science fiction lore! For the first time space technology was recognizable and relatable to the American taxpayer.

They probably could have accomplished more with a less iconic design, but they would have had trouble selling it to Congress and taxpayers. For a society that's used to seeing billion-dollar metal tubes used up every several minutes before exploding into the ocean; the reusable "Space Shuttle" was a comfort investment for Americans that boosted confidence and enthusiasm for the Space Program.
Apple has started manufacturing iPhone 11 in India
I wasn't a big fan of the article, it feels too nihilistic.

I do agree that recognizing extrinsic vs. intrinsic factors in success is important for empathy and to help others - i.e. looking at work given your circumstances not just work - but it felt like it ended without making a conclusion. Is it asking us all to become fatalists? And does that somehow make for a more empathetic and just society? I feel like it wouldn't - if we believe that none of us are in control at all, why do anything to help others? And doesn't a belief in meritocratic ideals mean that we should be going out of our way to remove barriers? For example, I found this article[1] that talked about income mobility in different countries.

An interesting question it made me think of though: in separating luck versus grit, what is your prior?

For example, we'd probably all agree one is lucky to be born in a wealthy country, and that if you are you have inherent advantages. And that the circumstances you are born to are pure luck.

If growing up you had strict family (lucky or unlucky depending) that forced you to have good study habits, and you did well in school in a large part because of those habits, which in turn opened up other opportunities - is that luck or grit?

If I stumble across a good mentor, then go out of my way to learn from their teachings is that luck or grit?

If I'm starting a company, and I make 100 cold calls to find my first customer - do we attribute that to luck or grit?

If through exercise, genetic luck and healthy eating I'm able to stay healthy throughout my life, is that luck or grit?

[1] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/08/moving-up-the-income-...
Anecdotal but my current experience is the opposite.

Just some weeks ago, I bought a dumb phone (new and sold by Amazon FR) on the Amazon FR website and it was sent by a fulfillment center in UK. The phone I received was opened, missing earbuds and was the Middle East version with the wrong keypad.
Smartphones have one killer feature for me: language support. Especially when it comes to CJK support, most can't display, let alone input those. Quite niche, I guess, but I do message/text in Japanese 30% of time and this definitely makes it harder for me to switch...
I don't remember the exact quote I read, but someone back then noted that it was a supercomputer the size of a box of tissues, and that it was (and I'm going by memory now):

One of the few things that makes the Year 2000 what it was cracked up to be.
Hello! I have been running a survey to collect stories and data about immigrants and the companies they transformed, created, or funded.

If you are or have been a technology startup employee, founder, or investor, can you take a few minutes to complete this survey: https://lnkd.in/gSuxfUJ ?

Your answers will help produce a report about the role of immigrants in the tech startup ecosystem.

It matters to me, because over the past 15 years, I have been under a bunch of different visas (J1, F1, H-1B). I believe that I, like many other immigrants in the technology startup world, helped create thousands of jobs in the US. I want to get data to show it and ultimately share around.

(And sorry if it's a bit off topic)
To get more responses to your surveys, make your surveys shorter. The massive response rate will make up for the loss in granularity; most of the granularity is not actionable anyway. The tricky thing is that some huge, in-depth survey looks better to your manager, whereas the simple one looks lazily developed.