skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I think an interesting case to look at was the Best Buy vs. Circuit City competition. After going head to head on prices for so long, Best Buy decided to raise their prices and better train their staff and service. If people know what they want, they can find it on Amazon, or New Egg, or somewhere online for cheaper than Best Buy can offer, often because of the sales tax exemption in buying from out of state vendors. What Best Buy discovered is that people come into Best Buy when they don't know what they want. When they need to ask a few questions and get some recommendations. Then they figure, "I might as well buy it while I'm here" and pay a little premium for it.
Instead of picking up passengers at a bus terminal like Greyhound buses do, these services pick up passengers at designated points in each city without any real infrastructure.
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I was basically conceding that point to the parent, since that is not central to the point I'm trying to make. I personally think that we as humans have ample ingenuity to solve our future energy needs, I just don't want to see a world where accidents like Chernobyl and Bhopal (and their many unfortunate victims) are essentially swept under the rug as a cost of doing business.
"Combine Skills.
Fail Forward.
Attract Luck.
Conquer Fear.
Write Simply.
Learn Persuasion."

Sorry, but that "education in entrepreneurship" curriculum just looks like a list of skills absolutely anyone should pick up in the natural course of life and career. I understand the need for a useful, technical education, but sometimes I think we overestimate how much useful, technical skills can be gained from classroom instruction v. the real world. This is an argument against mainstream college education as much as it is for a challenging, classical liberal arts degree..despite what Adams writes.
> If Google is going to exploit "open source" as a marketing term and claim at Google IO that it's trying to prevent a "draconian future," it shouldn't be withholding its source code from non-privileged partners and making licensees sign non-fragmentation clauses that give Google final approval over source changes.

IMHO, for a for-profit company, they're doing a really great job of keeping the source open, especially when compared to their competition. And remember how open they are required to be, which is "not at all". They could stop releasing source tomorrow, and, short of feeling morally superior, there is nothing anyone could do about it.

Is Google open by RMS's standards? If we just jump there, we can settle the terminology issue on the spot. No, they are not open, so now we can just work with what we have, which is "some open source under different licenses, and a lot of closed source".

But if someone doesn't like the restrictions on Android, they do have the option to fork it into a new OS. That's the open source deal, and Rubin spelled out the details in a tweet that a great many people made fun of at the time, but turned out to accurately describe their stance. Use the kernel source under the GPL's terms; use the trademark and store and non-GPL'd source under Google's terms.

When Justice gets involved, there are problems, for sure. But saying, "Hey, you can't use our trademark while pimping our main competitor's product, and if you do pimp our main competitor's product, don't expect us to be in a rush to show you our in-progress code" doesn't strike me as particularly horrific behavior. But that's just my opinion.

The big question is: would Android be a coherent platform without Google's restrictions? And if not, would Google even work on it?
House votes to repeal "net neutrality" rules
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True. Banqaio dam, for example, or the USS Grandcamp in Texas City, or Deepwater Horizon. Nuclear breaks down, and when it does it causes some pretty horrific injuries, but other things break down with far greater frequency and with far more deadly (albeit less media-exploitable) consequences.
Oh, cool, that's a great way of solving a problem I need to solve with LiberWriter. Thanks for the inspiration!
Welton's law of startup advice: for each and every bit of trite startup advice, there is an equal and opposite bit of trite startup advice.
I realize this isn't related to the game, but I found it entertaining that the Haskell bindings to Chipmunk, the 2D physics engine is called .... (waitforit) Hipmunk.
Agreed. I wouldn't downvote it simply for bad science. I'd downvote it for appealing to base emotion in a situation where we must rely on reason and nothing else. Chernobyl was a tragedy. Letting it keep us on oil and coal for another fifty years, dooming tens of thousands of people a year to prolonged, painful deaths by lung cancer and asthma would be a travesty. Triage is a necessary evil.
Here's an idea, put a $100 fee on every application. If you're a serious applicant this would not be an issue.
Is it just me or this should have been a crazy rant about how much outsourcing sucks?

I don't want to sound like a racist(don't take this the wrong way), but I had a lot of projects where the client previously employed Indians to do it, who conveniently took the money and left a poor excuse of a product in it's place.

Most of the code Indians leave, is simply trash, no I don't mean bad code, I mean trash something that you will be forced to throw away.

Indians may be cheaper in the short term, but they won't be able to build your product.

These Indian freelancers give the rest of us a bad name(including the other Indian freelancers who are good coders).
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Would you mind sharing a few pointers? I have very limited experience with flash games. In a few small projects, I've gone with Kongregate and Mochi, either of which will send some traffic just for a game being new. Unfortunately, if the initial rating is poor, the game just disappears. In the case of my most recent game, I improved it dramatically over half a dozen patches, but over 95% of all the traffic it ever saw was in the first couple of days (version 1.00)

What's your general workflow for releasing games? What sites to you start with and where do you put them after making improvements?
Yeah, except Bing gets to mine Facebook and Google doesn't. Maybe that's why it has a higher success rate?

http://www.bing.com/community/site_blogs/b/search/archive/20...

http://www.stateofsearch.com/bing-gaining-share-in-the-us-su...
Agreed! That's why I think that more people should realize how many deaths are attributable to fossil-fuel air pollution: millions per year.
If PHP sucks so badly, why is it so popular? :)

You can call PHP anything you want but, the fact remains: it's easy to learn, and it gets the job done. It's not meant to be OOP like, if you want to go crazy with OOP, then go with a strongly typed language.
How is that even a test for it? If you input garbage into a system like that your going to get garbage out. And for fun, walk up to a stranger and say something like that and see if the stranger can provide useful information.
The stamp says 1899, but it says 1869 at the bottom of each page. Is it actually from 1869?
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Ah yes, Scott Adams, the great expert on education.

Last I checked, he was somebody who made a semi-funny cartoon. Why are we listening to him for education advice?
I think we need a github of any kind of information.
How many people would think to compare a single cherry to a single potato though? Most people would think in terms of roughly equal mass (x grams of cherries vs. y grams of potatoes where x is approx. y).
The test is from 1869, but the stamp indicates that it was placed in the archive in 1899.
The computer game 'Animal', dating back to the 1970s, used a similar mechanism to guess what animal you were thinking of – or learn from its mistakes with a new user-suggested question. (Seeing that game in elementary school was one of the first things making me interested in programming.)

There's a web version at http://www.animalgame.com/, and it's mentioned as one of the precursors to the similar '20Q' AI project/handheld-game at Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20Q
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Collectively, as a society, compared to that of, say, 1914.
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Makes the SAT look like a joke...
I'm so new here. Why would someone downvote my comment? Noting there are two types of people with different needs and predictable responses and asking how to make money... Sounds very appropriate for a hacker forum.

And the basis of arbitrage.
Empirical Forum... English = Technology = World Domination..
Wow, I didn't know the alternate meaning of <3.

On a side note, I'm not (just) a customer of stackoverflow, I'm a contributor/participant.

Do "standard customer relationship" rules still apply?
The SAT is a joke.
I actually worked on a system to do this back in the late 90s code-named "Dark Iron". Our boss, who conceived of it, thought he was some kind of old school mainframe ("Big Iron") guy who talked a lot about using the unused capacity on all the desktops at companies at night (the "Dark" part, like "dark fiber").

I wrote the Linux kernel block device module and the other guy on the project wrote the part that ran on all the users desktops, mainly just a key-value store indexed by block number (the users liked to kill the process, which made it terribly unreliable). Back then, we used Linux purely for development, under the theory that once we "proved" it worked with the rinkydink Linux open source operating system, the company could then justify the purchase of the HP-UX and AIX kernel development kits and we'd port it to machines that people "actually" use.

We all know how that last part turned out.

But really, if you want to do something exactly like this (rather than the VMs that davecampbell suggests) these days (that is, since about 2003), you'd be best off using md software raid over Network Block Device. I believe there are Network Block Device storage ends (is that the client or the server?) for platforms other than Linux. Even a simplistic AOE service would do.
There is something about the do-or-die pressures of entrepreneurship that really drives the lessons home compared to trying to get an A in your mandatory Sociology class.
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There's a long back-and-forth between Kurt Harris and McArdle http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/04/are-grai... in the comments.
This has a surprising score, implying that I should care. I hate to be that guy, but why should I care about this? There's no context or overview of the ramifications of this. By all appearances this is people being morons to each other on mailing lists (nothing new, particularly on -dev lists), and typically this kind of drama has absolutely no bearing on anything outside of the project...

A casual Google leads me to this, which continues to paint a nope, not interested saga for me: http://lwn.net/Articles/424050/

(Edit: The author of that URL is somehow associated with MPlayer -- he seems to do documentation. There is an interview of him on the MPlayer Web site[1]. With that in mind, discovering that he called Ted T'so a "[L]inux-loving manwhore" and a racial slur on his blog[2], I'm now even more disinterested in the entire MPlayer development team and their comings and goings. What a classy bunch.

[1]: http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design5/interview-gabucino.html

[2]: http://gabucino.be/files/ted-tso-followup.html )
What's terrifying to me is the dilution of the meaning of the word "terrifying." I see it on this site in response to the most minor of occurrences.
I still don't understand their business model though. On the UK website, I've never seen prices over £5. Multiply that by often not completely filled up buses, say 50 people, and you've got 250 pounds for a 100-mile trip.
Spot-on there. Found myself leaning more towards the latter party, so I have started sitting out most of these debates.

Disabled my account in Dec 2010 and what I have figured out is that while Facebook is a powerful platform, but it is also pretty inefficient and unpredictable. You have to spend a lot of time and effort for returns that are not always predictable.

But that is just for me; may not necessarily the case for others.
This doesn't look too bad. But, like any test, it would depend on the time limit and one's expectations going in.
There was an article linked from ffmpeg.org that seems to have a lot of information, especially in the comments there.

http://lwn.net/Articles/423702/
shaving 1000 pounds off the weight of the car...

It is not likely that a hybrid car with no direct propulsion from the combustion engine will be 1000 pounds lighter than a comparable conventional car, even if its combustion engine weighs next to nothing. Batteries are heavy, and this type of hybrid needs more of them than the more common type that uses electric to augment the power of a combustion engine.

I'm not saying this won't be an improvement. I'm just saying some of the claims seem a little extravagant.
Some typical children like crying and unability to sort out things like grown ups? Atleast from the mail thread i am wondering what this is about..
Am I just being an engineer, or is the math way easier than the rest of this test?
No one will buy a skyscraper design that has no doors or windows and crumbles under a breeze. Architecture and industrial design are two examples of things that need to cater to practical needs yet are usually regarded as forms of art.

Of course there's also people who think that art is only art if it doesn't do anything and isn't "needed". This also creates problems (for example, can a movie be art? if yes what of the "jobs" needed to create the movie are art? who are the artists?)
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There are some Mexican bus lines that do this route, and while their terminals aren't in great locations, they aren't shady. No on-board Wifi or anything, but the experience is usually more pleasant than Greyhound. Check out http://www.eplalimo.com/
Um, only two films on that list are older than 15 years, and fully half are from the last three years.

That rather supports the assertion that making blockbusters is becoming more expensive.
he gave examples from his real life
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I don't know about physical laborers being fatter, but our bodies are horribly/wonderfully efficient when it comes to work. The amount eaten will be the larger factor.

See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basal_metabolic_rate#Biochemist.... About 70% of a human's total energy expenditure is due to the basal life processes within the organs of the body (see table). About 20% of one's energy expenditure comes from physical activity and another 10% from thermogenesis, or digestion of food (postprandial thermogenesis).
He never said that it was illegal, just that it's wrong (while continuing to claim that Android is "open").
If you mean "online social networking," mostly broadcasting and sharing, and feedback from commenters.

Real world social networking, aka going out to network events and breakfasts, meeting people, sharing information about third party products and services I like through word of mouth and keeping a network of RL people ... can't get enough of that.
Like all tests, it's not hard if you know the stuff that's asked. If you've studied ancient greek in school, that part of the test is probably as easy for you as the algebra part must seem to anyone who went to school in the past couple of decades (it looks about as hard as math homework from when I was 15 or so).

edit:

It's interesting. I do have a certain romantic attachment to this kind of classic humanist education, e.g. it irks me that the history and geography section has me floundered and I'm somewhat sorry that I didn't have the drive to do better in Latin in school.

But then I think, there's so much other interesting things to know and experience. At times when I wish I could read Cicero's Orationes In Catilinam in its original form, I need to remind myself that I can read and understand, say, this little piece of genius:

fib = 1 : 1 : [ a+b | (a,b) <- zip fib (tail fib) ]
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Probably. Coming from the same perspective, I agree.

I'd say some of it is pointlessly tedious, though, such as the one with manual division.
IMHO, for a for-profit company, they're doing a really great job of keeping the source open, especially when compared to their competition. And remember how open they are required to be, which is "not at all". They could stop releasing source tomorrow, and, short of feeling morally superior, there is nothing anyone could do about it.

I don't think the issue is whether or not they keep the source open, but whether or not their marketing is dishonest or hypocritical. I, for one, don't care that the iPhone has a completely closed ecosystem. If, however, Apple came out and said that their platform was free and open I'd be pretty annoyed.
How do you decide you are a B student ? Standardized testing? Then another no-good John Q Idiot will write a blog post on another seemingly important rag like the wsj or fox news about how this entrepreneurship curriculum is the next incarnation of some mega-corporation fascism + US gov racist intentions and blah blah blah.
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There is something to learn from people at the bottom of the pyramid.
>First time he disagreed with Jobs in public as an Apple employee it would be very awkward.

Yea, but the illusion that celebrities are perfect is IMO ridiculous, and dates back to what I call "legacy" PR based on controlling the message.
The theory of interstellar trade (Krugman 1978)
My first car, and one that I'm still very fond of, had 29HP [0]. I'm 31, so I'm not talking with a 'get off my lawn' 'glorify the past' attitude. In fact, I liked the car that much, that I had several of those in my life.

Oh - yeah: I drove a hell of a lot on the German Autobahn with it as well. Fast? Hell no. But I still have that speeding ticket (went just a tiny bit faster than 100km/h) somewhere as a nice souvenir.

0: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_...
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Megabus also have a presence in the UK, although their coaches (buses) usually leave from the same places as any other company's, often a coach station, and picking up at normal bus/coach stops.

What they also do, though, is partner with other non-discount companies, so if you get a ticket from Megabus (and their biggest selling point is that you can get fares from as low as £1), there's a reasonable chance that you won't actually be on a Megabus vehicle, they will have just sold off another company's seat that would otherwise have gone un-sold.

(Megabus is actually owned by Stagecoach, a UK company with some presence in the States, and the fact that Stagecoach is one of the biggest travel operators in the UK obviously helps them, as Stagecoach will often by the company Megabus customers travel with when there weren't enough tickets sold to justify a Megabus vehicle.)
Do you have much experience with JavaScript? My current focus is to learn JS very well, for no other reason at first than how prevalent it has become. I was surprised to find it's actually a pretty enjoyable and expressive language.
Show HN: I made this out of Robert Scoble's 500 tech entrepreneurs list
You are completely wrong about what "open source" means then. "Free Software" was designed to guarantee that you, the user, always got access to the source code, and was able to make changes and share them.

"Open Source" was specifically intended to sell a similar idea to corporations, and less idealistic programmers, mostly by dropping that key requirement. I'm surprised you've not noticed the last 20 years of GPL vs. BSD flame wars which should have made this obvious.

Google went out of their way to drop "free software" from the top of their stack in Android, ironically, because the manufacturers and carriers wouldn't play ball without it. At this point, the Businessweek story (well, the few bits that haven't been entirely refuted as false) sounds similar to record labels that demanded Apple add DRM to their music, then wondered why Apple suddenly had such great lock-in power over the market.

Except... nothing about even GPL'd Free Software compels you to release the source until after you ship to consumers. Even then you could add a few months delay by forcing people to buy the product then write you a letter then post it in the least helpful form you think you could get away with. Absolutely nothing would prevent you from signing corporate agreements and giving sneak peeks to your favored manufacturing partners. Basically, if you're writing the code, you have power. You have the power to write what you want, mostly under the licence you want, with whatever priorities you have. This applies as much to a Linux dev who decides to quit and become a monk as it does to Ubuntu ditching Gnome 3 to try their Unity stuff. It might suit you if they did something else, but people making petulant demands on developers is only commonly associated with open source, not actually part of the definition.

What's weird is that I thought I was fairly extreme on the "Free Software" side of things by most standards, and especially HN standards. However, it appears if you dare to use the word "open" in your advertising (and to be frank, I thought they were talking about smartphone stuff, like being able to install software of your choice) the tech hivemind will crucify you if you're not more extreme than RMS, someone who wouldn't use the phrase "open source" never mind the more wishy-washy "open" which basically could mean anything. Bit of strange double-standard there which I think basically reflects Google offering too much competition for Apple.
The forward footnote from the 1978 paper to "Theory capital and travel light-than-faster (Krugman 1987)" is delightful. I hope he remembered to write it!
I think HN is filled with great advice from people that are not experts in a particular field, but nonetheless have gained some kind of insight usually through experience.

I have a general rule not to heed advice unless the advisor can back it up with some kind of personal experience. This excludes maybe 99% of financial advice, which I think is a good thing.

Your criticism might be relevant if he was putting forward a comprehensive plan to reform the education system, but he is just trying to give another perspective on what the goals of education should be.
Fruit fructose is just as bad as the fructose found in HFCS.
Most new laptops doesn't have parallel or serial port :(
It's a shame that here in Germany, the railway has a state-guaranteed monopoly on long-distance ground travel (this is a law that goes back to the Nazi era!)

So, there are hardly any long-distance bus routes within Germany, only to Berlin (which was an exception from the person transport law that was made in the Cold War era), and to neighboring countries.
I've just applied to university, and it's interesting to see how the maths questions have changed. For example, there are a lot of questions on calculating fractions. Nowadays this would no time at all to work out (put it in a calculator), but back then you would be expected to be able to calculate it mentally, with written notes.

It's strange how as the technology used to solve mathematical problems changes, the ways in which mathematical ability is measured changes too.
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