skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Agreed, a lot more elastic demand in most cases.

Flying hasn't gotten much more expensive, it’s just gotten bad and it sucks as an experience!! In the late 80's and 90's you'd get awesome service and food, flight attendants happy and delighted, you’d feel like a VIP a bit, now airlines seem to be nickel and diming you like a used car sales person or a street urchin, their staff is way underpaid and that spills over to the customer – flight attends are obviously mad. You just come out with a bad taste in your mouth. This industry has failed to create any kind of loyalty (other than air miles), where its customers are ready to switch at a $5 difference. Virgin seems to be breaking that mold.

Someone, please invent an electric plane that can take solar charge, absorb energy from static friction through the atmosphere, and/or lightning strikes that fall on airplanes (apparently) all the time. Or just cut to the chase and create teleportation. Ok, realistically, just build high speed electric rails that go 300 mph. :-)
Forget it. Nothing is going to make the general public excited about theoretical physics. The general public wouldn't be excited about physics even if they did understand the math of quantum physics.

For the general public, the question of what makes up matter is as interesting as the question of how beer is made. Matter, they say, is just like beer -- sometimes it tastes different, but it's just there to quench my thirst and mellow me out. I suppose there are interesting details involved in making beer, but let's leave those to the experts.

When a prophet of beer (beer snob) does show up, I listen to a lot of descriptive words that don't mean much to me, learn some fascinating history, but then the next evening I'll still be ordering the same regular as I did last night.

And yet, against all that, Feynman and Hawking have sparked many peoples' interest in physics, even among those who will never run an experiment, or take a formal course. Computer science is not about computers, and there's no need to conflate it with using a computer. See http://csunplugged.com for some attempts to make CS interesting while teaching it to primary- and secondary- school aged children without using actual computers, for example.
Didn't Apple have that one reporter guy who was sent the 'lost prototype iphone' SWAT'd?
Giving people time to improve is nice. It's a balance. If someone could be a good performer but is going through some issues, etc, and with some time or a warning or some such thing, return to or become a good performer again, that's a win for everyone. Recruitment is expensive and when corporations can help their employers and their bottom line at the same time, this is a good thing.

Unfortunately when you have these sort of blanket policies that are more necessary in large organizations, the guy in a temporary crisis and the person who got hired somehow but can't spell their name get the same treatment. I think the balance is to give enough time that good people who have slipped can get back on track, but not so much that it be too heavily abused by less capable employees who would probably ultimately be happier somewhere more in fitting with their ability.
Unless you have a business model, it seems pretty pointless to start a business. Isn't the point to make money?

Part of running a business is making money and I think a good way of doing that is by making sure you have a competitive advantage over your competition. Even better would be if it is a sustainable advantage. Sometimes, it can be as easy as changing some wording in your business plan, or other times it requires innovation. However you look at it, it will beneficial to you.
Ben Laden is Alive -- And Making Klezmer Videos. Really.
I watch tons of TV and professionally have done well. I sincerely enjoy watching TV. In fact I'd like to watch more, not less.

The great thing about TV, unlike playing the guitar, is that you can do other things while watching TV. I can workout, write code, write docs, read HN, write blog entries, write emails, clean the house, cook dinner, put up crown molding, etc... And frankly, I enjoy watching TV more than playing a guitar.

More TV please.
By that argument propagation of child pornography (at least in digital form) should be legal since it is just bits--copying child porn bits is indistinguishable from free speech.

Your argument fails, of course, because it is NOT indistinguishable. These same issues arose with pre-digital media. After all, you could say all print media is just blobs of ink on paper, and and freedom to copy print media is indistinguishable from free speech. Yet we manage to distinguish just find. The same works just fine for information in bit string form.
Carbon For Water Collects 40000 Forms per Day; Monitors Results from ISS
if he does it to tamper with federal investigation - then i'd guess it'd be a violation.

If he does it to improve fuel efficiency of the car and remove unnecessary weight from the car ... it'd be interesting whether it is possible to bill the government for the service of carrying their stuff around. Or for not being able to use the car at all as having the GPS tracker attached the car may become unsuitable for your use. Shouldn't anybody whose property taken over and used by the government to be justly compensated?
hey could you send me that link again?

Edit: I looked up the document, TL;DR - you don't need to encrypt the cardholder name, service code, or expiration date unless you are also storing an associated primary account number.
Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands
Why wouldn't you want to hire an entrepreneur? They have such a good outlook and they have a good balance of prudence and risk taking.

Younger entrepreneurs tend to be higher risk takers because they have less to lose, so I see it as an advantage having them on a team.
If you skipped right to the comments, a good summary of this is: The author "finally grew the stones" to send a strongly worded email to a spammer.
The TV remote as a disruptive technology:

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/bibuxton/buxto...
Then how do you explain how heavily-regulated California has a higher GDP-per-capita than lightly-regulated Texas?
You don't think it's exciting that we can show that we can show that routing FedEx trucks, scheduling university final exams, and finding mathematical proofs are, in a very strong mathematical sense, the exact same problem (NP-Completeness)? That if someone at FedEx could came up with an efficient way of finding the shortest paths for their trucks to follow, they would in the process have broken all modern cryptography and solved all open questions in mathematics?

You don't think it's interesting that it's provably impossible to predict in general what will happen if you follow a set of instructions, even if you have the entire set of instructions sitting in front of you (Rice's theorem)? This is the only plausible path I've ever heard towards recovering a notion of free will in a deterministic universe: even if you know the entire state of the universe and the rules by which it operates, it's still mathematically impossible to predict the future in any way more efficient than just sitting back and letting it unfold.

And you don't think it's important that we can prove that finding Nash equilibria in large games is computationally difficult, and that the amount of computation required grows much faster than the number of the players in the game (http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~christos/papers/cacmDGP-2.pdf)? You think the fact that it's literally impossible for large markets to compute optimal solutions doesn't have profound economic and political implications?

If all this stuff is really as uninteresting to you as the details of your plumbing, then good for you, I guess. Maybe this is just the wrong site for this sort of stuff; maybe the audience here is self-selected to be all the people who thought their CS theory classes were so boring that they dropped out and founded startups instead. But I'm in the same camp as Scott Aaronson: I think there are a lot of people out there who would be just as fascinated by the profound questions, results, and paradoxes of CS as they are by quantum mechanics and relativity, if these ideas were given the same level of exposure. Theoretical physics is both a much older and much larger field than theoretical CS, so it's not surprising that it's managed to come up with many more charismatic and insightful popularizers. That doesn't mean that CS is any less interesting or exciting.
QML is the logical progression for UI/UX design. Its going to make it easier to build innovative user interfaces and I fully believe you will still be able to build apps that look and feel just like the traditional QWidget based interfaces we have today. You can see this in some of the examples posted on the Qt Developer blog.

I lead the frontend development for a very large (and successful regardless of what the press says) command and control system. We completely decoupled our UI from our logic years ago into config files, and use QtScript for GUI events. This allows us to deploy on a large number of form factors with a single code base. Performance has not been effected as the logic is still C++. QML will be a huge improvement over that because it makes it so we don't have to manually build effects using QPainter, QGLWidget, or QGraphicsView.

I understand being resistant to change, but I am 100% behind them looking forward, building for the future, and not just assuming we will to continue doing things the way we do now.
Also pwned means something more specific than hacked. "owned" might be more "professional", but potentially more confusing, since Google didn't sell them the Chrome browser.
Yes, I disagree. Because what you are describing is what's known as 'informal logic'.

If I can convince someone that something is true, such as "red is equal to blue", even when it isn't, then it allows an entire logical argument to be built on that falsehood. The argument may be perfectly sound as long as everyone agrees with the original falsehood.

If I say 'red is equal to blue' and you agree, then I can follow up and say, 'bulls must, therefore, get angry when they see the color blue'. This is a silly example but it's commonly used in politics and newspapers daily.

I might accept that an author could redefine a word temporarily, in some instances of fiction; however, never in a technical or nonfiction work could this be considered acceptable or even credible.
> First, any good tethering app should be immune to a simple TTL check.

If the phone sets its TTL to 255, what can you do?
I wish it was the case...
The net result in this case is the government owning a zero-day root exploit for every Chrome/Win citizen’s computer. It’s worse than zero-day because we have no reason to expect a patch, so the window of attack will stay open.
Imitating your industry leaders is a great way to position yourself among the smaller competition you face in your market.

Tech companies can follow Apple or Google's example even though they may not have to same resources they do, but everyone can set aside an hour a day to spend working on their own projects.

Every business can make their experience more enjoyable for their customers by adding TV's or games of some kind while people wait.

The point is, if you see someone doing something that is working for them, why wouldn't you do it too?
Inbox Zero is dead for me
I assume it would be cheating to create a game that takes a thousand years to play? :)
Bill Buxton’s 35 years of Tech devices
Why is Network Solutions holding my domain hostage and how can I set it free?
I recently purchased a domain from another business for what amounted to the cost of a Tesla ... it still stings. While I would never choose to use Network Solutions on my own the previous owner used them so I figured that I'd just go along with it and then transfer it out later.

Long story short, this crap system nearly voided the contract after their 'official' transfer notices were not being sent and now they continue to put locks on my domain so that I cannot actually move it. It's been over 10 days now and every time that I speak with them I get a '1 more business day' line of crap and then an offer for better pricing ... like I have any interest in working with them.

Question is, has anyone ever had a similar problem and other than publicly flaming them in hopes of getting someones attention (like I am doing here) does anyone have any constructive suggestion as to how I might get this things fixed?

Thanks!
Article here: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/bibuxton/buxto...
OK, but has there ever been a "prophet" of any field of mathematics who sparked people's interest like Hawking or Sagan? (I disagree that Feynman had this impact.) I don't think there has been and I don't think that there will be until we all get to the Singularity.

It's a lot easier to get someone interested in something that they can look up at in the sky than something which is totally abstract.
Changes to the rules on using cookies and similar technologies for storing info
Welcome to the future of video. Please stay a while [YouTube Blog]
This is, of course, still not for manned flights as previously discussed (damned if anyone's gonna spend six months to a year crammed into a Dragon) but it would be interesting to know how the economics work out for unmanned probes.

On one hand, you've got the fact that a lot of the Dragon is excess weight you don't really need to send to Mars. On the other hand, you've got the savings in R&D if you can just send your robot up in a commodity capsule rather than having to design a landing system from scratch. Oh, and let's not forget the fact that one-off custom-designed landing systems don't have a great record of successful landings on Mars.
You cannot create a culture, only the environment necessary for the culture to thrive in. It is up to a leader to make this environment possible so as to attract the highest quality employees.
Obviously it depends a whole lot on the scale. They gave some idea of number of constraints required to be satisfied, but it's not clear to me what the actual constraints were. I think it's not outrageous that on scan it might have sounded intractable.
This is very well said. I'm reminded of the cliche that the people get the government they deserve. And boy, have we got ours in the United States. As long as the majority remains lazy and ignorant, the successful politicians will be mostly power-seekers, narcissists or agents of industry.
Who cares if they sound unprofessional to you? Very obviously they produce.
> can't listen to [...], or watch [...] Eurovision

Don't worry - you're not missing anything worth spending the time on...
LinkedIn sets IPO for next week
The "no more free bugs" campaign has gained a fair amount of support:

http://trailofbits.com/2009/03/22/no-more-free-bugs/
We damn sure want your money, but we want you to spend it quickly and leave as soon as you're broke, which should take no more than 90 days, thanks to all our taxes. By the way, the Schengen area is only about a third larger than the U.S., both by area and population.
I agree that the title could use some work, notwithstanding the point about unjust laws. Maybe he needs to find a more neutral angle (eg The Disobedient Minority). Or maybe he could make his point more forcefully by playing up the moralistic aspect; The Wicked Minority would be provocative, but acknowledge both the issue of truly bad actors who present a genuine danger to their neighbors, and the equally worrisome problem of moral hazard that results from adopting a moralistic approach to a practical problem (ie the police state).

I admire Schneier and am interested to see where he goes with the book, but the thesis as presented seems a bit thin.
Anything that has (or is) a text editor.
"They can either pay a nominal fee for doing their security work for them, or they can hire some equally talented people and fund this type of research on their own internally."

What makes you think they don't already? You make it sound like Google doesn't give a shit about security. That clearly isn't the case.
Do policemen work for free? It's a dirty job, I 'd want to be paid
I personally welcome the competition in online video rental, especially here in the UK where there is a very limited choice.

I think if YouTube can nail video quality and streaming reliability then they could seriously threaten the likes of iTunes and NetFlix. Hopefully they will integrate a simple/low friction payment mechanism, and focus on one-off movie rentals, rather than having to sign up for a subscription. If they can do this then I will be very keen to use this service.
What this article taught me is that some javascript programmers do not understand pointers.

Considering how hard we have fought to liberate programmers from pointers, I am having mixed feelings about this lesson. One the one hand, what a paradise we live in that this person can imagine these sterile, useless contrivances are pointers. On the other hand, experience bij.
This is what you would expect them to say, whether or not they're actually fazed by Intel's snazzy new 22nm process.
"Dear Google Employees reading HN:
This exploit, along with VUPEN's affiliation to goverment agencies, scared the crap out of me. Having used Chrome since it's earliest days, I'm now forced to switch my main browser to FF4; it remains so until confirmation from either parties of the bug's "fixed" status."

I think it's time for you to take your computer out back and set it on fire. Best way to be safe until Google fixes this. Whatever it is.

If you think there isn't an active 0-day against Firefox or IE or Safari or... oh boy. This is news because such things are rare against Chrome. Welcome to software.
Zynga buys Ricardo Quesada (lead on Cocos2D) and certain assets of Sapus Media
I doubt FF4 is more secure than Chrome.
You could say the same about VISA to US. You have 3 months to visit US. But then you discover that if you visit Canada/Mexico during those 3 months, then these days are counted towards stay in the US as well. WTF? not exactly better system than EU
Weinre also works where this currently does not (on mobile devices where you generally can't just run a custom version of the browser for testing purposes).
3 strategies to achieve web start-up success
I find it remarkable that the "Apple toggle button" is shown the wrong way: http://www.uxmag.com/uploads/realisminuidesign/toggles.png

The real one is set to the left while the others are on the right, or am I once again misinterpreting this button? I never ever understood their design and they utterly confuse me wherever I encounter them. Is it "On" if it shows "On" or does it mean I can click "On" when it is shown. Aaaargh.
Are we ruling out good satire? Because, I mean... wow.
I'm working with a client who is in the same boat. Network solutions makes it extremely painful to try to transfer your domain to another registrar if you aren't listed as the main contact on the account. In my client's case, both the technical contact and the main contact aren't with the company anymore, so we're having to fill out paper work and fax it back to them to get the issue resolved.

For what it's worth, I have had good luck with other companies with either threatening to complain to the BBB or actually complaining if they take the threat lightly. Many companies will look past their standard policies in order to satisfy a complaint to the BBB.
Oh, don't get me wrong, I find that interesting... but then again I find everything kinda interesting. I'm actually kinda keen to see the aforementioned plumbing documentary.

I was merely speaking in the voice of "member of the general public" up there who probably can't be persuaded to find all this stuff as interesting as whiz-bang relativity/quantum mechanics/cosmology. Note that it's only the most whiz-bang bits of physics which capture the imagination of the general public too -- try explaining solid state physics or optics to the general public and watch their eyes glaze over.
This is way off topic, but if you use a diaeresis in "coöperation," you are probably an asshole. Stupid New Yorker.
The ARM ecosystem innovates along multiple points, not only the process but also through micro‐architecture and system‐on‐chip design that enables optimized efficiency for a broad range of products

I don't understand how this is even a response to Intel's announcement. Intel also "innovates along multiple points" "through micro‐architecture and system‐on‐chip design". Additionally, they also have the world's best process technology. They certainly publish about more interesting micro-architectural innovations, and I'd argue that their chips are more 'interesting' on a micro-architectural level. They're obviously behind on the SoC side, because SoCs haven't been a focus for them, but it's conceivable that they could produce better SoCs than ARM implementers do, if they put their mind to it. However, it's inconceivable that anyone on the planet will have a better process in the foreseeable future.

The press release talks about working with IBM, but that's not very reassuring. I remember looking at IBM's process parameters and specs a few years ago, when they had press releases crowing about SOI, and Intel's nth generation bulk process was nearly as good as IBM's n+1 generation SOI process (and no doubt much cheaper, since it didn’t have to deal with all of the complexities of SOI), and Intel was about half a process generation ahead at the time. I'm not a fab guy, so I don't keep up on this stuff, but I hear Intel's now more than a full generation ahead, and that their advantage within a generation is larger than ever.
It seems like the point the OP was driving at is that Schneier's statement is a subset of that maxim. While Schneier's point is certainly important, the generalized form of "systems are not perfect, work with it" is more widely applicable. He wasn't ignoring what Schneier said, but agreeing with and building on it.
Looking at VUPEN services it sounds like HBGary twin :

http://www.vupen.com/english/services/

"offensive security", yep. The guys are dirty like the Gary.
Why a racket and government always means a happy marriage?
"Who cares if they sound unprofessional to you? Very obviously they produce."

Sadly we can't verify that in this case. Because you know, we're not the CIA.
Indeed - so why don't people do what I did here, and put in the comment including the link?
Mutiny Within Anonymous May Have Exposed Hackers’ IP Addresses
I remember finding a teardown of an IBM 4765 module somewhere. That was badass.
Take away my right to do with my work as I see fit, and see how long I continue to make my new creations available...

I am sure many other creators/artists/inventors feel the same way.
Same here. In depth, but very understandable. A very good book!
Persuasive. This does rather suggest that we should all get on with doing this:

1. Work out a non-brute force workaround for SHA256

2. Make infinite bitcoins and then buy real money with them

3. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Don't do this. He's suggesting it. I'm not.

Also:
"Bitcoin removes government control over the economy, which means there is no control over the economy."

Yes, because there's no government. Must be why it's called info and crypto-anarchism.

"You are attempting to build nuclear weapons in your bedroom."

Maybe "I" am, but I'm doing it with tools downloaded with TOR, so they CAN'T stop me. If they could, child porn, as a horrible but valid example, would be impossible to get, even on TOR.
Ask HN: What kind of perk would sway you to join one company over another?
Just a thought exercise. Suppose you had two offers from hot startups, giving you comparable salaries and equity, plus some small amt. of benefits befitting of a startup. If you were negotiating, what would be the one perk or benefit that'd persuade you to join one startup over another? In other words, what intangible factor outside of the usual comp + project work + chance of success would a company need to attract you?