skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
There's already accepted terms for what he's describing, without trying to claim a difference between "open source" and "community driven".

Free Software is software that you are free to run, modify, and redistribute.
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
The "open source" releases of Android meet this definition (at least until it gets installed on hardware with a locked bootloader).

The OSI's official Open Source Definition aside (which is mostly a bunch of legalese) open source is a development model where different parties contribute code as needed.

(Eric Raymond's the Cathedral and the Bazaar is a decent introduction: http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral...)

Android never followed an open source development style. Each version was constructed in secret, then released to the public in a complete state.

I would honestly like to see Google switch to a true open source development style, or to see some party with enough influence fork Android and continue development in an open source manner.
the basic point of the article is that author likes documents better than normalized record sets. There are at least 2 sets of concepts involved - documents vs. records and denormalization vs. normalization. The author preference for document format has no bearing on the necessity and effectiveness of normalization if record approach is chosen.
Justice Department Is Investigating Google Advertising
I actually almost invariably use the same template for all my communications; 3 straight to the point paragraphs, leaving the details to further discussion (if need there is). Start with the context, followed by the matter at hand and finally the expose the solution, proposal or action required by the recipient. Work in most cases.

I also use the Boomerang plugin for Gmail to schedule my emails to be sent at 9:30 AM, local time of the recipient (you want to be at the top of the inbox when he grabbed his coffee and starts going through his emails).
I use Scala quite a lot. It has a vibrant community, increasing popularity, and it sure doesn't hold back on the advanced features.

Remember, this was written in 2002. Scala wasn't around, C# was just invented, and neither Ruby nor Python were in popular use.
Hiding the truth of their situation and brushing it under the rug won't make anything better. The fact that it's in the open now hopefully will motivate.

Who elected Brad Manning or Julian Assange (et al.) to make that decision?
I agree that people don't spend enough thinking about what they _ought_ to want and are overly programmed by consumer culture and advertising.

I include myself in this group.

I used to be more thoughtful about it, and even wrote a series on "finding yourself" - http://www.jasonshen.com/2006/finding-yourself-in-7-days/
as well as a manifesto on creating your own life philosophy: http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/48.05.SuccessPhilosophy

Thanks for reminding us about what really matters.
You can thank the lawyers for that, I'm sure.
Yes. See Blizzard Entertainment/Vivendi vs. MDY Industries in 2008, a lawsuit over World of Warcraft bot software. Through a EULA, you can be barred from using software in certain ways; if you use it in one of those disallowed ways, then loading the program into RAM (launching it) becomes copyright infringement, and a plugin that helps you use the software outside its licensed scope is tortious interference with the EULA contract.
yeah, they say that if you work for someone who puts their own money in to the business you have an insane boss.

On the other hand, this is how most small businesses owners I've met did it. Most of us lack the connections to get people to give us money on "eh, if it doesn't work out, we forget about it." terms.

Hell, try to get any kind of lease as a small company without personally co-signing. "If you don't believe in your company, why should I?" is something that more than one landlord has told me.

So yeah, while you could say it is insane, it's also quite difficult to get a company off the ground without accepting some personal liability on the downside.
Socrates is probably turning in his grave...
It's true that more timely updates would be good.

BUT many people ignore the fact that the lifespan of a phone is two years. For those of us used to rapid iteration that seems an eternity, but in reality it isn't a bad situation. Compare it - for example - to the time IE6 (and now IE7) needs to be supported for.
Probably because it's interesting.
The Distribution Democracy and the Future of Media: Tech News and Analysis «
Do you know of any books I could get started with?
He doesn't understand math at all, not at K-12, college, graduate school, research, applications, etc. at all.

E.g., his claim about symbol manipulation is total nonsense.

His direction is a waste of time.

If he wants to improve materials for learning math, then fine, but he should first learn some math.

He should start with the books and papers of P. Halmos, one of the best writers of math ever.

Note: My Ph.D. dissertation research was on the math of stochastic optimal control.
Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams and Intelligent Design
Seems to me like helping losers lose less is a good thing.
Please do not use the form "Ask PG:" to ask trivial borderline stupid questions.
CSS builder for shadows, backgrounds, and borders
"Can you come up with a counter example where DOF doesn't change in this direction?"

I gave three examples above. I can elaborate: DoF changes depending on how you strangle the light by contracting the diaphragm the lights passes through (thus preventing light from dispersing), not from having a higher ƒ value. A really dark lens is a good example of this. Some can have a light throughput that begins at ƒ/6.3, or even ƒ/8.0, yet at wide-open aperture they produce as narrow DoF as f.e. my Nikkor 50mm ƒ/1.4 does, which is 5 exposure steps brighter - or, as you reason, 5 aperture steps more open. Why? Because their apertures are wide-open in both cases.
'Civilization World' Coming to Facebook from Sid Meier
Nice! but, if this is possible then it's a security violation, no?

What prevents malware from mimicking the same technique?

I have to assume they are using some kind of "trusted" activex cert?
No problem. It was the first time that I noticed a wrong date and I was so confused that I doubled checked my calendar!
ƒ is in every practical use an indicator of how much light comes out of the lens, nothing else. Two lenses of identical diameter and identical focal length can at wide-open aperture have two completely different ƒ values (due to, among other things, the brightness of the glass used in the groups of lenses inside), yet produce identical DoF. This is why ƒ tells you not the state of the aperture, which is primarily what affects your DoF, but rather how much light reaches the film plane.
I don't think most people consider public expressions of gratitude a private matter, nor the fact that they are married to their spouse.
yes, that's where I got the idea from, I just wanted to make the usage a bit nicer
not satire, but not a bad idea either, I wrote this as a proof of concept, not as something intended to be used.
> No P (program) mode. This is actually the most useful shooting mode on many DSLRs, especially for novices. It lets you trade off aperture vs. shutter speed.

oh boy. that's actually the mode that keep novices clueless about what's going on with the settings.

> No auto ISO mode, No ISO-priority mode, etc. etc.

well, ISO + TIME + APERTURE are ingredients of EXPOSURE, and that should be all you need to know to start shooting. you know this and you can grab the newest high-end dslr or your grandpa's 35mm oldie and know what you're doing. the rest is just geekery.
Interesting, I didn't have trouble getting my hacker news app accepted at all. Never thought the name would be an issue.
Can anyone explain why the "ISO" setting exists on digital SLR cameras? It seems like this is an unnecessary holdover from film cameras.

I ask this as an owner of a Canon Digital Rebel that knows very little about photography. What does changing the ISO setting get you that changing the exposure time or aperture wouldn't?
So now how can I get my web app to prompt users to install this?
yes, that was a joke :)
Infiltrating Any Startup
The noise at higher ISO levels isn't terribly realistic for modern SLRs, let alone full-frame pro SLRs.

Here's a comparison of several modern entry-level SLRs: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond5100/page20.asp

You can go up to ISO 1600 and get (more or less) unnoticeable noise.

Note that you have to switch to RAW to show sensor noise-- JPEG mode will blur away noise, trading fine detail for smooth images.

Also that lens is really amazingly sharp at both ends of its aperture range. In the real world you wouldn't get anywhere near that level of performance without spending tens on thousands of dollars on a prime (non-zoom) lens.
Lt. Col. David Coombs, Manning's counsel:

"PFC Manning was transferred to the Joint Regional Corrections Facility (JRCF) at Fort Leavenworth on April 20, 2011. I was able to tour the facility and meet with PFC Manning last week. PFC Manning is now being held in Medium Custody. He is no longer under Prevention of Injury watch and is no longer subjected to harsh pretrial confinement conditions.

Unlike at Quantico, PFC Manning cell has a large window that provides adequate natural light. His cell also has a desk, a bed, and a toilet. The cell is approximately 80 square feet. He is provided with a normal mattress, sheets and a pillow. None of his clothing is taken away from him at night. PFC Manning is able to have all of his personal items in his cell, which include his clothing, his legal materials, books and letters from family and friends. He is also able to have a pen and paper at all times in his cell, and is able to write whenever he chooses.

PFC Manning is housed in a special area of the confinement facility, along with other pre-trial detainees. Each pre-trial area (including PFC Manning’s) has four cells, and each pre-trial detainee is assigned to his own cell. The cells are connected to a shared common area, with a table, a treadmill, a television and a shower area. Click here in order to see photos of the JRCF area..."

http://www.armycourtmartialdefense.info/2011/05/typical-day-...
Hey both states the advantages and implies the disadvantages of working with Lisp. Advantages: dynamic typing, macros ("customization at compile time or link time, not at runtime.") dealing with bugs, etc. He really knows his shit, too, especially with regards to how Lisp compiles. So the good news is, he's right.

But that's the bad news, too. He's right, but not tactful.

This that holds Lisp back in a business setting: the tech is awesome, the people skills aren't. Entrepreneurs considering doing a Lisp startup would be wise to address this as part of your strategy.
blinks this is one of the most horrifying things I've read in a while.
I consider myself a fairly strong programmer. I have worked with literally hundreds of programmers over my career. None have been better than me. Now I'm not the smartest person on the planet, I'm not even smarter than say Sheldon Cooper, but despite the article author's assertion, you cannot hire someone who has an IQ 50 points higher than mine.

All that said, I've recently done a couple of months of programming (in a very restrictive environment) in Javascript, and I yearn for a compiler.

Perhaps these tools do help "losers lose less"... but a tool is a force multiplier (bad tools are multipliers with a value less than one, and truly bad tools have negative multipliers :D Not all tools are bad.)

In the hands of an expert, the right tool can become a powerful weapon.
VC William Quigly: "why next 10 years will be great for Founders & VCs
What a great guest... great slide show/discussion.
Some good thoughts here, but I think you're missing the big picture. This appears to me to be a great tool to learn how exposure works. Using aperture or shutter priority sorta defeats the purpose of that.

Nice job, whoever built this :)
I don't get it either.

ƒ relates to DoF only in that it's relative to the maximum aperture of a specific lens.

No, the f/ratio is f/D, which determines the divergence angle of the ray bundles that end up on the detector plane, and this is what determines the depth of field. You can not produce two exposures that have the same focal length and f/ratio that have different depths of field. Adding an ND filter will just make one image darker, it will not change the depth of field. You can't change the aperture without changing the f/value, because the f/value determines the aperture.
Oh, and you can also apply if you are going to do this part-time, if at the moment you are employed and want to see where the startup goes before quitting your job.

To be honest, that doesn't sound like a very promising investment opportunity.

YCombinator isn't a charity - they need things to succeed.
Required Tools in a SaaS PM's Toolbox
Yes I suppose `configurable` should be enabled. The reason I used delete instead of setting to null is that null is considered just as important a value as any other and if you had an outrageous number of nulls, it could consume a noticeable amount of memory.

`free` only releases the data stored in the global pointer object, not the original variable itself, that's not possible.

I don't know how many time's I've had to say this, but this was never intended to actually be used, just as a proof of concept.
ISO is sensor sensitivity. Higher settings multiply the numbers that come from individual sensor elements by increasingly large amounts.

Image sensors are not perfectly noiseless, of course, and the higher the ISO is, the noisier the image, which appears as random speckles of colored dots.

You don't notice the difference, though, because you're probably shooting in JPEG mode, not in RAW. In JPEG, the Rebel tries very hard to cover up its sins, and will blur away sensor noise, which is hard to notice unless you grovel over areas of fine detail at 400% magnification.

Second time I've linked this in this thread, but http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond5100/page20.asp shows some great examples of what sensor noise looks like over a range of ISO values.

Edit:

Useless editorializing: A SLR isn't a great purchase for someone who knows very little about photography. A point-and-shoot is lighter, cheaper, more durable, easier to use, and in the vast majority of situations, will produce identical results to a SLR. You then graduate to a real camera when get fed up with the various fiddly technical limitations of a point-and-shoot; and bonus, you still have the small camera, which is the one you take with you when climbing mountains, or on vacation, rather than lugging around five kilograms of japanese glass.

Tedious polemic: I dearly hope you have more than one lens. The enormous price premium of a SLR is mostly for the privilege of being able to change lenses. If you just stick with the kit lens, then you will have spent rather a lot of money to accomplish nothing a point-and-shoot couldn't do.
> nearly every single product Google has 'shipped' lately

Lately? Google Reader was released in 2005 and Google Docs in 2006. Docs was actually built largely from acquired components (XL2Web, Writely, Upstartle).

You probably have a good point in there somewhere, but you need to select better examples to illustrate it.
Petition the SEC to remove the ban on Crowdfunding startups
RepRap Blog: Never Mind the Width, Feel the Quality
It seems like this type of thing provides huge openings for foreign entrepreneurs. See a successful US-only service and copy it, letting the Americans take all the risk of proving it in the market! Why don't we see more of that?
Sorry, but you are wrong about this. Look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-number
You seem to be thinking of something similar to what the Wikipedia article calls "T-stops", a calibration of the absolute transmission of different lenses. That's something different from the f/ratio.
ISO is a trade-off between noise and speed. Sometimes you need the speed, like at a nighttime party or sports, and sometimes you need the perfect details, like shooting landscapes.

In general, you want to shoot at the lowest ISO which works in any given situation.

A longer exposure can result in object or camera shake blur. Wider aperture reduces depth of field, making it harder to focus.

Sometimes, you'll need all three to get enough light in the shot: A hot sensor, a longish exposure, and a wide aperture.
ISO is certainly not an unnecessary holdover from film cameras. It's actually very, very useful.

To understand, you really need to get a grasp on the basics of exposure. This may be helpful: http://www.ajkesslerblog.com/understanding-exposure/

When a photon hits a pixel it produces an electrical signal. You can think of the ISO as the amount that signal is amplified. So, if you want to keep aperture and shutter speed at certain levels, you can adjust the ISO to produce a usable image. The tradeoff is that when you amplify a signal a great deal, it gets noisy.
Facebook Pushes Developers To OAuth 2.0 And HTTPS this time
Does Google's algorithm somehow take into account how often you delete something from your inbox?

I am still subscribed to my old company's newsletter, and before, I used to like staying updated with whatever was going on there. Now every time I get a newsletter I instinctively just trash it without opening it.

Lately, I noticed that the newsletters are going straight to the spam box.
True, but long copy sales letters have been shown to be effective. It all depends on the audience.
the 'safety net' that saved me from bankruptcy (and bankruptcy will save your children from sleeping in the gutter) was personal earning power; in '06-early '07, when my company was deeply in the hole, I found a body shop willing to do corp-to-corp and turned myself out. I worked for other people until the debit was paid off[1].

The other side of that is when you think about what 'deep in debit' means, you should calibrate that to your own personal earning power. This is easier than it sounds; it's hard to get people to loan you more than you can reasonably pay back. Your creditors fear your bankruptcy more than you do.

From what I've seen, starting a failed business does not decrease your earning power. I know I'm a more valuable employee now; aside from the technical skills I've obtained, I now understand a lot more of what the boss actually wants. (unfortunately, most of that knowledge only applies to small companies. Large corps, it seems, operate under different rules, rules I still do not understand.)

[1] I ended up deciding not to shut down the company, so I continued the arrangement until the company was making enough money to pay me a living wage.
You're kind of like an asian Charlie Sheen.
Daily dates instead of daily deals
We're all losers. Even the best programmers in the world have difficulty writing bug-free code. Whatever tools we can leverage to make us lose less should be welcomed with open arms.
I wrote this post, and am alarmed by the publicity it's getting and the controversy it's causing. I NEVER meant this to be used to solve any problem, nor to be used in a real life situation at all. I didn't mean this as a joke or as satire. I wrote the as a PROOF OF CONCEPT, just to show some capabilities of javascript.
Apple's 30% vig for ebooks just killed the iFlow Reader app
I guess I could be ignorant here, but I don't really feel that Coffeescript makes things easier/more elegant/better than just using jQuery. I'm not particularly a fan of abstracting abstractions in the first place so I'm probably biased, but I find jQuery to be clean and concise already. An example from the article:

$.post(

"/posts/update_title"

new_title: input.val()

id: something

-> alert('done')

'json'

)

All coffeescript really did there was remove the commas and subtly change the syntax. That's not an improvement at all, it's just a lateral syntax change. If anything, the lack of commas almost makes it harder to read.

Why change to coffeescript and add another step (compilation of coffeescripts) into the mix when jquery was already pretty good to start with? Just seems like its something that would make it hard to take on new coders when your business starts scaling because they would need to know yet another meta-abstraction.
You can't adjust your F-Stop with dark lenses. F-Stop is not a measure of light coming in, it's a measure of the focal length to the aperture. Light conditions prior to hitting the aperture (Either by flashes, sunlight, or dark lens) are entirely separate from the concept of F-Stop.

For a given focal length on a subject in focus at a reasonable distance (not at infinity), increasing the F-Stop will always increase the DOF.
I for one would love to be privy to this "backstage" discussion... but I'm half-way around the world. Let's hope the Google guys remember that there's this new-fangled "internet" thing and spill some of the beans up here.
"You can not produce two exposures that have the same focal length and f/ratio that have different depths of field."

I am not sure why we are both establishing to one another that DoF is determined by the dispersion of the light hitting the film plane when we already know this. My Mamiya Sekor 50mm ƒ/6.3 has a DoF not even tangibly different from my Nikkor 50mm ƒ/1.4, unless I stop the latter down to ƒ/6.3 which produces two identical exposures at same ƒ/ratio but with very different DoF.
Wow, some stunning work there - the attention to Photoshop details is great (check out the gradient editor in the background tab). Keep it up!
Has anyone used Zotonic for their sales site?

I've been doing the merry go round with Django CMS's for a while now, and while feincms is great, there are a few aspects of my setup I'm not happy with (blog, mainly).
F is not an indicator of light coming out of the lens. It is the ratio of the Focal Length to your aperture diameter. Nothing else. It says nothing about the amount of light coming out of your lens. And, indeed, cannot.

Two Lenses of identical diameter [edit: aperture size] and identical focal length, by definition of the concept "F-Stop", will always have the same F Values. Period.
Thanks for the compliment, it's been a lot fun building. docno is a troll and the other two were buddies just stoked for me.
Founder stories: Meebo CEO Seth Sternberg
So I'm allowed to throw together just anything and call it a university, that's OK with you? All right.
This is simply not true. If you stop your Nikkor down to 6.3, it will have the identical depth of field as your Mamiya does at 6.3.
There have been android laptops, like the Toshiba AC100 and many tablets are coming into the laptop form, like the ASUS Transformer series.
This explanation is going to confuse non-photographers because for modern 35mm format lenses the difference between the maximum f-stop (which is purely the ratio between the focal length and the diameter of the aperture) and the maximum t-stop (the actual amount of light transmitted through a lens) are minimal (no where near full t-stops of light loss). Two lenses with the same focal length at the same f-stop with the same distance to the subject are going to produce the same DoF[1] and same exposure.

[1] To really understand how to calculate DoF for the format you are shooting with and the size you are viewing at, you also need to understand Circles of Confusion (CoC). The same (effective) focal length lens at the same aperture/focal distance and printed at the same size is going to give dramatically different DoF if one camera is 35mm format and the other is large format (8x10).
How can Google possibly know whether the files you upload were bought legally or not?
Why can't non-Asians form sentences and why do they generalize so much?