skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
"In the example above (likes julie ?x), x refers to everyone in the database defined in the second place of the binary relation likes. Note that the variable x must mean the same person in (likes julie ?x) and (likes ?x ?y). Similarly, the variable y must mean the same thing in (likes ?x ?y) and (girl ?y). Intuitively, the clause above says that Julie likes some person x if there is some person y that x likes who is a girl. Or, as we said originally, Julie likes anyone who likes girls. Can you represent this information in a traditional database?"

Yes/no depending on your perspective. "anyone who likes girls" is a variable so you have to convert it to a domain: "everyone who likes girls."

Is there a difference? Using a domain seems more useful to me, but maybe my brain has been corrupted by too much database work.
I was chatting with some folks from TokBox the other day. It's a great service.
I think you got the logic on empty backward :)

Right now empty('0') is true - meaning php thinks it's empty (because '0' turns into 0 which turn into false). I think it should be the other way around, and so do you except you read what I wrote backwards.

And I understand the problem of '0007' - but 'abc' == 0 is worse. Most of the time things in php are strings. If you know you'll have leading zeros, then you also know it once was a string, and you'll take measures like intVal. You need intVal to avoid SQL injection attacks anyway.
Actual Physical Picture:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/berlinbrown/2423596879/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/berlinbrown/2360945449/

I use Eclipse for project management and Emacs for actual coding.

Standard Ubuntu interface.
Having built a large part of my career (such as it is) on elance I always thought about Michael Porter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Porter) and his three strategies for building a business - those being focus, differentiation, and low cost provider, I believe that "cookie-cutter" websites are a viable strategy. It's all about focusing on process innovation instead of product innovation. There's a huge market for generic websites delivered cheaply. It's tough from a a provider site, but it's how walmart started out (cheaper than everyone else).
Why wouldn't you wrap source? OK, ideally it's better not to have overly long lines, but if you do, why bother horizontally scrolling?
Same with "Bob's age is not 30". Age is a variable so you have to covert it to a domain. In order to do that you have to explicitly say what "not 30" means. I'd say it means 1 - 29, 31 - 120. But look what happened. The original, variable, version depended on implicit information in people's brains regarding the possible range of human ages. The domain version makes this information explicit.

This is exactly what rules/sucks about relational databases. Everything is harder because you can't get away with statements that are subjectively ambiguous.
Even if we don't "copy" the designs and ideas of those around us explicitly, we still are not being as original as we think. The best approach is to be mindful of ideas, designs, models etc.. that we like and extract from them the elements necessary to build our own applications and solutions.
I can't see the language there, but if it's Python, how's the Eclipse editor?
Or fatter people are using Linux.
http://ii.gs/combss.jpg (4800x1200, large-ish jpg file)

FreeBSD + WindowMaker + Synergy Server on the left (IBM P3 from 2002 w/ 4g RAM and SCSI)

Windows XP on center and right screens (ThinkPad T60p), Synergy Client

I tend toward maximized windows in window managers that make it easy to do so (such as XP) but things get pretty messy when I can't.

Other aspects of this environment that you can't see from looking at it:

- Synergy is running on a crossover cable from the laptop docking station wired port to a dedicated ethernet port on the desktop. This makes synergy do the right thing whether the laptop is docked (do) or not (don't).

- I have focus follows mouse but no autoraise on both the XP and WMaker environments. Being able to have a PuTTY window on top of a browser window you're scrolling / typing on is nice.

- I tend toward smaller fonts whenever possible.
Split screen with same file

:vsp

Syntax highlighting

:syntax on

Tabs

:tabnew

Bracket matching

:inoremap ( ()

:inoremap [ []

:inoremap { {}

And so many built-in tools...you really should take another look. I use TextMate on my Mac to churn out massive amounts of HTML, but any other editing happens in (G)Vim.
High-Aptitude Minds: The Neurological Roots of Genius
This is cool and all, but if it's called a "linux stamp" it should at least have some I/O capability other than a serial port. (I am thinking of "turn on the LED" type things.) The basic stamp does really well here, despite being proprietary, horribly limited computationally, and locked-in to one of the worst programming languages ever designed (PBASIC). I remember it offending my sensibilities even when I was in middle school :)

Programming I/O in Haskell would be fun. What would you call the "turn on the LED" monad? :)
Nate Lawson is bad ass. There's a TV segment somewhere out there with him being interviewed, and a response segment from the vendors --- they're flabbergasted. "There's no way to write to these devices! You can't hack them!" These people didn't even consider security.
Or younger. 5'11", 155lb, and I mostly wear XLs. I think someone of my build but in their 40s would be more likely to ask for a L or even a M.
Hmm, keep the $1000 and get kicked off the App Store, or lose $300 to stay on? I'm pretty sure the guy is just going to keep the grand.
https://dl.getdropbox.com/u/52575/desktop.jpg

beware, it's big - one 30" and one 24" monitor.

Emacs, preview for a couple of documents, a few shells so I can monitor progress of a training run, and some music.
The apple store HAS a confirmation. If you had read the "review" in the attached image, you'd see that the purchaser "forgot" that he disabled the option to prompt before buying.

Why is no one paying attention to this?

I, too, think this app sucks... but "caveat emptor" doesn't still apply?

Check out Kottke (who I also am not especially fond of) for a reality check on why it's not apple's place to remove the app...

http://www.kottke.org/08/08/the-1000-iphone-app
Studies show that practice and perseverance contribute more to accomplishment than being smart does. </quote>
Check it: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0d/Stumpwm-5head....

And for an actual screenshot: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Stumpwm-2008-08.png

The first is a 5.2 megapixel quin-head, the second is a plain ol' 1024x768 mono-head.
haha, well I could be, if it gets me funding. ;)
First Look: Mozilla Snowl
Jazz Programmer
bliss: http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/1683/picture1te5.png
Here's the really bad part: the transponders support unauthenticated over the air upgrading. You can force any transponder to take on a new ID. An attacker could overwrite every tag passing a certain intersection and cause havoc in the toll system.

Unbelieveable.

One thing, though:

When a tag read fails now, the system takes a picture of your license plate so a human can determine what account it belongs to. The system could be updated to randomly take photos of cars that were reading correctly just to make sure the ID belongs to the car pictured.

I would assume that this is happening: Every car that passes through a gate is also being photographed, and that data is being kept for somewhere between 60 days and forever. If you rewrite your RFID tag with Arnold Schwarzenegger's ID, there's a good chance you'll get busted if and when he complains, because they'll look up the photos.
>Why wouldn't you wrap source?

Line endings have significance in some languages. Even in languages where they don't, it can confuse you by looking like the end of an indentation level.
Try reading through apps at the app store and marking down
which ones really make you want to buy them.

Excellent idea. Why didn't I think of that?
It really scares me how poorly security is done. You'd think that when you are designing a system that will be used by tens of millions of people every day, you might factor in a few thousand bucks to pay some security firm to look over your spec or design documents.

I guess this is what happens when the government is legally required to contract out to the lowest bidder. Your tax dollars get wasted and your personal information is compromised. Thanks for saving me $20, government.
i'm with you. I've been using illustrator / ps for years now, and I'm very quick with it (my tablet helps). I probably prefer it over things like this. But, i can see power that tools like this deliver to people who haven't been a gd guy all their life.
I lived on the same floor in the dorms as Nate Lawson. One time, we went into his room and realized he left himself logged in as root, so we changed his password, then taunted him about it over IRC as he frantically tried to pwn his own computer. Good times.

/Geek
It seems to me that Amway is not so much a pyramid scheme itself, more of a platform which makes it trivially easy to start one if you are so inclined. It will be interesting to see whether that becomes the typical use pattern, or whether the discovery and reward process ends up being more organic than pyramid-like.
"Joe Idiot Teaches Quantum Physics"
In a manner of speaking yes, just take a look at the massive spike in mindshare Rails has garnered since it's release. Let's take into consideration the passive influence it also has on framework developers as well.

Nearly every mainstream framework we know has at least been influence by RoR.
Or older. Like most people, as Linux users age, they're likely getting fatter.
Reminds of this book Davidw recommend. I think it's entitled "How to grow a Business"? Again with the hustle and bustle of the Valley, people selling out here and there (mind you it's not bad but I believe it is not the optimal approach for some people) there is something to be said about growing a business the old fashion way.
Any TokBox haters here that wanted to downmod you in the first place?
The advice I'm referring to is that in the headline. At no point in the article did it say, "you really ought to work for CutCo"... It was just an example.

I don't know a damn thing about CutCo, but having people buy their own equipment isn't just the signature of a pyramid scheme... It's the signature of franchising as well. Hrm. Is McDonalds a pyramid scheme?

Either way, high commission "eat what you kill and pay your own expenses" aren't inherently evil.
It's easy to feel righteous and indignant and shake our fists when the people behind our favourite startup sell up earlier than we wanted them to.

If the notion of feeling righteous and indignant about that perplexes you, you might have just discovered the difference between an average Guardian reader and those of us who are sane.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67154802@N00/2473330790/sizes/l...
Or we're getting reposted.
I've been trying to find the syntax for specifying the default mode in emacs for ages (;;; -*-), so go you for including a file using it
Funny that you mention that, my brother had actually worked for a month as a bicycle courier and indeed he reached the point when he had to quit this job because of hurting knees.
Retail Merchant Accounts
Retail Merchant Accounts - CreditCardMachinesForFree offers the best online credit card merchant account services, mobile processing, free terminals, machines and more
Don’t go backward, newspapers
chris' fastrak was cloned and he was getting charged for crossing the bay bridge ~10 times a day with over $250 in erroneous charges before he realized it was happening. worst part is that he's had to bitch at fastrak for hours on end, while they won't admit anything is wrong. he even tried to do a charge back on AMEX, but fastrak mailed the bogus "documentation" to amex, so the charge remains.
We're getting more like reddit
Sorry, but Terminal.app (only 8 colors) != bliss.
This kind of ties in with pg's essay on amateurs.

aside: pretty funny how dhh marks trolls in his comments - a dunce hat with 'troll' written on it. Ouch.
http://shenani.gen.nz/~scott/screenshot.png

Pretty basic. Emacs (in tuareg mode for OCaml), gnu screen with ncmpc & mpd (music), dwm window manager.

I merged workspaces 1 and 8 onto 4, otherwise it'd just be full-screen Emacs. (Which is how I hack, but makes for boring screenshots.)
But the QM formalism is so pretty! It MUST be useful.
In India I once hailed an auto rickshaw and had him take me about half a kilometer in the rain. I asked him in American-accented English what the fare was, and he said 200 rupees. I started yelling at him in perfect Bengali that I wasn't born yesterday even though I am a foreigner, and that I spend a lot of time in India. He countered with an offer of 10 rupees, and I gave him 20 because I was laughing so hard. The sad thing is I know that the 200 rupees must work on some people.
There is also perceptual contrast. By explaining that the rug is worth $3000, it makes $1100 look very cheap.
If you want more details, check the Emacs manual (in Info), search for "Specifying File Variables".
I was just thinking about the same things earlier today. I thought of doing an experiment where different volunteers are fed different amounts of food, and then give them standardized tests to see what the effect (if any) is of food on brain function that same day.

It's probably been done. If anyone knows of something like this, please let me know.

I would also like to mention an anecdote; a teacher once told me a student of his bet he'd get positive results from taking LSD (or something, it might have been extasy) on the day of the PSU, the once-a-year standardized test that determines admission to Chilean colleges. He flunked.
5? How are your running 5 monitors off a laptop?

Wait, there's two laptops... How's that work?
> it can confuse you by looking like the end of an indentation level.

It shouldn't - any competent editor should have no line number on the area it wraps round.
http://achewood.com/index.php?date=07052007
To finish the story properly, you should note that he probably did own his own computer up: his first documented finding was in 1993, while he was at CalPoly.
This is definitely off-topic, but after reading that post and switching back to normal mode on my monitor (black on white rather than the reverse), I was unable to read anything because of the optic effect. Its true, I've been coding all day and lack some sleep, but I think white on black is just not a good thing.
How did you know that he spoke Bengali?
Great article. I wonder if rug merchants will have to adapt now that their tactics are getting wider exposure?
Hah. I'd love to comment further but suffice to say secrecy is usually a good thing.
Can someone summarize this for me? I don't have time to read that much text.
hugh, could you elaborate in slightly more laymen's terms? Or point to a good resource to read up on this?

It sounds interesting but is a bit over my head. Thanks!
Fashion trends are highly accelerated these days. 3 years ago it was gauche to wear XLs - the cool kids wore tight fitting size M t-shirts. Fitted t-shirts are now for washed-up 30-something web designers. Cool kids are back to size XL. I never thought I'd see the day when 1990s Theodore Huxtable / Dwayne Wayne outfits became cool again. Ugh.

However, since linux users are largely oblivious to the fashion world, I'm attributing this particular trend to weight gain.
Don’t know Chinese, use jajah
I had some similar experiences in Morocco; going to a bargaining country is a great education. An example of the kind of social hack they use is that if they offer a tourist their hand, the tourist feels compelled to shake it. One guy used this trick, then used the beat of inaction to wrap a snake around my friend's neck. She was understandably startled, and while she was standing there confused, he pulled out some other snakes and draped them on her arms. It took about thirty seconds to disentangle her, at which point the man said "pay me".

This kind of trick can evoke some powerful negative emotions. A friend was somehow tricked into allowing a hawker to start tying an intricate string bracelet using his finger as the base. His finger was stuck in the knot, and the guy ignored my friend's requests to be let go. It ended with quite a lot of shouting.
I'm not sure it's possible to put $100 worth of value into a knife. It would have to be rare isotopes of iron and carbon...no, I just don't see it. I mean, they're commodities. Paying $100 for a knife is like paying $30 for a gallon of gas. Why would you?

Think about it: a kilo of steel is roughly 75 cents. A pound of plastic is less than that. I'm not being exact (commodity prices are hard to find online), but they are both >> than $25, which seems to be the consensus on the best you can get for a knife. And from an industrial point of view, it's really not that hard to assemble a knife. I don't see where the money goes. Maybe the handle?

Besides, if you pay $100 for a knife, that means you are a) a squanderer, b) gullible, and c) someone who overestimates the returns of investing in cutlery. Wouldn't a boxcutter do? These traits are not entrepreneurial. I wouldn't fund you. Maybe I'm a little extreme (I have a really hard time paying an extra $.04 per can for significantly less unedible tuna) but I'm pretty sure $100 per knife is retarded.
reminds me of dr seuss's "green eggs and ham"...
Lowrise Jeans
America's #1 destination for ripped, distressed, destroyed, & low rise jeans since 2005. Send in your own pair or purchase jeans from our supply & we'll mess them up like no one else can!
It isn't just rugs, its everything sold by independent merchants...food/drink, cigarettes, clothes, jewelery, if its got a price tag on it you can generally half it...
Y Combinator Model “Too Messy” for Microsoft, Says YC Founder
"... It doesn't get much better if you keep reading ..."

No you are wrong.

The article is a good one because this is a generic problem that has to be solved by each and every Startup. The question is how? The reason for lack of users in my view is the founder might have been too late to hit the digital photograph craze and got knocked down by the big sites like flickr, smugmug and zoomer and the founder should have either found a niche or failed.

A timely lesson get to market fast and fail early.
Term life insurance quotes
Beamalife is the best place to buy any affordable whole life, universal or term online life insurance policy
Life Insurance & Health Insurance - Free Online Insurance Quotes
Convenient Life Insurance Quotes, Top National Insurers, Get Online Insurance Quotes for Life Insurance, Health Insurance, Annuities, Long Term Care Insurance, Disability Insurance, Competitive Quotes provide Valuable Options and Excellent Savings; Quotes are followed by service from Friendly Local Professionals, and solid Insurers.
http://www.unc.edu/~wschliep/screenshot.png

This is the only thing that's really unique about my desktop--it's the Factor IRC client, which I wrote(well, the UI part, at least, the IRC stuff is actually done by the person on the channel named "tizoc".)
Tell folks that you're setting up a "bet your job" project and you'd like to know who else they want on the team.
this (http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?JazzProgrammer) is waay better. imho ofcourse.
Well, of course, with a language this sort of thing is possible. The beauty of the method described in the article is that it's built in the database system itself. No "language" is required (besides simple javascript for a view).

No one said couchdb was required. This article is simply showing how easy it is to accomplish incremental reduces.
Why would they? It's not about what's new, it's about what's effective. And these tactics have been effective for thousands of years. Of course, they're more effective with tourists who haven't been exposed to this sort of bargaining before, and have been trained to smile, nod, and pay whenever someone tells them a price. Still, this sort of salesmanship is -- and will always be -- effective. Why? Because it's personal, and it's relatively enjoyable for both parties if done properly.

In fact, it's only fairly recently that this sort of haggling has stopped being the way you did all your shopping (at least in the Western world.) Probably until the late 1900s, you walked into a store and expected to haggle with the owner over the price of the items that you bought.
"... Whatever the neurological roots of genius, being brilliant only increases the probability of success; it does not ensure accomplishment in any endeavor. Even for academic achievement, IQ is not as important as self-discipline and a willingness to work hard. ..."

Hotshot: Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good IQ at your side, kid ...

Vet: 'determination', 'flexibility', 'application'. Not as clumsy or as random as raw IQ.... An elegant weapon for a more civilized time.
Talk in proverbs much?
He was in Calcutta...
A friend was somehow tricked into allowing a hawker to start tying an intricate string bracelet using his finger as the base. His finger was stuck in the knot, and the guy ignored my friend's requests to be let go. It ended with quite a lot of shouting.

Oh yeah, some African guys in France tried that one on me. The best response I managed was to look 'em dead in the eye, and say "Sorry, I don't speak English". That'll confuse 'em for long enough to get away.
Buy RX Drugs Without A Prescription
European pharmacy with high quality Valium, Xanax, Codeine,Tenuate, Lorazepam ready to order without a prescription or consultation. Free shipping! FDA approved prescription drugs.
My workstation. My wife calls it "the bridge".

http://www.jonandkarrie.com/images/P8087198.JPG
By default, all iTunes store purchases are verified. Only if the user specifies that they don't want to have to confirm again does the store allow one-click purchasing. Though it would be nice if there were a big-ticket override, i.e. every item over $25 must be explicitly approved.
The book mentioned by Cialdini was one of my favorite reads of last year. It just melts away and before you know it; you finished it.
I was half way done with writing a data analyzer plugin for hex fiend once (with a bit of help from ridiculous_fish) but abandoned the project about half way (had a parser for a data description dialect, some code that interfaced with hex fiend and built a basic tree based on the description) and realized it wouldn't be useful, so abandoned it.
here is mine http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/2851/200808081323181024x1...

awesome window manager, hacker news in firefox
You can convert this to a domain, but I'm still not sure how to say Julie likes everyone who likes girls. Using dependent data definitions in SQL gets very tricky very quickly. You can do it in a view, but a view is not designed to represent information, merely to present it.

Assuming you could easily state that "Julie likes everyone who likes girls" once you converted the variable to a domain, you're still forced into a very rigid structure. If you're in a situation where a piece of knowledge in the database is unique for a given row, you wouldn't be able to convert everything to domains. Consider a situation where you're representing information about patients' blood tests. There are some basic tests that you can pigeonhole in a domain, but what about very specialized tests that only a handful of patients ever take?

I think this is definitely a case of Blub for both of us. If we were to be set free from the relational way of thinking, we'd be solving problems we can't even think up now.