skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I'm not sure how much that has to do with it.

I live in Chicago, no one around here would accuse the unions of being weak, but vacation time here is no different than in the south.

Unless you mean on a national level (unions pushing for federal reform and what-not) than yes the unions here are weaker, but the U.S. Also tends to be more opposed to national regulations than Europe as well.
It's kind of interesting that "negotiated five extra weeks of vacation" turns into "failed to get an extra week vacation for every year, indefinitely". I guess it didn't occur to him (or either side, possibly) to specify the difference?
I haven't noticed an increase of exclusively political articles being submitted, but I suppose that there seems to be an increase in tech related political stuff overall, such as the 'protect IP act' and that sort of thing.
He's referring to the Lobster free web font, which is showing up on more and more sites these days: http://www.google.com/webfonts/family?family=Lobster&sub...
Take a Cookie
My experience has been the opposite (though I don't for a second doubt yours): I've been surprised by a) how few things I missed having Flash for when I first started not having it and b) how many fewer things I miss it for in 2011 than when I first started not having it - it used to be that I felt like I couldn't watch video on the web on my iPhone... now when I hit a site that doesn't have HTML5 video I'm surprised (and think poorly of the site rather than of my device).
Trust in Hiring
To be fair to Thatcher, Arthur Scargil gave his workers lots of extra days off...
Sad but true.

Years back when I was working for an American employer, filing a leave seemed like taboo. I didn't understand it back then but when my wife got hospitalized, I filed for an emergency leave of course, my boss sent flowers with a note that goes something like this: "Hope your wife gets better yada yada...can you work while you're at the hospital?"
Well, in Britain the regime is usually fairly generous, with 24 days + 8 national holidays (guaranteed to be working days) being the norm for middle-class jobs and IT.
We already know about France.
Italy, last I checked, had an average of 20 days + 13 national holidays, with teachers being famous for their 3-months summer break (which in practice is little more than a month, but anyway).

Yes, there is always pressure about choosing the right time for the business or public service, but at the end of the day it's a right and if you don't exercise it you're entitled to a lot of extra money -- which is why employers are keen on people actually taking time off.
Because in some cases, such as when you have deadlines or low income, taking time off isn't really an option. Taking time off is a great band-aid, but it doesn't really address the deeper problem, which is the psychology of money and entrepreneurial depression.

I go through this as well, and I can totally relate to how getting sales notifications in my inbox can make or break the day's mood.

But I do take time off, frequently to do things like boating, going to Disney World, and the beach. It buys a bit of energy, but not much.

So for me, taking time off is a generic approach that's easy to recommend, but not especially effective.
Ask HN: Leaving Personal Problems at Home
I have recently been dealing with some issues in my relationship that weren't too bad and have been pretty good at not letting it affect my work. Last night, though my plane landed and literally the first thing I hear when I turn my phone on is my girlfriend breaking up with me.

Now today back at work I feel sick to my stomach because I can't get my mind off things and I'm afraid it might start to affect my work. It hasn't been too detrimental today (surprisingly productive for the time being), but this isn't the first time I've been in a situation like this where personal problems bled over into the workplace.

How do other hacker newsers deal with separating work from home and what helps you keep a level head and remain productive when you feel terrible and your mind is racing?
yeah I agree. hipmunk is awesome. i also use etsy. and here in EU, couldnt live w/o spotify so paid for premium.
I thought it was a cool demo. This passed through my mind while watching it:

It's strange to me how the 2d images in the 3d info popout immediately looked off. A 3d interface seems to warrant a 3d image.
My employer gives the usual 2 weeks vacation for the first year of employment. Then, every year after that, you get an extra week up to 4 weeks paid vacation per year. Also, my employer is very vacation friendly in terms of requesting time off.

However, the biggest problem I have is actually taking the time off! I feel like I will miss too much work if I take a long vacation so I just take off a day or two here and there to "relax." And just like the article says I am always available via email on my cell phone and although I don't want to admit it, I am usually available on my computer as well.
He said this is the next big wave, but that he wasn't sure how best to invest in it. Except maybe for Twitter...which he basically admitted Union Sqaure Ventures is already selling their stake in.

http://www.betabeat.com/2011/05/23/fred-wilson-says-usv-is-p...
We offer some facilities for CSS, but no, you are right, in that sentence, we do not really consider CSS a programming language. Most of our applications use regular CSS stylesheets, embedded in Opa – in particular, that's the case of all the examples in the tutorial.
I'm pretty sure the parent is right that it's "shit out of luck". I knew it as a military thing, and the internet seems to agree[1].

[1] http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=S.O.L. (one random link)
Both mentions of his girlfriend in that article struck me as out of place.
What is Difference between 32 and 64 bit OS
Operating system is the main part of the computer and its features are installed in the central processing unit of the computer. The operating system contains many different type of information in it.
Tom West of Data General/"Soul of a New Machine" fame, dead at 71
I like AppSumo a lot, but lately it feels closer to Internet Marketer Sumo than App Sumo.

I'm trying to take refuge from products like those, not get pitched on more of them.
you're paying for the immediacy of certain content, instead of having to wait for netflix.
Quite simply wow. As somebody with 24 holidays a year, ( sick leave included, which you tend to be a lot in India) all I can say is wow.
5.6 weeks paid vacation per annum is the legal minimum in the UK (introduced a while back as part of the minimum wage regulations). Many companies give more.
The line about 'building stupid games for stupid people' really took me aback. Does he feel the same way about the people buying AppSumo deals - 'stupid services for stupid wantrepreneurs'?

If you don't have contempt for your customers, you won't get burnt out as often.
Which Android vendors are violating the GPL?
Don't carry around an umbrella, except if you are a banker
Ocsigen has been doing this for years, check it out.
I'm not a tech zealot, one way or the other, but Flash is going to be here for awhile regardless of your hopes. In the meantime I'd expect improvements in its overall usability on touch based hardware.
> One, you're discouraged to take time off -- you can lose your job if you're not "devoted".

I don't know that this is the case in many European countries, including Eastern Europe (at least the part of it that is in the EU). First of all, in most (all?) EU countries all workers get 4 weeks paid vacation minimum. If you do not use up all of it, your employer can offer you to "carry over" the vacation to the next year. If they do not offer you that option then they are obliged to "force" you to go on vacation after it becomes clear that you will not use up all of your vacation days. Some employers will offer to instead compensate you extra for the vacation days you did not use up - this is legal in some EU countries only.

> Two, you have to work over capacity to support yourself and your family.

I'm sorry to be so blunt, but this just doesn't make a lot of sense, since those mandatory 4 weeks of vacation are paid vacation - i.e. you get paid the same amount you would receive had you been working instead of being on vacation.

Just about the only reason why you could potentially make less money due to vacation is if you regularly do a lot of overtime (which you obviously cannot do while on vacation).
Why we won't take funding
Attracting Developers to Your API
I experienced this yesterday. My website renders differently now than it used to on Chrome last month. Firefox and IE still look "correct". I used to think the auto-update feature on Chrome was great, but now I'm not sure. I can see why some companies still stick to IE 6 internally. It's stable.
Ah, sorry about that. Yes, I was referring to the font called Lobster. It's freely available in the Google Web Fonts directory, and it's already been overused to death, IMO.
For who? Did you mean to pick a different state for your example?

For Florida residents, Florida state colleges are tuition-free for all qualified applicants, but these schools pad enrollment with students who do not show college-readiness but choose to attend and pay (subsidized) tuition anyway.

http://www.floridastudentfinancialaid.org/SSFAD/factsheets/B...

Harvard is tuition-free for all but the wealthiest few who can easily afford their share without sweating.
HTC HD 2 Games
Android vs. iOS: Developers face off
Politicians decide that they're competent enough to make legislation about technology, so we have to start discussing politics, and delude ourselves that all of us are competent enough to do so.
Insult to injury: San Francisco wins $1.5M from Terry Childs
Ireland here. Summer holidays for schools are everywhere. Secondary school children (12-18yrs) get 3 months in the summer. College/University students get 2 to 3 months (depending).

Likewise they usually 1 or 2 weeks off at Christmas time, and 1 or 2 at easter time (around your spring break).
The main thing is not to install Flash
La Reina Del Sur,Capitulo,58
La Reina Del Sur,Capitulo,58
er Capitulo 58 La Reina Del Sur Online will be a very interesting drama. If you want the history of La Reina del Sur, I will tell you the next day.
3D Printed PC Case
I get 3 paid weeks of vacation per year. More would be nice, but unless I'm going to do something (spend a month in Europe for example) I get tired of being on vacation after a week or so. Also, when it comes to single days here and there my boss just tells me to take them. His way of hoping I pick up the phone on a Saturday when something breaks I guess :)

I recently travelled to to the UK and France for 16 days and was happy to return home. I had a great time on the trip, so maybe I'm weird for not wanting to be gone longer? If I actually lived in Europe more vacation might be nice because it's so easy/cheap to visit other countries.
Somnus Sleep Shirt watches while you sleep, won't be creepy about it (video)
> At that point you also need to make sure that you aren't downloading more in the process of applying a series of patches than you would need to download for a full update

Well you wouldn't really need to but it would be a good sanity check on the client side.

The common case could be that people are simply keeping up with the stable edge w/o patching binaries themselves out of band---that's the case with some desktop linux variants.
House Season 7 Episode 23 Moving On
Jason Calacanis interviews David Tisch of TechStars NYC
So, in the field of software engineering where competition for employees is tough, is it really still common to give only 2 or 3 weeks vacation? Would it be considered outrageous to ask for 5 or 6 weeks of vacation when interviewing for a position, in Silicon Valley?
You're right, I wasn't being constructive, but neither is this article if you consider that this isn't US-only. I'm also certain that millionaires also have a lot of personal problems, and yet also find little empathy from other people. I admit, I have not checked the current situation of Uruguay, or many other countries for that matter, yet I'm pretty certain that "I'm afraid to go on a vacation, my boss is treating me bad" is a personal and not a IT issue at all.

Want constructive comments - give constructive topics.
Browser Capability Detection – You’re Doing It Wrong
There are a lot of companies that do force people to take vacations for precisely this reason.

I also recall hearing at some point in time that a lot of financial institutions forced certain people to take time off,as a means to detect embezzling. I'm not sure if that's true or not.
Nitpick: you're referring to at-will employment, not right-to-work. Right-to-work laws mean that you can't be forced to pay union dues as a condition of employment. At-will employment means that you can (theoretically) be fired or quit at any time for no reason.
When I was working for an employer, all I wanted was more vacation time so I could travel. Now that I am self-employed, I just get antsy when I'm on vacation.

What I've found works better for me is to take extended vacations every couple of years (a year here, 3 months there). This recharges my batteries for years at a time.
Bosses who like latex?
Indeed, Ocsigen is a very nice project that offers some of the features of Opa. If you take a look at our documentation, you will realize that we go much further than Ocsigen in most directions (client-server transparency, distribution, etc.)

You make me think that it would probably be interesting to compare feature-by-feature Ocsigen and Opa. I'll try and do that in another blog entry, possibly with the help of Vincent Balat.
Ok, I think I've done the feeds. I need to test them for a while to see if they work as they are supposed to before adding them to the site, but you can start using them if you'd like:

http://archfinch.com/rss/tags/programming/history/lisp - example tag rss

http://archfinch.com/rss/followed/drx - things followed by me
Where is your physical work place vis-a-vis your home?

I find a long driving commute to be cathartic and helpful in separating work and home. At least, if I'm upset about my commute, I'm much less upset about home and about work :)
Show HN:Giggilyzer, beta version of a book re-selling app
Hi, I'm leading the open beta testing for Giggil's free iPhone app. It's a free, lite version of the heavy-duty scanners book scouts use. It uses the phone's camera instead of a scanner, and doesn't list the listing price, but the profit of sending the book to Giggil to sell/ship. I would very much appreciate you guys' feedback.

The app can be downloaded here:
http://bit.ly/iQQ061

Though you can post your opinion in this thread, I would also value your email address so I can send more specific questions. It'd be awesome if you made an account, the easiest route being our website:
http://bit.ly/mTWTDP

Thanks
I've been happily flagging away, but I don't think it's as anywhere bad as it was around 6 months ago or whenever all the TSA rage was at its peak. Look at the items on /best - fairly encouraging.

Right now there are only two items on the front page that could be classified as political, and they both seem reasonably on topic. (Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?, North Carolina governor refuses to block anti-muni broadband law). Much rather those than another article about Bitcoin or a pretentious blog post about "disruption".
Place frozen chicken in water. Thaw for two hours. Cut into strips. Add BBQ sauce to pan, add ground pepper and a couple of slices of jamaican peppers. Fry chicken in BBQ sauce, until BBQ sauce caramelizes chicken. Serve hot. Repeat.
I do not use flash on my Atrix. It is slow, and it sucks to use. The only legitimate reason to use it is to have access to video streams that are not YouTube. However, last I checked, streaming video in a supported codec to a mobile device was a solved problem. Maybe some sort of a standard would emerge that would allow video hosting sites to not have to use Flash. I feel that it should have the number 5 in it somewhere. Maybe starts with HTML... </sarcasm>

I have Flash support on one of the fastest phones in the US. Watching Hulu is so painful that it is useless. I don't care if Adobe wants to give me the choice. However, I wish more sites would learn to not rely on it.
i agree, but based on all the stuff i've read about the situation, they do all of this stuff because it works. it feels more internet marketer-ish because internet marketer-ish stuff is the stuff that converts better, and appsumo is a business, after all. convergent evolution.
TLDR version:

We were solving problems that hadn't occurred yet! And I see this all the time. You invest emotionally in a dream and begin to believe in it as if it's already happened. And if you let those big fictitious plans infect your product development process, you're in a lot of trouble. Product development is about figuring out the single most important problem that exists right now and doing that and only that.
Hurts why? Because research universities do not teach much?

Teaching was definitely hit and miss at the research university I attended. I was lucky that's my freshman math and CS teachers were among the best the university bad.

I assumed that it was the same elsewhere, as it was in high school. Do Harvey Mudd, et al, have excellent teachers across the whole department and school?

Also, at good non-research schools, do students have a chance to learn research? Can students go on to try a Ph.D.?

For industry-bound future engineer/inventors, is publication -quality research important anyway, or does lab/practical work suffice?
So, her answer is to boldly...do nothing? Does she view her inaction as heroic in some way?
The power of the right words...
You're human - it'll happen. Be diligent. Try to work when you're supposed to be working. If you honestly can't work when you're supposed to be working, or if you can't get enough done because of personal issues, then either put in for a "personal day" or put in longer hours to make up for the time lost.

You are a person, and entitled to your feelings, and yout personal concerns. Equally, your employer is entitled to the time they pay you for. Be honest and diligent, but don't feel that you have to push on regardless and at all costs.

Strive for balance. If you need to take a little time, talk to your boss. Explain that you need a little personal time, but that you will remain on-call for anything urgent.

Or something.

If one of my employees came and said they had some personal issues they needed to deal with then I would work with them to find an appropriate balance between the work I have for them, the pay I give them, the time they give me, and the fact that I want them to stay healthy and productive. not just for me, but for us.

Not all bosses are like me. Some are worse, but some are better.

Above all, don't try to be a machine. Shit happens, and it can hurt. There are some things that never get better, but we do get better at dealing with them.

Good luck.
I'm glad to see it's useful for someone.

It's interesting how accurate the tags are and how much more information they give. I've been playing with them for a while and I can sit and browse for hours.
I use both equally. Hulu is great for current content and it seems more like a TV replacement. But the movies on Hulu suck. Netflix has awesome movies. Its TV series is improving, but it will often get a series months after it airs. Theres definitely a place for both services.

I only pay for Netflix right now because the Plus offering for Hulu just isn't there yet. A ton of the content isn't available on mobile and the buffering can be terrible at times. Also they claim to keep full series of shows for Plus members, but when I tried it out I couldn't find historical seasons for many popular shows that I had wanted to watch and start from the beginning. So that pretty much killed it for me.
I've started making vacation time a major part of the negotiation when taking a new position and in all instances I've brought it up during the interview process the interviewer acted alarmed. Even with my current position with a really cool small web shop they ended up interviewing me a 2nd time before offering the position. The key topic of conversation during the 2nd interview was basically the CEO trying to figure out if I planned on taking time off in some unspecified but inconvenient fashion that would leave the company in a bind.
It may not seem deep if you're knowledgeable about information theory, but information theory is still primarily known about only by mathematicians, cutting-edge physicists, and computer scientists with a lot of academic study (i.e., your average four-year graduate probably has never even heard of it). It really hasn't penetrated anywhere near as far as it needs to. In the meantime there's a lot of rather "obvious" papers in numerous disciplines to be written that amount to "Hey, information theory is cool and helpful to us" yet.
We do not live to work, we work to live.

At least that is how I see it. I will work to keep me busy doing (hopefully) interesting things and to keep food on the table but in the end I work because I have to. We all do.

Wouldn't you rather work 6 months of the year and travel or do whatever you want the rest? I know I would.
American corporate culture seems to live by the motto "Don't think - measure!"
=>"A few minutes later I suggested that my co-worker buy his mom a netbook."

Since it was for a mom, it had to be Windows but if it's not windows, I would seriously want to defer the idea of buying even a netbook. It's not just the mobile devices and OS. It extends even further. Adobe could probably give genuine reasons for bad flash on Apple devices (they say Apple did not co-operate enough) but what stops them from making it better on Linux. There is no bigger pain than running flash on ubuntu. I run ubuntu 11.04 and my laptop turns off itself within 2 hours of running flash.
David Lee and Ron Conway Bust Entrepreneur Myths
You're going to get a lot of varied responses to this inquiry depending on individual biases.

There are some political articles that are worth discussing here on HN, and there are others which simply encourage malicious trolling. Personally, I think we should avoid the common pitfalls: religion, politics, and money.

That said, we have to talk money to talk startups with any level of candidness. We skirt religion every so often, and we see the zealots on either side wave their flags, but it tends to stay scientific and healthy. The problem with that is it becomes the norm, and eventually, it will devolve. Politics, however, is a tricky one. The increased legislation in the cyber-domain* means we're going to be talking about politics more and more. However, articles leaning either way, personally, do not belong here or in the media period. There was a time when journalists prided themselves on being objective and balanced; that day is long gone.

* Yes, I used the word cyber, sorry, that's what the military calls it.