skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
TL;DR - According to Business Solidarity, one in six Russian entrepreneurs is in prison, with one in three total prisoners being classed as a businessman.

One example is a dairy farmer who refused to sell his thriving business to an unknown buyer at the request of Russia’s interior security service. After repeated threats, he was accused of fraudulently using a bank loan and sentenced to five years in prison.

Not all businessmen end up in jail, as an estimated 60-80% don’t complain, share their profits and bribe officials.
There is a Microsoft joke in here somewhere... I can feel it.
Bing More Sociable Equals Facebook More Searchable
VideoLectures Recommender System Competition is half way through
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the "more than one user" thing is a Unix feature, OS X basically gets it for free. It's not copied from windows; if anything, windows tried to copy it from Unix, and it was horrible before WinXP
How LinkedIn first raised money (and endured rejection)
Can't resolve any of those. Not on my Internets.
Zaarly Kansas City Launch party – June 1st  Bizperc
No, of course no. Not literally. They were Soviet satellite states. But it's a semantic dispute and we're missing the point, which is: the Post-Soviet countries (or post-communist countries - if we want to broaden the term and stay intact with the facts) are not necessarily bad places to make businesses.
It is. Remember when Pakistan blocked half the world from being able to access Youtube in 2008?[1]

(Though that was more incompetence by network engineers than legitimacy of the method)

[1] http://www.ripe.net/internet-coordination/news/industry-deve...
Repetitive tasks: Turks of the world, unite
With all due respect, if you truly believe what you're saying you don't know what you're talking about.

A good counter example would be Estonia. But what's a good argument without data, right?

http://www.heritage.org/index/country/estonia
Ranks 14th on the Economic Freedom Index? Well, what about other European countries: Italy 87th (ALL the figures are more negative for Italy, including corruption, property rights, business freedom), Japan 20th, Austria 21th, Portugal 69th.

http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/...
The Corruption Perception Index puts Estonia above Portugal and Spain. Just for comparison, Russia has a score 2.1 out of 10, Estonia has 6.5.

I would've thought that on HN people give their arguments more thought, especially if it makes such strong accusations. These countries are advancing rapidly, the Post-Soviet countries have been independent for under 20 years. Yet they already surpass older EU members.
Unity is very innovative, and so is Gnome 3, but that does not equal "all innovation". In fact, about 70% of Unity's innovations are features copied from the mac: indicators, launcher, panel.

Gnome shell, while innovative, I don't see it as aimed for the typical end user, instead it's aimed for the more technical users.

gtk2 is still present in Unity and it's still a major anti-innovative set back.

To be honest, I like Unity as a desktop better than OS X, but as applications, OS X is still ahead. (As a Unix I still like Ubuntu better, that's a different subject).
Microsoft buys Skype, Skype immediately dies - coincidence?
Skype has just fallen over in a very real way. People all over the world are reporting that Skype for Windows appcrashes as soon as it's loaded. Nice.

Any HN readers have a way to make the damn thing work again?
An African version of Anonymous?

Would be interesting to read updates on the story.
Title should note that this is from 2009 (w/ Nov 2010 update):

>Date: 2009-08-17, last change: $Date: 2010/11/21 10:05:14

However, thanks for posting, as I had missed it.
Microsoft Live Social Network, very catchy
Indeed, there's a corruption problem in Latvia, but nothing like this. And it looks like it's improving rapidly as oligarchs are loosing power.
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2587382 <--- you mean that?
I run an open source programming group that meets once a month in my area and also self-assembles a few times a year at programming conferences I attend. The idea is that we meet for a few hours on Friday night and the meeting is over when there is at least one patch to a project. It's fun and I've made some friends, but there is nothing as rewarding as taking a first-timer and leading them through the process of build/fix/send-patch. It a trivial process as long as someone is in the room to help you through it.

There are a lot of groups like this around the world. Search for "bug mash", "hackerspace", or "hackergarten" in your area. I highly recommend attending something like this. (And if you're in the Basel or Baden-Württemberg area then come out to my group. I'm grilling American hamburgers for everyone tomorrow night).
I can't believe this did not make the frontpage.
in Linux it's also crashes
Does anyone have information on where this new version actually installs to? Is it the per-user ~/Applications folder?
It works only in that it returns a single result. It used to be a whole SERP of definitions. Sad that.
They had us for ~400 years. It was called the 'Cretan Renaissance'. Their mark is still pretty obvious here. Kind of wish they'd stayed longer
In many instances, it's the cost of doing business or securing an otherwise legitimate service.

Of course, there are those paying bribes to trip up the competition or to secure protection from obvious crimes (like theft, murder etc). But for ordinary citizens, paying a bribe is an escape valve from an otherwise rigid bureaucratic dictatorship.

The solution is not to crack down on corruption (except perhaps those 'obvious crimes'), but to eliminate the bureaucracy fostering it.

Normally, bureaucracy was invented to ensure continuity of government even with changing political leaders. You need something to keep track of expenses and procedures on how to make decisions. But that creature grew like an octopus, engulfing ever greater portions of society. This stranglehold must be eliminated and not just reformed or offloaded into big web portals.
seems like they ported the gerneric crash library to linux...
The Marketing Department Fixed Those SCADA Vulnerabilities
ستار اكاديمي 8 البرايم 9 
ستار اكاديمي 8 البرايم 9
No. It's the desktop login thing. IIRC, you couldn't do that under X. Windows offered the lock screen and log-in as another user on XP. OSX decorated that with a 3D cube and Linuxes started getting it a couple years later.
That "Wikipedia Trivia" is really intriguing! Manually tested and verified it.
i can't tell if you are being serious or not...
Can you figure out what it depends on?

I.e. if we have a post-communist country, how do we guess whether we want to make business there?
In that sense, you can't run a legal business in Russia. You are always breaking some law.
Work is Fascinating: The Metagame
(i) because free is more accessible than expensive.
(ii) because it is expensive.
I should take another look at Linux, then. It's been my experience that Linux desktop development has largely been a game of trying to imitate Windows and/or OS X to make new users more comfortable. But if that's changing, then I'm thrilled.
Sorry about this... we've just released the Airtime 1.8.2 RC but the repository will stay offline until 1.8.2 is released officially - planned for next week.
We can, but I don't know how meaningful that would be. When I say Linux I think of a combination of things, including the kernel, the GNU tools, a WM - i.e. a distro.

The differences between Android/Dalvik and Oracle/JVM are few and far between (that's why they're getting sued :P). The important thing is that you write your apps in Java and you run them under a VM.
A Book Lover Switches to the Kindle
Unified Engineering I, II, III, & IV (MIT OpenCourseWare)
"Some of you may have problems signing in to Skype and making calls. We’re investigating and hope to have more details to share soon."
http://twitter.com/#!/Skype/status/73718207676022784
And that's one of the good parts of Android. But C and C++ are not first class citizens, everyone is expected to use Java (Google's words) and assumptions made about a normal distro don't hold for Android.
You're free to commit suicide while making Android devices, however. That's the power of open.

Wait, no, that's terrible. Working conditions in Chinese factories are a serious issue. So serious, in fact, that it's disappointing that the press (e.g. the Daily Mail article that this blog post is based on) seems to only cover it when it gives them a chance to snipe at Apple.
Any salesman or producer who shoots his rivals should go to jail; it doesn't matter what he sells or produces.
'New media expert' is a pretty lame title, but he definitely has something to add. He is an internationally recognized celebrity, and Airbnb is a company crossing the chasm and trying to pull in the laggards.
Convincing people to use Airbnb is going to take more than ranking high in Google and having the proper precautions in place. Ashton brings insight to the rest of the world.
If anything, I'd say he's an 'old media expert'. Or, maybe a branding and publicity expert.
What about the rumors that Monsanto bought its way into a near-monopoly there, with the consequent small farmers committing suicide in droves as they lose everything?
"Some of you may have problems signing in to Skype and making calls. We’re investigating and hope to have more details to share soon."

http://twitter.com/#!/Skype/status/73718207676022784
Wikipedia has a page about usage share statistics for operating systems that seems quite up-to-date:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_system...

The usual caveats apply, of course. According to the web browsing data, iOS indeed overtook Linux-based OSes, even when one includes Android.

It also has a page discussing Linux adoption:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_adoption

It lists the reasons or barriers for using Linux. When you compare these for different systems, you'll note that -- on the one hand-- the reasons to adopt Linux have become less convincing. For instance, stablility is not that relevant, anymore, since competitors are often sufficiently stable, too.

On the other hand, there was nearly no change concerning the barriers for adoption: Android made a dent in the 'pre-installed' barrier, but that was it, basically. On netbooks, Linux had a lead initially but lost it to Windows.

While the article states that Linux is on par concerning application and peripheral support, I have my doubts. It has no third-party ecosystem that is able to compete with its competitors, which is probably due to the lack of a viable business model for desktop applications, lack of a decentral installer, higher fragmentation, in general, and consequently less public support.
<obligatory Microsoft joke>
Completely leaves out visual design. Maybe because polish is harder to encapsulate with a single book or because it's so easy to pick up by cruising Dribbble for inspiration, but it's still worth mentioning.

Otherwise you get the average startup designer that's more of a developer in disguise.
No, there's been a team working on a compatibility library over at Sourceforge for months. It's just that they only just released the first working alpha...

Future plans include extending it so it doesn't just crash, but actually sets your computer on fire.
I enjoyed reading all your comments. I would be glad to moderate the "wiki" version.
Wire: Communication for the 21st century activist
I'm working on a system for activists to communicate and organise. It's called "wire".

https://github.com/radiosilence/wire (MIT Licensed)

Because Facebook, SMS, E-mail, Twitter etc are all utterly compromised and untrustworthy for political purposes, I thought that people needed a new system to post events, register activity, message each other (with optional encryption).

There are options out there but honestly I think uptake is low because the majority of activists are not hugely technically competent and whilst I2P, PGP et all are fantastic in their own right, they aren't really feasible for the average political protester.

So the idea is to build a system that is simple to use, anonymous (IE no IPs logged), and provides some neat features that would otherwise be unavailable to the average activist (such as encryption, self-destructing messages, destruct keys, etc).

The entire site will be hosted using SSL on my server, but there will be instructions for easy deployment to other servers should people wish to set up their own installations (for security, trust, which is understandable).

Currently the UI is fairly minimal and modelled to be familiar to people who've used Facebook for events and messaging. Conversation is done in the form of flat threads (currently) between as many people as desired (people can be added to conversations).

It's built on Redis and Python/Flask. Encryption is done using AES-256 and a custom PBKDF algorithm based on stretched Whirlpool, so it's exceptionally secure.

Without HTTPS enabled (to actually benchmark the script), it can perform about 1000 requests per second on my tiny server, but obviously it can scale, because of the back-end technology used.

Currently got a landing page set up at:

https://wire-bbs.org

But if anyone's interested in the code or contributing, check out the GitHub repository.

Screenshots:

https://wire-bbs.org/event_screen.png

https://wire-bbs.org/thread.png

https://wire-bbs.org/inbox.png

https://wire-bbs.org/create_event.png

Most of the feedback I've been getting is on the design, though what would be nice is the more experienced technical people advising me on some logistics and reviewing whether my security is sufficient (methods of encryption, key differentiation, etc).

Another idea I had was to be able to store messages purely in memcached, so if the server was shut off/restarted, any messages in memory would be lost. However, a friend said that memcached stuff would still be paged, which means being written to HDD - this is bad, obviously.

How else could I get some traction for this project? I'm going to (obviously) promote it within the activist communities I'm a part of, but other than that, how does an OSS project get popular?
Don't worry they are migrating to IIS
Do you mean, if you're looking at it from 1990 and guessing? Or from today? Because I'd think all the standard factors for locating a new business apply, today.
Sony's name is really being dragged through the mud lately. Not that they don't deserve it, of course. It's just interesting to see how many different areas of business a company can be attacked in at once.
Confirmed: Google Wallet NFC payment system launches tomorrow
I gave up on theaters a long time ago. I think what tipped me over were the parents of a crying infant during LOTR. Who brings an infant to a movie? Let alone a very long and very loud movie? Then there's the sticky floor, the hit of miss seating, idiots, the price, the sound that's too loud, and now, apparently, the picture quality that sucks.

Watch movies at home. You can control how great or how average the experience is, largely by how much you want to spend. Your average flat screen is pretty damn good these days. You gotta be mindful of where you put it (beware the glare!). I think the only thing people get wrong with home-theater is sound. Sound is worth as much as video.
Guidelines for VBA Programmers
Excel VBA programmers can make changes as and when required depending on the need of the organization. Excel consultant then need to set the functions that you need the macros to perform.
Mobile Phone Deals: easing life and removing tensions
Did you ever think what is the purpose behind launching several mobile phone deals when you can get it on the exact cost that has been already decided by the mobile makers?
According to the auction catalog at http://domainauctions.moniker.com/viewCatalog?id=209&x=6..., opening price will be $5MM or more.
On Win7 Deleting "C:\Users\{Your Username}\AppData\Roaming\Skype\shared.xml" solves the problem.
Better Social Norms can Help Control Alcohol Abuse in Youngsters?
There are various social norms which help in controlling underage alcohol abuse. It is indicative that parental norms have the most effective impact on them.
Just as a thought: if there was an "Only run Mac App Store-distributed applications" switch somewhere in OSX's System Preferences, off by default, I know several people for whom I (as their tech-guy-cum-sysadmin) would flip it on in a heartbeat, and then never likely hear about this particular flavor of PEBKAC again.
Growlab Accelerator Launches in Vancouver; offers startups $25k in seed funding
How to Make Google Your Homepage
Tips for making Google as your homepage.
If that wasn't sarcasm then I don't know what is...
Yeah, yeah, invalid or expired link..  Techmeme River never does that.
Gnome-Do http://do.davebsd.com/ is what originally sold me on switching to Linux as my main desktop.

Much quicker to open what I need than either Windows 7 autocomplete or OSX spotlight.
Hot Mail
Make most out of your hot mail account
Follow-up: http://codename-intrusion.blogspot.com/2011/05/naijacyberhac....

Still no evidence that this is more than a few grandstanding script kiddies, though.
I mean finding the reasons why different countries are good or bad for making business.
That's 'cause Philosophy covers it all:

"Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language." --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy
Someone who knows how OSX works - how is the malware getting execute permissions?
Estonia and Italy are indeed the exceptions that confirm the rule.
My Linux Skype client (ver 2.2) kept crashing on me since 3 hours ago, as in when I'm starting the client it stays open for about 3-4 seconds, then quits with message "Aborted".

To fix it, I first deleted ~/.Skype, then I disabled by Internet connection, then reopened Skype, then tried to login (of course it doesn't work, my net is down, but it's going in a loop mode continuously trying to connect), then re-enable my Internet connection.

Well, either that or just dumb luck, but I'm not touching it to see if the method is repeatable.
I like how they make it look like a passive process, except for the fact that at every screen shot you would have to run the application or click "next". This is social engineering. You were tricked into installing it. There's not way to stop that if it's an open system.
If the movie industry wants people to stop pirating movies, they need to stop giving them excuses like this to do so.
A petition against the war on drugs: 200,000 strong
* Requires user interaction, so it doesn't count.

* Doesn't work if you aren't an admin.

* The OS is just installing what the user agreed to install.

Seems like Mac users are regurgitating Windows users' excuses from years ago.

It's a problem. Rather than make excuses, we should be expecting Apple and others to be actively working toward a solution.
+1 for Don't Make Me Think. Old, but highly recommended.
Facebook Marketing Tactics You Might Not Know About
And on OSX it's `~/Library/Application Support/Skype/shared.xml`
Kindle Books And Public Library Lending
Ambal Motors: Yamaha Authorised dealer Chennai
Ambal Motors is one of the leading Yamaha authorized dealer & service centre Chennai. We are experienced dealer for Yamaha motorcycles sales, services & spare parts.
Here's his value add: Ashton's going to show that the service is so trustworthy that he'll start using it himself. You can't get that anywhere else.
I must mention Quicksilver for OS X, which apparently was the inspiration for Gnome Do. I haven't had much of a chance to use Gnome Do since I'm a wmii user but from appearances it looks about the same.

http://qsapp.com/
Revolution Free eBooks
And xkcd itself is "18 steps to philosophy"...
Logo Creation, Custom Logo Design, Online Logo Creation & Designs
Even http://heartbeat.skype.com/ seems to be suffering, and when it loads it claims that everything is "working normally".

Sigh.
Great Insights Into What Makes China’s Internet Tick
SONY is fantastic. a Vaio X and Vim, Chromium and Xmonad is a perfect dev box. their shortwave recievers are a cut above the competition in selectivity and build quality. im still using some video monitor of theirs from the late 70s to catch up on youtubes.
Solution three: make the app so good that people love it and spread the word.
Another quality article by the Ebert.. quoth the Ebert:

"I began by asking if you notice, really notice, what a movie looks like. I have a feeling many people don't. They buy their ticket, they get their popcorn and they obediently watch what is shown to them. But at some level there is a difference. They feel it in their guts. The film should have a brightness, a crispness and sparkle that makes an impact. It should look like a movie! -- not a mediocre big-screen television."

Note how the Ebert cites his 'gut' evidence right at the bottom of the article. This is not by accident - but a master stroke. For why would you admit that you have no pragmatic basis for your outrage at the beginning of the article? This would simply alienate you from those readers who might, oh, you know... be after some kind of empirical data.

I know I probably deserve to be down voted - in order to cure me of my irk. (After all - why should I care if people like the Ebert?)

But it's IRKSOME this guy is so well read.
Should we chalk that one on the press or the readership?
The number of people I run into with outdated 3rd party programs with security flaws under windows and os x suggests it is a pretty killer feature for the desktop to me. Some of these folks are even rather technical, but for whatever reason don't approve the updates from the variety of checkers that pop up randomly or late.
It strikes me as less than brave, especially when you consider that 1.0 and 1.5 were also essentially backwards incompatible rewrites.

This update seems to move SproutCore away from what made it unique and towards something that mostly resembles what everyone else writing web frameworks is doing.
Advice is good, but to escape boredom it's a lot better to work towards having a passive revenue stream or fuck-you money, but I believe a steady/passive revenue stream is more achievable for most people.
There’s a Secret Patriot Act, Senator Says
I agree with your guess. This kind of thing seems right up Microsoft's alley. They used to have an entire campaign using the phrase: "Welcome to the Social". If one of the big players goes in, I'm guessing Microsoft.
Lingodroid Project - Robots taught to invent own language
Today, liberal arts means science
Thank you, it worked for most people in my office.
System preferences > accounts > parental controls > limit programs > allow app-store programs > all

Deny all the rest.
Deleting ~/.Skype worked for me. Did that earlier with no effect. A diff of the broken ~/.Skype with the working one shows loads of changes, most interesting is shared.xml, which appears to have some -1 values in the old one.
How?

Presumably, I can't call the bank and tell them to transfer from someone's account using their phone/email address.

Do you have a problem giving your Paypal address out? I don't: I give mine out and people can use it to transfer money in. How is this any different at all?
Yes, totally. You should probably do the same for VC's.
One of the good things that will come out of the Microsoft acquisition is that this will no longer happen.
Thank you, did the same on Ubuntu and it came back to life (~/.Skype/shared.xml, also incidentally deleted shared.lck but not sure if that was necessary or not)
He's no William Shatner.