skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Time to learn the term "design brief," which relates to the design like a program specification relates to the program.

What is the design supposed to accomplish? What should it convey? What kind of reaction should it elicit from the viewer? While these ideas may not be completely objective, they can be expressed in written form. Doing so is one way to bring some objectivity into the the process, as well as a way of keeping everyone "on the same page." Adhering to the spec is a also a good way of finding out if your spec is useful or not. If you find the design veering away from the brief, go back to the beginning and start again; re-write your brief, and re-iterate the design.

Now a quibble about your mention of knowing how to use a program to lay out objects. (Note, "lay out" is the verb and "layout" is the noun.) One such "object" is of course type, and learning how to size, lead, track and kern your type is more than just placing objects (letters) in proximity. Knowing how to use the program is one thing; achieving great visual results is another.

How to learn what works and what doesn't? Get some design annuals, subscribe to design magazines, start reading design blogs. Most importantly, find a good designer who will critique your work. All of these activities will develop your eye and your design sense.
In the particular field I'm in (radio astronomy), I usually have two choices when hiring. 1) Hire someone with radio astronomy knowledge and teach them to be a good software engineer, or 2) Hire a good software engineer and teach them a bit about radio astronomy. My point being, you don't have to know everything. From my point of view as the person doing the hiring, you simply have to demonstrate a capacity to learn coupled with a well-groundedness in the basic concepts required for the job.
This post highlights a deep issue in the industry: Many times in today's climate, investors are more incented by short term returns than building long-term value. Ideally, investors would help companies grow, prosper and reach their potential. Unfortunately, many times their goal is to quickly flip the company for quick returns, sometimes through another round of financing, other times through a quick acquisition that ends up stifling long-term growth.

Very refreshing, honest article.
They also own a magazined called "StartUps": http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/startup/index.html

Does that mean they will sue all the companies with the word "startups" in their domain name as well?
In that instance I pay for long term disability insurance. If I have to be off for medical reasons for more time than my sick days, I get paid by LTD instead of employer.
Anybody recognize that the number of articles stopped increasing after a couple of years?

As of today it is virtually impossible for a new wikipedia author to add a new article to the german Wikipedia. It will be deleted within a blink.

But hey, if this means that the world knowledge is asymptotically converging to a maximum, there is hope that we'll someday know it all, after all.

-jsl
NYTWrites - Exploring The New York Times Authorship
It's Aston Kutcher, some actor guy who's big on Twitter or something. Definitely not pg though.
The github page mentions that * and + quantifiers are redefined to have limits of {0,3} and {1,4} respectively. That wasn't what you were thinking of, was it?
Isn't that exactly what Apple is claiming? "Under its license, Apple is entitled to offer these licensed products and services to its customers and business partners, who, in turn, have the right to use them."
My friend recently got a Sunbook, which he loves to use outdoors: http://www.cloversystems.com/SunBook.htm (their website is horrific, but the product is decent).

It's essentially a netbook with a special screen that can can work in both daylight and indoor light. In the sun, most of the colors wash away and it becomes a mostly black&white screen. But you can read it perfectly easily (similar to eink, but I don't think it actually uses eink, despite what their PR claims).
Not a technical journal per se, but this site looks* like an impressive resource:

http://www.theweatherprediction.com/

*I know nothing about weather prediction
End of Linux 2.6 Kernel; To Start Afresh From 2.8
I don't remember that, and I owned a black MacBook.
Try Banshee
Actually, it is in a completely different league.

The algorithms you linked to output bitmaps.

Kopf and Lischinsk's algorithm is a vectorizer, optimized for old school graphics. This means that its outputs is resolution-independent. Similar tools include Potrace[1] (open source, but for black and white images) and Vector Magic[2] (multicolor, but proprietary).

However, the use of Voronoï diagrams is AFAIK original, and their results are superior to hqNx at similar resolutions.

[1]http://potrace.sourceforge.net/

[2]http://vectormagic.com/home
Fedora Linux 15 Released
World Heritage Sites are meant to be preserved aren't they?

Wouldn't that mean that it couldn't be changed.... ;-)
Anonymous targets US Chamber of Commerce website
Confusingly, by default, the graph is on a logarithmic scale. You can change it to a linear one, try it and see; it looks like its growth is constant.

Although I too would like to think we are converging towards having cataloged all knowledge, if Wikipedia's growth is slowing down, I'd bet it's because of all of its bureaucracy.
It lasted 15 minutes or so, I just wanted to point out the "Live" status
Yes, but that is typically after you have accepted the job, not before.
It's not an iTunes replacement at all. I have an iPhone and buy apps through iTunes sometimes. This doesn't have that functionality (nor the syncing with the iPhone).

Also, it has a bittorrent client built in... Why?
I find this better explains use cases.

http://www.informationarchitects.jp/en/ipad-scroll-or-card/
Ask HN: Best insurance rates for startups?
Our startup is finally reaching the stage where we're required to carry general liability and workers comp insurance. We're finalizing our incorporation this week and wanted to ask what companies/services you guys use for the lowest rates?

Are there other things to consider besides just rates?

If there's anyone else currently going through this process, I'd love to start a discussion.

Here are some tips we can give thus far:

1. If you're a social networking tool/platform, and/or anything used by those <18yrs old, expect to pay more.

2. If you don't fall into #1, make it very very clear that you are not an "internet company" and your company only deals with those 18+

3. Begin thinking of these things earlier rather than later (ie pre-launch). Rate increases as you grow are small than the difference between a 2 employee initial rate and a 10 employee initial rate (can anyone else confirm this finding?)

Any other tips are greatly appreciated, and best of luck to anyone else launching this summer!
really? where?
Check the link I posted, scroll down to the video.

The download starts downloading for me after a few minutes.
If it doesn't you could click the comment below it to download from another location.
The scale is logarithmic, so the plateau is a bit misleading.
You could also turn that around and say why have chrome at all. Chrome may be implementing some things first now but for most of the time it has been the other way around.
> So which is it? Is programming a hard-earned skill that should be paid well, or is it just so easy that a (presumably non-technical) idea guy can just pick it up and run with it?

Programming can be a hard-earned skill that an intelligent idea guy can acquire. No false dilemma required.
I think because the default setting is a log scale. If you change it to linear, it doesn't plateau but growth does slow.
Thank you all for your feedback. The overwhelming majority of you seem to be telling me the things I was thinking before, but not necessarily sold 100% on. I was concerned that I might be biased towards thinking the technical side is the majority of the work merely because I'm a developer, but you all seem to be of the same opinion.

For those asking about the other guys' contribution, they were essentially saying that they had potential investors who said they were interested in investing, but wanted to see a product first. Not exactly money in the bank, but a little better than nothing at all. I don't know how sound the logic is, but the "risk" on their part was stated to be financial, while mine would be time.

Once again, thank you all for your advice. You've certainly helped.
> PG wrote

Oh, well, the messiah has spoken </sarcasm>

/* await downvotes */
In my opinion there is nothing more frustrating than starting working in a layout program. I usually just end up feeling like I am moving crap around on the screen until something sticks.

The best way to start is to hear how a well spoken designer will explain their client's problem, how they worked through it, and pick it apart. This will help you understand the dynamic conversation between elements that occurs in design. I would recommend reading a few books from older, well regarded designers who's work has stood the test of time. Paul Rand, Herbert Bayer, and designers from the Swiss design movement stand out as good examples of clear, well reasoned design that is easy to understand.

While doing this, I would recommend that you try taking some of their designs, and recreating them. Try making a version that looks web 2.0 like, one in black in white, etc.
I attach a face to customer emails – An interview with Mike from Carbonmade
I wish the author had, as a PoC, taken one of the papers in his career as a maths PhD, and rewritten it so that a non-mathematician (say, one with only a CS or physics degree) can immediately understand it.

I don't say it's impossible, but it should make visible all the difficulties on the way.
I'm not sure how this falls ethically, but since there's no working copy online (via author, nyud.net, or scribd) and the author does give it away for free, here's a working dropbox link courtesy of Neillithan on Reddit:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1997866/_Public%20Documents/Depixeli...
Currently just the iPad and via HTML5 the web. But we're working on an iPhone and Android app too.
These types of articles are a serious problem. Stock prices reflect confidence in a company. The underlying "fundamentals" are only relevant insofar as they drive investors to buy and hold the stock. Negative articles about a company's business performance depress the stock by convincing investors that other investors will sell the stock.

But articles like this are a kind of gut-shot: They directly state that investors don't like the stock. This kind of thing can accelerate a stock's fall from grace, leading to more negative articles, more bearish sentiment, and the whole thing becomes a vicious cycle.

This is very different from an article being bearish about the company's management or products. You can hire new managers. You can fix broken product, buy new products, or develop new products. But you can't buy investor confidence (as Microsoft has proven with their dividends).
This is an issue that comes up over and over. The real problem is a mismatch of supply and demand: there are lots of ideas out there, and not enough developer hours to bring them all to fruition, so a guy with an idea will need to offer more than just the idea if he wants to attract developer time. Someone who fails to understand this problem probably shouldn't be trying to start a business.
Aah. Brings back bad memories of commuting as a student with no car in the US for my co-op jobs.

One of the large companies I worked had a liberal vacation policy 4 weeks after 5 years plus 4 weeks of training, which many considered vacation.

However my group was always treated differently than rest of the company, we actually got less benefits so training would be 1 week every 2 years. It was a sad tale. It helped me better understand why people had to unionize. Most of my coworkers were US citizens but foreign born, who are less willing to complain when denied or treated badly. Note to self, don't work in a group of "perceived" foreigners you will be treated worse. Based on other life experiences not just this job.

The company also gave fun money every quarter to help people de-stress and know their coworkers better. Our managers bought us T-shirts with that money: every quarter a $35 T-shirt while ours went out to drink and have fun. 7 years of bloody shitty T-shirts.

I should have quit but I had family responsibilities so...that's that.

My goal now is no necessary looking for companies with good vacation policies but good daily policies. Example: I was telling my husband that there is a restaurant that makes the best steak and cheese in Boston. If I could find a company one mile from that restaurant, I would learn whatever language (build a portfolio to show that I am reasonably good at it), work there and allowed to take a hour for lunch. And everyday walk to/from (my health benefit) to the restaurant for my fix of awesome food. Now if they were also good with bacon...
HTML5 in Drupal 7
Miro is a great application, but i would not call it an "iTunes replacement". I use it as a "video feed reader".
This article talks a lot about money and time but doesn't mention the simple fact that some developers (or is it only me) won't want to work with certain people.

As a developer I'm not going to work closely with someone I don't like.

I guess my message would be: Sometimes developers just aren't into you and your ideas. Perhaps you need to try and understand them more.
Lack of IPv6 traffic stats makes judging progress difficult
Hackerspace Tour Europe 2012
Open Data: Taking the Initiative on Making High Value Data Available
There are around 3,500,000 English articles (versus 1,200,000 German ones, the next largest language).

This isn't apparent in the graph as by default it has a logarithmic scale; you can set it to linear, try it and see.
I think I read that there will be a post on Hacker News when the list has been finalised; so I'm still on the edge of my seat this week hoping for one of those golden tickets :)
Fedora 15 Released – Includes Dynamic Firewall, GNOME 3 Among Other Features
I'm always amused at the "why don't you try building it yourself" response developers give when they're asked this kind of question. The amount of knowledge you need to execute an idea is staggering. Deep down they know there's a 99.9% chance the guy will fail.

It's as if a person went up to an architect and asked him to build him a hotel with promises of sharing the future revenue stream. Architect responds "I can't, but if you don't have money you could try building it yourself".

There's no easy answer for the penniless idea guy. Perhaps stating (in a very polite way) that—as the biz guy—he should work on his own net worth before generating it for others.
You know how you sometimes run across a set of icons which immediately spark universal recognition? Ones which are visible at any size, that are language and culture independent? For me, these don't come close.

How I'd make things clearer is mostly by eliminating the "person in document" graphic and focusing on the rest. So the "your data is never sold" icon, it's a dollar sign in a circle that has a diagonal slash trough it... like the creative commons non-commercial icon. For "your data may be sold" there is no slash. Similar for law enforcement. The others I don't have a lot of ideas about, but I would think that "AD" (for example) doesn't translate well into other languages. Would Japanese users recognize what that means?
Sort of. PDF's, docs, etc.
"I cannot fathom why they continue to overwhelm tech conferences". Because they're on a fishing trip, the catch is devs and the bait is money. Hackathons are the new tech conferences because you have to prove your tech skills to get in.
Startups Needed For Cloud Computing Gray Areas
I'm 32 with 3 kids and a wife, and I literally walked out of a fortune 500 company that is looked at as one of the best places to work. I have no problem telling someone to "fuck off, see ya" if I feel like I am getting mistreated.
The alternative is paying a competitive rate, or splitting equity in a fair way, or both. If an "idea guy" doesn't want to get his hands dirty and doesn't want to pay someone to do the actual work, well...screw that guy. Nobody owes him anything.

It doesn't matter if it is easy or hard...if the idea guy won't do it himself, and he doesn't want to pay someone else to do it, it's not going to get done. And that's as it should be. If idea guy starts learning to code, he might learn enough to know what the work is worth, and will be better equipped to make the deals needed to get the hard parts done by competent developers. He may also gain the respect of actual developers; I wouldn't team up with guys who can't code at least a little.

I thought it was a very polite way to approach the topic. I'd be much more tempted to just say, "The only time I work for free is when it is work I want to do, on my own ideas, and where I own the result. Stop emailing me." But, I'm not renowned for my social graces.
Create your Better Life Index visual tool
Spam can be very profitable for banks & credit card companies.
It's been deleted?
Population growth explained with IKEA boxes [short video]
This is a very bad point for Microsoft. They have a tremendous stable of researchers, tremendous market dominance, fairly solid software, and they seem to be unable to capitalize on that.
It's not simply that programming itself is difficult, it's that ideas conceived without knowledge or consideration of the technical implications are frequently more difficult to implement than a non-technical person realizes.
Scientists use stem cells to cook up astrocytes, the brain's workhorses
For a lot of us, just shipping the damn thing is satisfaction enough.
Barnes & Noble's new Nook goes back to basics
"It's one of the concerns I have with Google Umbono as well - how well can the angels recognise potential for success if they haven't had any themselves?"

Wait, how do you know which angel investors are involved? On their website, they wrote "We will not be publicizing the names and details of our Angel investors without their express permission. A typical Angel with Umbono will be a tech savvy entrepreneur with an established track record in the industry."
I'm just guessing here but I think the point was just to draw people's attention to Paint.net. It really is a great little project. I've been impressed at how feature rich it is. As someone responsible for well over 100 classroom computers I can say it's an excellent tool for teaching basic photo editing.

Anyone thinking of buying Photoshop should check Paint.net out first to see if it has the features they need because in many cases it probably does (and it's free so there's no penalty).

Though it is only for Windows 7 so its appeal to the HN audience is probably limited
This is going to revolutionize the /\w{4}/ industry!
"Not without a warrant."
The judge says: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2011/1334.html

"It is obvious that if the purpose of this injunction were to preserve a secret, it would have failed in its purpose. But in so far as its purpose is to prevent intrusion or harassment, it has not failed. The fact that tens of thousands of people have named the claimant on the internet confirms that the claimant and his family need protection from intrusion into their private and family life. The fact that a question has been asked in Parliament seems to me to increase, and not to diminish the strength of his case that he and his family need that protection. The order has not protected the claimant and his family from taunting on the internet. It is still effective to protect them from taunting and other intrusion and harassment in the print media. "
It's a hard-earned skill and in trying to do it himself, the idea guy will learn to appreciate that fact.
There is a difference: Microsoft Windows has nothing to do with panes of glass in walls; Time Magazine is not about clocks or watches. You're not supposed to be able to trademark a pre-existing industry term within its own industry; Lowe's Hardware should not be able to register "plywood" as trademark for plywood and sue Home Depot.
Apparently those dividends and the underlying "fundamentals" do buy something, because the company is still worth $200B.
Cities as software, and hacking the urban landscape
Sounds like Office Space.
Introduction to Robotics (Stanford Video Course)
Jargon is a necessity in all fields. Otherwise we would have to use only existing words to explain all of our new concepts.. Math - and some physics - necessarily deal with things that we don't have an intuition for. I think that those subjects are going to be inherently less approachable for people outside of those sub-disciplines because their prior knowledge is much less help.

Now, with that said, it's probably true that some math papers could be improved with more exposition. But I think that excluding the layman from new math research is probably an inherent problem, not an accidental one. Improved exposition would be to help other mathematicians who are not in that sub-discipline to understand the broader field.
I taught myself Objective-C for fun last summer, then one day decided to release an app. I spent about 3 hours coding then about a day sorting out code signing, artwork, submission etc. As a result of that weekend I've ended up getting a pretty nice side income from advertisements from the free version and straight revenue from the paid version. In fairness, since releasing it I've quite considerably improved the application but its still less than 800 lines of code.

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/tooloud-pro/id425137981?mt=8
Unless they have the quick, silent updates of Chrome AND the (so far) perfect quality control of Chrome, these quick releases do more harm then good.
Twitter Tweet X-Ray
Psycho - analysis of tweets.
Time to buy MSFT then.
Good job, although I really would like to see this for Android!
Great startup idea... trademark the word "Hacker" and you instantly have a new trademark troll business in your pocket.
I guess they do. How much of that stock do you own? I made the mistake of selling mine in the late nineties.
Cities as Software
It's not that strange. He's just pointing out that there's a difference between wanting to be good at doing something and liking doing something; and that the former is nigh-impossible to reach without the latter.
I would have much preferred a lackluster sequel 14 years ago than an amazing game today. I no longer own a Windows PC, play first person shooters, or use a mouse.
I hope for their own sake that their marketing strategy turns out to be more than simply pointing out the areas in which the Nook is superior to the Kindle. I personnaly love my Kindle and unless they happen to point out a very specific area that annoys the hell out of me, that kind of advertising is not going to impress me at all.
The saddest thing is that computer science looks up to math and emulates the worst of it, such as cryptic, short variable names.
When a new version of Firefox comes out, I always like to find the oldest bug that it fixes. It looks like the winner this time is a 12-year-old bug affecting MathML: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=21479

Also fixed is this 7-year-old bug that has annoyed me for years: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=254714 (When you open a link in a new tab, the new page's URL doesn't appear in the Location Bar until the page loads.)