skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
It's confusing, if you assume that our preferences are totally arbitrary. If 'liking the golden ratio' is a property of being human, it's profound, but not confusing.

Thing is that the ideal might not be the golden ratio. Maybe we prefer pi/2 instead of (1 + sqrt(5)) / 2. Who's to say? Pi/2 is if anything -more- fundamental. It seems to be that we don't like things to look too square or too oblong, which limits us to the range of 4:3 through 7:3 as 'aesthetically acceptible'. phi just happens to be in the middle of this. So is pi/2, as noted previously.

You could test this, by showing people some rectangles and asking which ones they like -- 1.4:1, 1.5:1, 1.6:1, 1.7:1, 1.8:1, 1.9:1, etc.

One thing that's interesting is the rise of 8:5 screen dimensions over the old styles of 4:3 and 16:9. 8:5 is, coincidentally, right next to phi, and is in fact a convergent of its continued fraction. 8:5 includes 1280x800, 1440x900, and 1680x1050, 4:3 includes 640x480 and 1024x768, and 16:9 includes the oddball 1366x768. It could just be that the math is easier with 8 and 5, though, since their reciprocals both terminate.
Why is Computing with Media so Rarely Supported in Programming Languages?
Apple Patent Addresses Advanced 'Find My iPhone' Features and Customizability
That's because I don't think older entrepreneur usually would go for a YC like program. A lot of them have worked long enough to have savings to bootstrap and connections. At least that's my hypothesis.
Can I look in the windows?
In the U.S. Android web share overtook mobile iOS (including 10% iPod Touch, but not any tablet share) yesterday:

http://gs.statcounter.com/#mobile_os-US-daily-20110518-20110...

Globally it looks set to overtake in the next few weeks (it's a couple of percent above just iPhone, but 4.5% iPod Touch share keeps mobile iOS slightly ahead), though both are trailing Symbian by some distance on that global measure.
I felt the EXACT same way. She really did a great job.
Raise your hand if you're hesitant to write what's on your mind for fear of receiving some special attention from Anonymous, LulzSec, and friends.
Then we need to fix the infrastructure so that the current generation of attacks don't work. To just say, "oh, well bandwidth is limited so there's always going to be an attack" is not useful. Think of ways you can structure the infrastructure so that it can do filtering further out, or detected spoofed connections, or detect anomalous request patterns. There are solutions, we need to find them and implement them, not just tell people not to do it or claim it's a "weak" attack. It's a strong attack if it takes minimal effort to cause maximal damage. In the real world, that's what matters. There's the idea that we're playing a game and that there are behaviors that are good form or bad form. However, when it comes down to it, what works is what works.
I think the point of their DDoS attack on cia.gov was in response to the US's statements that cyberwarfare would be responded to with actual warfare. They're just poking the beehive to see what it will do.
The drift speed of electrons in an conductor is slow. The actual velocity they travel at is much faster. Though the actual range defies me at this point, so I have no idea if relativistic effects are noticeable.
"You're a visionary product guy? You'll spend your time chasing money, customers, users, employees, facing No's."

How true!
Why Startup Employees Need to be Exceptional
Ask HN: Patent your app's interface? (i.e. HipMunk's flight visualization)
One of Hip Munk's main value propositions is their unique interface for booking travel; while it wouldn't necessarily be easy to knock off HipMunk's tech, as other sites cherry pick features from Hip Munks interface the "unique" value of hip munk's tech does deteriorate.

I was wondering if Hip Munk, or any other web/mobile app whose differentiating factor is interface, patents the key/unique components of their interface in order to inhibit copycats, and provide additional value/security to acquirers?

Considering the recent trend of Apple et all "integrating" the best interfaces of their app ecosystems into their core software offerings, it seems to me this is an especially important question to any startup whose primary innovation is interface, and one I personally don't even know if it is legally possible.

Thanks!
Help Protect the World from Patent Litigation. Meet the IP Collective.
I have some good friends who are starting a company called the IP Collective and they're looking to meet with some startup companies from the 17th to the 24th.

The premise is really simply. Patents can be a danger against your company. IP Collective helps you minimize that risk by pooling intellectual property rights with other members, which creates a stronger defense against patents claims against your company.

They're working on finalizing the legal structure; so, they're flying from New York to meet with startup companies to do some market research. If you have time to meet, you should absolutely take advantage of this opportunity.

Here are some great reasons to contact them:
1. This seems like something you want to talk about.
2. You possess a patent(s).
3. You're mildly concerned about patent litigation or been sued for patent infringement.
4. You served as legal council on IP strategy.
5. You have a portfolio company with patents / applications.
6. See #1.

Email them at hello@theipcollective to learn more.

Also, here's a blog post with more details about what they're doing: http://theipcollective.posterous.com/were-in-san-francisco
Ah hah, I was mistaken. Thanks!
Show HN: Facebook video chat, web based and iPad app.
Hi HN,

I've been working on a side project to do a video/voice chat application which uses your exiting Facebook social graph.

You can do video chat with up to 4 friends, or broadcast yourself privately ( friends only) or publicly. As mentioned in the title, we have an iPad app which has been accepted in the store two days ago. It provides the same functionality as the browser based app.

Additionally I'm broadcasting myself from 2:00 pm EST -> 3:00 pm EST. If you'd like to join the broadcast or ask any questions technical or otherwise, feel free.

Some notes on the FB permissions we ask for, and why:

xmpp_login - When you try to call an online friend who is not in the app, we send them an XMPP message from you to join you in the app.

user_online_presence - Used to know when you're online in FB

friends_online_presence - Used to know when your friends are online in FB

offline_access - Used for simplicity, otherwise we need to juggle token expiration. We only do things on your behalf when you're online.

publish_stream - Every two days we push a little "X is using happychat" to your wall.
This smells to me like a hastily conjured rationalization for a series of attention-seeking acts wrought by a small group of disenfranchised industry workers who have something to say, but they're just not articulate enough to voice it so they blow shit up instead.
WWDC Developers Tell Their Stories
How do we enforce that these companies (such as banks) utilize proper security protocol (within reason of course)?

Some would say, "With your wallet!". But what happens when it's your wallet that gets stolen (electronically)?

What do you think?
Your question is more inviting than anybody speaking their mind. The one thing I thought when I read their statement was that it reminded me of A Clockwork Orange.
Please don't fear them, their power comes from feeling righteous in what they do. No one's figured out how to manipulate them that easily.

At least not yet, anyway.
Initially I thought the disclosure argument they made was weak (we hack stuff because when we announce it similar companies will be more careful) because unless they cause enough trouble to make security an immediate priority for a given non-targeted company, then it's unlikely that they will overcome that company's inertia.

However I realised that I have become significantly more careful with password reuse now because there are no companies I absolutely trust to keep my information from leaking out.
* Design & colors need the touch of a designer.

* You're asking me to take 2 steps... 1) fill out form on home page... 2) fill out 2nd much larger form after that... however I don't know what your app does so it feels like why should I go through the work of filling these in when I don't know what I'll get for it.

* "You Just Took The First Step to Success!" on the second step makes no sense there. I know I took a step. You don't need to tell me that. Move "Now, let's further define your goal." above the line and make that the main headline.

* The light yellow box is a bit too tight. There is not enough padding. It's a bit cramped feeling.
Here is a more in-depth presentation he gave on the same subject at a Google Tech Talk:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmNOAtZIgIk
(April 11, 2011)
what makes you think Lulzsec mention the name "Lulzsec" a lot more often than the average HN reader?
An OS platform for building business web applications with only JavaScript
40% of smartphone manufacturer profit, not the entire industry which would include the networks and Microsoft and Google amongst others who profit from Android.

And the consistent 2nd and 3rd place by this metric are Nokia and RIM, both gently falling below 20% each over the last year, who most people consider to be dead ducks.
AS3 is still ECMAScript, just a newer version of it.

I do agree they're being left behind in optimization, after leading the pack for a while. Thankfully they're aware of it and they're working on it. Here's something that explains some of the optimizations they're doing to the player:

http://arno.org/arnotify/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Flash-Ca...

It's more about the multi-processor support (e.g network loading and some rendering on a separate thread) but it does talk a bit about the JITing and GC changes and whatnot.
Will there be a transcript available in the future?
In my experience, one of the biggest mistakes startups make is not defining a clear shareholders agreement from day 1 - just leads to conflict down the road. While you could hypothetically write your own, if either you or your partner have never done so in the past I strongly recommend you bring in an outside party, as they will force you and your business partners to have discussions you may not want to have otherwise (i.e. what to do if one of the partner gets a job offer and chooses to leave the company shortly after your product launches, what to do if one partner wants to buy another partner out, etc...

Agreed don't spend it on TOS though, you can build a pretty strong one yourself by reading similar sites TOS for inspiration.
Because uninformed users don't know and don't care about security warning mumbo jumbo if it means they get to watch their cat video.
Morally, it's also not just how you break in, but what you do afterwards. I.e. if you prevent more harm than you do.

If you enter the unlocked door and write "HI YOU FORGOT TO LOCK YOUR DOOR" with lipstick on the bathroom window, you're alerting the owner to a bad security practice by giving them a good scare. It is A Good Thing, because you likely prevented them losing their stuff.

If you enter the unlocked door and start smashing and stealing stuff, you are technically still alerting the owner to a bad security pracice, but it is now A Bad Thing. By "being" the worst case, you only guaranteed something that was only likely to happen.
No, I'd really like to hear why the page was taken down, if indeed it was. Facebook doesn't make a habit of taking down pages at the request of minor governments unless there's some reasoning behind it. Certainly not repeatedly. So... I'm guessing there's something that these dudes aren't telling us.

What aren't these dudes telling us?
i am too lazy to hold up my phone to monitor several times a day.Hold up, open camera app, take photo, wait for process, get results. IMHO, this is right problem with wrong solution. We need an different interface. May be like the Apple's Airdrop and somekind of easy interface to push data from screen.

Lets not forget the argument that Apple made with not doing touchscreen on laptops and pc's etc.
That could be. The words 'in general' would have fixed the contradiction.

And I don't think he's making a moral judgement... There are plenty of reasons to keep quiet about good investments that are all over the moral scale.
"There are five types of participants: Smart Money, the Shills, the Marks, the True Believers and the Promoters." I want this to be the start of action movie then you get to see each type of character and how the situation plays out.
Not sure how much I agree with this. IT's less about making a name and more about finding out where your target audience is hanging out and communicating the value of your product in a way that gets them interested.

If you're creating an app for a specific audience, you should be active in forums, blogs, etc. where your audience hangs out, if for no other reason than to gather customer validation for your idea, etc. You can gauge interest in your idea early on by sharing it in these forums. If you get folks invested early like this, they'll not only want to join, they'll be more likely to spread the word.

Passively posting a "Coming Soon" page is more or less the second step - the first is getting in front of your potential audience and engaging with them in a meaningful way. I don;t think you need to necessarily build a name for yourself, you just need to put yourself out there.
Google Inside Search
Yes, the parents in A Clockwork Orange! Or pretty much everyone in the "It's a Good Life" episode of Twilight Zone:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Its_a_Good_Life_(The_Twilight_Z...

That episode also made it into the Twilight Zone movie directed by John Landis.

See you next Wednesday!
App on facebook
http://apps.facebook.com/hppycht/

In the iTunes store
http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/happychat/id441038527?mt=8
That false comparison has always bothered me. Preying on the weak for fun instead of profit doesn't make you right, it makes you sound like a sociopath.
Not really. TechStars is a franchise model, Cohen built a replicable model for seed accelerators while YC is largely driven by Paul Graham personally. You could remove Cohen from TechStars and TechStars would be the same, you couldn't remove PG from YC without changing it's nature substantially.

TechStars was obviously derived from YC, but it's no more a clone than McDonalds was a clone of existing Burger bars.
And still, the other (rendering) benchmarks where Flash generally leads got no comments and no upvotes.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2649759

Seriously Hacker News.
The impact of their attacks has more been a strong motivation to "get my house in order". I'd been using LastPass for some time but decided that I should get the YubiKey for two factor auth. I also started becoming quite a bit more vocal at work about the sorts of things it might be a good idea to take a closer look at. This is a wake up call for what's already happening. They just decided to do it and tell the public instead of sitting, waiting, and letting people continue to feel safe. If there's danger and it's at your doorstep, it's good to feel not safe.
Really? Not SeaQuest DSV?
Entertaining presentation of content is king - not the content itself
Ask HN: Best ways to recruit grad students for freelance work?
I am looking to build a modestly reliable stable of graduate level students in a specific field of study (life sciences) for ongoing writing projects that need specialist knowledge: the freelance writing rates on the table aren't likely to be attractive to anyone much beyond the starving grad student years, and they have the necessary knowledge for the job. So hopefully win-win.

Unfortunately, I am so far removed from that stage of life that it's a research project for me to figure out how best to reach that demographic - the times, they have changed.

More generally: how would the minds of HN go about an advertising or recruitment-for-part-work effort targeted at graduate students in a particular narrow field of study? What are the tools and approaches out there that can help with this?
Passer-by catching a glimpse of my big TV through my street-facing uncovered window? Sure.

Standing outside and watching my TV for 10 minutes? Please leave before I call the police.

Creepy guy with zoom-lensed camera in a van trying to peek through my bathroom curtains? I have already called the police.

While it isn't intuitive to us programmers and hacker types, when it comes to law and courts, intent matters more than action.
>... imagine you ARE an electron ...

>In any interval of time, you pass twice as many electrons as you do protons. Because opposite charges attract, this produces an attractive force ...

I think you mean repulsive?
I may be confusing propagation speed and drift velocity--it's been a while since I learned this, and I think there is some way to rationalize that the net current is really moving close to the speed of light when you add/subtract the motions of all the individual particles, even if none of them in isolation are moving anywhere close to that speed.

In any case, this article explains the whole matter a lot better than I could.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativistic_electromagnetism
Watch,Super 8,Online,Megavideo
Watch,Super 8,Online,Megavideo
fans of Star Wars and Indiana Jones immediately tune you hear an echo signature line of the films: "I have a bad feeling." These fans have a bad feeling about this.
Do dolphins have anything interesting to say?
DDOS attacks are terribly hard to stem. I remember Softlayer having a Cisco Guard they claimed helped against DDoS attacks, but it seems to cut off and block a good amount of legitimate traffic as well.
In which case it's odd that they would actively start deleting pages for some relatively minor (5000 people? Who cares?) protest movement going on there.

So I still think we're missing an important part of this story somewhere.
Social Media Startup Seeks Partnerships
Our startup team has developed a technology that allows business owners to manage their social media in the simplest and most effective way possible. We have received awards for this technological innovation, a grant, and have spoken in tech conferences. Our website is http://www.getonsocial.com. There is a significant need for this service amongst small business owners and our low price point yields a very high sales conversion rate. We are partnering with several high profile companies that offer services to small business owners and we are looking to establish this mutually beneficial relationship with more. If your company has a strong client retention we would like to share this opportunity with you and discuss the benefits both parties will receive. Please include information about your company or your company's website in your email of interest.

Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you,

Ben Comer
Get On Social, LLC
(336) 419-0773
pbcfhorn@verizon.net
Chrome one has stood up the best thus far
Starting a Company and Failing
See, is there a practical way to "fix" the problem behind a DDOS? More specific attacks (slowloris, SYN flood, ping of death, smurf, and a laundry list of other stuff) can be fixed by simply introducing changes to the infrastructure that makes such things possible.

But a DDOS attack is, at heart, nothing more than a brute-force attack - flooding a single website / IP with so much traffic that it can't respond. No matter how much fancy technology you add, if you have a 100Mbps link, and someone's sending 1Gbps of data at you, you're out of luck.

And, yes, I realize that there are companies that specialize in protecting against DDOS attacks - generally, they move content to a CDN and use some intelligent filtering to drop packets (i.e. people that request multiple times in succession, etc.). But this still is reliant on the fact that their connections are large enough that they can actually process all this data.

If a large country decided to use all it's available Internet bandwidth to DDOS, there's not much anyone can do about it.

In short: DDOS attacks will likely always be around - they might require higher bandwidth (country-scale or thereabouts), but it's not "fixable".
I think it is a good article, nowdays EVERYBODY is triying to go rich just like that, mostly because of"The social network" movie, we need to understand that this succes cases are rare BUT we need to learn from them, this guys made something different that the rest and place them on the top. Follow me on twitter: @storm_kid
The Pitchie Manifesto
Advice on how to start project management and getting ideas down on paper.
Adorable. They're bullies and proud of it. It's one thing to call out security exploits, and quite another to take great joy in causing others pain.
This just reeks of arrogance
A version of ECMAScript which never really happened. The planning for v4 was pretty much a derailed project.
How The Legend of Zelda Changed My Generation
It may use the golden ration, but I don't find the iCloud logo that nice or that memorable.
They can voice it perfectly well. The problem is that they can't be heard in the mass media without some large event to draw attention. The last month has been their big event, and now they have the attention they needed. They had a good plan and it was executed perfectly.

[Edit: by "good plan" I mean that their plan had a good chance of success, not that it was beneficial. That part is still up for debate.]
Actually for typical (cheap), large consumer displays 16:9 seems to be taking over. It's increasingly hard to find 16:10 24"+ monitors that aren't >$600. I'm not sure whether this is due to demand, the economics of larger displays, or the rise of HD television (720p, 1080p are both 16:9).
Remembering from whence we've come
Ugh! The Wakanda Studio for Windows, works only with Vista.
While the integrated server works ok with win xp pro sp2.
I believe they use the assembler but not the whole tracer. I think the modifications were too heavy so it was pretty much replaced. I could be wrong though, I can't find the reference.
Funny caricatures by Anthony Geoffroy
Caricatures, by their very definition, exaggerate the physical qualities of a person and yet do so in a way that leaves the subject of the caricature entirely recognizable. Celebrities are some of the most popular subjects of caricatures, primarily because they’re so easy to recognize, and often become known for specific physical traits.
Ask HN: VPS for Dummies?
I'm trying to get off of shared hosting solutions (BlueHost, GoDaddy). I don't have huge needs, I run 5-10 Wordpress sites with pretty low traffic. But shared hosting has become unbearable.

I've looked into various VPS solutions. Specifically, I have set up accounts at Rackspace and Linode. I'm attracted to Rackspace because of their Cloud Files option that will publish to a CDN, but realize that is independent of the actual VPS.

However, I'm a complete newbie when it comes to Linux. I've never ssh'd into anything before, or run much in a terminal.

Where can I find a good guide for setting up an Ubuntu server for hosting a few Wordpress setups?

Thanks in advance for your recommendations.
The chrome2phone plugin works quite nicely for these cases
IOS 5 Q&A for Publishers
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, feature requests must be the next-sincerest. With that out of the way, I'd love to see:

* Standard playback widgets: volume, position slider, etc.

* A way to link songs, e.g. http://jsmad.org/play/114578

Fantastic work!
It also led to Paypal allowing Wikileaks to retrieve the money they already had before they suspended their account.
Always choose travel.