skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
The ol' PR stonewall has never been a good model for any company that's pissed off a journalist. Nowadays, it seems like it's maybe not a good model if you've pissed off anybody who can write clearly and coherently, regardless of whether or not they're employed as a journalist, because a well-written and gripping blog post like EJ's can draw a lot of attention, even without journalist assistance.

Although, as we saw, it can take a while. A month in this case.

From http://www.cluetrain.com/#manifesto:

The Internet is enabling conversations among human beings that were simply not possible in the era of mass media.

Hyperlinks subvert hierarchy....

As a result, markets are getting smarter, more informed, more organized. Participation in a networked market changes people fundamentally.

People in networked markets have figured out that they get far better information and support from one another than from vendors. So much for corporate rhetoric about adding value to commoditized products.

There are no secrets. The networked market knows more than companies do about their own products. And whether the news is good or bad, they tell everyone....

Companies that don't realize their markets are now networked person-to-person, getting smarter as a result and deeply joined in conversation are missing their best opportunity.

Companies can now communicate with their markets directly. If they blow it, it could be their last chance....

Public Relations does not relate to the public. Companies are deeply afraid of their markets....

Don't worry, you can still make money. That is, as long as it's not the only thing on your mind....

We are waking up and linking to each other. We are watching. But we are not waiting.

When the authors of the Cluetrain Manifesto wrote the above theses in 1999, they sounded radical, utopian, even unrealistic. Now they are, or should be, common sense. Airbnb exists in large part because of the truth of these theses. So why are they reverting to 1950s-style corporate blackmail when faced with this crisis?
They give an OutLaw link in the article, they're pretty highly regarded but I've not checked the background to verify that their article is independent of the OP's link or the companies involved.
Wired.com Rides the Thought-Controlled Prius Bike
MBT Sapatu Mens White
Italy's Police IT network vitrociset.it Database Hacked and Leaked by #Antisec
Anonymous Developed DDos Tool(refref)
The gold standard in disaster PR response is the Tylenol crisis of 1982. Somehow poison was ending up in some Tylenol capsules and a little girl had died.

Before even fully knowing what was going on the company apologized, issued a nationwide recall, and replaced product ads with announcements warning people not to consume their product.

When an internal investigation revealed it was someone tampering with products after they were on shelves and resealing them, the company announced it would relaunch the product with an innovative tamper-evident cap and offered a reward for information leading to the culprit.
I had to roll back because of some minor issues with my setup but other than that there's not a big difference. I recommend upgrading.
Hindi Songs | Jannat (2008)
I've been following this despite myself for a while. It does a pretty good job at illustrating a problem with this instant update news you get so much these days.

Too much thought and words spent on intermediate situations.

It's almost certain that not all details are known and of the ones that are known, some will probably turn out to be incorrect. And now every time a little tidbit of information turns up, everyone starts interpreting the new situation (with the added tidbit of information). New conjecture, new advice, new commentary. Then when the next bit of information comes in, it invalidates half the predictions that have been made, and the whole process starts again. Over and over. Round and round.

A couple of weeks from now when all the details are out and established, all this intermediate commentary will just be noise. A tree falling in the forest with no one around to hear. That's not to say that you shouldn't do it... hell, if you feel like it... But you might ask yourself if there isn't something else you'd rather be doing. Something useful. Something fun. I don't know.

Anyway, I'll write myself a reminder to check up on how the whole thing turned out in a month or so and ignore these threads from now on.
OpenID. Do any of you use it or a service similar? Recommendations?
Release. All. Your. Original. Communication. With. AirBnB.
Is it cynical when you see a pattern in the language she's using? She's not the first customer to complain about the outcome of a business transaction she engaged in, remember Paula Jones?, so the public at large is already well-educated in terms of what happens next.

I'm on record with my desire to see counsel retained on her behalf before passing judgement on what exactly she's angling for and I think the specialization of that particular legal counsel will spell it out for us.
Ask HN: Who has downvote privileges and what is the criteria?
I see a lot of questionable downvotes and non-downvotes and was wondering who has downvoting privileges and if there was any specific criteria?
You make a good point about judging them on how well they learn from this mistake. My concern is they may come up with a good framework, but then can't execute the solution well. In this case the solution means little. And this incident has cast doubt on their ability to execute.

Then again, it may only be one bad incident, and every small company has those.

What troubles me most is the claim they attempted to cover it up, so I'm not sure how many times an incident like this has happened.
So you can't find out if you've infringed copyright by making a cached copy (and if your browser is creating a re-usable, loadable at another time, HTML format backup of the page for cache purposes, it is a copy) until after loading the page and reading the copyright notice?

If only there were a way to transmit data ahead of the page body itself to indicate whether you should be permitted to store a cached copy of the page or not...
Customer Development Simplified
Add up insurance costs + background check costs + operating costs rising as a result of buying people new (!) homes in San Francisco (!!) + bs requirements such as entering personal information in order to run a background check, and I've got a new low-cost alternative for you.

It's called hotel industry.
Bill Gates Now Has More Money Than The US Government
>It's apparent from the latest newspaper stories that AirBnb is now reacting in a cover-it-up fashion - they're trying to offer the woman a sum of money with the condition that she shut up. That's fine, I guess - very corporate of them.

In this situation, when the scandal has matured it's too late to cover up. If Airbnb guys believe in their rightness, they are obliged to defend it openly and strongly in all media. Then they have a chance to get unscrewed. And if these guys will continue to fuss and to get nervous it will only make things worse. The main thing is not to make more stupid and unnecessary mistakes
The SC isn't known for being expeditious. Obama likes to believe congress will work together to solve these things, and it works most of the time. But now we're less than a week from needing a solution with no signs of progress.
> Airbnb, while pointing out that the incident was the first of its kind out of some 2 million stays booked since the company's founding in 2008

this isn't true. there was a guy in the Techcrunch comments who said that the same thing happen to him. he also makes reference to two other incidents in another comment. the comment is here:

http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/30/how-the-hell-is-this-my-fau...

reproducing the top part of the comment:

Something very similar happened to me about 2 months ago.

In addition to valuables stolen, the thieves/addicts did thousands of dollars of bizarre damage to my rented home and left it littered with meth pipes. They were identity thieves, too and all my personal information was strewn about. Further investigation of my own led me to evidence that the people were not just thieves but were also dangerous. I too, feared for my own safety and would not stay at my house for some time.

I had a similar problem with haphazard communication from people at AirBnB. I gave them multiple opportunities to make me a happy customer to which they did but then retracted their offer after their was miscommunication among the team. Sometimes days went by without hearing from anyone, while I was fear-stricken, totally disoriented, and angry. It was almost the most absurd customer service crisis one could ever imagine. But I am one squeaky wheel, and we eventually found an agreeable solution that I was generally pleased with.

I have since both rented my place out and stayed in others' homes from airbnb
Poll: What to do about the endless repetition of stories?
One thing that bothers me about HN is the frequent repetition. When an interesting story happens, many different blogs/sites will have an article on it, each of which will be submitted to HN.

This adds noise to the front page. However, the worst part of it is that the discussion gets split up across the different posts, with the same points often being rehashed in each one.

What does HN think we should do about the duplicate posts ?
Leave it alone; it's fine the way it is
Add links to other posts within the discussion
Filter dups by forcing submitters to search for existing submissions
Add a "merge" button
Other new feature (please describe in comment)
You're lame. Go away.
Ask HN: Desperate Python Hacker Seeking Help and Suggestions
I don't really know where to start here, as I'm near the end of my rope.

For personal, family, and financial reasons, I've been looking for jobs (unsuccessfully) in west Michigan for the past year. Now, my savings are depleted, and I might be looking at homelessness if I'm not able to get something going quickly.

Background: I'm a graduate-educated Python hacker with advanced coursework in mathematics and a couple CS courses. In my studies, I've taken courses in graph theory, linear algebra, neural networks, numerical analysis, and theory of computation. I also audited a course in programming languages one semester simply because I was bored.

I first learned C nearly 20 years ago, and, though I can't really quote chapter and verse of the standard anymore, I'm still quite good at it. I've also used Python in school and as part of a short stint as a software tester for about 5 years. I'm also interested in learning Haskell and have been working on that for a couple of months.

I can code FizzBuzz in multiple idioms (functional, OO, procdural) in multiple languages. I know algorithms fairly well and love solving problems. I'm willing to do any test anyone has for me to prove my abilities. I do also have some public code on github, but it's just a couple small projects that aren't even really useful at this point.

In spite of all that, I haven't been able to turn it into a job in this area, because I have no real contacts in the industry (meaning I have to go through HR), and all the job ads specify things like "5 years C# experience," so I think my application is just ending up in file 13 because I don't tick the proper buzzwords.

I've tried Odesk &c and haven't been able to get any traction there. I don't really have the ability to do a startup because I'm about $100 short of "$100 and an idea" that's needed to do so. :/

I'd appreciate any help anyone has for me. Please either reply here (and please upvote! this account is, of course, a throwaway) or email to desperate_hacker@ymail.com.

Thank you all,

A Desperate Hacker
面部吸脂多少钱
Blame the victim? That's the plan?

The company needs to do this to come out ok:

1) Go overboard helping her reset her life
2) mea culpa: apologize for the handling of it
3) announce steps that will reduce the risk of it happening again
4) stop calling her credibility into account, or blaming Arrington. it's an international story now.
5) Control the message. PG--you shouldn't be posting at all. Your intentions might be good, your points might (or not) be valid, but you're creating more controversy.

The story goes away when 1) people hear a true apology for the handling and 2) EJ has been properly taken care of, regardless of AirBnB's culpability.

“On June 29 I posted my story, and June 30 thus marks the last day I heard from the customer service team regarding my situation. In fact, my appointed ‘liaison’ from Airbnb stopped contacting me altogether just three days after I reported the crime, on June 25, for reasons that are unknown to me. I have heard nothing from her since.”

“And since June 30? On this same day, I received a personal call from one of the co-founders of Airbnb. We had a lengthy conversation, in which he indicated having knowledge of the (previously mentioned) person who had been apprehended by the police, but that he could not discuss the details or these previous cases with me, as the investigation was ongoing. He then addressed his concerns about my blog post, and the potentially negative impact it could have on his company’s growth and current round of funding. During this call and in messages thereafter, he requested that I shut down the blog altogether or limit its access, and a few weeks later, suggested that I update the blog with a ‘twist’ of good news so as to ‘complete[s] the story.’”

“I am not clear here if Chesky is trying to convey the message that Airbnb was involved in securing my safety, but the company was not. My safety was secured by my own efforts.”

“The positive contribution mentioned in this statement might very well refer to the criminal investigation and communication with police; I can’t know for sure. But the staff at Airbnb has not made a positive contribution to me personally or my situation in any way, particularly since June 30.”
I would be more receptive to this argument if the author had resisted the temptation to use metaphors like the thin edge of the wedge.
Mobile Internet cost around the world [Infographics]
Pretty much every company inflates their membership statistics. I wonder what the 30% figure would be if the common practice was to actually try to estimate how many individuals have signed up for the service, not merely the number of accounts.
It does a pretty good job at illustrating a problem with this instant update news you get so much these days.

But when the technology to provide instant news updates was developed, it was hailed as an opportunity not to be behind the curve on a breaking story. And blogging was hailed (especially by Dave Winer, since way back in the year 2000 or earlier) as something that would give a voice to the forgotten common people and shake up journalism. Good ideas have unintended consequences.
مشاهدة مباراة الاهلى والترجى التونسى بث مباشر
مدونة يلا جول الرياضية تقوم ببث واذاعة مباراة الاهلى المصرى والترجى الرياضى التونسى بث مباشر فى دور ال 8 دور الثمانية ( المجموعات ) من دورى ابطال افريقيا 2011 اليوم السبت 30/7/2011 وموعدها الساعة 22:30 بتوقيت القاهرة لو بدك او عايز تتفرج على الماتش ادخل و وشاهد المباراة على النت بدون تقطيع اون لاين
الاهلى المصرى vs الترجى الرياضى التونسى
The Skinny on Doctypes
Currently you get downvoting privileges when you have 500 karma.

This search -
http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/all&q=downvote+th...
- gives several places where your question is answered.
So what's new in the world of hacking guys?
That's interesting, my initial thought was; "who is this guy, and how the fuck do I get to the position (s)he's in?".

For the rest of it, my reaction was the same as yours. Simple rules simply rules.
My interpretation has been that EJ isn't very focused on the financial aspect; that's been emphasized by other readers and rewrites, because other people see the world in those terms.

For EJ, it's about violation and no amount of money will fix it. So the same way that in her 2nd blog post, she brushes off the idea of donations from readers, she may have been noncommittal about any initial AirBnb offers of financial help. In fact, if AirBnb concentrated too much on what they could buy for her, and not enough on whether she was emotionally well, that could have worsened her mood.

I do think some of her recounting has been colored by the psychological need to find someone to blame for the initial crime. She initially felt betrayed by AirBnb because she felt there hadn't been enough warning to be wary of guests. (She thought there was more checking than there was. EJ was so confident that the key got handed off in some manner such that she didn't even know the gender of the guest!)

For a bit, EJ then felt reassured by sympathy from AirBnb support staff. But after she blog posted – an effort to warn others, and also an appeal for more sympathy and emotional support – AirBnb went into all-business mode. I'd guess they said something to the effect of, "is there anything we can do for you that would let you take down or balance your first post, because it's just the incomplete first part of a still-evolving story we want to have a happier resolution for you."

If your real needs are financial, you're OK hearing that. If your real needs are emotional, that question may sound sinister, pressuring, as if any help was conditional on removing the post – even if that wasn't the AirBnb intent.
I don't believe there's some great oppression of girls that prevents them from becoming programmers and engineers (in fact, several articles have been written about how it's boys who are getting the short end of the stick in education). I think it's just that programming is already a niche career, and the few people who consider doing it are mostly men.

(Almost twice as much, since a few women have managed to emerge with amazing technical superpowers from a still very sexist and sexist-tolerant society.)

This is a very odd statement, because sexism is barely tolerated at all in this society. In fact, men are often the targets of criticism and ridicule, but criticism of women is heavily punished. I'd be interested in what you're basing your statement on that this is a "very sexist and sexist-tolerant society."

Please, everyone, make it better and treat every single person the same way in every way from now on.

I also have to take issue with this statement because every single person is not the same way in every way. In fact, I think it's harmful for a society to pretend there are no differences between people, particularly genders. There are differences that have been documented by biologists and psychologists. To deny the individuality in each of us is to deny our strengths and weaknesses.
Then Airbnb stopped acting admirably

How do you know this? Simply from reading EJ's summation of her communication with abnb? Airbnb as a corp cannot release original communication for privacy issues but she can. What does we have to hide?
Same here. Can I have my paycheck in Swiss Francs?
It didn't for me either.

All these people self-righteously urging Airbnb to "do the right thing" are naively assuming that there's an obvious right thing and that after a month it hasn't been tried. Oh, and that they know what it is and that the Airbnb founders don't. I doubt all that. For it to be true, the founders would have to lack decency (that's why the sillier comments cry "sociopath!") and be incompetent.

We have little information about what the interactions have been. There are big gaps in both sides' public statements. The only rational response is to withhold judgment. So why have so many HN users rushed to fiery denunciation and smug advice? Because it confirms our self-flattering beliefs: "I'm smarter (than those guys)". "I'm a better person". "I would save the damsel in distress". (If there's a damsel in distress, can a moustache-twirling villain be far behind?)

It seems to me that if one starts from opposite assumptions, namely that I'm probably not that much smarter or better a person, one arrives at different conclusions. First, I don't know. Second, the obvious right things have probably been tried. Third, someone has an interest in prolonging this.

(p.s. Just to stave off obvious misunderstanding: I don't disbelieve what EJ has written about her apartment or how she's feeling.)
National Science Foundation Aims to Turn Research Into Startups
If I read a book I can pass on my memories of it, and someone with a more reliable memory might be able to recreate it. Admittedly, it would have a much larger rate of errors than copies recovered from cache, but there are plenty of things you can do with books that would have a similar rate of errors while still being violations of copyright.
Your Genome Structure, Not Genetic Mutations, Makes You Different
Your perception of the status quo is backwards. Statistics show that it's males who are struggling and falling behind in education. Up to 60% of a university population is female, and the majority of bachelor's degrees go to females.
You're missing something, but I'm not sure what... Addresses are always public knowledge, along with all transactions between them. Who owns the address, on the other hand, is usually not advertised: but in this case Instawallet is claiming and endorsing their address to allow for instant payments on your behalf.

I can't tell how this diminishes security, assuming the normal practice of using one-time receiving addresses is still used. EDIT: And assuming you are comfortable having a middleman like Instawallet involved.
http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/rates-bonds/government-bond... says that the current yield on 1-year US treasuries is 0.20%. If I understand correctly, that means that if you plow US$100 000 into 1-year US treasuries in the open market, you get treasuries redeemable (at the Treasury) a year from now for US$100 200. (Thanks for the correction to the number, aquark and perlgeek.)

In other words, the bond market says that the big banks are betting heavily against any kind of hyperinflationary move like this.
Wouldn't this cause massive inflation almost instantly? We could have the next Zimbabwean Dollar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwean_dollar). Isn't this extra just 'printing money' the type of thing that you learn in Econ 101 is about the worst possible thing for an economy? Sounds like the medicine will be worse than the disease?
I find it hard to believe, yet I have been unable to find any public search for California arrest records. Just loads of pay to search sites that are ranking too high.
Maybe they are not in a viable business after all. This business has existed for a long time on a very small scale but other types of business such as hotels and b&bs have always dominated.
I don't really think you need an expert to anticipate this exact sort of problem with AirBnB. It's precisely the reason that I and many others never use the service – it's wildly obvious that this risk existed from the start. Handling this eventuality should have been planned and scripted from day one.
The west is learning fast from the east (meaning east europe) :)

The communist countries were setup in such way that everybody living a normal life was definitely breaking some law. Hey even using a fax machine was illegal (but companies needed to have it to operate a business).

So, to get you, the government (and some random state company) needed just to put you on the list and you are arrested.
Whether this was attempted comedy or just plain trolling, I flagged it either way.

Original Poll was here:
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2822041
I know this is not what you meant, but Comscore has quite some data for the bigger websites.