skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
About JSON: Python 2.6 added a "json" module to the standard library that was forked from simplejson, but in that time, simplejson has improved; the interface is exactly the same as the built-in json module, but simplejson tends to be quite a bit faster.

On my informal benchmark of JSON parsing speed, simplejson was 27x faster than json.

The idiom I've been using is:

try:
import simplejson as json
except ImportError:
import json
Hmm I'm kind of surprised browsers actually load WAV data with that mangled header. Audio 'quirks' mode? Just because something could work without the header doesn't mean it should (or at least not advertised as a standard format). I wonder if there are fuzzing opportunities in that part of the browser code..
On the contrary. Luxury items have a very clear messaging. "The user is sophisticated, and does not want to feel stupid." "The user is King, and does not want to be bothered with the details of how hard the machine has to work to satisfy His whims".
Free movies
Yup, I just tried it out again, because I felt stupid for not seeing the textbox before. It seems I clicked "Add to Cart" and then directly "checkout" last time. Because there is a cart icon next to "checkout" I didn't think there would be another "cart"-view.
But as I said, never mind! You can keep the 15 dollars if you keep up the good work! :)
I just read about how the stock tumbled because the results were less than expected.

"Highest September Quarter Revenue and Earnings Ever" and it's a disappointment.

This is like the market equivalent of "eh, her knees are too pointy".

Scumbag stock market. Why not forget IPOs and stay private?
Casa de cultura
Wow! This is great. I wish I knew about your just 3 days ago when our developer spent a few hours creating our custom blog :) I am still thinking of switching to this because of the automated Twitter, Facebook and Google+ add ons. Very impressed!

One feedback is that when I was customizing the blog theme, I was not able to see how the sidebar would look in the blog. As a result, I went through the entire process first time around and then went back to revert the 'add sidebar'.
According to my un-reproducible benchmark, simplejson was 27x faster than built-in json. It's not a small difference.
Also apparently: "Who is Eliza" Siri: Eliza is my good friend. She was a brilliant psychiatrist, but she's retired now.

They really appreciate their roots, as seen in "Can you sing a song" Siri: "Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do..." which is the first song sung by an AI also made famous in the 2001: A Space Odyssey scene. "Do you know HAL 9000" Siri: "Everyopne knows what happened to HAL. I'd rather not talk about it. But if you insist: (Search the web for HAL)"
Part of me wants to get 2 iPhone4s units and set them talking to each other :-)
I agree with most of what you write save the fact that Dropbox is not a feature. I use dropbox constantly to the point it is invisible to my work. My files move around without me worrying about it. From a consumer point of view (ie, non-tech) how your files synchronize doesn't matter. The fact that the files are there when you need them is what matters. In the consumer eye, Dropbox would be a feature of all their devices.
The difference with tv and radio is that you can still play with your child with the radio on.
$240M Revenue? Holy CRAP!

As I predicted some time ago - http://marcgayle.com/how-dropbox-is-printing-money - I am pretty sure that once Dropbox reveals their profit margins, the world will be stunned.

Mark. My. Words.
This is interesting stuff - thanks for sharing, I'll be checking it out. The upcase/downcase stuff definitely checks out so far :-)
Simplejson is completely API-compatible with standard library json, but an order of magnitude faster.
zds, thank you! We're glad you like RubyMonk.
I'm in the same boat as many others here. I am a bit of a control freak with my content so I prefer self-hosted Wordpress. If I your product can give me a wordpress theme at the end of it that I can self-install I would pay $20 for that.
>> Teaching someone Ruby doesn't teach them the first thing about getting set up with a functioning website where they can put that code to practice.

Well there are plenty of tutorials for that, too.
I really don't understand the "lack of flexibility" thing myself. I've made Django and Django's ORM and admin do all sorts of weird stuff, and it's much easier to build on top of that than to reroll everything, which is what you have to do with Pylons/Flask/Bottle/...

And database/fixture set up is something that you will have to do, assuming that you test your app, and that your app is more sophisticated than "I have some strings which I want to upper case". Ditto for working with legacy databases, migrating data, bla bla blah.

The default option from what I've seen tends to be to set your DB up once and hope for the best, or else repopulate it after every test. Both of these options work great(ish) when you first start your project, but then grind you down six months later when your test suite takes an hour to run. A decent ORM, along with in-memory SQLite and fixture setup is generally what's settled on for most integration suites that I've seen, and Django does that out of the box.

Also - a minor nit, but WTForms and Jinja2 are based on Django's form and template libraries. Switching to them doesn't get you that much - they certainly don't replace any of Django's core infrastructure. And I've found SQLAlchemy to be basically unusable unless you use the new 'declarative base' stuff, which looks suspiciously similar to... Django's ORM :)
>If that's how people start spelling the word, then that is how the word is spelled.

I quite agree. Unfortunately, there aren't any people that spell the word with three Rs, only HTTP parsers, and I draw the line at bending my conception of language to the will of inanimate agents, as inevitable as this may turn out to be.

>but even so, who cares?

Let's make a deal, I'll stop being irrationally emotional about spelling when everyone else stops being irrationally emotional about brace placement. Cool? ;)
Olympus CEO Finds Payment Discrepancies, Gets Fired After Two Weeks on the Job
It's much faster than Beautiful Soup, better maintained, and does an excellent job of handling crazy broken HTML.
I read this article and it was interesting. Sony can still make some beautifully designed products and even beat Apple in certain ways, the Vaio X had similar capabilities to the MacBook Air and still much lighter and well-designed. However, the greater issue is not the "design by committee" problem but the fact that the entire country is simply lost and headless. It's not only business but politics and society in general.

The reason why companies like Apple, Facebook, and Google inspire is because they do things with conviction. They are executing on vision. They don't let internal processes become ritualized. Key executives don't stick around long when the fire goes out in their soul, they move on. In Japan, nobody knows what they want to do. Japanese manufacturers feel the heat from Apple AND Samsung, they're scared of China's growing clout yet they can't figure out what they want to do.

They can't race to the bottom with an aging population with an acquired taste for high median salaries. They've lost the drive and intellectual fortitude to innovate in all but very limited areas. They don't want to relinquish the "made in Japan" brand, even though the Chinese have shown that with the right management in place, they can make products better and cheaper.

I don't know where this paralysis comes from. Maybe the Japanese think all their woes stem from some economic missteps from the bubble era and once these are righted they can happily resume their old formula for success. Maybe over two decades of stagnation and slow decline lead to a death by a thousand cuts along with the false security of high savings.

For whatever reason, Japan is simply ill-prepared to compete on any level in the global economy. Perhaps the greatest Achilles heel for Japanese manufacturers is not so much the core hardware technology but their utter disregard for the software that drives so many electronics. If you go to any electronics store in Japan you'd be amazed by the utterly useless features manufacturers try to differentiate themselves with (this camera can take pictures in the dark while shaken vigorously, this one makes your face look pretty, etc.).

When the iPhone came out I was one of the skeptics who thought the lack of things like TV reception, RFID cards (used for train passes), the lack of emoji (back then), or the ability to render ketai/mobile web sites wouldn't go down well with customers. However, in the greater scheme of things it didn't matter. Now all the feature phone manufacturers are scuttling decades worth of in-house code to work on Android.
Beware any utopian scheme that involves the large-scale reworking of existing settlements. The cities where most humans live are complex systems and decades (or, in many cases, centuries) old. You can't just completely rework them without enormous expense and disruptions.
Requests is really good. urllib2 is overly complicated, with a loathsome API. The world would be better of more people used Requests.
Yeah what's up with that? A lot of these end at around 9 minutes. Are the complete lectures available anywhere?
I think Nintendo's success primarily has to do with them employing one of, if not, the best game designers that has ever lived - Shigeru Miyamoto. By trusting and empowering him they are able to have taste, just as Jobs's taste defined Apple, Miyamoto's defines Nintendo.
http://db.tt/UJTOkdFD
Great point. Consumers are also heavily biased towards what they already know or see in similar devices - "oh, if it had a removable battery, I need that" or "I need it to vibrate when I type on it," and so on. They might all be valid desires by the consumer, but it doesn't mean it has to be there. Establishing the correct prioritization of features is the principle goal of these product development teams, and Apple seems to be winning there.
Paypal blocking donations to Diaspora
Many supermarkets offer this functionality, but the products are collected by humans. It would be tricky to implement a robotic system that you could maintain and operate for less than minimum wage. There's also the additional problem of what to do if they don't have the specific thing you asked for. Finding a 'reasonable replacement' is actually a nontrivial problem for AI to solve.
I agree that Nintendo is interesting but their iterations are notoriously slow and they are usually several steps behind the cutting edge. Also, unlike companies like Amazon or Apple they never leverage core competencies or intellectual property to branch out into other areas.
iCloud is useless to anyone not exclusively using Apple products. How are they even a threat right now?
FWIW, I mainly went to the site on the offer of a 50% discount, but wasn't held up at all when I didn't see where to apply the coupon code and I completed my purchase anyway - as mentioned upthread it seems like great value even at $33...
There is a checkbox to remove the buttons. I'm just echoing my experience, since they want to know how it worked for me and what I thought about it. I'm a micromanaging kind of person that prefers to tweak all of my layout myself, so I don't really enjoy these kinds of tools, but it's pretty cool nonetheless.
This is dumb. It's all about controlling your products that you own, and locking out the competition. Windows is a security disaster, and it doesn't matter how much duct tape and staples they load up on, it's still an insecure piece of junk.
How to view a Page's source on Opera Mini Browser?
I'm not convinced the stock shift is fully explained by "missed estimates" as you notice here. The highest open interest was piled into the ~390 puts for most of the day and look where the stock wound up. This is relevant because the monthly options all expire on Friday. Earnings hasn't happened before options expiration in a while so there could be a lot of institutional play in the market to zero in a particular price to prevent options exposure in both calls/puts. Keep in mind only 0.95% of AAPL stock is owned by individuals[1].

[1] Checked holdings on a Bloomberg earlier out of curiosity.

EDIT: Some related theory:

http://www.aaplpain.com/Site/Home/Entries/2011/10/18_Apple_O...
Any company that mediates between a bunch of other companies which each provide similar complementary products/services will always be in business.

Dropbox is aiming to support every system under the sun. Android, Windows, Linux, Mac OSX and all the hardware that they run on. Thats why Dropbox is bigger than Apple's iCloud.

Apple isnt going to manufacture every device you own. But you will want your files on every device you own. Lets say you have the following: Samsung phone, ipad, windoze at work and a linux system you hack on at home. Install dropbox and you have all your files everywhere.

Hell I dont even want my own devices. I want to be able to go anywhere, use any make of OS/hardware and have all my stuff available to me. Why? Because its so damn convenient.

Dropbox is building that. And its a very solid business business model.

Again any company that mediates between a bunch of other companies which each provide similar complement products/services will always be in business.

Dropbox is infrastructure. And one that creates a huge convenience for the end user.
I think any place wheelchair-accessible is robot-accessible, and that's a standard we should be working towards. As for navigation, it needn't be too tricky. Something as simple as putting up navigational QR codes would help a lot.
He's correct. Eventually Apple and Microsoft will replace dropbox with tiny, tiny, tiny branches in their codebases. Unless they come up with a different product, that's their fate.
Tips to Secure a Wireless Home Network
Give it a week, it will be back to where it was and more.
Yes, there would be more value for you if there was more than one data source that you were interested in - either a third-party source, or custom data you push using our API. =)
Ask HN: Volunteer Tech 'Job' Board?
I am part of a non-profit organization that is looking for volunteer help in the (web) design department. We make videos about other non-profit organizations and it's really cool. Our website can be found here: http://www.goodevidence.com

Are there any tech based volunteer job boards so I can get in touch with tech folk who are looking to volunteer their time?

As you can see from the site, we are looking for someone to help us organize the information on the site from a design perspective.

Thanks.
Fascinating preliminary research work. Side-channels in cryptography are infamous but it is clear that the concept of side-channels is a more generic concept about information leaking in ways that aren't typically considered and/or modeled.

The fact that an accelerometer could detect vibrations from typing reminded me of this work on Acoustic Cryptanalysis [1]. It is a fascinating read. The authors found out that the PC Chips M754LMR motherboard had a bank of 1500µF capacitors near the CPU and power connector and of all the possible places, this was leaking information about the CPU's HLT idling state and otherwise. And it turns out that (at a proof-of-concept level) it was sufficient to break crypto implementations.

[1] http://cs.tau.ac.il/~tromer/acoustic/
gotta say - they got me, yet I rarely play these tricks.
For example, I usually promote a pointer to an array index vs. using fixed sized arrays.
Some of the best graduates from Tokyo University wind up at Nintendo. It was considered one of the best places to get a job.

Nintendo is not a company I would want to emulate. It is getting squeezed by Sony and Microsoft, and even its innovations in terms of casual gaming seem to be on the verge of going away. I consider it a colossal waste, but I guess YMMV.

Disclaimer: I thought the same when the DS came out. I was very very wrong.
hmmm... What part of the explanation isn't clear?
Decision Time:  Golf Laser Rangefinder gets nod over big stick
Everyme (YC S11) is hiring iOS and web engineers
Ask HN: Going to a CS/tech career fair tomorrow
I'm a senior in college and have never been to one of these things before. Does anyone have any last-minute advice?

There are going to be about 45 companies there. A lot of small ones, but a couple like Amazon or Citi. I've narrowed it down to about 6, with 3 as backup. The event's going to last 2 hours, so I hope this is around the number I'll get to check out.

I plan on just bringing several copies of my resume. Is this just a "give us your resume if you're interested, and if we like it we'll be in touch" type deals, or are there actually going to be interview scenarios?
Despite record Mac sales, 70% of Apple's revenue comes from iOS
Absolutely fantastic. All that's needed is to be able to export to Wordpress or Posterous. Other than that, this solves a huge problem of mine!

Great work on taking on such a problem.
Android Ice Cream Sandwich launch, live
I'm the author/translator of this article. Thanks for your thoughts, which I agree with entirely.

I actually think that although the post I translated is interesting, it is in fact missing the point, in a sense. There's a deeper malaise in this country, and although there are bright spots - I'd point to home-grown companies like Cookpad, for example - the overall picture is bleak.

However, Japan has a track record of suddenly changing directions when nobody expects it. Many people thought that 3/11 would trigger a change, and were disappointed when it didn't, or at least not to a significant degree. But if you look deeper, things are changing.

I'm cautiously optimistic. You really have to be. But it will get worse before it gets better.
The end of program problems don't allow you to view the solution even though there is a link on the page.
Google / Samsung's Ice Cream Sandwich event live blog
Programming Language Development: The Past 5 Years
> I'm getting sick of these Japanese who love nothing more than to put their country down.

Sony and many other Japanese companies once pioneered new products - and Sony was the ideal that Steve Jobs said he aimed for. In fact, it's pro-Japanese. Just not its present state.

Christensen (innovator's dilemma guy) thinks that present-day Japan suffers from large companies: the disruptions that are tomorrow's riches start out small and unpredictable. Small is simply not interesting to a big company; unpredictable even less so. In post-war Japan, companies were small: excited about small opportunities; and having little to lose, unafraid of risk.
(In contrast, he says, Silicon Valley incumbents often populate their usurpers, such as Fairchild to Intel, when frustrated workers want to exploit something uninteresting to management. This doesn't happen in Japan.)

The enigma here is Apple. The largest company in the world, yet acts like a startup in terms of risky new products in unproven new markets that start out small:

launching a product without consumer research is risky.
Clickable link: http://www.goodevidence.com

I should note that the entire organization is totally volunteer run.
Apple Option Pain: Step 1: Acceptance
Google / Samsung's Ice Cream Sandwich event live stream [video]
Adidas Crazy 8: Royal, Red
I've been wanting to build a company out of this idea for over 6 years now. Problem is you need a lot of capital from the very beginning.
Prediction: Asus will reveal a Tegra 3 tablet, rendering my Eee pad obsolete :-)
Symantec's write-up has more details and comparison of Stuxnet and Duqu - http://www.symantec.com/content/en/us/enterprise/media/secur...
Watch Moxie's "New threats to privacy" from BlackHat 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qzldtKV1PY

Essentially, the problem is that these voluntary relationships become not-so-voluntary as the privacy-compromising tools become more necessary to participate in society.
I just bought the bundle using paypal. Will I receive an email with a download link soon? That part of the process wasn't very clear...
The ambitiousness of this proposal seems on the same order of magnitude as existing infrastructure projects such as creating a city-wide electric railroad network or significantly upgrading a city's road/water/power grid.
Also all feedback is great, but If you really won't spend 2 minutes to create an account, I'll wonder your enthusiasm to give valuable feedback and take this into consideration while valuing it, but nevertheless you can use apples credentials...

email... appletest@example.com
password... appletest
Official Galaxy Nexus Spec Sheet Revealed Ahead Of Event
Turbo Fire Results
I think this is a way to show the author isn't pulling a bait-and-switch or just interested in taking your money. If you're not happy, you can have your money back, period.

There is a certain level of trust involved, because there is indeed no way to "return" the ebook (well, set aside complicated and broken solutions like DRM). Most people are honest enough to acknowledge the usefulness of the ebook, and won't ask for their money back if they're satisfied (even though objectively they could lie and get that money back).

I've seen this a few times, and it seems like a great way to build confidence.
I've never bought an ebook before, but I'm highly considering this. Great job "selling" me on something I don't overly need!
My pleasure, Nick. :)
I was happy to do it.
The Science of Irrationality: Why We Don't Like to Think
I read somewhere that this can also be done with some accuracy by listening to the sounds of keypresses.

Other examples of (mostly) passive information gathering:

- screens can be read via electromagnetic emissions (at least CRTs could, I don't know about LCD displays these days)

- listening in to a room by bouncing a laser off of a window

- wifi snooping, cell snooping (both obvious)

- car tracking via the rfids embedded in some tires

- person and passport tracking via the rfids in the newest generation of passports (and credit cards)

- printer signature tracking of documents - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3753886.stm (old, don't know how much it's advanced)

- the wide world of temporal correlation attacks (both on social networks and in the physical world with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multilateration)

I got a bit sidetracked there. But yea, this is yet another one for the list. Of course, if you've hacked into the phone, you could also try breaking into any wifi networks or, you know, recording conversations.
EFF Gets Straight Privacy Answers From Amazon About New "Silk" Tablet Browser
How Mobile App Developers Are Taking Aim at Parking Tickets
The impending hard drive shortage -- and possible price hikes
Only 4% of consumers likely to be satisfied with today's electric vehicles
Thai floods mean big loss to Western Digital exports
I was referring more to affiliate agreements - i.e. I have an affiliate account with Blurb, and I'm bound by a few technicalities like not bidding on Blurb, not writing blurb or posing as blurb on facebook/twitter, etc. If I break that they basically take all my affiliate $$. Not fun!

This is obviously more consumer facing and not really a big deal, so I don't think it would be a problem.
How does the iPhone 4S camera stack up against other cameras?
Interestingly, the article never mentions computer vision, which seems to be the main area of focus for autonomous cars such as Google's.
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Google’s Infinite Bookcase: An Abstract Browser For Limitless Libraries