skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Ask HN: 1-to-1 Vs Broadcasting
I'll try to phrase the question in the best of my ability. Which one of these are people/internet users more attracted to? And how each one affects us socially?
A) Pure conversational tool, where one converses one-to-one with another individual. i.e, instant messaging
B) Broadcasting/Consumption of other people's statuses like facebook or twitter.
NASA’s New Mars Rover Launches Successfully
Sorry for being dense, but I don't catch your drift. It is easy to tease and talk your book when you are an investor of any kind. The bigger your audience, the better (for you, the investor).
I don't like a search engine that messes with results. Keep the ads separate. Just my opinion though.
Overcoming Bias : Can’t Hear Bad News
i am talking in a "technical" way since website owners are sometimes payed per impression, and adblock blocks that impression, hence my point.
First, of all, no, I have not "hacked" my nutrition. I have improved it, though, and I'll tell you how.

I drink about 14-21 Oz. of water before eating anything (when I had a metric water bottle, I would try for a little more than a liter - I don't know if those volumes are even comparable).

Every Sunday, I make 1-1.5 pounds of dried beans or lentils for the week, according to recipes I found online [1][2]. For breakfast, lunch A, and lunch B, I eat about 3 large spoonfuls of this, plus an egg, plus a lightly toasted corn tortilla (the tortilla keeps me sane, if you can skip it more power to you).

For my evening meal, I eat pretty much whatever I feel like making for myself. Practically, this means that I cycle through chile colorado, chile verde, pad thai, pad kee mao, green curry, and the occasional random thing I feel like making myself (what can I say, I'm a creature of habit). This probably isn't optimal, since I use all sorts of sugars and rice noodles and red meat and stuff, but I don't eat much (in large part because of the 20 Oz. of water I just chugged) and it doesn't seem to have any major adverse effects. There's often some sort of salad type deal in there too.

I only eat out socially. If I'll be eating alone, I pack myself the kind of lunch I described earlier. I also don't eat frozen meals of any kind. I don't eat cheese, and I only eat bread for my evening meal (if you can cut the bread entirely, more power to you. I just love bread and figure I can eat a slice or two at dinner and it'll be OK). I eat a cookie or two after lunch, but never anything sweet unless it's directly after a meal (itself directly after 20 Oz. of water).

I also intermittently take fish oil, glucosamine, and some random brand of one-a-days that I bought.

Unfortunately, my attitude towards this is that of an optimization solver and not a scientist, so I really can't disentangle the effects of e.g. not eating bread and e.g. exercise, but I'm pretty sure that if you just don't pay anyone else to prepare your food you're already taking a giant step in the right direction.

One big practical effect is that I've put a giant damper on my appetite. The amount of food I can eat in one sitting is probably half the amount of food I typically ate in one sitting two years ago, much less the amount of food I could, if pressed, eat in one sitting two years ago.

I only stuck to this seriously for about 5-6 months out of the year (the first 2-3 and the last 2-3), and I'm 40 pounds lighter than I was at my December 28 physical and I feel like a million bucks compared to how I felt then. I'd have probably knocked off 50-55 if I'd kept it up through the summer months. Well, that's what 2012's for!

[1] http://laylita.com/recipes/2010/01/24/menestra-de-porotos-or...

[2] http://laylita.com/recipes/2008/01/11/arroz-con-menestra-len...
I think Fischer Random is much more challenging...
Was it easy to start doing this? I get painful migraines if I skip a meal and I can't imagine going without food for a day.
Good point, although I virtually always am looking for a specific article on wikipedia and not searching the site.
Index by symbols. ctags would be a fine start.
"Erlang was designed to program fault-tolerant systems" according to Joe Armstrong [1].

[1] http://www.infoq.com/presentations/Systems-that-Never-Stop-J...
The problem with that is that at least when I am merging something I often (with Mercurial anyway) don't have anything useful to say -- the commit is even marked specially as a merge commit. Other than bringing in one branch (which has hopefully been correctly commented) no changes were made.

So really, what do you want them to say?
I have pretty bad GERD. The result is that any high-sugar, high-fat, or even overly starchy foods cause me to get severe heartburn. This provides a huge disincentive to eating unhealthy foods which has worked out well for me so far. I do not know if intentionally developing GERD for this effect is a good idea though, or if it is even possible.
You Want A New Open Source Operating System? I Am Your Man
I like what they said about the amount of media thrown at us sucking our souls and numbing our senses. It's so true! I think that's why there's such a big push toward minimalism on the web today. People can no longer handle having so much information thrown at them at once with things flashing everywhere, gratuitous onMouseover events, and especially the huge amount of choice we have to deal with.

I think it boils down to choice. Instagram takes much choice out of the equation. Just like they said, there isn't a huge grid of photos to choose from and that's a good thing.

On kind of a side note, I'm so baffled by the funding of sites like this. Please don't take this as a criticism, I'm just genuinely curious about why instagram or any small online startup needs funding? First off, aren't a lot of these companies something that people can just run on a shoestring budget from their home? From what I see, a lot of startups require a competent coder, servers to handle the load, and a budget just large enough to handle that. Also, how are these companies making money? How is instagram worth 7 million? I don't see ads or any membership model so how wil they pay back that money? From where I sit (living off web design while building my own web app on the side in Chicago with no employees or funding or even an office) it seems these companies could run without the millions and actually be n a better position once they get big as they won't be beholden to VCs and have heavy debt. I know it's off topic but damn does it bug me. I honestly don't understand.

Edit: the only thing I can think of that requires a lot of money would be the momentum (marketing) and hype that money can buy. Otherwise couldn't it just start as a weekend project for $20 a month with a VPS and elegant code?
Ironically, anything that has a food label probably isn't suitable for consumption.
Made Easy Affiliate Marketing
Automation will do the same thing for all kinds of things we rent.

Right now, the costs of finding items at the best price, going to get them and the manual paperwork involved, often make owning them easier.

But once all that is automated and you can rent the exact drill you need for a dollar an hour and it can be there in 15 minutes, why would you buy it?

And, yes, it will be delivered by a robotic vehicle, probably no bigger than a breadbox.
Scale is always one of the most difficult things for me to plan for. Over last summer I was working on a registration system for an ISP which worked really well in testing. Once the database exploded to over 1M rows however, that application's performance was noticeably suffering. Unfortunately now that system is live, and the schema can't be changed for a few months...oops
It isn't.

To rephrase what he's saying: "If you have trouble handling awkward things sober, work on overcoming that difficulty. Having a drink to solve your problems leads to alcoholism, and alcoholism is a much worse problem."
Sorry, Talented: Striving Matters
The Germans spent last decade reforming their pension system and labor market.

Keep in mind that "reforming their pension system and labor market" is neoliberal code for "reducing the share of national income that goes towards workers and employees". So it is disingenuous to claim that labor is reaping the rewards these days. [1]

I mean sure, if you cut social safety nets and retirement systems, and pass the savings on to foreigners who are buying your export goods, then that will boost your exports. That doesn't make it good policy.

As for your metaphor, two can play that game.

Germany is more like the father who doesn't give a damn about the kid, thinks it's the kid's own damn fault - despite him regularly beating him/her (that's metaphor for Germany undercutting everybody else in the market, in case it's not clear), and is happy to see the kid end up unemployed, homeless, and with an abysmal life expectancy (all of these things are already literally reality or are starting to become so in Greece).

The rehab route would be to stop the insane domestic policies in Germany, install a bureaucracy that can do proper tax collections and fight corruption in Greece, and simultaneously stimulate the hell out of their economy.

Hey, nobody said rehab is easy - it requires both discipline and compassion.

[1] In terms of real income this is obvious from even a very cursory glance at the data. In terms of unemployment, the picture is admittedly not quite so obvious. Unemployment rates are lower than in the southern countries, but even the official numbers are still very high by any reasonable standard. It gets worse when you consider marginal work (part time etc.).
I believe that Google is politely asking for permission through Google+ to share what it already knows with external entities.

What do you think of the Google+ strategy?
It sounds like you might want to read Tim Ferriss's book, The 4-Hour Body. I'm not aware of anyone else who has 'hacked' their diet as much as him.

My tip is to eat double-fiber bread. Also, it's generally expected that vitamin D recommendations will be increased significantly. I think they're around 400iu now, and likely to be set somewhere in the 1,000 - 5,000 range.
Me: ...
You: Seriously? Really? Seriously? Seriously? Really? Really?
Me: ...
You: ... Really? Seriously? Seriously?

Are you this stupid? Jersey Shore fans, please stop.
Ask HN: single person startup funding
Hello,
Ive been working on a startup for at least a year. I'm a single person startup. It is a technology/Internet focused company. The product I'm creating is pretty ambitious and large. It is not a typical social network or tools for selling things online kind of website. It is something much more complicated and technical. What is the chance of me getting a venture capital by pitching this product. The product is not totally 100 percent done, but is in pretty tangible shape. I'm in a close position where I can talk to venture capitals. Some of my family members are kind of skeptical that I can get it done, but I trully feel like it is getting closer to be done. Iwould need a large server, some graphic design company to design the logo nd images. I also would need a ad company to create a name, because Im not very good with company names and logo designs. My main focus is bring this product to little more maturity nd sell it fora decent amount or continue to develop it. Funding I.m looking for I think is around 100k.

What is my chance of getting a funding. What would the Vc s would ask. Would they be skeptical that a single person can get it done. What is the chance and steps that could be taken.

Apologies for my grammar/ writing mistakes. I'm writing this on iPad
This is a response to a recent article that reached the front page on HN. The author, Jonathan Wai, is one of the leading young researchers on the special characteristics of individuals near the peak of the IQ scale, participants in the Study of Exceptional Talent. I met him briefly about a year ago at the 2010 International Society for Intelligence Research conference. Several of his scholarly publications

http://www.tip.duke.edu/node/960

are available for free download.
ダイエットの日記をつける
Paleo has basically no scientific support for extending lifespan (which I would assume is at least part of "improving your health")

"...a Pubmed search using the keywords “Paleolithic diet” [returns about] 67 hits. Of those 67 hits only 9 were papers that involved actual human or animal application of the diet, or even discussion of same... Nine papers of poor quality and not a single clinical trial demonstrating reduced morbidity or mortality"

Source: http://chronopause.com/index.php/2011/08/20/interventive-ger...

Which is the 3rd part in this series:

http://chronopause.com/index.php/2011/08/18/interventive-ger...
Do you have any brand of yerba mate that you recommend? The stuff I have tastes like an ashtray.
I tried writing my remarks as short as possible, it seems that it caused some problems. I'll try to correct them in a lengthier way =P

"Which part of the article gives you the impression that the author doesn't understand that?" The writer does not see any advantages of the integration of the Google search engine in Google+. I'm sadly forced to understand that he fails to get the idea behind it. Searching in shared posts in Google+ is one of the key features that Google+ has over Facebook and other social networks since it will let you simply search for "that interesting site my friend shared with me last month" instead of going through his posts manually.

My second point was cleared up by true_religion, thanks for that.

Google+ is more natural because of it's Circle system. You don't broadcast all your interesting findings to everyone you know, you tell it to the select group of people who might be interested, just like in real-life. Next to that, as said before, you can search the posts and shares in Google+. You can also see your profile in the point of view of others on the web, in your circles. This makes setting up your profile a lot more natural and easy.

I have to admit that "positivism" is indeed the wrong word. I stand corrected and I'll change it.

"No, they wont. This doesn't even make sense. For one, Siri could bypass Google altogether" Then where will Siri get the results? Siri can't pull them out of thin air, they have to come out of a search engine and if Apple values the "magical" experience of it's users then they should use Google. The user is using Siri as a GUI that takes the Google results and speaks them out. But the results need to come from somewhere.

"I'd guess the author is well aware of this. Are you aware that Apple has bough a mapping company and is looking to integrate its own maps in a future iOS release?" I'm aware of the "3D"gimmick (it's nice to have 3D, but I would prefer to look where I'm driving/walking/cycling) that they bought and the mapping company they bought. But I think that is a bad move, since Apple would then be inventing the wheel again, only to disconnect themselves from Google maps. If Apple is willing to pump so much money into collecting data of roads and buildings all over the world, then they would have set up their own carrier. Since the cost of starting your own carrier is peanuts compared to photographing the entire world.

I hope this made things a bit more clear.
Ah, my mistake in assuming that refined sugar == simple sugar. Thanks for clarifying.
Anthony's Conj talk was pretty good all right. He looked completely at ease, and has a great deadpan delivery when he tells a small joke. Knows his stuff. He's grown in the last year, in lots of directions, and he is going to be a Force. Watch and see.

(No pressure, raynes.)

And he's right about the community. Besides attracting some really bright people, there isn't a lot of language chauvinism evident. (Well, the JRuby folks took some shots, but it was all in fun. We love you guys, really.)
I wrote one of these as well as a Chrome extension a few months ago.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/kikfikaiccdaabdilg...

Additionally, it will highlight edited comments in grey or any color of your choosing (simply md5's the comment text and checks to see if it's changed next time you load the page).
I am curious. What is the product or service?
An example of a similar obvious hypothesis that appears to be flawed: raising "good cholestrol" with niacin supplements appears not to lower risk of heart attacks as was widely assumed

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/05/28/136678665/study-b...
This is how you hit the undo button on a nuclear detonation. If this wasn't buried in FT Magazine, I'd be tempted to cancel my subscription. It's so obviously part of the damage control campaign that it brings the integrity of FT's journalists into question. Extracts:

"... links between key former employees of the world’s best-known, most prestigious, most self-consciously high-minded consulting firm and a corrupt hedge fund boss..."

"...it was a public embarrassment, a private outrage – and even a potential threat to the future of “the Firm”, as McKinseyites call their employer."

"... the older partners were “completely ashen-faced”..."

"The partners’ principal anxiety was summed up in one recurring question: “Why didn’t we pick up on it?”"

"As shocking to them was the fact that they had not previously been made aware of any such activities."

"insiders offered two analogies to help him understand the Firm: the Jesuits, and the tailors of Savile Row, who “unlike fashion houses and designers … are always in the background”."

"Yet McKinsey is arguably better known than either the Catholic religious order or the London suit makers. Founded in 1926 by James O. McKinsey, who originally styled its consultants as “management engineers”, McKinsey is to consulting what Goldman Sachs is to banking: it supplies the most prestigious – and perhaps the most expensive – advice that top corporate and government clients can buy."

...and on and on including a lovely historical photo of founder James O. McKinsey.
What? Please explain how your "point" is something other than tu qoque[1], i.e., exactly how Judith Miller's bullshit on Iraq and someone who wrote for the Times 80 years ago possibly relate to this consumer piece.

In your focus on "the Times", rather than on the writing expressed in this specific consumer affairs piece, what factors exactly are you imagining that supposedly swayed the writer of this consumer affairs piece and what evidence do you have for it?

"All reviewers are biased." Maybe you could quantify the level of bias for us, for the following:

1) married couple who had a horrible experience with a moving company, and reviewed it online.

2) the horrible moving company in reviewing that feedback from the married couple.

3) web site who took money from the horrible moving company and subsequently minimized the married couple's review of the horrible moving company.

Are you really trying to suggest that there are equivalent "biases" at work here?

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tu_quoque
Magens Bay nas Ilhas Virgens Americanas - Caraíbas
You wonder what would happen if we all wrote C++ on Windows? I hope you can answer that question yourself :).

But seriously, i think its great that we can all work in our favorite language, and we can get away with it. I can write a web service in common lisp, and you can use it in your Rails cat picture app, that also uses a brainf*ck script to convert the cat pictures in a suitable format. And your company can also write an iPhone version of your app in objC and a desktop version in C++ for windows and Linux. Man, protocols are awesome :)
TomTom XL 2
When I started programming at about the same age, living in Tennessee in the Pleistocene era, it took the concerted effort of several adults to even get me access to a computer (actually to a punched card reader that connected to a computer 100 miles away).

Now we take for granted that a smart kid in Alabama has his own personal computer and can participate in a conversation with an expert community anytime he wants. But it's amazing. And more importantly, the experts are so incredibly supportive!

I guess this tradition goes back quite a ways, though...think of Ramanujan and Hardy's mathematical relationship. Perhaps the key is a field that doesn't require expensive equipment and the gatekeepers that go with that. Or does this sort of thing happen nowadays in fields other than CS and math? Do 16-year-olds show up in economics or physics IRC channels and meet supportive communities?
Fruit juice is probably one of the worst offenders when it comes to bulking people up. People assume it's better because it's natural, but it's pretty loaded with sugar. (though fruit juice does contain other things that are good for you, so moderation is probably best)
The SurveyMonkey killer.
Dinner canceling:

http://www.drhuber.at/downloads/cancer_chemoprevention.pdf
I might be wrong here, but I don't remember Linus asking someone finance him While writing Linux. Dude, just do it.
The issue at hand is the return on investments, not the value of goods and services. I still purchase technology because the value of having access to that technology exceeds the current cost - the resell value. No one is buying warehouses of Galaxy Tabs, expecting for a positive return a year from now, and if normal investments (for example, the capital required to build the Galaxy Tab) which normally have a positive return assuming 2% inflation suddenly become outstripped by deflation, then no one will invest.
We're talking about the organic results here. I was, anyway. Amazon (et al) show up there even without a paid ad.
Mixpanel - We're hiring a solutions architect
Work hard. Cry less. And realize you’re part of history

No, sorry, but you probably aren't. Zynga isn't changing the world and neither are 99.9% of the startups coming out of SV.

The over-working culture is exactly that - a culture. It has nothing to do with actual reality, and everything to do with perceived reality. Great, long-term companies aren't built by entrepreneurs who sleep 2 hours a night.

P.S.: not getting enough sleep decreases productivity. The 37Signals guys have covered this a few hundred times at this point. I also seem to recall Richard Branson saying that he "needs his 8 hours."
Interview with independent videogame developer, Andy Wolff
Instagram is so popular, but I stopped using it
http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/27/why-instagram-is-so-popular/
Well, every module doesn't have to have wifi. It could be Zigbee, with a base station(s) that interface with wifi.
Red Queen Hypothesis: solving problems reveals more unsolved problems.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Queens_Hypothesis
I eat OK (I tend to cook chillis and currys using sauces, a couple vegetables/pulsars and meat), however I exercise at least 3 times a week (games of football [soccer], run, squash, climbing etc). I also drink a few pints of water or cordial a day. Recently I've been cutting down on my sugars in the hope of slightly more sustained energy levels and it does seem to have had a small effect. Although I'm still only 20 and have a fast metabolism the only thing that really scares me is saturated fat, because I can't really exercise it away. Otherwise as long as you're reasonable (not eating fast-food all the time) I don't see it being a huge problem.
your chances are slim
Harvard Business School Dean on Practicing Moral Humility
I try to stick to that format but very often struggle to squeeze a meaningful summary into the first line.

74 chars is just awfully short...