skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
This is my "if I won the lottery" dream. Which it would have to be, since everything about it isn't cheap. Purchasing a Pullman car then upgrading it to Amtrak standards will cost at least $300k. Any interior upgrades are on top of that (renovating the galley with modern appliances, adding central air since some cars used block ice for cooling). Amtrak requires you add 480v head-end power (but you will likely want a diesel generator too), door control/communication wiring, and to upgrade the braking system.

Once you have your car and you have passed your annual inspection, you will need somewhere to park it, which usually means finding a short-line railroad or commercial business with a siding near you, and paying them a fee. Getting the car from there to the nearest Amtrak station will require you to hire a locomotive with crew (some tracks require a second car coupled to the locomotive so crossings & signals work correctly). Amtrak then has a whole schedule of fees they will charge you, from $4.09 per mile, overnight parking, fresh & wastewater servicing, transponder tags, and parking fees.

You will want to hire a chef to prepare your meals and perhaps also a steward to serve the meals, make drinks, and take care of the staterooms. I'm not sure if they need to belong to the union since they would be your employees, not the railroads (but probably).

For the less than 100 private cars in operation in America, why does Amtrak even offer this service? Like the first class section on an airliner, it's effectively all profit for them since the train was going there anyway and the extra fuel to haul it & supply power is minimal. Personally I wonder why Amtrak doesn't offer a "Presidential" fare, where 6 or so people can book a private car and get truly top tier service.

Here's what a restored Pullman car can look like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdroQ4JqlYQ
You clearly don't have experience with infra serving millions of people in real time. Everything is hard and infra breaks all the time.
Discussion from earlier today:

Lyft to lay off about 700 employees in second round of job cuts

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33452791

(356 points, 277 comments)
>Isn't it better to reach out without invoking a DCMA and see if the other party is willing to cooperate first?

That would still be your lawyers talking to their lawyers. The channels for handling DMCA takedowns are much more efficient than channels for handling something custom.
Yeah, it is getting quite boring since all of this market chaos was expected and as you can see, everyone here being surprised that these layoffs in general are happening. The news need an outrage story to get clicks and eyeballs for their ad money, so why not give Twitter and Elon Musk more attention and drama? It is the same pattern.

But I don't think a social network with a head count of more than 7500+ and increasingly burning hundreds of millions of cash, nearing into the billions for years is sustainable. The layoffs where going to happen either way; with or without Musk's takeover of Twitter.

But of course I couldn't care less on what happens to Twitter, Elon Musk can do whatever he likes with it and yet the screeching loudmouths relying on Twitter will end up screaming in outrage and will calm down and end up paying for their verified checkmarks.
Why not? If the rumors are true, there are people who don’t commit code (or design docs etc) for months on end. Wouldn’t it be pretty easy to identify those people?
> Like imagine a telecom owning a social network?

You mean like Verizon and Tumblr? ;)
The AI tries to predict when you’re going to be leaving it on the charger for a while (like going to bed), and limits the charging to 80% until it predicts you’ll likely need it, then charges it the rest of the way.

They do the same thing for Macs, but it’s way, way too conservative IMO. My M1 MBP sits on my desk on a dock with a charger pretty much all week, and it eventually figures out that it should just keep it at 80%. Until a brief period where I use it on battery, draining maybe down to 70%. When I put it back on the dock, it charges back to 100% and stays there for the next 2 days.

I would be happy with a “Don’t bother trying to learn, just cap it at 80%, I’ll tell you when I change my mind” setting.
Those are amazing locations in bright sunlight. Most of those pictures are also edited to death. None make me say “wow”.

I had the same experience. At gorgeous locations in good light I could get okay photos — but only with a lot of editing.
Find ways to be better at your job. Speak up more. Take some initiative, solve a problem that needs solved. Be friendly. These are things we should always be doing, so the best time to do them was a year ago. The next best time is now.
Have you tried this? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32793838#32797052
Osmotic laxatives such as lactulose need only 10 grams or so for “effect”. Standard dose of say lactulose for cirrhotics is about 20 grams multiple times per day to keep them shitting.
There’s gotta be a Groupon for this. So long as anyone doesn’t have a major criminal record, I’m game.
I don't remember anything about artifacts; I just went to the web page and there were no further buttons to click to continue playing - I'd have to reset.
Wow, yeah, what a utopian vision you paint.

Wait hold on a minute isn't there already some kind of amendment that makes this irrelevant?

Although since the Saudis own such a massive chunk of this newly private company I guess the US government is no longer the only one that Elon needs to concern himself with.
No Musk company has a reputation for being a good place to work. He has a business philosophy that seems to be opposed to treating employees well.
There's an episode of "Succession" that captures this vibe pretty well.
Losing jobs will eventually happen regardless for any business that loses money like they were. When the company has over-hired, layoffs at least mean they're taking corrective action now.

Sucks for the people affected now, possibly impacts fewer people long-term though. I doubt many Twitter employees will struggle to find reemployment quickly.
Someone with more money and more resources than you profiting off your work.
All of these companies and many more have too many people. They have never lived through a period of stagnation or decline.

Investment banks and many other industries were that way once. It’s not new.

This doesn’t mean Twitter is about to die, nor does it mean they are saved. For tech to get sustainable, it is just the start, though.
Seems like an Auth0, Okta, Clerk alternative.

1Password moving into the developer space?
>Musk is not a genius, he just got rich with first mover advantage in Online banking (paypal) and disrupting a lazy industry (Cars but electric!).

I'm not saying he's a genius, either, but first mover and disruption aren't exactly without foresight.
Why? My track record is way better, I predicted inflation.
You're mistaken. I am not wishing for it and my comment doesn't "wish for it". I am just not against the decision that I clearly have no say in. I'm just looking forward into a decision that was already made.
> Nobody gets suspended from mainstream social media for simply expressing opposition to transgender gender athletics.

This is untrue, people are indeed banned for this: https://www.pcgamer.com/politics-streamer-destiny-receives-i...
That would depend on how large the asteroid is, and in how many pieces it would be 'disintegrated'? The collision ejecta don't do this because they are hot from the collision alone, it's their re-entry heat which produces the pulse.

Now some massive swarm of space pebbles should do the same, given it's large enough?

Ahw, so many shooting stars! And then you feel the heat.
The general attitude of AI researchers/developers is fuck as many other industries as possible, they generally don't care about consent at all. So it's hardly surprising that someone eventually decides to challenge that.
How many devices do you see or design have implicit state in the software controlling them?

(if it is not explcitly defined, and there is state based behaviour, it is by definition then implicit)

At the moment I'm trying to overcome the inertia on this issue in the general process/industry sector with child standards from IEC 61508 - 61511 and 62061.

I am guesssing you apply the medical standards IEC 60601?

Or at design of devices at component level then IEC 61508?

Interested to know how it fits in to the overall Functional Safety approach.
Fires from exploding e-bike batteries multiply in NYC – sometimes fatally
Vanguard outsourced most of their IT department overseas a few years ago. They certainly aren't allies of American IT workers
Likely turns into cash over the same period at the buyout price. It technically depends on the change of management clause in your contract.

The firings will reduce the owed cash that Elon has to payout as a result of the stock swap. Smart move
Make Your Projects Scroll
In germany, the privatisation and segmentation of the railway company has created many "interface points" where private entities can rent vehicles or use the tracks. This resulted in a vast amount of companies specializing in engine renting or vehicle transport, like Captrain/ITL or MRCE. The diversity in companies results in a big variety of color schemes.

Train museums use these possibilities to run extraordinary trains [1]. Rarely you can see them as replacement trains in regular service[2].

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMZAAdP431o

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YqsIzKR3Uc
May as well shoot for both actually
Interesting concept. There's lots of opertunities to inject technology into "legacy" businesses.

Are the current "childcare agencies" for arranging a childcare provider to come to the home and watch over the children? Can you elaborate a little more on the "childcare agencies"? How long are the engagements, how many days a week and how many hours per day, etc.?

Think about the benefits for employers. Campanies who allow WFH probably would appreciate it if their employees can focus on work and not the kids.

Don't think about how to scale this yet, concentrate on signing up just a few businesses. I'd start in a locale that has an intersection of the following:
1. Existing customers who'd be willing to champion this with their own employers.
2. A "childcare agency" that is reliable and you trust. Considering they are taking care of kids, hopefully this won't be too hard to find.
3. Large employers known for allowing WFH.
I'm a happy fastmail customer using 4 custom domains. They haven't let me down once.
We went through a similar period in 2008. It's best to live below your means and increase your savings. It may take longer to find a new role when thousands of candidates are also looking and large companies have frozen hiring.
16 years isn't enough time to figure out a profitable business strategy? How much longer would you have given them?
So the problem you have with it is the UI?
I work with a pretty good QA tester guy who doesn't write any of code, but can configure an entire realistic test network across Windows / Linux servers, Android devices, IOS devices in a day.

Are ya going to fire him after seeing his lack of GIT commits after one week as CEO?
No but her brother l337 is biatch!
The problem is “on a budget” applies if your time is free. Most of the ML ecosystem is still gold plated - talent, hardware, etc with talent being the biggest cost for most applications.

Frankly, Nvidia doesn’t exactly foster goodwill (just look at any HN thread when they come up). I suspect that a decent number of people are willing to throw time and pull requests into the ROCm ecosystem just out of spite for Nvidia. Good for them because Nvidia needs a serious competitor!

I’m rooting for AMD but I’ve always been in the position of “it needs to work now in the shortest and cheapest path of least resistance” which has always been, and will be for the foreseeable future, CUDA.
Seems like a lot of people who have been very comfortable for a very long time in a sheltered bubble are about to become very uncomfortable.
I'd honestly not be surprised if they are primarily looking to lay off folks that are ideologically or politically opposed to Musk's values. Perhaps even getting rid of entire teams that in Musk's view aren't contributing to his vision? In fact I think trimming the bloat by performance metrics is at most a secondary objective.
The difference is that Amazon made plenty of cash, and chose to reinvest all of it. For nearly all of those 14 years they could have just decided to be profitable, if it had been advantageous to do so.

I don't think Twitter is in the same position at all
I knew the end was coming so I started early but yeah, unemployed. It’s tougher to find senior IC positions but they are definitely out there. I love where I landed and we are hiring aggressively across all experience levels so DM me if you’re looking and don’t mind a node backend.
If its present at all I remove the dates

Only APAC companies have asked though, haven’t really bothered with European companies

If you have a CS degree it doesn’t matter what the gap is there to where your years of job experience begins, assuming degree is before experience starts
I do agree overall, but it is very hard to achieve such a lean organization. Broad layoffs such as this tend to demotivate employees and cause your best employees to look for work where they don't have to worry as much about job security. I am fairly certain anybody with talent and drive would not be looking forward to continue working at Twitter in the coming days, at least without a significant pay raise (which Musk would want to avoid).
House of Leaves does seem like it fits solidly within what the author is describing here.
I get why people do this, but I think think you’re massively underplaying the importance of gear. I just can’t take anything like the same kind of pictures with an old iPhone that I can with my 1986 Mamiya 645 and the beautiful old lenses. It opens up huge possibilities for art, with obvious limitations. My expensive DSLR and nice modern lenses opens up other options, more control, more resolution, different feel and a different output.

The truth is that good gear is worthless for somebody who doesn’t know what you’re doing, but it’s essential for a skilled photographer to open up the possibilities and flexibility to get the kind of result they want. It’s not even ‘expensive gear’ - my 645 was only $600 from eBay (and a couple of old lenses only a few hundred) but I’ve taken some great stuff with it and I love the experience and feel of working with film. But it serves a different purpose than my far more expensive DSLR setup, and I still take a lot of everyday photos on my phone.
I am speculating as a non Twitter user looking at it from the outside that the Twitter staff and primary Twitter user base shared the same views and culture.

So Musk is probably going to alienate a majority of his users doing this and Twitter will probably go into disrepute and decline now.

I have seen this happen to forums and boards I posted on where some moderators get de-modded which angers a lot of the users who leave or start posting less. Then the culture goes into decline and never returns. Maybe something like that is about to happen, or maybe not.
Yes, I, too, hate myself.
We rode the New York Central 3, a private car built for a Vanderbilt a century ago, cross country, attached to the rear of the Lake Shore Limited, changing in Chicago to the California Zephyr. A great experience, watching the scenery go by for 4 days, with a 270-degree view from the sitting room in the rear.

Basically, there are hobbyists who buy and upgrade these cars, and try to break even on chartering trips on them. They’re clearly never happier than coming along for the journey (you need an official liaison on board anyway to interface with Amtrak staff) and fixing stuff along the way.

http://www.nyc-3.com/
The full article is (currently) available here: https://www.weizmann.ac.il/immunology/elinav/sites/immunolog...
Counter point: I am personal friends with two big name Tesla employees whose hiring and quitting were both in the press. They both despise the guy.
Yeah, but buying twitter isn't smart. It shows a glaring lack of critical thinking and foresight. So like most rich people. He got lucky in the past and the past may not be a measure of the future.
Apple hasn’t said, but it’s probably to offer the new Pencil 2 features announced a week or two ago for the iPad.

(Apple also doesn’t have any particular reason to develop support for 16.0 or 16.1 OSes as their user base will be almost fully updated with a month.)
These aren't really being used by top hat wearing, cigar smoking moguls.

Today they're basically private party trains and rail fan excursions.
It's dishonest to say they won't rank before firing.

But worst case...

These firing decisions are not irreversible! If you accidentally fire a 10x programmer, you can re-hire.
3% interest
Because you and I both know those rumors aren't true. Upper management at any big company isn't going to let any of that slide no matter the culture. And implying that 50% of people are that level of unproductive is laughable by any metric. You could probably make some shit up by pointing at a technical manager that hasn't written code in a while but that's not indicative of their actual performance.
System and sub-system decomposition is the "black art" IMO that can have so much impact, but be so hard to teach or even evaluate for optimal choices.

When I was a boy, practitioners of such things were called Systems Analysts, and may well have never coded.
Moving Letters – Text animated with JavaScript and anime.js
There are RSUs. When a company goes private, the RSUs convert to cash on the same vesting schedule. Of course the company can cancel them, but they usually keep the vesting schedule to keep the employees.

For the Twitter employees (if they keep their jobs and the RSUs are not canceled) this is a very good deal, because the stock price was really high due to the deal.
I tried to set up an online account with Vanguard recently. At the end of the signup flow, I got an error saying I had to phone it. It was a weekend so I tried a couple days later during business hours just to be sure and because I loathe dealing with human beings for stuff that should be able to be handled by a website. Same result.

So I phoned in, spent a half-hour with a human being. He was audibly cursing as he tried to get me set up. At one point, after I had given him my name and other PII, he addressed by a different first name then quickly corrected himself.

At the end, he said, "Ok, now you'll get an email to finish setting up your account." Email arrived and it was addressed to someone with a different name. I recognized the first name as the same name the agent had mistakenly used with me.

Suffice to say, I did not finish setting up my account and decided to stick with Fidelity.
Vote counting machines that scan hand marked paper ballots don't help much. They are easy to audit by hand verification.

The problem lies in digital voting machines that don't properly record the votes that the voter made, or which are subject to "tweaking". The best solution for those is to simply outlaw them.
Lex Luthor would never make so many stupid comments on social media. Musk is more cartoon villain than comic book villain. But I think the Joker once lampshaded that a CEO was more evil than he would ever be. Its probably somewhere in the Even Evil has Standards trope (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EvenEvilHasStand...).
> Copilot is like a production team for a movie taking clips from another movie to make a ripoff of that movie and selling it.

I can't think of a 5 line snippet I've written or read that makes sense to claim ownership of. They don't stand on their own in the way even a 30s movie clip does.
There are always comments about "why do they need X,000 people" every time a company's staffing gets talked about. I guess we are finally getting an answer. We will get to see whether the layoffs effect the technology and the development pace, although a lot of the real information will leak out through rumors.

Personally, I am sad about these layoffs. Even if there are many many lazy Twitter engineers hanging out on the roof, it's still sad to see people treated so poorly. Elon just treats people with such disgust. I have seen the inside of companies like Twitter, and usually people check out because leadership fails to set any direction. An engineer joins, tries to get some things done, and then finds that they cannot within the company's structure. That engineer will give up and be "unproductive" for the rest of the time their. Elon could have handled the takeover in a serious and humane way. He could have set some product direction, given the employees some time to realign and get some of his features built, and then fired those who could not or chose not to keep up. Instead, he immediately forces everyone to work through the weekend on a random feature, and cuts people ASAP in the most malicious way he could.

I am really disgusted by this brand of "leadership," and it's hard to reconcile this with someone I'd like to respect for bringing electric cars to the masses, and the U.S. back into the space race. I feel deeply sorry for the Twitter engineers who are being squeezed for no purpose but selfishness and meanness, and I hope it doesn't spread through the industry.
Not to mention installing a social networking app doesn’t somehow make your iPhone capable of satcom.
All these people whining about copyright need to consider: is the issue Copilot, or is the issue copyright.
I see what you're saying, but I think this is a take that doesn't stand up to much analysis. The correct amount of employees is the goal, we wouldn't cheer their workforce growing by 10x as a universal good, it's not sustainable and likely to imperil the jobs of everyone. But it's the "good" that's the inverse of this "bad".
Layoffs are part of business yes (pretty much what I said in my parent post). What I have a problem with is the way this is being done. Forcing people to quit by dropping arbitrary deadlines without any notice? Notice of 84 hour work weeks? Sleeping in the office? Asking devs to print up their code? All this because he doesn't want to pay severance etc. I think that is hella f*cked up.
Twitter made it impossible to Tweet links to the story. A dialog box showed an error message if you tried to share the link:
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/10/twitter-facebook-blo...

This is an extraordinary technological measure. Plenty of things posted on Twitter turn out to be false, misleading, or not worth shining light on. This one turned out to be true, and yet earned the most extreme sanction Twitter is capable of: prior restraint on speech.
I believe what they’re saying is that Elon Musk is a free speech loudmouth, and he fired the author for being a “jester” and/or saying things Elon didn’t like. (Not endorsing this view since I doubt Elon was directly involved in the firing, but that is my read on OP’s comment).
We’ve all been there!
A 10x programmer isn't going to come back to a company that fired him for nonsense reasons.
Well, Linux might not exist, at least not in its current nature form, enabled by a “share and share alike” license that has meant that companies contribute to it instead of copying and closing it off from others.

More generally, what is left to protect any creative work besides guarding physical access? Why would any company make any movie or tv show if it could be copied and redistributed by others endlessly the moment it gets shown once?
A censorship-resistant communication system and a Starlink sized dish are a good recipe for people going to jail in countries where Twitter is actually censored.

Governments that engage in active censorship also frequently are not the warm-and-fuzzy entities that westerners are used to when they think of governments.
Obviously I meant if their job duties involve writing code or something…