skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I think that RMS is quite happy to cut all ties with the closed source world in order to build a brave new one that is an idealised programmers paradise. I look at the GPL and it seems to me the clear intent there is to have this separation, this "software apartheid" if you will.

You and I on the other hand, might look at it and say "okay, but how do these brave new programmers eat? Who pays their rent?" Back in the day, RMS used to just do some hand waving and point out that if (sorry: "once") the economic benefits of open source are realised that companies will do this because they realise it is in their best interests.

I'd be delighted to be wrong, but it seems that only a tiny minority of Open Source developers are actually hired by enlightened companies to work on their Open Source projects full time. Google being an obvious big contributor in that regard. But here's the thing with RMS, he is such an extremist that even Google's contribution isn't enough. He doesn't want a measly couple of buillion dollars worth of commitment, he wants it all, the heart mind body and soul must be dedicated to the cause or you are unworthy.

The sandbox metaphor breaks down when we look at one of the things that RMS objects to about Google, that they use Open Source, and they provide 'free(ish)' software services in return, but because those web/software services sit behind the "big-iron" curtain Google are never obligated to release their changes and improvements. Hence the GPL becomes ineffective in that scenario.

The problem of course is the risk of ghetto-isation of the open source developers. You and I might be reluctant to leap in boots and all because of petty economic concerns and so keep at least one foot in the closed source world. This lets us see lots of exciting things happening there. But don't forget that there is lots of stuff happening in the open source world. Closed source may look more exciting now, but RMS is taking the long position that in the end his legions of trusty hackers working together will create something much better than the corporations all doing their own small secret things.

And something genuinely spectacular happened last year. Last year was (finally) the long predicted, long awaited year of Linux hitting the mainstream. Except of course it wasn't Linux on the desktop, but Linux on mobile (Android).

Unfortunately, as open as it might be, it seems to me that Android is deeply flawed as far as alignment with the GNU philosophy of openness, what with the carriers doing all kinds of horrible things (some behind the scenes, some brazenly out in public). I hear stories of Microsoft making more money off Android than the do off Windows mobile (or whatever it is called this week), simply by threatening legal action, and patents of dubious parentage. Not to mention some of the openness being more open than others (e.g. Google releasing the code to some partners but not others, and not the public)
>>I was referring to the _relative_ treatment.

And I discussed Syria/SA re "realpolitik". You didn't answer.

>>it's important that people understand that our governments are just as responsible for sustaining the abuses going on in the MidEast so that they don't misdirect their hate towards muslims/arabs.

So I should have opinions, because that would have good influences in the world...

Respect, troll -- you know how to push my buttons! (Yeah yeah, it is your honest opinion...)

(Why would anyone hate a bunch of countries that haven't modernized yet? Compare Middle East treatment of women, homosexuals, jews etc etc to many western countries 150 years ago.)

The US is obviously responsible for all the human rights violations happening in the Mid East the last 30 years? (Hell, even the Bush administrations tried to influence for human rights and Obama seems to even play cards with islamists to get rid of dicators!)

Enough, good night.
One or more examples would be nice. I wanted to see some, but the tutorial didn't have any and clicking on the Latest forced me to register to see the only one on the list.

(I have a natural resistance to registering, particularly if it doesn't use OpenID, since it usually requires too much time, checking the email and such. I'm glad to see it isn't the case here, but I only found out after I decided to actually do it)
Great beginner article on "responsive web design". I found the walkthrough to be very friendly.

Does anyone else feel like there are lots of buzzwords in HTML articles? For instance,

"The mobile-first approach is the equivalent of progressive enhancement for media-queries."

sounds like it came straight out of the board room. It makes sense when you parse it, but I feel like it needs a "synergize" or two.
I'd buy this as an iPhone game.
We (a consultancy) seem to only use it when someone has some design/implementation questions and/or concerns. For example, I don't need someone watching me write code I'm comfortable writing... they should be busy producing as well. However, if I'm unsure about something, having someone look over my code and/or help code, is extremely useful. Code reviews is a different subject completely, and is "definitely" a great learning experience for everyone involved.
Som interesting IR ideas
Forever since the U.S. still uses fucking polygraphs in some cases.
"We would all have gained something had it never existed."

Fuck off, Mr. Wannabe Censor. Progress requires unfettered conversation of all types, not just the ones of which you approve.

"... noduerme's deeply rude, ignorant, arrogant an[d] plain racist post."

It was none of those things. What he said is basically correct, and it reminded me of 2005's Syriana, in which there was a conversation between Matt Damon as Bryan Woodman, an energy analyst, and Alexander Siddig as Prince Nasir Al-Subaai, successor to the Emir.

NASIR: An ancestor of mine owned this bird's [falcon's] ancestor before Christ was born. Six more North Field blocks
will be available for development. We would like to offer your firm the right to represent them.

WOODMAN: If I were your economic advisor I'd tell you it's not the dumbest thing you've ever done, but it'll probably be the dumbest thing you do today. Probably. But why would you need an economic advisor? Twenty years ago you had the highest GNP in the world and now you're tied with Paraguay. Your second biggest export is second-hand goods. Followed by dates on which you lose five cents a pound. You want to know what the business world thinks of you. They think a hundred years ago you were chopping each other's heads off in the desert and that's exactly where you'll be in another hundred. So, yes, on behalf of my firm, I accept your money.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriana

I included the first sentence, about the falcon, because it shows that Nasir is proud of his people having been around for a long time, but that apparent plus is effectively countered by Woodman's observation about their primitive nature, and how the oil money is really the only thing keeping them from regressing. Sure, the film is fictional, but there is a lot of truth to be found in it.
I think it's a tool that shouldn't be applied to every project. Obviously someone like Amazon wouldn't (and shouldn't) be able to use the same template for both their mobile and desktop sites, but smaller sites most definitely benefit from keeping everything together.
"What matters is the total number of people paying you, not what percentage of your users that fraction represents."

Surely the total revenue from paying customers, relative to the cost of providing service to all users, is what matters^? If so, then this is ultimately a function of the percentage of paying users to free users (assuming cost of servicing paying and free customers are largely similar).

The opening statement of the post, that people who want something for free won't think to pay for it, is something of a non-statement. That free users cost (as the post goes on to argue) is pretty much a given, but it still matters.

^Where (I assume) what matters is a profitable business.
Regex vs IndexOf in Java.
Indeed, Medicare numbers are usually the SSN with a letter appended
My mind just did a barrel roll trying to imagine Tokyo with no signage. I remember being here for a few days and being mentally overwhelmed with the constant information spew.
Your startup is probably already beating the odds
So I have to ask, how well do you think this would scale? AM I but a month of effort away from never having to actively drive to work again (given I follow the same route most days, etc)?
Note: I care little about SEO, and I can't tell you if Google is trying to outsmart their own search engine, or, if they are, whether I should care about it.

There is potential legal trouble for them if they were to tweak search results to favour their own properties - that's a pretty solid reason for using SEO tactics to outsmart their own search engine.
It's not that Google is trying to outsmart its own search engine, but verifying something that SEOs already know. Paid links still work. Google has not mastered sniffing them out yet. That all assumes that Google is paying for these links in hopes for SEO benefit.
Best Buy was my favorite store when I was a kid. Now it's too much of a chore to shop there. Even if you buy something small, you get hit up with offers for credit cards and magazine subscriptions. They play games where they tack on Geek Squad fees to remove software or install antivirus programs when you try to buy a new computer whether you want it or not.

The last time I went there was about a year ago when my Dad wanted to buy a 60" LCD TV. The selection was poor and confusingly scattered across different sections. When we asked a sales guy for help, the first question he asked is if we needed an HDMI cable to go with the TV (that hadn't been picked out yet). When I said we didn't need to buy a cable the sales person stopped helping us and left. We walked out of the store empty handed.
Thanks for the tip! And as-needed usage is an interesting idea -- definitely something we'll discuss.
Patek Philippe Nautilus Jumbo mbw
If you want to buy a high-end Patek Philippe replica watch, Patek Philippe Nautilus Jumbo MBW Swiss ETA 2824 Movement with Blue Dial probably is your perfect choice.
Wow, the Zaarly story blows my mind. It rivals the Airbnb story. Since their launch I've always wondered how they overcame the initial "chicken and egg" problem.

Get past the first 15 minutes or so, and there is a ton of value in this video. I highly, highly recommend watching the entire thing.
The User Always Comes First. 10 ideas on user experience design.
Here's a hypothesis that is more generous to Google (I don't know the real reason): some Google campaign that pays per download of Chrome is prompting site owners to generate this low-quality content. It seems more plausible to me than Google paying directly for this, because it's a terrible marketing campaign.

There's an onclick handler on the link to the Chrome download site on the blog that is in the screenshot on that page. I can't figure out what it does, though I did see when I clicked on it that my browser hit some URLs containing the substring "googleadservices", "conversion", and the Chrome download URL.
NIKE FREE RUN Womens
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Are you a lawyer? would you explain how is it exactly that "tweaking search results" is illegal? because I've noticed that meme going around and I don't think it makes much sense, I'm not saying that they any "tweaking", but if they were to rank whatever they like however they like on their own free website how is that illegal?
Ah an interesting segment we didn't really consider (parents driving others' kids). Thanks for the feedback and would you mind if we could ask you follow up questions in the future?
Small Business Leadership Lessons from Tim Tebow
Is Byethost (Domains SecureSignup) having problems with their billing system..?
Is there anyone else in my situation..? I am trying to re-new my domain with Byethost and it seems that they are not able to accept payments (their "Add Funds" page is blank; I have tried with 3 different browsers, and 2 different computers).

During the last 48 hours I've opened a couple of tickets but all I am getting is "canned" replies.

This is unusual for them, as they have a good reputation of getting back to costumers in fairly quick time. Also their Live Chat showed "Online", but no one was available to talk... Calling their UK number got me to a "Leave a message" recording.

The reason I am asking here is because my domain will expire on January 5th, they are not providing any payment options for domain renewal and they are not replying to their support ticketing system...? Is there anyone else experiencing this..?

PS - What will happen if my domain expires and they are too late to reply or worst, not replying at all..? Will I lose my domain...? I've tried transferring the domain but because it only has less than 72 hours to expire, no other registrar will accept the transfer...
Storehouses for Solar Energy Can Step In When the Sun Goes Down
To answer the specific question about Chrome's growth being "high pace already":

Doing a lot more damage to IE would be good for everyone. Microsoft moves way to slowly and they keep dropping support for older OS's, and they refuse to support WebGL, for example.

IE10, while actually looking impressive, won't run on Vista. XP will have significant market share for at least another 5 years and it's limited to IE8.

In short, I'd like to see Firefox, Chrome, and Opera take another 30% away from Microsoft.

[Updated]

Clearly my comments aren't appreciated. Look at this chart.

http://gs.statcounter.com/

To put it bluntly, Microsoft isn't getting the sh*t kicked out of them fast enough. Post PC, the death spiral of IE, no one buying WinMo7. Sorry guys, some of us have waited a long time for this. :-)
I'm not super familiar with Narcissus in practice, but on paper your projects sound very similar. Were there any interesting reasons why you opted to make this project instead?
Polygraphs are not admissible as evidence, nor is refusal to submit to one. They can be requested in interrogations if you agree, you may well be lied to about the results in an attempt to get a confession. You should never agree to take one if you find yourself in this circumstance.
I challenge the assumption that most of us wouldn't know where to make a copy in their neighbourhood, if such a service was available within a reasonable distance.

I live in Toronto, so not too small. I know my neighbourhood very well actually. If you bumped into me on the street I could tell you:

1) Where to make a copy (small independent office store nearby, but it's expensive, also where to find others).

2) Where to grab a coffee / baked goods with a recommendation of which one I prefer (none of them being Starbucks or a Tims).

3) Your options for Indian, Thai, Italian food, etc.

4) Grocery stores and the quality of their produce.

5) Local mechanics.

6) Parks.

7) Parking.

And plenty of more specific shops.

Most of these places are small independent shops. They really didn't need any signage since I've walked or driven past many of them multiple times.

I've only lived in this specific neighbourhood for a year and a half. I've lived in the city for about 15 years.

You may not know where to go to get a copy, but many of us do and not through any kind of superhuman effort either.

Also, having the internet on my phone means I can quickly find most services I need in a specific neighbourhood when I'm feeling too shy to ask.
We wanted the full power of the SpiderMonkey JS API and maximum browser compatibility.
Cited research: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3078300/
No I don't have a complete understanding of the law in this area, but in simple terms it is because Google's search engine is designed to give users the most relevant results, and by giving their own brands preferential ranking (without an advertisement notification) they are misleading users and giving their brands an unfair advantage over their competitors.

I'm sure someone else here can go into a more detailed answer.

Side note: the only "meme" I've noticed is the idea that anyone would be presumed a lawyer unless they say "IANAL".
That was mostly fixed, AFAIK. Now only the last 4 digits are printed on receipts.
Very thorough and interesting!
Both the post and the paper it cites mention Clever Hans.
One Year Later as a Startup Founder
You don't write good code or make compelling arguments by taking extreme points of view. Everything has flaws (and by the way, so does hardware; those bugs can mess up "good" code very nicely).

It's your chosen subset of features and available techniques that decides whether or not you are a good programmer who can be trusted to build something important in an efficient and maintainable way.

Parts of these rants sound like project managers who can never figure out when to blame themselves, too. If your code was butchered because someone misused a programming language then you didn't assign the right programmer to the task or you didn't set expectations properly (or heck, maybe you just didn't pay enough). It's never as simple as "this language sucks".
Yeah, I bet that's what is happening.
I went to this site: http://www.humphriesnation.com/
and clicked on the Google Chrome link, and got sent here:
https://www.google.com/chrome/?brand=ECSB&installdataind...

Looks like an affiliate link to me.
I switched to Chrome about a year ago for its performance, and now I'm about to go back to Safari for exactly the same reason. What happened to Chrome performance on OSX Lion? Why does it scroll like molasses?
Wow, marketing people in this industry can be sooooo lame sometimes. What a terrible campaign.

Google Chrome is a very good product, and doesn't need to be associated with this type of approach. The product speaks for itself.
They are the dominant player in a large market (online advertising). If they exploit the dominance of their product specifically to stifle competition, we have a Microsoft-esque situation where the question might have been "how exactly is integrating an additional piece of freely available software with our market-dominant operating system illegal?" Well, it was, and this might very well be as well.
Just curious, what is the mashup you're working on? When researching historical places, I've often wished that Google Maps natively supported a 4th dimension so that changes over time could be recorded. Everything from "I want to see the businesses on this street as of 2001" to "Zoom out and see European boundaries as of 1100".
Consider me in, since 2012-01-02.
He could also work somewhere that thinks that a high IQ is an asset. I doubt this is the only crazy HR policy. If turnover is so bad that they've resorted to things like this, it can't be a good sign.
Microsoft moves way to slowly and they keep dropping support for older OS's

Gee, I wonder why they move so slowly. Do you think it could have something to do with trying to support so many old OS's?

I mean, really. Your cake. You can't have it and eat it.
Regular: http://boingboing.net/features/roboto/roboto/Roboto-Regular-...

Italic: http://boingboing.net/features/roboto/roboto/Roboto-Italic-w...

Bold: http://boingboing.net/features/roboto/roboto/Roboto-Bold-web...
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Types of moving boxes
The only way to edit layouts in Android is in xml. No pixel perfect single aspect ratio here. The visual layout tool is a joke and should only be used to quickly see what it might look like on a device of various resolutions. Emphasis on might.

The Android emulator is an embarassment though. Just horrible. The Android x86 project looks promising for a fast virtualized replacement.
you do know that you're on a Y Combinator site?
They do different things? That are both needed and important?
Fixed, here's a good example. I'd call it a first duologue ever ) http://duologue.me/duologues/4f0248b2661ded0001000007
From the ChangeLog:

"All command-line options are now documented in the man page."

This should clear up any difficulty users may have had using the program.
Doesn't Google already do this? I thought the Google homepage was the only page with a rank of 10 or something.
That seems plausible. However, whatever the true reason is, the end result is that Google is paying people to generate junk content. That's not good for anyone.
they didn't search via the toolbar
I don't think it's illegal because there are a lot of people pushing "search neutrality" right now who want to create such a law.
Fox’s coaching brilliance lost in Tebow mania ~ Daily World News
>I haven't seen a similar corpus of arguments that the freenmarkets haven't worked because they weren't free enough.

Well, then I'm glad to find someone else who isn't under the impression that continuing and intensifying de-regulation and privatization will somehow solve our present economic crisis.
This is absolutely like busking! It was the similarity between what Louis was doing and what buskers do that really reminded me of this idea - and it's one that's not even very new.

It was written by Robert Woodhead on selfpromotion.com as "Virtual Tipping"[1] in 2000. That's where I first read about it - and I'd talked to my Dad about it before but never knew how to tackle the whole distribution thing. Seeing Louis do this so simply just made me think "fuck it, let's go".

[1]http://tipping.selfpromotion.com/
That is because pairing helps mitigate risks (human error), when you're being paid to build software no client like to pay for bug fixing, they would rather pay a bit more to make sure there are less errors (or at least appear more bug free).

If you're a bootstrapped start-up, it is not an efficient use of time to be pairing 100% of the time. We tend to only pair on 'core' parts of apps or 'hard' problems, or when someone needs another pair of eyes on something (two heads etc), otherwise clients budgets are quickly exhausted on pairing for pairing's sake.
Its not quite that clear:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygraph#United_States

But, last I checked, polygraphs were required for certain government positions in the U.S, but am having a problem finding a citation for that right now.
Indeed, isn't this contrary to the unix way? Use tar for archiving, and pipe it through whatever compression utility you want.
That argument would work unless the competitors were supporting the same old OS-versions too, plus (in most cases) at least two other platforms.
It may be that they're gaining market share so quickly in part because of this advertising.
The Halting problem explained:
Have you tried lowering the price? I wouldn't pay $20 month for a mobile version of my website.
But who's to say what is "relevant"? and if the user doesn't think this is relevant to her, she can search elsewhere.

I'm not even talking about links, there was this thing about the Google Flights result appearing for flight queries and some flight search sites (kayak and such) are up in arms about it, so here comes the question of how do they figure that they are entitled to any placement or traffic, and as for relevancy and usefulness surly showing flight details for flight searches is much more useful than nested links.
Geeks under fire: War on privacy, freedom and general computation
Stallman is a good extreme, in that he creates and lives by an idealized system (call it "pure" if you want), which enables a lot of less ideal, more real-life versions to exist in between his and the "commercial software" world, without any negative side-effect to the world at large.
Good points. It was harsh and not entirely relevant. I'm just passionate about the topic because of my experience. I could find outdated "scholarly papers" that say the world is flat. I didn't have enough time to dig up counter research. Will do now. Thanks for keeping me honest!