skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I beg to differ!

I have several clients with which I connect to remotely via Windows Terminal Server or VNC. I usually have to connect to via the webbrowser by opening a link and then the session is opened. I usually have no option to change the performance or quality options.

We have a fast connection here but our clients have ADSL. Yes that's right, the A stands for really slow uploads.

I don't know about you but have you ever tried using Notepad/Notepad++/UltraEdit via a slow internet connection with all the options on full blast (32-bit color, themes, etc ..)?

I'm so glad that I can download PortableVim and run it off the "My Documents" folder and quickly do my editing without being too bothered by the refresh rate.

So the "world that doen't exists anymore" is very much alive if you ask me!
I got 4 pieces of chicken wings at Hooters in LA once. :-)
Ask HN: How do you find your "flow"?
Being the new year, I was thinking about ways to become more productive and, more specifically, how to more quickly get in a state of "flow" (fully immersed in an activity).

It would be interesting to learn how others in the HN community find their flow. Share your tips and tricks below.
Google, Amazon, Twitter and Facebook consider 'nuclear' blackout against SOPA
I agree. I'd really like for there to be a "condensed" viewing option, where characters after 140 or so are truncated, and comments are hidden by default. Between that and their new controls for filtering how much of each circle ends up in your main stream, skimming G+ would become a lot easier.
Secure Mobile Applications: Considerations for Developers
The article doesn't really explain this very well, but the Chinese consulate is in the middle of BFE in NYC -- it's out on the West Side Hwy in no man's land. This is as much about location as complexity/UX. To get to the business idea part, you'd stumble so hard over the importance of physical location, I'd like to think most HN readers would find it hard to miss.

It's a cute business, but there's no economic moat here. The principals acknowledge as much in the article. What would be more interesting is a business that challenged the status quo in the expediter side of the passport/visa business.
Here's a link to the Wikipedia page on Flow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_%28psychology%29). Great page BTW.
Letter from Orwell to his publisher regarding 1984
Huge Web Companies Willing To Go Dark In Protest Of SOPA
> Instead, VCs throw money at them like it's going out of style, and we lavish the founders with platitudes like they invented electricity or cured cancer.

YOU KNOW WHAT'S COOL? A BILLION DOLLARS

> Last I heard, they had a valuation well over half a billion dollars.

Luckily for us, interest rates are unlikely to go up in the next year so we might ride this sucker out for a little longer.
If what I've read about lawyers applies, basically you can give as much tax advice as you like for a fee, until someone sues you for bad advice and you get fleeced.

There might be regulatory boards that go around making sure everyone practicing has credentials, but I bet the first case would catch up to you sooner.
TitanFile is great! They also sent an email out to customers this week with a preview of their new version and it looked like it had a much nicer UI as well.
Cleaning Services Shepperton TW17 | House Cleaner
Me, too. This is the crux of the problem. Allowing such huge posts and so many media types makes the stream impossible to scan. All the reactions the post is getting from G+ worshippers skip over this point, so I guess some people like being assaulted.
His first point is just wrong. You can link to the original post (https://plus.google.com/102025628931490661645/posts/6D2CtDQx...), but only if it's visible to you. You obviously can't link to a post you can't see.
It had a big impact; only on a very small subset of the human race :)
This invites a very lucrative scam:

- Buy an expensive antique using paypal for payment

- Wait for antique to arrive

- Dispute its authenticity

- Once PayPal destroy order arrives, send photo of cheap replica I destroyed.

- Get my money back AND have an expensive antique for free, which I then sell to a local antique dealer.
From the article:

"The quickest way to do that was to type 'jon mitchell jury duty' into the Google search bar.

To my astonishment, the post I wanted was not the first result. It was the third. Ranking above the result I wanted were two Google+ posts, one by me, and one by our webmaster Jared, that were nothing more than links to the article with brief comments."

So Google continues to use it's search muscle to promote it's own web services first, and yet some people still find this surprising.
11 are mine and they are all beautiful!!
A very wise man once said to me: "Marketing is showing up after an avalanche selling shovels." Ta-dum-tss! This is a concise way of saying:

* Solve a problem that people have

* Be there at the time they need the solution

The latter is more difficult than the former. By setting up a van in the street outside the consulate, you have solved the timing problem. Advertising outside the consulate would probably be effective, but the immediacy of the van solution is a huge plus. A frustrated consumer is far more likely to act than one who has had time to cool down on the drive home.
Bingo with the comment "A Game with no winners". :-).
Actually, I think Facebook integrated location very nicely to their feature set with their latest mobile UI. I don't think they abandoned it at all.
The combination of Tripadvisor+Lonly Planet served me well in my travels. So did Foursquare. But I don't think this alone will make it a viable business.
Yeah, like, I don't know, 1-click shopping and multitasking on your smartphone ;)?
Ask HN: Advising/Support Co-founder
Hello, I've been creating webapps since the age of 14 and now at 20 I've been wanting to try my first serious start-up.

Since I can't bootstrap due to lack of funds I began to start researching incubators going as far as meeting with some of them and showing off my ideas.

Most were thrilled with them, but there was one constant "but", I didn't have a co-founder. You see I'm more of a jack of all trades in web-development (Designer, Backend/Frontend/Database Developer), so I didn't feel the need for one up until now.

I didn't really fully understand why needed one until I read that it's better to have a co-founder because of the stress that a start-up produces, but that still didn't solve the problem of me getting one. Most of my peers aren't very technical and are more school oriented. I pitched to a few of my peers alot of them said they would be onboard, but thy didn't really have anything to contribute to the start-up.

The closest person I have to a co-founder now is a marketing major who is non-technical and is mostly there for support and advisory on how to present my ideas etc, but he has no experience in a start-up and no technical skills.

My worry is that when the time comes to put him down as a co-founder if I get accepted in to an incubator, would it be wise to do so?
A magnetic reversal is very unlikely to happen in the next few millennia, anyway.

Not well supported. Magnetic reversals happen every few hundred thousand years, so by that measure there's a 1% chance it will happen in the next few thousand years. The mechanism is not well understood, it has been unusually long since the last flip, and the poles have shown significant activity in the last hundred years. It's hard to assign a probability less than 1%, and there are plausible arguments for higher.
Vi isn't everywhere either, though it may be on more systems than Emacs.

But almost any system is going to have ed installed.
The problem isn't exactly with root (configuration management has root-like privileges), but push vs pull.

Both rely on the confidentiality of a private key on the master (the server identity if it is a pull, client identity if it is a push), but to fool a pull you also have to subvert the dns or the routing. Using ssh certificates that expire and are tied to the master's address would be a good first step making push safer against key interception.
Hmm, I enjoy using G+. Maybe I don't have the needs of the e-media i-blog web-news e-lite.
tl;dr: Anecdotal ranting about a bricks-and-mortar experience, and a comparison to online experience. Not really specific to Best Buy, but a good summary of challenges faced by retailers. Not much help suggesting a way out; its clear online experiences can be convenient for the customer, not clear how Best Buy or anybody can improve on this.
Overstock Continues With its O.co Branding Effort
Help shape the future of the music industry. Next Big Sound is hiring [NYC/BLDR]
Next Big Sound is a Boulder, CO based startup that creates digital marketing tools for the music industry.

After announcing a Series A funding (http://tcrn.ch/w50VaH), we are expanding, opening a new office in NYC, and looking for great people to add to our team.

Check out the jobs page at http://nextbigsound.com/jobs and feel free to submit your resume, shoot an email, or contact me if you think these opportunities sound awesome.

Front-end Engineer [NYC]

Sales Engineer [NYC]

Scalability Engineer [NYC]

Senior Database Engineer [NYC]

Software Engineer [NYC/BLDR]

System Administrator [NYC]

VP Finance/Operations [NYC]
It depends. If the financial gains of SOPA are out weighed by the financial loss of losing customers then sure they can just decide not to support it anymore.

It just comes down to which is a better business decision. They have to operate on numbers not on ideology.
But never forget that you're Google's product, not its customer.

And never forget that you're a ReadWriteWeb product, not its customer. You don't pay for the articles, your eyeballs are sold to RWW sponsors and partners.

Sigh. Hypocrisy much? This is how most of the web works. The constant attacks on Google or Facebook over it are ridiculous and tiring.
tl;dr: don't treat your employees like cattle.
The worst tablet computers released in 2011
> Would you consider parodies to be unethical, since they involve using something someone made without their permission?

No, as the value being provided isn't the item being used, but the satire. Piracy doesn't add value like satire does.
Yes, a place to take exams could be one of the important services the center provides. There could be an independent exam standards organization, which would check that the exams at center are fairly conducted.

Interestingly, since a distributed model is now possible, the content of the exams and grading procedures could be decided by the course designer. The center and exam standards body would just administer it.
And the course designer could be anybody just as anybody can write a book. The only constraints would be students should be willing to take the course, which in turn could depend on the ability for the course to count as credit in a virtual major(apart from other factors like student intrinsic interest and usefulness of the course). There would probably be different organizations with different criterion for including a course in a major. A single course could be in many such major programs.
So course design, physical infrastructure, exam/grading standards and formal accumulation of course into a virtual degree could all be handled independently, though I guess, in practice, some of them will be handled by one organization. Some of this has already happened.
A few people have clarified what runs where, and you're ignoring them with an irrelevant and misleading point. To clarify, Python is not used on the slaves.
I also enjoy using G+. and as the writer said that he wanted it to get off his chest, that's what he did. so no problem...keep writing.. People will do what they want to do...
Business Advisory Services in India,
Wealth management company in india provide financial advisory and business planning services, company offer private equity, business learning advisory services on adr and gdr.
There is a reason only 5% of adults actively use location-based check-in apps. On the whole, foursquare doesn't create enough value for the average adult hence no room in the market for an equal footing competitor (gowalla) http://mashable.com/2011/12/06/adults-use-location-based-app... I think it's easy to get caught up in the fun when you are in an insular, tech-focused group (SXSWi) and every location/person around you is dedicated to using foursquare but at some point you have to stop listening to the "cool kids" hype a product and think about how much you really get out of using it in the real world.
You're right, a typical programmer would write the website before understanding the business like these guys have. However, they are now vulnerable to price wars with copy cats, and need tools to reduce their costs below their competitors'. This is when scalability means the difference between decreasing margins and a growing business.
Mine does that too, but changing the volume dismisses it.
I can't agree or I prove him wrong.
Not really. A lot of people could have moved their domains off of one of the go daddy parking services which use different go daddy name servers than domaincontrol. This particular method of determining transfers in and out is completely flawed.
MLB has an app (iPhone and Android, AFAIK), that features video replays of significant plays (essentially the highlights that the MLB puts up on the game recap page on their site) and streaming audio (and video, for additional money).

There's special features for when you're actually at the ballpark, but I've never used them.
> 300 baud with 300 bps. Then came 1200 bps modems

Nooo, then came 1200-75 asymetric modems - 1200 baud down, 75 baud up - sez the fellie that used to use edlin on the
DEC Vax :(
Am I the only one who read that in a hip hop voice?:

"We've all been there. Trapped in line at the D-M-V

Or stuck on hold while trying to call a city a-genCY.

It's easy to complain about government bureau-craCY.

But it's the rare person who sees such ineffi-cienCY

as a business opportuniTY.

Meet Adam Humphreys. He lives in New York CiTY

It started simpLY

enough. Adam found out he needed a viSA

to travel to ChiNA.

for a vacation. His bureaucratic haSSleS with the ChineSe conSulate launched a whole new buSineSS.

"Can you help me?" he said.

No!

"Do you have a printer I can use?" he tried.

No!
Is very clear to me, just hover your mouse, my only issue is i think the graph could be bigger, but i think the graphic is very communicative
Lean Startup: Look Before You Leap
did the actually sent a message saying it was ACCEPTABLE behavior?
are you kidding? Is there any actual proof of this?
Meaningless without proper historical context (last year's numbers).

All-in-all, to me it looks like GoDaddy has slightly benefited from the negative press, as far as overall domain registrations go.

Go figure!

But it kind of makes sense considering that the domain business is the "I don't give a fuck as long as I save $1" type of market headspace.
This dates back to long before wifi was widely available--the original use case was ad-hoc wired networks, where people with backgrounds in old-school AppleTalk-based Mac networking were expecting any two Macs with a cable between them to be able to talk to each other with no supporting infrastructure.
The money quote (of the analytical section):

Yet, research in human-computer interaction barely acknowledges the command line's existence. It's a strange omission, since the core principles of human factors engineering still apply to the console.

Why is this? I've also noticed a corollary, that interface testing for "experts" doesn't really use expert testing. One paper I've read (name eludes me) about text editor usability had the nominal "expert" users ignoring regular expression searching, and just scrolling about randomly for the assigned phrase.

Either truly "expert" users are so few and far between that researchers can't find them, or the researchers can't tell who qualifies as an "expert" and who doesn't.
So, What's Your Algorithm?
A recent survey found that something ridiculous like 0.5% of TVs break down within 5 years. Yet people are paying out a lot of money for extended warranties on them.

It's a matter of cost vs hassle as you say though I guess. For me, if I have 10 electronic gadgets and one blows up, it's not really a big deal, because I can buy a new one with the money I saved by not having extended warranties on all 10 items.
Beware - Mountain Dew will actually dissolve thingss, like mice
The title is grossly misleading. This setup detects "gestures" which is not the same as the multitouch interfaces we use with our smartphones. Bloggers threw "multitouch" on the title; not the creator [1].

Nothing in the original article indicates that the setup is able to detect the location of the touch, only the type of touch. A thump, a tap, a swipe, or a scratch. The various gestures are mapped to different sounds, creating a virtual drum set, if you will. The fact that this detection, mapping, and playback happens so instantaneously is amazing.

I don't mean to take away from the accomplishment. This is an extremely novel idea, and the product implications are numerous. It's just a shame that the tech press is distorting the product idea in a way that creates a false expectation.

http://www.brunozamborlin.com/mogees/
Microsoft sues Comet over "counterfeit" XP and Vista recovery discs
You really should get off HN and enjoy the sea.
A specialist will make more money when in demand. A generalist makes less per job but more frequently.

The best case is a specialist who is desired all the time.
When arranging my trip to China, I was told not to even try to get my visa by going to the consulate. I was told to pay a service company to do it. It worked. This certainly helps those who are willing to do it themselves. However, if you plan to go to China, find a service to do it for you.
At the Chinese consultate, ran by the Chinese.
It's sensible to build some slack capacity into your scheduling because it increases your ability to take advantage of unexpected opportunities.

If you (or your staff) are all 100% committed to one project (and the schedule is based around this estimate) then you have few choices if another low-effort but high-payoff project comes along.

On the other hand, if you (or your staff) tend not to be fully utilised at all times then you will have reserve capacity to pursue these bonus opportunities as and when they arise.
Michele Bachmann Withdraws from Presidential Race
Even i'm well tech savy as you are but you cant hav a startup with only u..
my advise is this.. speak to some very tech savy guys who are willing to do a startup like you are ,,,;-)
"Well, that didn't make me feel much better, because now I know Google is showing different Internets to different people."

OP is a web-tech blogger and he just now learned this? I don't use G+ much so I can't easily evaluate the rest of OPs assertions, but I am questioning them by default because when someone makes one statement I know to be false (or in this case inexcusably ignorant), it calls the rest of their statements into question. This is unfortunate because I think much what OP says is useful, but, c'mon: if you blog about web tech and didn't know google tailors results, it makes you seem like you "don't know how any of this stuff works" and I can't take you seriously in that regard.

I am very confused by the section about plagiarism/mis-attribution/non-attribution. OP says his work was "almost-unattributed" but I couldn't find any link back to him on the G+ posting. Did someone click the share button, or paste in a link to his article? Or did someone copy and paste his article? If it's the latter, this phenomenon is much older than the Internet and has nothing to do with G+, specifically, besides the fact that Google may rate your plagiarized "work" higher than the original on its results (which is a distinct issue that applies to both plagiarized and properly-attributed posts).

EDIT: I see the name now, it was next to the title in the post. Thank you OP.
Eating Disorders - Are They Really about Control?
Rapid Weight Loss Diet Tips To Weight Loss Fast .News
And he goes on to say that he'd rather see a Google+ post about the article than the article itself, because, and I quote, "I can comment here without having to jump through hoops." Hoops like reading the article?

Sigh. No, jumps to comment. He likes the G+ links for the same reason I prefer HN over a simple RSS feed: because we can read the article and then comment easily in a good community.

The thing is: he can get to your article through the G+ link, but he can't get to the G+ comments page from your article. Therefore, the G+ link is richer.

(Not that I'm condoning that Google put his products above everything else. But to the G+ user, it's obviously better)
Oracle's lawsuit against Google to go to trial on or after March 19, 2012
REST Worst Practices
It's "almost-attributed" because he included my name, but there was no link or mention of my site. I don't care about the name. I care about the site. That's what the whole rant is about.

Of course I knew that Google tailored results. How would I have been able to include any context in this post otherwise? You took a human-written sentence out of context and made it make less sense than it does in the body of the post.
Problem with this approach is sharing and key management.

If you want to send something to someone, that means you need to securely communicate the key to them first or take the SpiderOak approach of "We guarantee security locally but if you share a file = file is shared unencrypted".
The plagiarizers response (in the link above) to why he copypasted rather thank linking:

You have a good point, I have only kept major content and not the whole article, at times I feel sharing a link just dissuades users from reading the post. Or plain & simple kills interest. I have though started making the change you have suggested few articles too long are again too daunting to read. But overall your feedback taken. Thanks for pointing this out.

"I feel sharing a link just dissuades users from reading the post." Wow.
It's a question of how bright and smart you are along with how much hard work and stress can you handle.

Most successful startup founders in my area finish college, but it is not required to be successful.

I am a Founder and CEO with an undergraduate in history and finishing up my MBA.
Where Groupon works
No it's failing as a result of making extremely crappy mobile products for over a decade. That leaves a lasting impression in many people. Apple's first attempt ( while not perfect ) blew away the established ruling companies.
I agree, people keep stumbling upon this saying and parroting it, as if it were any more insightful than "2 + 2 = 4".
Samsung: No Plans for ICS on Galaxy S or Galaxy Tab
I feel validated , since I recently wrote some aliases that quickly switch me to my frequently used directories.

Logging to a database is an excellent idea.
There's automatic reference counting, which kind of works in some cases. But fails spectacularly in others - a simple doubly-linked list will defeat ARC. In essence, any reasonably complex program that relies on it will probably leak memory, unless the programmer has taken the time to find the spots where the ARC fails and takes care of them manually.

If a reference cycle happens then the only good way to detect that the objects involved have been orphaned is to walk the object graph. Doing that every time an object is deallocated would be horribly inefficient. Also, if you're doing it then there's really no need for the reference counting in the first place, since the object graph walk is perfectly capable of finding all the orphan objects on its own. Much better to just do it periodically, so you can get a whole swath of objects each time you walk the graph.

At which point we've come to to garbage collection, and discovered why that's what all the kids are doing these days.
I hate law pedantry.
Seven Questions With IBM's Manoj Saxena About Watson and Cancer