skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
First, I'm enjoying this discussion and I'm glad it remains civil. Thanks!

> As I said, it's less about the specifics of what they're doing now, and more about the apparent switch of focus from "organising the world's information" [0] to "deliver[ing] online experiences tailored to each individual's interests and social circles"

I don't see these as divergent. Information about individuals is information, too, and needs to be organized. It also affects how the rest of the information is organized.

> And it's obvious many people within the company are uneasy about this too (and do, arguably, think it's wrong)

> Does this mean "Google" thinks itself to be evil? Well it becomes meaningless to talk about Google as a monolithic entity at that point because it's made up of individuals.

It also becomes meaningless to get that granular, doesn't it? Does Google have to not be evil in the eyes of every one of its employees?

> But here we have an institution. People build institutions. We can build it in such a way that's it's likely to fail, or build it in such a way that it wont. Surely you can see it's important to make it as easy as possible for Google to do the right thing and difficult, if not impossible, for them do the wrong things.

Could you describe in what ways you think Google is building an institution that leads them inevitably toward doing evil? Maybe the part I don't understand is what lies at the bottom of the personal data mine. Is it a matter of how much data they collect? What they do with the data?
> The CERN sites, as an international facility, are officially under neither Swiss nor French jurisdiction. [1]

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CERN

Q.E.D

PS: My understanding of the thing is that CERN was created to be a project between France and Swiss (although they say european on wikipedia) => the sites were build between the two country and that it doesn't make any sense to say internet was invented by french/swiss in France/Swiss. It's a cooperative project.
The window is closing fast on the market for mobile OSes too. It's already a 2-horse race between Apple and Google, but there's no reason WebOS couldn't make a comeback in the future.
At my last company, we added to our employment contract a place for new employees to list all the outside projects that they had at that time, including open source projects they were involved in.

During employment, they could add to this list, depending on if the project actually competed with us or not.

This makes it clear where the lines are, so there's no ambiguity.

You may want to see if you can have this discussion before going any further with your new project.
> Remember: "optimizing for happiness".

Right, and nothing says "unhappiness" like $100M or $200M.
I haven't been programming long and don't get the nuances of functional and declarative paradigms. But I have a hunch that even if people made some new languages that balanced out the various concerns of complex compilers, programmer control, LOC, boilerplate, ugly syntax etc, it wouldn't fix much.

So, using research into how people best solve problems, I’m making a tool that helps people solve the problem of having an idea and not being able to make it a reality.

Novices will still have lots of problems. They don't really think about how sprites move in a game, they think they want to make a game kinda like Asteroids or more like Mario. What will really help them is a well organized, well documented template.

The problem is with documenting, organizing and making available the multitude of libraries and solved problems. Making them accessible through visual examples and natural language.

http://blog.wolfram.com/2010/11/16/programming-with-natural-...

The Wolfram approach of writing a query, seeing the output, confirming or rejecting it is the right direction. Memorizing syntax is a big problem.

[1,2,3].byPairs == [[1,2]];
[1,2].byPairs == [[1,2]];
[1].byPairs == [];

This doesn't solve syntax memorization.

split array by pairs == arrayPairTransform([1,2,3]) == [[1,2]]
make array of pairs == arrayPairTransform([1,2]) == [[1,2]]

This is closer imho. You don't really have to worry about the [1,2].byPairs being prettier than splitArrayIntoPairs([1,2]). You can use your queries as the pretty documentation. You can choose which lower level language to use in the code column, without having to remember its particular syntax. You don't have to worry about naming as much, you're using tags instead.

A lot of novice programming is looking up code samples and libraries, getting them to run. Organizing existing code in libraries and samples for a specialized natural language search engine like in Mathematica seems like it would change some design decisions of the lower level language.

It's not as important if the lower level language is a bit more verbose. Your priorities for it would be performance, control, parallelism/concurrency, regularity. Expressiveness/verbosity can matter less if you offload it to another layer.
To me, the fundamental issue with pure declarative or functional languages is that they ignore the simple fact that both the problem and solution domains of the set of all possible problems are, fundamentally, heterogenous.

Sometimes, "what" I want is a program to do this that and the other thing in this given order. ie the "how". Other times, I don't care, I just want these properties to hold. Yet other times, I have no idea what I want at all and have to experiment and see what happens.

I want a language that solves the composition problem between these distinct solution spaces. The best programming language for any given task is the one who's world view best matches the preconceived spec in the programmer's head.

Most research languages take a key idea (everything is a list! or no side effects! or something like that) to a logical extreme. That's a great way to study a set of phenomenon in a particular little universe, but most practical languages find a happy median of thought-pure and just-fucking-works. We need to get some of these wins from high concept languages back into just-fucking-works languages.
Being able to walk through someone else's code is a critical skill that a lot of people take for granted. I am not a big fan of the whiteboard during an interview and like to create environments that mirror what they would do on the job. Walking through a tutorials code is one of them. The other thing you can do is have them write a fizz buzz program, at home after they come in for an interview. But if you do this, you should reserve it for candidates that have no code to show but that you are strongly considering picking up. I would have no problem writing a fizz buzz for a company that I know I am in the last round of hiring with so long as I can do it in my environment.
Generation Y Are Learning to Pay Their Dues; Here's How
Bridge building is broken, I can't just say "I need a bridge from here to there with 8 lanes across 2 decks that can carry 1000 cars weighing 2 tons each and survive wind storms" and have a computer design it for me.
The problem is that the problems Node solves, can be solved better and more cleanly than a spaghetti code of callbacks, with coroutines for example. It's just that Node and javascript are not up to the task.

Now, the thing Node has going for it, is that, despite being inferior than other similar technologies, it has a big following (community matters), lots of libs (libs matter), and it's based on an easy and familiar language to many.
No, it's definitely not just you. This seems way too difficult for trying to accomplish something so simple.
This thing about vacuum having something comes from the modern physicist's misuse of the heisengberg principle. The virtual photon is a theorized particle that was used to explain the static effect of the electric field, because honestly there was nothing better to explain such a phenomenon. Just like when they came up with the higgs boson to explain the weak interaction, even though we are coming closer to realize that it probably doesn't exist. Does anyone beg to infer that the microwaves could of come from the energy of the vibrating mirrors themselves? This is starting to sound a lot like the hyped up cold-fusion experimental results, or the whole combustible salt-water phenomenon.
It was part of me coming on board with the company, so it was a mutual thing.
quick ref: http://www.overcomingbias.com/2008/04/prevention-cost.html
http://www.overcomingbias.com/2008/10/preventive-heal.html

I'll look for some underlying data once I get out of class.

AFAIK the problem isn't necessarily "best practices prevention" per se but the fact that we massively over-consume health care because of bad incentives.
It looks really interesting!
Great lineup of startups. Good luck to everyone!
It's good that they're releasing this stuff, rather than just letting it rot. But Enyo is the really interesting technology; the underlying OS is probably too flawed to be of much use.

Either way, I don't see anything significant happening with this stuff unless Google starts to rein in Samsung and LG to the point that they're no longer able to use Android to do the carriers' bidding and need to find another platform.

And that scenario is very unlikely, but now that Google controls Motorola, Microsoft controls Nokia, and Apple continues to demonstrate that there's a large market for devices that put the consumer ahead of the carrier, who knows? There may be hope.
The Men's Soap Principle
Nice, interesting read. I wonder if her descendants exist today.
If oil prices stay high, alternative energy sources will become cost competitive, but that energy costs will still be expensive.
Yeah especially MMO's, there are private wow servers people have setup but they really don't compare to the experience you get on the real ones.
Actually, Lisp works fine for beginners. It's simply not the current fad.

I use Lisp by preference because it's so much easier to express my ideas without whacking on the syntax mole.
I have to say, I don't know his actual response, but he gives a hint within the article that perhaps, when one wants to get performance in algorithms, one will start to look at the way the constraints are phrased.

So when you've got to write a sort, you probably start in our hypothetical dream language by saying:

"sort permutes a list so that a < b implies list[a] < list[b]."

Now "permute", with predicates, is probably built into the system and the constraint solver probably turns this into a variant of bubble sort, O(n^2). [That is, when you now query list[0] it does a reverse bubble-sort by looking for the least element rather than the greatest element, moving that to the lowest position.]

Now you come into this and say "hey, I've got a huge list, I need O(n log n) power." What do you use? Perhaps merge sort.

"sort zips together, least-element first, the sorted first half of input and the sorted second half of input -- unless len(input) < 2, in which case it just returns the input." Zipping together on predicate p may or may not be a fundamental design element of the language.

If you can establish a consistent syntax for these sorts of claims which a constraint solver can follow, then the simplicity of the constraint solver, and your ability to guess what it will do, will allow you to determine which algorithm you use to perform the same task.

So it doesn't require strong AI and the programmer is still making the choice -- that's what I'm trying to say. The programmer is merely making the choice in a different framework: rather than making the choice in some wrapper for blocks of assembly language, you are making the choice in some wrapper for a constraint solver.

Now let me turn from where I think you're wrong to where I think you're right: I have the feeling that you're going to see something less revolutionary than claimed, because it will be like C's inline assembler support; in this hypothetical language you can probably "drop back down" to the pre-constraint-solver level when you can't figure out how to articulate the problem with constraints. (Something like "The constraint is, it has to come from applying this function to those lists!")
you can get one here: http://httpbin.org/status/418
Scalable Data Quality: A Seven-Step Plan for Any Size Organization
Netflix: Streaming vs. DVD margins
Lambdas all the way down. Now beat that, modern "bootstrapped" compilers.
Well, until now. But it's starting to look like that won't be the case any longer, given the deficits they're projecting.
I've come to the conclusion that a lot of you have an issue with sarcasm even when it's obviously marked :(
Yes. Obviously, you just remove the air in the bottle and then there is a vacuum (or as good of an approximation of it as you can obtain using your techniques) inside the bottle.
I must have misinterpreted the intent of this from "Go for C++ Programmers":

> Because the conversion is dynamic, it may be used to implement generic programming similar to templates in C++. This is done by manipulating values of the minimal interface.

I thought they were saying this was their answer to generic programming, but it appears this is not the case. In any case, it was just an example of my general feeling that the type system is more dynamic than I prefer for systems languages.
Alternatives to Google mail?
Considering not using Google for hosting my mail. I could host my own server, but don't want to manage my own spam filters (unless tools are better than they were 5 years ago?). Alternatives? Would love a web mail solution, but it does not have to have that.
disclosure of what? Do you think he voted 15,000 times?
Feds say senior Google execs knew about illicit pharma ads
Google to track users... like never before
bing for main searches - DDG for tech searches... thats the play.
But of course as one of your links points out:
The term "preventive medicine" no longer means what it used to: keeping people well by promoting healthy habits, like exercising, eating a balanced diet and not smoking. To their credit, both candidates ardently support that approach. But the medical model for prevention has become less about health promotion and more about early diagnosis.

I'm pretty sure the original comment you replied to assumes the same meaning, that of promoting healthy behavior _before_ you become ill, not the newer and distorted meaning of "early detection".
Yeah, but the law prohibits UPS and Fedex from delivering to those private mailboxes. So it's not really fair to complain they don't and the USPS does.
I'm curious who uses HelloFax. There is a similar service (can't remember the name) that does the same thing for snail mail.

It seems like both have a strong advocacy product, either combined or separately. I can't imagine actually using these services in my day-to-day (but I may lack imagination), but I can definitely see where they could market it to large non-profits and NGO's.

Anyone from HelloFax who can speak to who their user base and thoughts of making advocacy part of the product?
Most well-written functional programs I've seen actually look like your examples--or rather, the very top-level does. The rest of the code is devoted to telling the language enough about your domain that it's possible to express your goals.
That's what interviews, temporary contracts, or 1 week in-house trials are all about. If an Engineer doesn't have a code sample, then you should move forward and find another way to see them write, critique, and complete code.

I recently tested the job market and found that I also had no code sample that I could share, but I know personally that it doesn't make me any less of a coder.

Your loss.
The case obviously isn't closed or minor or we wouldn't be here. This wouldn't have climbed the rankings on HN. This isn't Reddit or Digg.

The reality is some people think linking search to social to surfing habits is a fundamentally scary thought. It gives someone a massive insight into who you are. And that's far more important and complex than [generic celebrity couple]s breakup.

You really have to open your eyes a little, YouTube isn't even Google branded for example, what % of users even knew it was owned by Google till they switched the sign in? I bet a large % wouldn't even realise anyway and think it's like facebook connect.

And stop telling people to stop using services they value and have invested their time and effort in. That's what being sanctimonious is actually about, that's what it actually means. You actually couldn't care either way, the feigned piety is yours, not mine. I'm sincere in my beliefs.
That's a grossly exaggerated figure, and if you skip the Lenin/Stalin era and go straight to Khruschev it's not nearly as bad. And if, by hypothesis, the "average" person become redundant and unemployable, they would simply starve to death in lieu of government intervention, which would lead to a death toll that would make the Dekulakization look like a traffic ticket.
I always love watching this, I'm sorry I missed the first half. Is there a mailing list where I can sign up to be notified in advance of when these streams are?
Easy plugin system for your gem in less than 100 lines
Solar Energy: Starting from scratch
Game over man, game over: Frankenmalware has been unleashed
I assumed they had just figured out a way to make a few extra bucks from each of the customers that will switch to them in droves next month when they release the iPhone 4S LTE and iPad3 LTE.
I think the issue I took with your original statement wasn't the fact that applications are tied to the OS (that certainly wasn't how it came off). In that regard, I do and certainly agree. It was the fact that you claimed most of your applications on OS X were not developed by Apple (which clearly indicates they do run on OS X contrary to any arguments you listed above) and using that as an argument to measure the value of the OS itself (and by association, Apple's work on it). If you re-read what you wrote, you'll clearly see how I came to that conclusion. By that measure, Ubuntu, which you used as an argument for a hopeful OS suffers more than OS X regarding availability of software altogether or the simple fact that they too, like Apple, are not the developers of the software you use outside of the OS (another argument you presented).

I certainly can agree that the OS dictates what is available but certainly there are many ways around this albeit to an extent (virtualization comes to mind) and up until recently with Lion, you couldn't argue it was legal to install OS X on any other OS/VM or even bootcamp-like solutions, but arguably you could with any other OS out there. In this context, OS X actually is more appealing if you weigh the options of availability. Sure, its not perfect that you still have to run multiple OSes but certainly its an option nonetheless, one that weren't genuinely available in any other environment as far as I am aware of even if you could hack your way to make it work illegally.

That said, Apple and OS X are far from perfect and certainly there are a lot more improvements that can be made but I'm not quite sure I agree with you that they're "neglecting" their desktop OS. A lot of changes that came with Lion left people with mix feelings but I find it difficult to believe that that, or any other argument (perhaps I'm missing some) indicates that OS X is being neglected. On the contrary, I think they're striving to continue to innovate on this part. Again, far from perfect but I also personally believe far from being neglected as well.
Personally I've gotten more use out of the Futures library, though both are great. https://github.com/coolaj86/futures It contains a form of 'waterfall' known as merely a sequence. I use a lot of sequences and promises, it makes me not go insane from NodeJS programming. In the end I still think it was a mistake for Node to not support any sync features because there are times it's nice to have. TameJS doesn't solve the problem completely either (and I hate the compile step).
I work in information security for a company who uses McAfee products, and I share your irritation. It can be quite a chore to track down why WebWasher is blocking a site or why our SIEM has flagged a site as a botnet C&C or otherwise risky site.

It doesn't help when we get business groups or developers saying "we need this site unblocked in order to see a 1pm webinar!" and it's 12:59. Site Advisor is useless.
Magnificent looking HTML5 game - "Project Blaze Zero"
Headers:

HTTP/1.1 418 I'm a teapot
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:57:22 GMT
Server: Apache
X-Webapp: cbeebieshome
X-Generated: Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:57:22 +0000
Cache-Control: max-age=60
Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8
Content-Length: 20820
X-Cache-Action: PASS (status)
X-Cache-Age: 0
Works for me...

> curl -i 'httpstat.us/418'
HTTP/1.1 418 Unknown Error
Server: nginx
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:58:13 GMT
Content-Type: text/plain
Connection: keep-alive
Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *
Content-Length: 16
X-Varnish: 1346742606
Age: 0
Via: 1.1 varnish

418 I'm a Teapot

although it shows as 'Unknown Error' instead of 'I'm a Teapot'
Oddly enough that's almost exactly the opposite of one of Hayek's justifications! He wanted a more individualist society where people were free to do their own thing, join/leave groups, etc., rather than feeling compelled to stay in their own tight-knit ethnic/religious/etc. groups, usually the ones they "chose" by accident of birth. And he thought one way that could happen is if the de-facto safety-net role played by those groups (e.g. the way the Mormon church has a strong safety net) was replaced by a basic state floor, freeing people to break ties with the tribalist groupings they didn't want to be in, but until now had felt compelled to stay with for safety or out of fear. Brief quote: http://www.kmjn.org/snippets/hayek79_minimumincome.html

I do think there's something to be said for cohesive groups, but moving between them is quite hard if there's no higher-level safety net from some more neutral source like the U.S. government. I know more than one person who wants to leave a church they don't like or believe in theologically, but stays because they're not sure how they'd replace its social/economic network. Especially the case with groups like the Mormons who combine a strong internal network with shunning of people who leave, making the drop-off in support you'd get by leaving seem like a daunting cliff.
This is the same dept that gives sunny outlook to "Software Developer, Applications", "Software Architects", etc...

http://www.onetonline.org/find/quick?s=software+engineer

Sadly, "programmers" are no longer needed. But as code still needs to be written, nice to know that "software developers, applications" will be hired to write the programs, and so many nice syllables in the new job title!
A false positive is very bad for the AV Company if the file is part of the OS of a lot of computes. For example;

AVG update bricks Windows 7 (Dec 2010):
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/02/avg_auto_immune_upda...

McAfee update shutting down XP machines (Apr 2010): http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/21/mcafee-update--shutting-d...
Hey buddy, we have differences of opinion but there's no reason to resort to name calling and personal acrimony. Keep it civil. A good rule of thumb is try not to write 'you' statements if possible.
... to what?

Not everyone has an obvious way to make money doing what excites them. The most exciting thing I do most days is climbing, but even the best climbers barely make money.

I don't mind programming... I certainly don't dread it, and occasionally I particularly enjoy a problem I'm working on. But I wouldn't say I walk to work each day "excited and enthusiastic."