skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I'm glad some people have perspective on this issue. I remember MG Siegler's ridiculous article about why he hated Android[1] and just how furiously angry he was that they didn't deliver on some overly ambitious promise to take out the phone carriers.

Yet when he (reluctantly) took the time to write about the recent Foxconn issues[2], he tried to deflect blame from Apple because they're simply an easy target considering they're "now arguably the most successful company on the planet." No furious anger, no outrage, just a simple "uh well shit happens, its unfortunate."

What kind of hypocrisy must exist inside someone's head to be capable of writing both of those articles? What's worse is that nearly every article MG's written this past week or so has been about just how amazingly-super-awesome it is that Apple made so much money. Apparently it's all great to be the most "successful company on the planet", but heaven forbid anyone dare look at how those profits are earned in a critical light.

But but but Mom, Samsung is doing it too!! No one is going to change their manufacturing practices as long as a company like Apple is reaping in some of the largest profits in recorded history using Foxconn style labor as a foundation.

[1]: http://parislemon.com/post/15604811641/why-i-hate-android

[2]: http://parislemon.com/post/16561630035/this-is-why-we-cant-h...
Likewise no one wants to watch a juiced up player hit a home run every time. Theres no spectacle in that.

Be careful with such sweeping statements. I think it'd be cool as hell to watch athletic competitions that were really just proxies for various performance-enhancing labs to show off their latest, greatest stuff. I don't watch the Tour de France now, for instance, but if all of those riders were openly doping and tweaking to expand their limits in new and interesting ways, I probably would.

Pro athletes already make sacrifices that the rest of us would consider horrific, wrecking their health and shortening their lifespans for the sake of a few years of glory and attention. What's suggested here is absolutely nothing new.
Foreigners do not have any say in this

That's not true - foreigners do have a say in that we can refuse to purchase products from companies that enable this behavior (which includes Apple, Google, Dell, HP, etc etc).

But we don't, because we'd rather have cheap stuff.
I think before you read too much into this:

"I first became interested in what adult ADD treatments do after seeing a testimonial from an HN participant, a programmer, who said that his productivity increased dramatically after beginning ADD medication as an adult."

You should note that (according to the article) those drugs for ADD contain amphetamines.

Is it really surprising that someone self-reports increased productivity after beginning a course of amphetamines?

Anyway, the take-home from the article is that in the long term the body adapts and there are no benefits to taking the drugs in the long term, and possible negative effects to be dealt with (not sure what symptoms of withdrawl from amphetamines is, but not likely to be pleasant).

You could probably experience just as much short-term benefit from taking up smoking or becoming an alcoholic.
Hello world! Please check out our latest startup project.

http://www.kaanzi.com/

We are 3 developers from Dallas. The web has come across a long since its birth. Now we use it for so many purposes. We check emails, look for direction, check on our friends in facebook the possiblities are endless. However, all these perks come with a catch. All these information are still scattered and comes with a lot of noise.

We feel web can be browsed in a better way,with much more ease and much less noise. Kaanzi is our approach of interacting with the web. We have tried to bring many fun services under one umbrella through a bunch of fun commands. Use ‘flickr recent’ command to see all the recent uploaded pictured from Flickr. Direction command will give google direction . So, type away and let us know your thoughts, comments and concerns!!

Some of the commands in the site are still mockups.The site only supports firefox 3.6 above and chrome for now.

Interact With the web through a command shell. The product is far from finished, but we wanted to see what others thing about this project. It would mean a lot if you guys share your thoughts on this.

Thanks for trying it out.
take it easy.
-easymode
The box on the Galaxy S2 I got a few days ago says "Phone Made in Korea". Without knowing anything about Samsung's factories there, I feel very safe saying they're probably far better for workers than Foxconn.
We can't push Foxconn directly, so Apple serves as a good bellwether among clients of Foxconn to see whether the sort of pressure they have been receiving of late results in verifiably improved conditions.
You are really suggesting that a company create an open-source OS that is supposed to run only on devices produced under certain labour standards? OK, so if you put some software on Github and a company use it on any computer manufactured in China you are evil? This is the same principle that the iranian government is using on the Saeed Malekpour case and it is absurd.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57362506-93/iranian-court-u...
Sensitive data? Over an unsecured protocol?
> are you suggesting an entirely different shape?

I would say so. Right now it looks like a collection of odd angles. Everything's angled. Also the stand is visually split into the front part and the back part, and it feels like they can be snapped apart like a chocolate bar. I would consider something like [1], whereby the outer shape is perfectly boxy, and there is angled recess for the phone. This is not unlike the original stand, but it's a very natural design choice if one goes for a simple look.

Another options is something like [2], which is also very simple and clean looking and yet has enough interior space to house your stuff. Proportions might be off, but you get the idea.

[1] http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/8940/iphonestand.png

[2] http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/5365/iphonestand2.png

Work on the design. It's an Apple userbase you are targeting, design is your product.
You can rent a 10Gbps port to Amazon AWS directly using Direct Connect - http://aws.amazon.com/directconnect/

May be an alternative.
I suspect the GP was referring to FTP over SSL, which is an ugly abomination with few redeeming features.
Comsats are generally in GEO.
Just to clarify, is your honest fundamental disagreement that "people that can't locate the Pacific Ocean on a map" are not important users?
Unfortunately 9P2000 tends to perform badly over high latency connections. There was talk of writing a new version that would allow clients to group certain messages, but nothing ever came of it.

Edit: I just found a very recent paper on Improving the performance of Styx based services over high latency links (Styx being the Inferno name for 9P): http://gsyc.es/tr-docs/RoSaC-2011-2.pdf
Me too, I am considering to leave the macbooks (sadly) to support my principles but it is not an easy task to find a company that threat their workers better.
i think it makes perfect sense to focus on The Most Successful Company of Our Time

Sure, and Apple is (and has been) doing something about this. Hopefully they will do more, but as long as their competitors continue to make use of the price advantage of Chinese labor, there is only so much they can do.

Unless of course they decide to manufacture in the US, in which case their prices will increase and we can go back to complaining about how much more expensive Apple stuff is compared to Dell, HP, etc.
Yeah, I would pay for this as well if you offered a white label service.
Virgin America Stores Your Password in Plaintext
Virgin America emailed me this when sending me credit. I've edited the personal details out, but as you can see the password is clearly shown in plaintext. Unacceptable.
As a 2560x1440(or 1600) resolution monitor user, I think a 4K monitor would be fantastic. Yeah it would cost an arm and a leg, but cost aside I would use it in a heartbeat.

For anyone who has used 2 30 inch IPS screens at the same time, that's roughly the same total pixels as a 4k monitor.

I can easily keep that much space filled up and productive using a tiling window manager.

It would be a 44inch screen at the same resolution of Dell's 30inch IPS monitors.
Listen to soma.fm on your shell
There's a difference between a job with low wages and long hours, and a job that poisons or cripples.

I think that, to the extent that this exists, it's fair to call out the companies responsible. It also seems particularly egregious when there are known alternatives with much reduced harm (different chemicals, shift rotation to prevent repetitive stress).
http://stopsamsung.wordpress.com/
Could you talk more about your experience working with agencies? Are there any in particular you would recommend?
I am not sure you can find a fair trade laptop.

"According to a study by Oekom Research, a ratings agency with a focus on sustainable investment, 42% of consumer electronics manufacturers are guilty of violating labor rights, far worse than the next two offenders: textiles (30%) and mining (24%)."

Relevant article : http://techland.time.com/2012/01/27/will-the-world-ever-see-...
Everything You Thought You Knew About Learning Is Wrong
I've often heard it said that (nearly every time Apple in the Enterprise comes up) the conventional wisdom is that Apple doesn't experience larger gains in the enterprise because of the culture of secrecy whereby it doesn't give advance information to large corporate buyers any more than it does to the average consumer. It's something of a surprise to me that this wasn't mentioned in this article.

Doubly so because a number of the other vendors of Android devices (Samsung, Sony, LG, ASUS) have a much more favorable history on releasing information about upcoming products so that enterprise support can be ready for them. Also, a lack of that culture of secrecy would seem to be more favorable for sharing more technical information up-front for deeper integration with corporate partners. Whereas I don't get the impression that Apple really views any enterprise customer as a partner, but rather as another customer.
Because this thread is becoming heated, I am going to bow out. But before I do, I looked into how companies reacted after the 2009 Foxconn stories and based my decision on who reacted, what they admitted, and incidents associated with them since then. Remember, not all Foxconn employees are forced to work with the same chemicals or conditions. Also, Toshiba doesn't use them at all. (I went with another brand, but am walking away because the Apple fanboys are in a mood today...)
That's why I said browsers. But only recently with HTML5 XHR file uploads we could have progress and status reported in-page (instead of poorly in the status bar, if any). And it's still not good enough and definitely not widely available.
I actually find this more useful. I've spent countless hours trolling through trying to find .psd templates, admin panels, keynote templates and quick and dirty Wordpress themes for MVP's. This will greatly reduce the friction in scouring all of the files.

Seems like I'm not the only one who has found it useful and interesting.
Exactly. I actually think that Timeline is an improvement for user privacy, as it makes it easier for users to see exactly what information about them is accessible, and they can then decide if they want to remove it or strengthen privacy controls.

In the past, that ex-girlfriend or boss might have taken the time and effort to dig through content to find out about a drunken college night, but you would probably have completely forgotten it existed. Timeline offers you a way to double check old content comparatively quickly and easily.
please, someone do this.
Were 100% of the components made in Korea? Doubtful.
White House CTO steps down
I don't disagree with him about Google but come on... Tim O'Reilly complains about journalists and then becomes one by pointing fingers and not following up on the entire story.

"Foxconn clients include American, European and Japanese companies. Notable products which the company manufactures include the Amazon Kindle, iPad,[5] iPhone,[6] PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn
Note the ones that lack sources and how hard it is to find those sources, which might mean they don't exist or the companies are working really hard to hide it.
I'm surprised by a NDA that wont even allow you to disclose that you performed a project that did some certain things, or that you performed an undisclosed project for X Company, and then a list of the technologies involved.
These kinds of arguments strike me as apologetic - like an intellectual wild card that you can use to not worry about the downside of what you're buying.

I'm not saying they're wrong, maybe he's right about labor standards. I'm just highly skeptical of this line of thinking.
Apple's manufacturing should not be compared to Google, because they dont do any manufacturing. Lets wait and see what they do with their Motorola devices then comment on it. Until then, the best comparison to Apple's hardware manufacturing is Samsung who sell the most mobile devices. And where do they manufacture their phones? in Asia. And who do they partner with? Foxconn.

The question that we really need to ask about Apple is : Is Apple worse than Samsung in treating its laborers? I dont know. But my best guess is that its the opposite.

Google on the other hand is being given a hardtime lately because of the title Don't be evil that they enjoyed for a long time. That is not helping them to compete with Apple or Facebook. Now Page is taking a hard look at the company and transforming it to really compete with the frontrunners. To do that effectively they cannot send flowers to the war. And now when they pick up their weapons, they are being criticized for it.

As much as I love Tim, I don't think he thinks critically of Google as much as he does about Apple. He might have liked all they did in the past, but the new Google is not going to play the savior of the world. They are going to bring in their guns to the war, there is going to be blood spilled all over the field, and if they have to win, Google will be responsible for the blood as much as Facebook or Apple.

p.s: Tim is one of my few idols.
I get modded downwards by the Google fanboys everytime I say that Google is just an advertising company.

Now I admit I was wrong all along. Google is only 96% an advertising company!!!

Yeah yeah, hit me with your downvotes, because karma is so important. Lol.
You're absolutely right - that was just my own ignorance.

Thanks for the tip ;) I'm looking into it now
Do we really have to go down that same path that we went down with Microsoft vs. Apple? Each company should be held responsible for their own, singular actions. If Google is doing wrong, then Google is at fault, let's not pass the blame to Apple, or vice-versa.

Honestly, it's in the media's best interest for fanboys on each side to be at war with each other, not anyone else's. If you like an Android phone, use Android, if you prefer an iPhone, use an iPhone. It doesn't need to be a point of contention.

Both companies have made mistakes, but we needn't go "Oh, you think Google is evil? Well, let me tell you about Apple". The truth is, it's hard to not be "evil" and have the insane amount of revenue's that these companies both share. Of course, this all depends on how you interpret "evil".

Steve Jobs famously said: "We have to let go of this notion that for Apple to win, Microsoft has to lose. We have to embrace a notion that for Apple to win, Apple has to do a really good job".
Is There Anything Marc Newson Hasn’t Designed? — www.nytimes.com — Readability
I agree regarding identifying press, but more so in terms of protesters donning it and this diluting the effect. I don't think the US is at the point of cattle-herding journalists yet.

In general, probably not, but I think we've already had enough exceptional cases to take notice. I seem to recall seeing a video of a reporter at a pre-Occupy protest surrounded by police and arrested in a parking lot, and reading about a few other cases where reporters were told by police to leave. I don't want to make a strong argument one way or the other, and this thread's probably long enough, so I'm not going to take the time to look up sources.
unless you can convince millions of people and companies to stop using laptops, iPads, desktops, servers, routers, switches, Xbox, PS3, Wii, iPhone, Android phones, Blackberries, TVs, DVD/BluRay Players, heck even Ovens, Washing Machines, Refrigerators, Freezers, etc.

You're not changing anything.
I dunno, did you read the OP?

Maybe Krugman has a fair point if we were "merely" talking about severely underpaid workers making way too many hours[1], but it doesn't explain this:

> The account of how Apple's factories substituted n-hexane, a neurotoxin with well-documented long term adverse health effects, for alcohol to wipe those shining screens clean, gaining a miniscule advantage in drying time but exposing workers to a lifetime of disablement

[1] a fair point, which I will consider as soon as such a situation actually presents itself in reality. I bet it will be a factory that manufactures containers for thermodynamically closed systems, which are to be sold on a free market to rational agents. Now clap your hands.
I do not think you understand what an infographic is. An infographic is not the same as a chart, they are orthogonal, they have different purposes.
It's easy to spin a failure into a learning experience, that's a familiar story arc for everyone in the hiring process. My second job was a massive failure (with a public IPO and everything), doesn't seem to have hurt. I even got a job because of it once.

I don't know why it's so hard to get a job when you are already unemployed. I think there is even MORE bias about that around here than age. This article might be about age, but I suspect that is probably more your problem here. I'm not sure the best way out of that particular hole, but if you can get any kind of a consulting or freelance gig, that might help. Then you can just smooth over gaps with the "freelancing" qualifier and talk about how you're really interested in something long term / stable, especially after the volatility at the last place. Hopefully you can find employers who are nervous about someone sticking around for a couple of years, reassure them that's what you are interested in (even if it's not). If you drop me an email, I can forward you to a couple of recruiters who have contacted me in the last week or two.
Ask: Good phone number service providers for startups?
My co-founder and I are looking for a convenient phone number service. We don't mind using our own cell phones to answer calls, in fact it'd be easiest at the moment since we don't have a good logical spot for a land-line. However, we don't want people calling our business number to hear our personal voice mail messages. Ideally, what I'm looking for would be a single phone number that would load balance or ring on whatever cell phone numbers we need it to. If the call is not answered it would not go to our voice mail, but instead to the company's voice mail. I just imagine this service would be cheaper than a full blown PBX or something.

Are there any services like this, or services that have worked well for other small start ups?

Thanks
You had me up until "No one is going to change their manufacturing practices as long as a company like Apple is reaping in some of the largest profits in recorded history using Foxconn style labor as a foundation."

You are doing the exact same thing that you accused MG Siegler of doing, you're minimizing an abuse of workers.

I like Apple gear a lot and I'm enough of a fan to hate seeing them getting attacked, but I agree that they need to step up and force Foxconn and their other suppliers to provide as safe working conditions and fair employment as they would if they were in Cupertino.

However, if Apple fails to, that doesn't give Samsung, Dell or any other manufacturers a free pass to screw Chinese workers.
Your last sentence hits the nail on the head. Even when storing petabytes of data, the odds on a freak hash collision are still many orders of magnitude longer than the odds on a hardware failure.
Would be smarter, less effort and maybe remove or change the spam vector if the process were this (myself being the developer):

1. Visit site. Enter my email address and maybe client name. It gives me a unique URL (supportdetails.com/jasd9s89ajd698/ or optionally support.mybusiness.com/clientname).

2. I email that to the client and tell them to click the link. [Risk of training them to click strange links...]

3. They visit the page and get a Thanks message. It automatically sends me all the info I need.

Burden on the client is lowered. First time I saw this site or similar (been around for years) I wondered about quickly building an alternative that offered white labeling and the above process instead. Easy weekend project for someone, I imagine.
Conversely, Apples does have a history of long-term support for the products they do release, so in that sense, the future is extremely predicable ... more so than other players in the mobile space. The predictability of support is perhaps more valuable than the predictability of new shininess.
"That's old fuddy duddy thinking. I'm 56 and I see plenty of people my age that thought like this and they have little to do now other than play golf an wait for dementia to kick in."

I didn't say anything about quitting work. What you do with your time when you're independent is literally up to you. Stay in your same job, stay in your same field, change careers, study, donate your time or muscle, do something that's strictly personally meaningful, play golf (bleah).
China is far from a developing country. So this isn't about taking advantage of a developing nation. It's very difficult for many foreign company to start a business in China. These are companies that China has approved that are mistreating the Chinese people. The bulk of the blame falls on China for allowing their people to be used like robots. You can't openly treat American workers like this because American government won't legally allow it. The Chinese government has the all the power to dictate what a business can do in China. The government use it's power on many occasion silent dissent, why not use that power to help it's own people ?
Honestly, I hate disruptions to traffic as much as anybody, and it is illegal, but IMO our right to get home from work on time doesn't supersede the right of the downtrodden to petition the government for a redress of grievances in the only way left to them to get noticed. Note that I'm referring to protests in general, not Occupy in specific.
I had a roommate years ago that worked as a salesman at CarMax. He had about the authority to haggle as the kid taking your order at McDonalds. I think the volume is so high that if you don't want it at the marked price, someone tomorrow will. Of course, that was years ago at one lot. YMMV.
You forgot another popular option that a lot of people use as an alternative to the "monastery" stage: shared hosting (shudder).
I have to agree with you here... Working in a startup is a hectic and crazy lifestyle which involves lots of mistakes, lots of learning, and lots of "hurry up and get x (feature, fix, etc) out the door", which results in mistakes being made. We can all sit around and pretend that we all write bullet proof, meticulously tested, beautiful code all the time and only release things that have been tested extensively and peer-reviewed, but that's just not how it works in the real world most of the time.
One company's transgressions does not excuse another's.
The world's biggest cities: How do you measure them?