skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Regarding aggregation: I don't use rss at all, no feed collection, no feedreader.

I'm an extremely heavy user of RSS and RSS-like technologies, but I don't (and probably wouldn't) use them for shopping related things whatsoever. If a product is unavailable, I like being able to put my e-mail address in to get notification of availability though :)

The only exception to the above would be if we had something like woot.com in our country. I'd quite like to get an RSS or Twitter notification of that :)
Good point about the sales tax, I hate getting whacked with an extra 10 bucks at the last step of checkout. I assume they're waiting until you give a billing address, but at least make an attempt with geolocation.
Only after it completely fails.
Something else I realized I always do..

If I see a "promo code" box when buying, I always Google for a promo code for that store, or try retailmenot.com to see if they have one.

Sometime I get one, sometimes I not, and I feel a teeny-weeny pissed off when I don't find one that works as I feel someone else is "beating" me. So.. perhaps seeding a very, very tiny discount promo code out there for people like me would make me remember your store more because you let me "win" for my ingenuity :)
I love this kind of stuff. Does anybody know if the book is good? I'd be curious to hear a couple of examples of the results it contains - the article is weak on specifics.

It's interesting that this researcher has a background in both psychology and signal processing.
like.com is definitely impressive, but I guess the point I mean to make is that sometimes I don't want choice. When I come to a site like HN, I get 30 vetted stories and discussions relevant to programmer-entrepreneurs.

Something similar for clothing, targeted to my demographic, (20s/male) would be hugely useful.
Um. Thinking mostly internally in code metaphors and then isomorphing that to a relationship conversation. Yeah, that doesn't usually work out so well for me.
keyword "intern" + http://www.jobamatic.com/a/jbb-static/home
That would be lovely, thanks.
I wish I could celebrate more but I have to get up early and do homework all tomorrow.

We did have a few celebratory beers however.
It just needed a good smack. But, remember, as with computers and women, one smack is maintenance, two is abuse.
Your comment suggests that Obama's response conveys some knowledge of CS. Really, he just had more organized campaign staff.

Senator McCain was asked the same question six months earlier. The staff, realizing the question might be asked again, prepared Obama with an answer.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/business/02digi.html?_r=2&...
The Masses on Yelp.com Eat and Tell
Just because the state syllabus mandates study of Hindi as an essential requirement to pass high school, it does not make the language welcome in all parts of south India.

The urban south-Indians learn Hindi, when necessary, by osmosis and from media.

AFAIK, passing hindi (score > 35/100) is no longer a criterion for getting one's high school diploma. Thank $deity.
America is also rather unexpected.

http://www.gpeters.com/color/color-schemes.php?search_term=A...
What about the people who created the fancy 3D Capitol and the hologram of Will.i.am tonight?
The Magic Wall is fun but so early 2008...
I wonder if an Obama FCC would have taken this deregulatory step.
The inenvitable slow-motion death of the Tablet PC
Should've mentioned Alan Kay in the title ;)
The Government Revolution, aka Government 2.0
Government, elections, and accountability in the United States will never be the same.

Obama relied on the voter, and the voter's checkbook in order to win. Citizens voted for him with both donations and regular votes, marking the beginning of a totally new kind of democracy.

This dual-vote makes our government much more accountable to the people. If for any reason Obama loses favor, that loss of favor is amplified by loss of both funding and votes. By winning the way he did, Obama has ushered in a new age of accountability.

Obama used the Internet to win. With a bottom-up organization of his campaign he awoke the American people from their apathy.

Candidates who want to win will need to follow in Obama's footsteps. They will need to use the Internet's organizational capabilities to the fullest. And those candidates that win in this manner will be more accountable than any other pre-Obama candidate.

Internet organization is creating a whole new avenue for democracy. Political scientists will need to assess a country's democracy in this new, digital dimension.

The Internet's flattening and equalizing powers are reaching into politics. More changes are yet to come.

Barack Obama will bring the Internet into our government and make it more creative, dynamic, and responsive. Transparency will abound: the voting records of elected officials will be more easily accessible; citizens will know instantaneously what bills are passed; amendments to bills will be tied to their authors; and processes shrouded by bureaucracy will become visible.

The Internet campaign organization model will spread all over the world. Candidates everywhere will need to value technology and science in order to take office. On November 4th, 2008, technology has finally taken the place in the United States government that it deserves, revolutionizing a more than 200-year-old antiquated system. Technology's new role in government has fundamentally changed how our politicians think, how citizens vote, and how democracy is defined.

---

PDF: https://dl.getdropbox.com/u/10047/Government_2_0.pdf

Scribd: http://www.scribd.com/doc/7753882/The-Government-Revolution-aka-Government-20
It's funny how everyone claims the system works when it elects the candidate they support, and that it's irretrievably broken when it doesn't. ;-)
I'm encouraged by the humility he showed in his victory speech. His mood seems entirely different than, say, Bush's "Mission Accomplished" Iraq stunt.
I find Black Swan and its ilk perfect audio-book material. Not important or complicated enough that I care if I miss some details in one pass, but with enough ideas in them to merit passive attention while doing something else requiring my eyesight.
I know that many of us at Hacker News have been thinking about the internet and government. What other changes do you envision?
And even faster if it's a good day and I really get into it.

I tend to read a sentence or paragraph at a time.
But that's also the beauty of fiction in some contexts is that it allows one to explore ideas outside of their usual context and often within the realm of suspended disbelief.

Aldous Huxley, for instance, both in his fiction and non-fiction, and I see no great gap between them other than the mechanisms employed, has profoundly shaped my thought with his writing.
Your analogy is very poor. When Apple decides to do something that people don't like thousands of people don't lose their lives.
I've interviewed a lot of people for programming jobs, almost all of them can say "bubble sort is not the correct approach."

Indeed, but have you asked that question of presidential candidates?
What you need is a meme detecting filter ;)
Many of us Americans (for the most part) have been spending out the ass using credit and the bills are coming due. Americans' personal money management habits have _nothing_ to do with the party in office.

The problem, though, is that the banks let them do this. It is very easy for the credit card company to start declining transactions, and it's very easy for a loan officer to say, "sorry, you can't afford this house".

Nobody did that, though, and here we are.
I'm speechless. I thought the age of video-sharing has lowered the cost of watching videos!
Anyone that have read Wordpress' source code should not be surprised that it is the most exploited piece of software on the web.

It was not created by programmers. It was created by web designers (hence its great visual design).

Wordpress was probably the only company that has migrated from Ruby to PHP (when they purchased Gravatar).
(Slightly off topic) I know there are a lot of startups doing a physical-internet crossover similar to QRCode, but they read bar codes instead. The only issue I see with this is that not every item has a bar code (i.e. clothes) and it requires the cooperation of both online and brick-and-mortar stores.

Augmented reality for physical shopping anyone? Stick RFID/bluetooth emitters in the security-ink devices, stick the security devices to the clothes, and then pull out your phone to get relevant information.
The administration isn't just one man. The executive branch is a team of people. I didn't know that McCain was asked this same question six months earlier, but I'd still give Obama the point for surrounding himself with well organized campaign staff.
What can I say? I hate myself. ;)
I agree with you completely, but Apple wants people to pay money to be in The Club. They think that this will work for them.

If you disagree, develop for the competition :)
Read it, of course :-)

I still need to read his other book, the Pendulum...
Have you ever parged a lath? I can assure you sir, it is not trivial.
Just look at the difference between Obama's and McCain's answer to the question "What would you change in sports" on Monday Night Football this week. Obama answers, a playoff system for college football for the top 8 teams. Do you think that is a coincidence when all of Pennsylvania wants Penn State to go to the BCS bowl and they are #3 right now? John McCain answers "elimate performance enhancing drugs".

COME ON. We all know Obama didn't come up with that answer but his on the ball staffers make him look good. And Just like a CEO has to delegate a lot of work, the president has to delegate nearly everything.
Mitigation Specialist - Private Investigator
Mitigation specialist and private investigator services. Palmer Investigative Services in Prescott, Arizona, handles investigations, records searches, shopping, process server, drug and alcohol testing, expert testimony and mitigation in court cases.
Well if you are going to call out Obama for those votes, don't quote McCain as opposing Guantanamo Bay when he voted FOR waterboarding.

I agree that for me, torture trumps unions. I don't like unions, but they are fading. Torture is just unacceptable.
Numb3rs: Magic Show
David gets caught up in the drama of a missing persons case when the victim, a magician, disappears while David is watching her show.
Jonathan Schwartz, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Eric Schmidt. Not necessarily in that order...and all of them would have to take a massive pay cut to take the position. But, then again, all of them are already fantastically wealthy. The fact that I doubt any of them would accept the position is just more reason to like them for the position--they don't strike me as being in it for the power (or the money).

Some other possibilities: Tim Berners-Lee, Marc Andreesen, and the previously mentioned Lawrence Lessig.

There are quite a few old UNIX guys who I'd trust in the position, but I doubt they're high profile enough in the world at large to get tapped. Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie, in particular (you don't get any more "old UNIX" than those two guys). They received some sort of national award a few years back...but don't have a lot of administrative or management experience. But I dunno what a CTO of the USA would be doing. Since it's a cabinet position, I would guess it would be an advisory position rather than an actual administrative or managerial role, despite the use of "CTO".
Well the only ones I know are as a user - adium, various dinky little utils like twitteriffic. Downloads seem to be min 30 meg, and memory usage around twice that, minimum. I just have never experienced cocoa apps to be any common definition of "lightweight". Maybe they are poorly written apps, but they work fine, and I only use the common stuff.

"quicken-like" - well that means nothing unless it replicates the girth of horrible accounting rules that quicken has to adhere to - if its a "quicken like" accounting app, I guess it would not, so I don't think that really is a useful measure.
I always avoid reading fiction. When there are non-fiction books which are as gripping as the fiction ones, why read the latter as you get knowledge plus pleasure reading the former.

Examples of the books I am talking about are: The Black Swan, Brief History of Time, God Delusion, Selfish Gene, Predictibly Irrational, etc. etc.
Ah I wasn't thinking of non-citizens, for me it is hard to think of it as a shelter when I pay significantly more tax now that I work in Manhattan than when I worked in New Jersey.
CERN to Start Up the Large Hadron Collider. Now Here's How It Plans to Stop It.
I'm currently working on a prototype for an tool that will allow for simultaneous browser testing and assistance with detecting page layout problems, if you're interested in hearing more, drop me a line at bcompare at gmail. In developing my prototype, I'd love to get some of your sites to test it against.
Go to straight to App Engine. You can always do Django on top of App Engine, but we've found that GAE already comes with most everything we need in a framework.
Lean Startup presentation for Maples Investments by Steve Blank and Eric Ries
The unions will not fade. Their biggest membership comes from federal government workers, whose numbers burgeoned under Bush and are bound to grow under Obama. Also, union firms like GM are getting $billions from the Federal Government to make up for the fact that they can't turn a profit on the market (the airlines did this, too). Tax money will keep them alive even if they are the dinosaurs of the marketplace.

When anti-China tariffs come down the line, you can thank the unions. Obama will not deny them. You can also nix the idea of school choice under an Obama administration, since the National Teacher's Union is a strong supporter of the Democratic Party. It's no wonder that Obama's plan for education is basically "more money! more money!". The unions couldn't have written a more favorable plan themselves.
No, "The Law That Never Was" is a conspiracy. A conspiracy for Benson to make money off dumb saps who believe it.

The court stated: "Benson has failed to point to evidence that would create a genuinely disputed fact regarding whether the Sixteenth Amendment was properly ratified or whether United States Citizens are legally obligated to pay federal taxes. Also, as is indicated above, Benson is precluded in this action from taking the position that the Sixteenth Amendment was not properly ratified."[20] The court stated that "the undisputed evidence shows that Benson had actual knowledge that the information in the Reliance Defense Package was false or fraudulent."[21] The court also stated: "Benson falsely tells customers that if they purchase and use his products they will be shielded from criminal prosecution for violating the internal revenue laws. Purchasers of the 'Reliance Defense Package' receive a letter signed by Benson that falsely represents that the purchaser can rely on Benson's research to conclude that the Sixteenth Amendment was not ratified, and that the purchaser is thereby not required to file federal income tax returns or pay federal income or social security taxes to the United States."[22] The court ruled that "Benson's position has no merit and he has used his fraudulent tax advice to deceive other citizens and profit from it" in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 6700.[23]

And honestly, you don't think that a bunch of rich people would have tried to overturn the income tax back when it was 70%? I'm in the upper tax bracket. If I didn't have to pay it or I could donate to a fund for people who wanted to overturn it, I would in a heart beat.

I think it is a silly arguement to have. If it were up to me, all the taxes would be income taxes and everything else would be 0. No capital gains, no estate, no tariffs, no corporate. Make the American people feel exactly what these programs cost - becuase right now they pay all the other taxes indirectly and they don't know it. Make people feel what a big government really means on their pocket and then you will see how many more people are screaming for libertarian policies. But saying "we shouldn't pay any tax" and "i wish I could succeed from the government" which I know is a common libertarian ideal, is just so impractical as to be a detriment to the cause.
You can also download free Visual Studio Express editions of VB, C#, C++, and Web Developer that have like 90% of the features of the full blown versions:
http://www.microsoft.com/express/

And SDKs have been free forever if you just want the basics (docs, headers, tools):
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsvista/bb980924.aspx
Neither was I. Only been to reddit once
He did not say it's over IP.
I get this feeling that clothing is THE consumer product but nobody buys clothes online because:

1) sizing is screwy

2) it's impossibly kludgy to browse clothing, textures, etc.

3) a painful return process

SO, I'm waiting for a department store with:

1) ONE pair of each item

2) ZERO inventory,

3) With all that additional space, a MASSIVE selection

3) Everything gets shipped straight to your home.

When you walk into the store they measure you, scan your credit card, and hand you a barcode scanner. Scan what you want and the perfectly sized clothing shows up on your doorstep in a day or two.

Nice side effects:

1) No more fear because it's easy to take back to the store if you don't like it.

2) For all the people that don't live in NYC or LA there would finally be a store with a decent selection...

3) Few clothing stores actually track purchases-- finally, you could now have a killer recommendation system that people would actually trust.

Solves so many problems (and probably creates a few). It kind of reminds me of Service Merchandise back in the day where they only had one item out front and everything else in the warehouse-- except now the warehouse is in "the cloud" so to speak.

...I already do this at Barnes & Noble-- browse for what I want and I've already Amazon Prime'd the book before I walk out the door...

Beyond the obvious technical challenges to me the biggest question is whether the economics of it works when you individually ship everything from a central location.
The right to create unions is a fundamental American protection. I realize in our lifetimes we have seen some unions become more of a problem then a benefit. This is what happens to most institutions as they become too big and "crufty". Sometimes you swing too far in one direction. The system corrects itself. But to trash one part of the constitution while savagely protecting another part is simply unacceptable. Its all or nothing.

And so far as protectionism goes. This is just another feeling that I am certain _most_ Americans will start swinging in the other direction on. The next year will see China<->U.S. sentiments on both sides growing very tense.

And high taxes? Get this straight: When the FED/Treasury "prints" money, that is a tax!!! And the last 8 years we've seen massive amounts this form of debt.
It may be just a speech, but that acceptance address was one heck of a way to start things off. Despite a strong (though very much appreciated) message of hope, he was very clear on the magnitude of the problem and the effort it was going to take to solve it. He seemed to touch on a lot of issues that I felt were critical to the future of the country. Energy and environmental challenges, getting the economy back to stable ground, healing political divides and tempering extremism; these are all issues that need to be tackled, and I am happy that he addressed them here.

Hopefully his policies will live up to the talk, but if nothing else I believe that his message alone will go a long way towards helping improve things. It seems all too rare these days for a politician to say that yes, things will be difficult and dirty, and there are going to need to be sacrifices from everyone, but despite all the hardships we really can work to build a better future.
I’m currently reading ‘The 4 hour work week’ and I just purchased ‘God created the integers’. I tend to read most of my non-fiction in bits and pieces when i have spare chunks of time. I tend to do most of my light reading on holiday and go cover to cover in a couple of days. I’ve followed Grisham for what seems like forever, and while its a bit hit and miss i’ve liked alot of the short stories by stephen king / richard bachman. Over the past couple of years I’ve enjoyed ‘making money’ - Pratchett, ‘The Godfather’ - Puzo, ‘grapes of wrath’ - Steinbeck, ‘vernon god little’ - Pierre & ‘shogun’ - Clavell.
Whenever I travel I’ll try and read a book set in the country I’m traveling to.

As a child I just couldn’t put down the Macdonald Hall series of books by Gordon Korman - they were side splittingly funny. Highly recommend Christmas present for any child you know.
Freedom Food: my president is black lyrics by Young Jeezy
Steve Blank Nov-20 Lunch @ SV Computer History Museum "Secret History of Silicon Valley"
Truck Driving School
Truck Driving School - Ferrari Driving School is the LARGEST driver training school in the metropolitan area founded on the principal of safety in 1968. We train and offer driving classes/lessons on all types of vehicles such as Cars, Motorcycles, Buses, Trucks, Tractor Trailers, and Fork Lift.
There is no place for your enthusiasm here. This is not reddit ;)
"It aims to raise the profile of the open MP3 music format and show people what they can do with their downloads."

It's quite sad that in the aftermath (can we hope?) of DRM the MP3 format is seen as the 'open' format.

"The trade body behind the initiative said it should also help consumers identify legal sites."

Because it's so hard to copy a logo and stick it up on a site.
Harry Truman once observed "the only surprises are the history you don't know." This is an eye opening perspective on some history "hidden in plain sight" of the origins of Silicon Valley.

Video of a version of this talk given at Google is available here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFSPHfZQpIQ

The most interesting aspect of the talk for me was a vision of "systems fighting systems" in an accelerated co-evolution.
Aye, the saddest news in a long while. I wonder what can be done now to work against such a large setback...
Combinatorics for fun and profit
AT&T to try limits on monthly Internet traffic
Australian Govt funds IT start-ups
Sounds like a line edited out of the original Matrix ;)
It is inevitable. When there is not enough work to go around, spider senses start tingling and employees start seeking information; a lot of it. They look to upper management (good luck there buddy boy!), and worse, their cubicle neighbors.

From personal experience, I can tell you that the cynical tendencies of the office will distort and magnify layoff gossip, spreading it like wildfire and killing productivity. Managers, in general, must realize that workers are uncomfortable with an absence of information. They will in most cases choose the most convenient sources to fill in the void.

It has been once said that all information is good, even if it is bad. Those few that survive the latest brutal round of job cuts will expect a certain level of frankness from upper management to preserve motivation, as well as a sense of job security. Therefore, I agree and say the best option is transparency, but only on one condition. Cut once, cut deep, and prevent a demoralizing series of job layoffs that will only keep the workers guessing and the monster.com server busy.

I think the layoff blog is a great step; companies finally dishing the honesty and respect its workers deserve.
I still pinch myself that this guy presented his tech at a conference right before I did the same(my tech)....

And now Jeff Han followed by me ..what