skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
In Ohio, the way of funding public grade schools (by giving local property taxes to local schools) has been ruled unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court four times.

Education inequality is directly linked to income inequality, and our government has failed to solve this problem. Essentially, what we have here is the forced inter-generational transfer of socioeconomic status.

Privatization of schools would not fix this. Free markets fail to find the global optimum in many situations; these situations are called market failures. We need to design systems that benefit societal welfare over individual welfare in the education, healthcare and government sectors.

Injecting technological innovation into the lives of students will not adequately address education inequality (unless you build something that provides students good food, safe homes, and loving families). If you give all students access to, say, MIT OpenCourseWare, it might boost everyone up by the same level, but it will not address the educational gap between the lucky and the unlucky.

We must not allow luck to play a part in education: children deserve to be enabled to reach their full potential, and not be permanent victims of arbitrary systems of distribution.

Edit: If you downvote, write a reply.
"I prefer books that are much the opposite, like Priciples of Mathematical Analysis. I like to fill in the gaps in terse presentations and poke around on the internet for applications and other things."

You are a special case. I think you can succeed in spite of the book being used. :)
It might not be an elegant choice of words, but it is not redundant in the same way that "PIN number" is redundant.
You can't draw that conclusion unless he has an adopted sibling or a biological sibling that was put up for adoption. Normal unadopted children share both their genes and their environment with their parents.

When studies have been done on identical twins raised apart, they've shown that genetics matters far more than parental environment, with genes being responsible for close to 40% of the variance in a wide array of personality traits, parental nurturing responsible for about 10%, and the child's peer group responsible for the remaining 50%.
Guys, what do you say we dial down the whole power-nerd thing a little bit, okay? This really doesn't matter.
Resting on the assumption that it's the system that's broken and not the kids?
I'm not sold on scribe yet. I've been using syslog, and more recently syslog-ng, to do log filtering, routing, and aggregation for years.
PG: Please endorse a candidate so we know whom to vote for
1) Barack Obama + Joe Biden
2) John McCain + Sarah Palin
St Louis, MO

Well, sort of. I'm really in O'Fallon, MO, but STL isn't very far away.
the improvements have become best practices and carry over.

They also become canaries, for when you hear "well, that's what we used to do but now it is different". There are best practices for buying a house, and then there were the "new way of things" during the bubble -- bidding wars, listings with offer expiration dates, etc. Three years ago, a real estate agent may have told you that you may have to be willing to pay more to get into the market or be priced out for good. That makes very little economic sense on an asset level, but it was the "new way of things". How is that working out now?
Doesn't matter if it is profitable for the last leg of a console cycle (almost all consoles are). It matters if they can make the 360 profitable overall.
The Rich Get Richer, Internet Edition
Is this supposed to be fun!?
Ask YC: What are the best ways to market bootstrapped apps?
What are the best ways to market bootstrapped apps? PPC is great because of the tracking but the costs add up very fast. Obviously approaching blogs/news sites/newspapers/magazines is a great way to get some PR, but what are some other ways?
I hope this is a joke.

Can I downmod a topic?
Based on precedent, most voters probably don't qualify as human beings then...
Agree in principle, but it's not quite four years.

The quoted post was on September 5, 2004. On September 25, 2006, Yegge said "Rhino rocks." - http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2006/09/bloggers-block-4-rub... - So two years. The only new thing in that time was JavaScript 1.7 (which was a pretty good release, AFAIR).
Also, if you're reading this Paul, can you recommend what we should eat for breakfast? Thanks.

And, if it's not too much trouble, I could use a recommendation on a good aftershave.
Well if anything; it's good practice for hitting the "flag" button.

As a feature request, it would be nice to see everyone who upvoted an item prior to it being [dead]-ed.
You're right, I missed some details in the original article. After re-reading the original article, I fully agree with you.
When everything around you appears broken, look for a mirror that isn't.
Mr. Clean Magic Eraser will return the yellow to white. My MB of 2 yrs still looks brand new.
I managed to find an older version of the book, but somehow still unused, for a much lower price. I haven't found anything missing yet that I really need to know. I'm sure Linear Algebra as a field of knowledge has advanced a lot in that time, but the basics are still the basics.

I bought it because I checked several Linear Algebra books out from the university library, including an even older version of Strang's, and found that I liked it far more than the rest. Good transitioning between motivation, explanation, proofs, and examples for each topic. Also, it follows the on-line Strang lectures.
That he gave Javascript another chance says more about him than his dismissal of it four years ago.

However: The Python community is the frostiest on the planet.
They're complete kneebiting buttheads to the last man.

I try hard not to conflate the merits of a programming language with its "community" (although sometimes that's damned hard to do), and it's made me a happier programmer.

(That said, I don't think I'd characterize the Python community as frosty or buttheads, either today or in 2004.)
AppJet now lets you host your own apps
Agreed. I also go to the Indy Ruby Meetup (one of the Star guys), and the city scene is not terrible. (at least, in terms of the talent you'll meet)

In terms of available jobs, it is a bit frustrating. I know the Dealer Flow guys are currently looking for new talent - they're doing some cool stuff w/ Erlang (ejabberd, primarily I believe) and Ruby/Rails. There's a place in town called Sagebit (sagebit.com), which is smaller and does a mix of their own products + consultancy work. I don't know if they're looking, but they're good people to meet regardless. (Ruby/Rails/Merb, btw.) I know there's also some startup stuff going on down in Bloomington, which is (of course, entirely by my own opinion) a bit more likely of a town to make good computer sci. contacts in the greater world, what with your proximity to IUB. I only say that to guess, however.

Additionally, there's a Python meetup group in town, a bit smaller than the Ruby group. They've been regularly meeting at Broadripple Brewpub, and are primarily pushed by Six Feet Up, a company that's pretty active in the Zope/Plone/Python world. SFU is mostly consultant based, not really a startup, but they're good people to meet if you're more into that sorta thing.

AFA an HN meetup in Indy, I'd give a +1 to that.
A Computer Wanted
The dumbification of Spore
Mileszs, I am all about having a HN meetup in Indy. That would be great. It could really help people brainstorm and make the right connections. I think as the economy drags, you will see more of the programmers at places like Interactive Intelligence and others wanting to create a startup.
Right. I think his dismissal of Lua was particularly uninformed, since he recently became enthralled by the prototype-based programming style Lua handles so well (http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2008/10/universal-design-pat...). I don't know how good the JVM implementation of it is, though.

He also has a history of very vocally presenting his opinions (sometimes with factual errors...), then quietly retracting them later without explaining why. Too bad, because the reasons why people change their minds about deeply-held beliefs are often the most revealing points about issues, IMHO.

Admittedly, it's "drunken rants" blog, so maybe so much scrutiny is a bit unfair.
And this is interesting: http://forum.spore.com/jforum/posts/list/5225.page "Thoughts on Spore from an ex-Maxis intern."
I Would be down to do a HN meetup as well. I had no idea about the ruby meeting... which is awesome.

I know at least 2-3 people which might come to either/both depending on timing/schedules.

Anyone have a good idea for organizing this? Not to re-invent the 'meetup.com' wheel, but perhaps we could create a mini "HN Fans Meetup" web app, that would benefit not only people in Indy but also any other state that isnt CA or MA..

Edit: I live near Broad Ripple, so pretty much anywhere that isnt Greenwood or Westfield is game. Even then, I'll probably come. :)

Brian
Baroque Mandelbrot Zoom
Claim you are Amish: http://www.amishnews.com/amisharticles/amishss.htm

Tucked into the 138 page bill was a clause exempting the Old Order Amish, and any other religious sect who conscientiously objected to insurance, from paying Social Security payments, providing that sect had been in existence since December 31, 1950. After Senate approval in July, the signing of the bill by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 13, 1965, made it official and canceled tax accounts of some 15,000 Amish people amounting to nearly $250,000.
Looks a good book. Would any readers know of a good book on more advanced linear algebar particularly all things eigen - eigenvalues eigenfunctions and so on theory and application, but not just lists of theorems (much like the recommended book)
There is no way to make people perfectly equal. There are, however, ways to improve educational opportunities for everyone. Technology is one way. Educational markets are another. These methods should be embraced.

Raising the quality of education for everyone is important. Maybe I have a capacity for envy below that of the average human, but I would rather see everyone get a 10x better education than see the gap between the best and the worst narrowed by some amount. If we could choose between a program that increased everybody's income by $10,000 or one that reduced everybody's income by 50%, I would rather choose the first program even though the second would dramatically decrease any measure of income inequality.

Unfortunately, children from wealthy homes don't get better educations only because their schools have more money to spend. If this were the case, the United States would have the best primary schools in the world and perennial hell-holes like DC Public Schools would be educational utopias. Rather, parents in wealthy homes play an active role in their children's education and place importance on the role of education in their children's lives, as their parents likely did.

The government could redistribute income, but it can't redistribute culture. Unless we resort to monstrous social engineering schemes like allocating children to homes by lottery istead of by birth, we are not going to eliminate the inequality caused by home culture. And we haven't begun to talk about the inequalities caused by genetics.

But working on a solution to inequality is focusing on the wrong problem. It is a symptom of zero-sum thinking that doesn't reflect the issues of the real world. The real problem is how to improve the educational opportunity for each person, not equalize opportunities between people. After all, you can equalize the education everyone receives by banning education.

Luck will always play a role in life. We can still try to make every life better.
We had a rather successful Ask YC on this several days ago - see http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=341138

It did focus mostly on online PR, however, so perhaps others could provide deeper coverage on this question on areas I know of but have not tried (or no longer use). For example:

- trade shows

- schwag

- guerrilla marketing

- speaking at events (supposedly can work wonders if you do it right)

- publicity stunts (think Richard Branson)

- becoming a press contact who's quoted a lot

- producing an event for your industry / sector yourself (worked wonders for Carsonified!)

- presenting your product in a remarkable way (think of how Google presented Chrome with the comicbook approach - get inspired by Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud - http://www.scottmccloud.com/ - or see http://xplane.com/ for a more corporate look)

- paying for word of mouth (risky)

- on the street promotion (booths, etc)

- leveraging networks like LinkedIn

- sponsorships

- cross promotions

- affiliate marketing

- e-mail list marketing (not spam)

- lead development and phone calls (surprisingly effective in many areas, though I don't do it as it's not relevant to my sector)

- writing a book on your topic (works better if you're a consultant OR you're happy to be the "face" of your product)

- social objects (look at Hugh MacLeod's career as of the last 3 years)

- be interviewed

- do your own interviews of people in your industry for your company's blog (see FiveRuns' blog for this in action - it's been very successful)

In terms of books, some personal recommendations (as in, I've read them and they rock):

- Dirty Little Secrets of Buzz by David Seaman (this is like dynamite)

- Whatever You Think, Think the Opposite by Paul Arden

- Any of the "Guerrilla Marketing" books by Jay Conrad Levinson

- Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson.
I think it really depends on how comfortable you are with mathematical symbols as a means of conveying something. I, for instance, tend to think of things very geometrically or algorithmically, so usually in understanding mathematics I have to visualize the application and work backwards. As such, the "applications" aren't so much a toolbox a la applied math as much as nice concrete examples that help me understand the underlying theory.

And for the record, another hat in the ring for Strang's Linear Algebra and its Applications.
This approach isn't for every company, but if you offer a free application that is related to your industry then that can be an amazing way to get traffic and name recognition. Basically, a free viral application to get others to do the marketing for you.
It's not racism (thought it used to be - US immigration policies regarding "Orientals" were shocking at one point). If it were racial then it'd be ridiculously easy for western Europeans to emigrate to the US - and it's not. I've wanted to move to the US for a few years now.

However, like you, I've wondered why immigration isn't being discussed as a serious solution to our economic problems - so good one for bringing it up.
The Sellers’ Market for Startup Investing will Restart in ~12 Months
I hated math in college, I never thought that any math past basic Algebra would ever be used again in my life. But as I progressed further in Computer Science, I learned that if anything, Linear Algebra is involved in so many cool fields; AI, Graphics, Searching, etc.

My biggest regret in college was not learning linear algebra as well as I should have, thanks for the great link.
Don't take Investment Now: It's the Era of the Entrepreneur
Money lost in financial markets have real consequences
It is redundant in precisely the same way.
Agreed, redundant duplicates saying the same thing them both pose no problem to clear communication.

edit: http://xkcd.com/386/
You could use svnrepository, which would give you trac instead of bugzilla for like $4 a month. I use them a lot for my stuff.
What is your opinion of the local property-tax education funding system? Education redistribution already occurs in that system; shouldn't we at least redistribute education more equally?
Renamed WiFi networks guilt freeloaders into buying coffee
I'm curious. Of the skills you have that earn you money, what percent were learned in public schools ( versus from parents, on your own, through social networks, on the job, etc)? And of the things you learned in school, how much of it was stuff that actually cost money to teach ( via direct instruction or expensive lab equipment) and how much of it was just doing the assigned readings?
Venus Draws Closer to the Moon | TechJaws
I think a government-run system has incentives that are going to produce a lower quality educational product for everyone. I am for educational markets. Subsidizing the consumption of education by poor people through something like a voucher program would likely mean higher quality education for poor and rich alike compared to the government-run model, for the same price.

I suspect that children of wealthy parents would perform better in school than their less-wealthy peers under any reasonable system. I don't think that is the problem that should concern us the most.
"... Japanese people are somewhat crazy about their savings. They tend not to invest but instead put it in banks ..."

Maybe because they are more experienced with an older culture. It makes sense to have cash in hand with larger, older populations. You can see the consequences of not doing this reading the quote below...

"... the deteriorating financial condition of our federal government in the face of skyrocketing health-care costs and the baby-boom retirement could fairly be described as a super-subprime crisis ..."

This is the reality of US retirees who will hit the US economy very soon ~ http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=351351
+1 for HN meetup. I have lived in Indy almost all my life and love it. However, if you are looking for a hot bed of web startups you are going to be disappointed. It is extremely hard to keep talented people here with the magnetic pull of SF and Boston.

The entrepreneurial community has been growing in the last few years and I believe the local angel investors and VC's are open to ideas revolving around the internet and technology. I have been to a few events put on by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and both had contests for the best startup pitch/idea. Both were run by small startups (a website and a database technology company).

Indy isn't for everyone. I say go where you have to to get what you want.
I've heard this many times but I always felt that a stable reaction was possible by limiting the size of the public treasury. Citizen's resistance to taxation seems to be a reasonable force capable of doing just this.

I feel differently now because it has morphed, via healthcare, into a moral issue versus a strictly financial one. People have grown into the idea that a person has a right to have any amount of money spent to prolong their lives, even for a few weeks. Previously this was impossible. Death was almost always quick and cheap because there was only so much medicine could do. Science is changing this rapidly.

You can imagine how this would lead to the collapse predicted with a simple thought experiment. What if every person could, at the end of their life, press a magic "science button" and get one extra year? What if this button cost $100 million to press?
It is different. "PIN Number" repeats the noun twice. "HTML Markup" uses "markup" twice, but the first instance is a different use than the second instance. In the first instance, it is used as a descriptor for the language. In the second instance, it is used to describe the thing that is written in the language.

Now the question is, can HTML be used in a sentence about something other than markup, thereby making the use of "markup" in "HTML markup" redundant? I think it can, because one can discuss HTML in general (the rules, the state of the latest version, etc) without referring to some specific markup under discussion.

So, I don't think it is the same kind of thing as "PIN Number" or "HTML Language".
I'm a student at BYU in Provo, UT. There are a lot of good hackers out here, about half of the students stay after they graduate. There are lots of startups in the area, with top-rated universities around the state; and more VC's (http://vSpring.com, for 1 example) are being formed as the tech startup environment continues to mature

Provo is "the country's second largest software center," according to Kiplinger,featuring top employers Novell, Micron Technology and Omniture."

http://www.kiplinger.com/features/archives/2008/05/2008-best...

Some of my friends work for http://EnticeLabs.com (a software startup in the HR space), http://InsideSales.com is out here, http://Omniture.com of course (founded by BYU students), and there's a growing list of tech bloggers to keep track of it all (http://connectblogs.com)
"... 'Our new investments in a down public market are tilted toward early stage ventures,' says Steve Jurvetson, a partner at VC firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson ..."

Right advice. Is DFJ a top tier VC?
I think you have a strong predilection for solutions that advocate the complete rearrangement of society - with no path to achieve it and no guarantee that it will provide any benefits until the transformation is complete. While they might provide you with a certain feeling of righteousness they seem to be useless.

Children already spend a large amount of time on optional education activities that do exist in a market. If we improve these it might just provide a path to better education within the public system.

I'd like to see the ways we train people in music, sports and with special needs extended to the core subjects like maths. In those cases a specialist in the learning of that subject will see the child perhaps once a week but oversee and dictate the practice that child undertakes.
Windows 7 to scale to 256 processors
"... I hope that was a joke. What do you propose ..."

I would propose, 'ill-logical'. Using foreign phrases in English where a simpler one suffices, makes for harder reading. It is often used by writers to impress, or prop-up arguments. There are quite a few readers who are reading English as a second or third language. Let the ideas come forward instead of the language.
I am Latino and had to suffer US border checks many times.

To be fair, on the last couple of times the immigration officers were very friendly, while the customs and (Homeland Security) ones were worse than ever. Uneducated bigots are the norm.

Let me tell you the last one. A customs officer started speaking to me in Cartman-Spanish (after a brief exchange in English) making a whole scene in front of about 50 people queuing behind me. After a while my patience was gone and I answered loudly "I'm very sorry but you don't speak Spanish and I cannot understand what you want. You are speaking in infinitive and skipping words, so it isn't clear if you are asking where I've been, where am I going to be, or the reason of my stay. Migrations didn't have a problem, so either check my luggage or let me go." At that point it was 50-50 he would kick me back out, but I guess the dirty looks he got from the people in the queue convinced him to just let me get through.

I don't even look Latino and had a valid visa right there in my passport. What my friends, relatives, and fellow Latinos go through is nauseating, like the occasional cavity search. It is very ironic this happens often in states named in our Language.

So trust me, it is racism.
If you don't mind sharing, what are you working on? I'd really love to know. (I understand if you don't want to say though)
people who criticize wikipedia are insecure
UI Design and Microsoft Windows
I think that the reason so many kids don't want to learn is not because of them - it's a result of the system.
Yes.

http://ycombinator.com/topvcs.html