skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
It is just a slight disconnect: On the one hand, the Mac OS is effectively free of viruses. On the other, Apple recommends installing antivirus anyway.

The Register, of course, is blowing the whole thing way out of proportion. (...a sentence I originally put in my comment, and probably shouldn't have taken out.)
The Auto Execs Took My Advice
She is only hot by geek culture standards. She's a 6.5, 7 tops. Same thing with Sarah Lacey.
Non Obvious Relationship Awareness
You mean like in those places where there are western multi-billion oil extraction operations besides towns without running water? Yeah, it must be the locals don't understand property rights. Yeah.
Definitely the mini. When you are getting started you will want to throw it out the window with the joys of learning objective-c. Wait a day or two. It's not that bad.
Sounds like Vista + UAC.
Agreed. This is what I use and it's ok (with 2 gig RAM).
It's not a genetic disposition to corruption but a tolerance developed through overexposure. When most cops are corrupt there is less outrage over one corrupt cop because that is normal. People learn to accept what is all around them. Part of culture is what is tolerated and what isn't. It's a Catch-22.

The same thing can happen in the United States. Louisiana has a history of corruption mostly dating back to Huey Long but present before his term as governor (I grew up in Louisiana). Most voters accept it. It is assumed in every election that all the candidates are crooks. William Jefferson, who was caught with $90,000 dollars in bribes in his freezer, will continue to be reelected partly because voters don't expect better from other politicians. Alaska is different. It is a younger state with a less entrenched culture of corruption. Ted Stevens who was far more popular than William Jefferson lost a close race due to his convictions on corruption charges.
The words "web" and "start-up" could both be dropped: many companies at many stages in many spaces have fallen under this spell.
Designers are not all super expensive. I'd recommend hitting your regional Craigslist and posting on there, ask for resume / portfolios, and negotiate a price.

Tip #1: Pay them, and make it clear you'll pay them. Designers get shit upon so much and get all sorts of 'hey just do this design for me to build your portfolio' - 99% of them are sick of hearing that.

Tip #2: Have a clear vision of what you want. The quick way to suffering and painfully dealing with a designer is to not give them any limits or guidelines. Don't design it for them, but if you don't tell them where you want to go, how can you get pissed at them when they go their way and it isn't what you're looking for? Most of them won't take a job without a clear layout of what it is you want anyways.

Tip #3: Communicate. If you like a design, try to figure out what you like so they can replicate the look in other parts of the site. If you don't like a design, tell them why so they can fix that one part.
From: http://calacanis.com/2006/11/15/about-jon-miller/

"Leading this mission was Jon Miller, a quiet samurai of a leader who built our turnaround team and plan and then lead us into battle as we relentlessly executed against it. I watched him masterfully turn around AOL firsthand. It was impressive considering when I got here the company was torn between the two business models (subscription and advertising), and a year later we were CRUSHING Yahoo’s growth rate and were second only to Google’s. It wasn’t easy to turn this huge ship around, but we did it thanks to Jon’s leadership."

And we all know how well THAT worked out.
Whether we like it or not, attractiveness works even on people not looking for sex and in situations not directly related to mating.

There were many studies: attractive people earn more, are considered more intelligent, honest and kind.

Handsome criminals earn lighter sentences, pretty patients get better care from their doctors.

Visual stimuli of attractive people influence purchases, increasing chance of impulse decisions.

There is a reason why media bombard us with images of attractive people.
And it's quite helpful to know about those in advance. Thanks, unalone.
Not genetic, but cultural. The latter is fluid, though not as quick to change as you believe. Nevertheless, I think that African ideas, attitudes and cultures are changing for the better and I do have some optimism for the continent's future.

Still, I agree that there's not much point in continuing this. We're both arguing from the perspectives obtained from personal observation, so chances are this wouldn't have gone anywhere useful in any case. But thanks for the discussion.
I'd agree with some folks that there is no business here.

If you envision a business here, I'd write down exactly what you're going to build that people will pay for, then ask 50 Twitter users if they'd pay for it. If 10% say yes (and you believe them). If not, punt.
Ask HN: Mutiple Gmail Calendar sync with Iphone?
Does anyone know of a good solution to syncing multiple gmail calendars (from multiple app domains) to the iPhone? Unfortunately, nuevasync doesn't support multiple yet. I've just heard about NemuSync http://iphonefreakz.com/2008/05/16/sync-your-iphone-calendar-to-google-calendar-with-nemusync/ . Any thoughts?
The "macroevolution is unproven" dodge

Except it's not a dodge at all. E-coli is still E-coli, whether it powers itself on glucose or citrate. Regarding Lenski's E-coli experiment, an earlier study on E-coli showed uncultured strains of E-coli can metabolize citrate in low-oxygen conditions:
http://jb.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/180/16/4160

So that whole generation 31.5k citrate "evolution" in E-coli wasn't something new, it was a forced adaptation to E-coli by lab conditions. Great job, we yet again proved that a species is capable of adapting to extreme environments within the limits of its genetic makeup -- chalk another one up to micro-evolution and species adaptation.

Diane Dodd's fruit flies are still fruit flies, regardless of whether they prefer mates who eat maltose or starch. A fruit fly's preference for a type of mate does not create reproductive isolation (the two types can still reproduce), nor does it even come close to producing an entirely new species. This experiment is barely different than saying humans of a similar race prefer to mate with each other.

So again, from an ID perspective there are many holes in macro-evolution because it is entirely, 100% based on the faith in scientists that micro-evolutionary changes will add up. There is not a single macro-evolutionary study (and there never will be, because there isn't enough time) that conclusively proves the change from one type to another. All we have is that we can push a given type to it's pre-defined genetic limits by forced adaptation in lab conditions (Micro).

So yes, there is an overwhelming volume of evidence for micro-evolution (which I agree with - species adaptation in an environment and all), but here's the way I see it:

Scientists can observe and verify many independent and separate processes (examples: MicroEvolution works and Fossils exist). Each one of these independent, observable items are like small Lego Bricks, all solid pieces that you can build with -- of course, some fit together more properly than others.

Except the only problem is that scientists don't have the instructions, nor can they see the picture on the box, nor do they even have a clue how things really get built in the Lego Universe. So what we effectively have is a bunch of scientists that say "Well, these pieces fit together pretty nicely and we created something that looks pretty decent (to us), but we have absolutely no clue if we even built the right thing. Just have faith that the way we linked these pieces together is how it really looks on the box"
Stubbs -- ever figure out a good solution?
Jyothi,
I have been reading your comments on HN for quite a while.
I have noticed that you jump ahead and nag about India at the slightest opportunity.

Here's John F. Kennedy for you:
In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility—I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation.

ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.

Here is the video of that speech: http://youtube.com/watch?v=VB6hLg3PRbY

Your education, your earnings, your access to resources, put you under the "privileged few" in India. What are you doing to improve the situation?

The world that we live in today was not built in a day; nor did it come without sacrifices from devoted people:

Galileo was house arrested for supporting heliocentrism. In my childhood, when I was reading stories of scientists, I read about countless number of those great people harassed/killed by church or other forces. I used to get outraged at those atrocities. It took generations to establish the concepts of freedom of expression and science.

It took a civil war to end slavery. It took Civil Rights movement and Luther King, to make progress on racial-non-discrimination.
45 years later, Obama has declared "change has to America".

No, doubt you are facing great challenges. Progress is not made by complaining about problems. Progress is made by raising upto the challenge and marching towards solutions.

Are you upto it?
Some cool stories about technology, scaling, performance, building products, improving products, new features, cool hacks, etc would be what I would find interesting.

It just seems that a lot of the "business advice" is a bit nothingy - Not just 37signals, but Seth Godin, etc. Often it seems like having a "life coach" who used to work at Hallmark telling you things you already know in a slightly sermonistic way.
What an amazing story.. The last paragraph pretty much sums everything up.
No Mac version, sadly.
IBM/Microsoft: Futures Compared
Maybe my post is not very clear.

Seth Godin implies that Newton became famous because of something that amounts to a cheap marketing trick, instead of just being a genius who revolutionized math and physics.

I say if you want to find something cheap in what Newton has done, the only thing you can do is look at what modesty made him say about himself:'If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants'.

So now if you vote my post down, I'll know it's not a misunderstanding.
Nokia's N97 Does Not Kill iPhone, Here Is How
It's not the specific religion, but whether people follow what that religion teaches. I have a feeling that most Americans were more devout and morally upright in the 1930's than Americans, South Americans, or Africans today. All religions and humanists teach against corruption, but that counts for nothing if the population ignores relevant moral teachings.

I'm a christian so I'm inclined to believe that Christianity is the "best religion", but I have no doubt that a devout Muslim or principled atheist nation will resist corruption far better than a halfassed Christian nation.
We share this stuff on our blog almost every day. Keep an eye on Signal vs. Noise (http://www.37signals.com/svn) and the Product Blog (http://productblog.37signals.com) and you'll see all sorts of posts about building products, performance, improving, new features, tips and tricks, case studies, etc.
A similar realization hits me pretty strong at least once a week:

I'm a white male living in the United States. I'm in my 30s and I'm living through the heart of a technical revolution.

I'm doing what I love -- freelance hacking. I can (and do) work from anywhere (lived in Amsterdam last winter). I get to work on challenging projects.

I eat like kings could only dream (and that's just hitting up Taco Bell). I sleep in a comfortable bed and a warm home.

And my life ain't no dress rehearsal for the next one. I get one shot at it. (As far as I know.)

And I ask myself: am I still driving at it all as hard as I can? Or am I getting comfortable and lazy?
A note to all of my Facebook friends:

If you use any of these 12 tactics you will be my Facebook friend no longer.
there have been a few iphone development api's written through javascript, so if you want to create iphone apps, you don't need to have a mac.
http://phonegap.com/

however, if you are looking to learn to develop for iphone (as you mention above), then I too would go mac mini before apple ditches them.
I've always wondered if this was possible, and whether it would be accurate. With modern computers we could easily simulate 1000's of consumers and producers. If the individual behavior of consumers could be modeled accurately, we could have a realistic model of an economy. Granted modeling consumers accurately is easier said than done.
As has been said before: it’s fine if it’s a personal project and your only intention was to test your technical expertise or give your ego a shot it’s arm; if you want to pick a couple bucks by slapping AdSense or something, it’s still fine. However, you are in for a big disappointment if you are expecting a dime more than that. Nice app, but not just as nice business value.
Is it really illegal for a 14 year old to make money mowing lawns in the US without paying taxes or establishing a business? I wonder if there's an exemption, or if this is just handled by gov't looking the other way.

I like your term "extra legal." You may be right - that to truly comply with the law (ie., pay taxes, register as a business, and so forth), it's functionally impossible for a 14 year old to mow lawns for cash.

I completely disagree with your take on child labor laws. I can support the laws that banned using children to climb into hard to reach areas in coal mines without supporting onerous restrictions on mowing lawns.
I used the mini, but I prefer the new MacBook (World of Warcraft!)
As you mentioned, the main difference (to me, at least) is agnosticism and hackability. Merb forces almost nothing on you in terms of the framework stack. Also, the core of merb is much more approachable for people wanting to modify it for their own needs.
A New CMS and Why
Ask HN: getsatisfaction vs uservoice
Hi,

I am having tough time choosing between getsatisfaction or uservoice for Customer Feedback. What are your recommendations ?
Interesting article. I have been intrigued with photography for a while now. My girlfriend recently bought a dslr and I've been snapping some shots here and there but I have no idea what I'm doing. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good book to learn fundamental techniques in digital photography?
Great suggestions. Don't forget that you might be eating well now, but things can happen. And generosity now can circle back to help you when you really need it.

Fun doesn't have to be expensive, neither does food. Creativity counts, and as hackers, we have plenty of it.
This may be the laziest question yet on HN. Opening the main page of the Apple Store (http://store.apple.com/us) immediately tells you what is the cheapest mac: Mac Mini at $599 -- and from your question, it seems you already knew the Mac Mini existed. Is that so hard to figure out by yourself?
The App Store 5 Months On…
I too think it is important to work with a variety of languages, but it is even more important to be good with at least one. Basically, don't spread yourself too thin.
I've personally used both. Not sure if you're looking for user suggestions about the product (like feature suggestions) or for support related stuff. If you're looking for support, I'd go with Get Satisfaction.

For my product, we're going with Uservoice because we want to have most of our support come through our email and through Zendesk.
"E. coli is still E. coli, whether it powers itself on glucose or citrate."

Except that one of the defining factors of E. coli is that it cannot process citrate. But hey, I wouldn't want to ruin a perfectly good dodge.

And you've also neatly stepped aside the massive genetic evidence of evolution. The fact that we have specific genetic patterns that are clearly shared with proposed precursor species is pretty hard to ignore, which is why nearly all anti-evolutionists never address that evidence head on, instead attacking "macro-evolution" or older arguments like gap-arguments.

Except the only problem is that scientists don't have the instructions, nor can you see the picture on the box. So what we effectively have is a bunch of scientists that say "Well, these pieces fit together pretty nicely and we created something that looks pretty decent (to us), but we have absolutely no clue if we even built the right thing. Just have faith that the way we linked these pieces together is how it really looks on the box"

Which can be said of all science. Why do you hold special exception for Biology? Physics has core theories that are not entire validated or not understood, and yet you have no problem using a computer that works using principles said principles.

Simply put, you're applying inconsistent criterion to these to preserve a non-scientific ideology. You don't have a problem interacting with gravity, electricity, or nutrition (a far less understood science). But the fundamental unifying theory of biology? Well that steps on your minority fundamentalist religious convictions! Time to draw a line in the sand.

And the most irritating part about this is you mention ID. The most ironic part of ID is that it's not inconsistent with evolution. Evolution is just the mechanism. It's well within human capacity to design evolving systems, so why couldn't an omniscient God do the same? And indeed, wouldn't this vastly simplify the process?

In any event, religious folks always try to mix mechanism with meaning. The mechanism is something we can quantify and describe. The meaning is something you are free to imagine in any way you want. Religion has always been first about meaning and only later goes into mechanism when it begins to amass secular power.
Hear, hear! Whatever Hacker News is using needs to force wrap pre-formatted text! I feel like I'm reading Slashdot in the late 90's because of it...
Still, you are dealing directly with a programming language (akin to Lisp, but in M-form) instead of set of buttons, sliders, etc.

This simply means, that whatever type you can recreate it in other programming environment.
I think the mac mini is as cheap as you can get. I asked here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/299818/what-is-the-minimu... and got the same answer to my chagrin. But I'm now the proud owner of a mac mini. 1GB RAM seems enough so far.

So far objectiveC seems pretty crazy, coming from Python at least. It seems like the opposite of pseudo code if such a thing could exist.
still have to get a monitor, kb and mouse for the mini though

when you add this in, you maybe could swing a refurb imac or macbook from the apple store
Qt Widgets enter the third dimension: WolfenQt
Yep, totally agree, I just thought it would be more consumable if I focused it towards the web start-up world.
I have one at http://appshopper.com/
Hmmm... "I don't even know what I can initiate as an individual"...

Why don't you start a group? An NGO (Non-Government Organization a.k.a non-profit organization) with one simple goal. Then you are not facing that one simple goal as an individual but as a group, which gives you as an individual a lot of insulation.
2000 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hernando_de_Soto_(economist)

In the book he focuses in the third world and countries just out of communism. It is a very interesting work worth reading.
Social Personal Active Marketing, still spam, still sucks.
I know it doesn't really seem this way in the movies, but silenced machine guns still make a lot of noise. It just doesn't sound like gunfire.
Windows Live Rolls Out Its New Social Network Hub, Boosts SkyDrive/Photo Storage to 25 GB
How to Handle a Lowball Job Offer
Boo. Don't center everything.
An interesting method, but as the comments say, getting your load balancer or proxy to do the right thing is the tip of the iceberg. Migrating your database on the fly requires schema version-aware code, facilities for split-brain upgrades (e.g. with mmm MySQL), sensible handling of in-progress requests. All that gets costly in terms of development time and complexity that, unless you're really big or run a critical-availability service (from hospital down to ad serving), is arguably better used making your product better. Just eat the few minutes of downtime after setting your customers' expectations properly.
becoming a competent ui designer, not exceptional, is a task that can be undertaken in a manner similar to learning a language or technology. you won't be able to make a visual masterpiece, but you'll be able to make something that is color coordinated and somewhat visually appealing.
Take it from someone in the top 100 on the board... High score is no indicator of quality.
Also check out www.onellama.com (no downloads).
For the most part the marketers I'm connected to on Facebook have been respectful of my attention and have limited their messages to channels I've opted in to.

The only thing I've been subjected to that I don't like (though is probably borderline acceptable) is frequent reposting of items. Nothing like having the same link shoved down your throat 10 times a day.
I've heard the Kalyway installer makes getting OS X up and running on a basic Intel box pretty simple...
Writing a flexible toolkit is the easiest part. Applying it to do something actually useful that where the challenge is.

E.g.

OK, but you could just do that in Photoshop, right?
Oh shush, let’s do something you definitely can’t.

And so they create a widget that splits an image into 40 pieces, sorts and groups them by similarity whereby the size of the group is controlled interactively with a slider control. Undoubtedly cool, but ultimately useless for 99.9999% of image processing professionals.
...E. coli is that it cannot process citrate.

You must have missed that study I posted where it showed that E-coli already has the capability to process citrate within it's genetic code, it's just typically not utilized. Forcing something to adapt to an extreme environment within its genetic confines is not macro-evolution, thats micro-evolutionary adaptation. Let me repeat it: E-coli that processes glucose already has the ability to process citrate within its DNA. All these experiments have shown is that when you force a species to adapt it will adapt as far as it's genetic boundaries enable it.

Which can be said of all science. Why do you hold special exception for Biology?

I don't. I am particularly skeptical of Macro-Evolution because (1) it is entirely and completely unobservable and (2) is the human product of many independent processes that have all been linked together. This Macro-Evolutionary "process" is a creation of man, not inherent nor observable in the universe like gravity, electricity, and the effects of nutrition. Unlike physics, which is often provable through observation and mathematics, MacroE is man's attempt to build the unobservable from what can be observed, and I have every right to be skeptical when we move beyond the bounds of explaining the observable to explaining the unobservable.
I concur with your advice. BigTweet is a nice little add on that the author should be proud of, but few would pay for. But if you keep rolling out apps, the port and exp will grow. Before you know it you have google jet money!
I've got similar strategies. I work for the only organization in the US with an NDA that you can get life in prison for violating, so I'm trying to find side projects that demonstrate some skill and thinking about launching some sort of professional web presence.
Apple announces Top 10 iPhone App downloads of 2008
Gravity has always been the odd one out and hard to explain

What do you mean by this? can you please elaborate.

Einstein has already explained gravity as curvature of space caused by the presence of mass. And this is a well tested theory.
iTunes App Store Sales Trends