skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
We see Google Maps in many ways as an endpoint of a search query [...] The people that come to MapQuest are here for the explicit purpose of finding "where is it, how do I get there and what’s nearby."

This sounds like dangerous denial to me. I'm admittedly a tech user, but I use Google Maps precisely to find "where is it, how do I get there", because it works better and is cleaner than Mapquest.
The Paulson Plan: ‘Truly Idiotic’
Thanks for your comments! (I'm one of the founders)

It works for application packages that are in the repository. Right now we have a collection of free software but we want to encourage developers to sign up and offer their apps through the store. We'll make the whole repository browseable soon so you can see what's
in the store right away. We're also working on improving the design.
That's our thought right now. We're really concentrating on just getting users for the time being. Later, we're hoping to sell branded placement and sponsorships for companies who want connect with specific groups.
We do have a facebook app as well. It's still pretty basic, but you can find it here: http://www.facebook.com/applications/MakeFive/16756537785
What problem does this thing solve that I would pay money to have solved?
I've always believed in the power of a nap when you start losing focus or are stumped on a particular problem. I've put a futon in my office for that exact purpose.
They always throw the old "child pron" line into these stories to gain public support.
Adding iTunes-style search to your Core Data application
It's interesting that you say that. It seems that people who use it tend to get rather addicted, with some online for eight-hour stretches and such. That being said, it could be that the fun of it doesn't translate that well on a first glance yet.

One thing that we're working on aggressively is the ability for users to showcase specific lists they've created as a bigger part of their profile. Our feeling is that this may help us better appeal to the individual who likes to broadcast what they think. (i.e. blog as personal diary, Twitter for brief snippets, MakeFive as a way to list all of the things they love/hate, etc.)

Are there specific things that turned you off about the site?
Without arguing the point, can you explain why merge is much, much easier with git? I just want to hear what things you bring up.

Have you tried it? It just works more often than an svn merge.

There are a variety of reasons for that. Git records more data about where the branch originated from, when it's been merged previously, etc. That makes it easier to merge successfully, without conflicts.

Sometimes things just conflict, though, and Git can't do anything about that. Git makes it very easy to get to an un-conflicted state quickly, though, even if it means forgetting the merge all together. svn is slightly less leniant, and if you say "merge", your only options are to fix the conflicts, commit the conflicted files (and be murdered by your coworkers), or throw away your working copy. Not fun.

So to answer your question -- merges no longer cause pain. They either Just Work, or you can revert them easily.
Last Week's Hottest Twitter Topics
I don't think it's even possible to miss the point I was trying to make more than you already have. I was cautioning against making assumptions about a person who has stated a vague opinion without the reasons for having that opinion. And just like the person I was responding to, you have done exactly that.

Some people, based on past experience, expect to be offended and see malice in words where there is none. Sometimes we make connections between others' statement based on our own beliefs. I guess it's just human nature. It's probably easier to ask for some clarification.
Thanks for reading the rest of my comment. Perhaps you should "take a step back, take a deep breath, and think a little harder".
BTW - We're also adding a widget that allows people to take a list they've created on MakeFive and share it on their blogs/websites. This will both accommodate the user's own list, as well as grabbing the community's response to a specific topic.

We think this will be a nice way for people to take what would have otherwise been static content on their blog, and allow others to interact with it through MakeFive. Plus, it opens their list up to a larger community than their blog would have.
Agreed, which is hopefully a sign of features to come.

During the summer it was awful.
Because history does not side with you. We made money off the airline bailout in 2001. We made money off the Chrysler bailout in the 60s. While the government may have lost $200 billion in the S&L crisis, much more saved by preventing a longer depression and the associated loss of tax revenue. Expand the length of time and the breadth of the factors you are looking at and all of a sudden even 4 trillion dollars doesn't seem like a bad investment if the return is more than that - even if it is an indirect return.
Jetpack pilot crosses Colorado canyon
Cory Doctorow: willing science fiction into fact
I think building Firefox addons that make keywords clickable is a wasted business. It won't be long before Twitter adds that functionality to their site. You can kind of already do that through search.twitter.com
Yes it does.

"If we add in the Citi bailout, the total cost now exceeds $4.6165 trillion dollars. "

These are not costs, they are guarantees. A cost is 100% sunk, no one knows exactly what percentage of these guarantees will ultimately be costs. But if it nears 50%, the bigger problem will be the number of homeless people in this country not the amount of money spent trying to prevent this from happening. And considering now a lot of mortgage companies are renegotiating and trying to prevent foreclosure, it is unlikely a lot of this money will end up being spent.

He makes no acknowledgement of that and therefore it is mis characterizing the expenses.
> If the title had been "Smith reviews: Here Comes Everybody", it wouldn't have an upvote.

That's because it's far from conveying as much information as the alternative.
Actually, if you packaged a Windows installation with it, you could put a special version of this on OS X!
If you actually say "Don't run into this particular black guy, because he mugged me" then your statement is equivalent to mine, and wouldn't be racist, just a statement of fact.

:)
Facebook would probably confirm that this still happens. They switched from simple ?cachebreakers to:

http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php/zD9BP/lpkg/rjg2jdf2/en_U...
Yes but in the US, the vast majority of bankruptcies are due to our crappy healthcare. A better fix would be to work out a health care system that didn't have such a terrible side effect and then those in bankruptcy would have done something wrong rather than being screwed by a crappy deal in life.
He also has a great article on the software developer condition: http://plover.net/~bonds/software.html
I try to take 3 naps + per week. I'm a big fan of the caffeine nap for the extra long days:

http://lifehacker.com/software/sleep/take-a-caffeine-nap-154...
Algorithm for determining if there's innovation left for X. Ask yourself these questions:

1) Are there lots of people who really want to use X?
2) Is there something that sucks about X?

Your answer is the AND of these two.
Don't just tempted be to flag it. Get this sensationalism out of here.
Yes that is what PG always says.
> self-marketroid personality cult

We're talking about the computer security industry, here. They have different standards when it comes to ego, and Schneier isn't actually that bad.
The xmpp stream is not publicly available anymore.
That's very interesting. What makes you a big fan? What effects do you observe? How does it compare to drinking coffee and not sleeping, or not drinking coffee and sleeping?
WPA Wi-Fi encryption (partially) cracked
Python: you are doing it wrong
AHN: What can we learn from Reddit?
In only the past couple months, the bottom seems to have fallen out, and to me (as someone who used the site for the past year) it's become virtually unusable. At this point, there's very little reason to use Reddit over sites like Digg unless you're reading comments on marginal topics that draw little interest.

So, the question is, what can we learn from Reddit? There was a bit of a false start the other day when somebody suggested making this a walled garden, which is clearly the wrong thing to do. What we need to do is determine the best ways to discourage thoughtless, asinine members and make the site distasteful for them without sacrificing the needs of the users we'd like to attract. I think we all agree that sites like this one fill a valuable niche, so we need to market to _only_ that niche.

* Mere exclusivity is not the answer, as evidenced by the poll results from the aforementioned post.

* Being abrasive would be in the wrong spirit as well, and would be tedious (we don't want to become moderators in that way).

I'll start: A simple option is to require a nominal signup fee to post. I'd be for it, although I'll admit that it's contrary to the "hacker" moniker which suggests anonymity (and doesn't much reflect the nature of the community, in any case).
Bill O'Reilly is the 3rd most evil American?

Heh heh heh...
Agreed. It always annoys me that I have to reinstall my OS every six months because of the crap I end up downloading.
That is strangely hypnotic.
The EU doesn't need good reasons to ban something. It is every bit as political as any other democratic body.

For example, see their ban on GM foods.
I prefer discussion and elaboration to simple lists, so a site that shares abbreviated opinions to me is a poor man's forum. Again, this applies to me only, and I know that the internet by its breadth fosters simple, microscopic content.
Not the parent, but I often take caffeine naps as well and they're great. For me they're always accompanied by an awesome action-packed nap dream and I wake up extremely refreshed.

Mine are a lot longer than 15 minutes, though -- usually 1.5 to 2 hours.
>Also note that 4 trillion dollars (or even 7) is less than half your gross domestic product.

Also note that no recession has cost more than a 13.0% decline in real GDP, and the median recession costs about a 1.0% decline in real GDP. These bailouts are almost certainly more expensive than the recession they aim to prevent. And that is not even considering the costs of the long-term moral hazard they create, and the costs keeping inefficient industries on government life-support.
1. It gives people a place for dialogue
Lists allow for a quick way to exchange ideas. You can skim a topic, make your picks, and then debate with others. It's a fun way to get a discussion going.

2. It helps brands reach their audience
We can stitch brands and advertising into the site in ways that connect with interested parties. (i.e. Dell could sponsor the Technology category for a month and build thought provoking contests around their brand.)
HP Creates First Hybrid Memristor Chip
Despite Your Skepticism, Lasers Are Being Used By The Military
Perspectives - Interviews without spoken words, only body language
Hi everyone!

We'd like to especially encourage any news.yc readers who write windows apps to distribute them via BaseShield. Just get in touch with me at my personal email: pat (at) baseshield.com -- if you want to list it for free we'll get it up right away, if you'd like to charge you'll be at the top of the list once we get payments going.

Thanks!
Eat the Loan Sharks
What if you got mugged by most black guys you met? Do you think outsourcing to faraway places has a success rate of over 50%? Would you bet money on this? And I'm speaking as someone from a faraway place who once lived off outsourcing. Price competition on your hourly rate sucks, but it was the only realistic way we could make money.
New Nano-Fabric Allows You to Dunk Clothes in Water Without it Getting Wet
I'm not sure I could force myself to fall asleep after drinking some caffeine, especially when I have a kitchen timer staring my in the face with 15 minutes left on it.
what the hell is going on here...

i thought it was going to be some kinda charades thing, but they just cut out the word responses to the questions and left the parts where they're not speaking.

doesn't really give any information at all
Open Comparability: against anti-benchmarking EULAs
I agree with you and I feel that this is something that we haven’t quite remedied yet.

The nice part with the brief lists is that it allows almost anyone an easy entry point to a discussion. Plus, the nature of these list forces users to condense their choices, which we feel is helpful. (It does make the site nice to browse and information easy to digest.)

But as I noted, we do recognize the need to make the dialogue more involved. The element that we’re adding next week asks users to explain why they made their selections, which we’re hoping adds to the amount of content as well as the depth of conversation.

For some this won’t appeal at all; however, for people as obsessive and particular as me, it will be nice to compile my list of the best entrepreneurial books I’ve ever read, alongside extended notes on why I enjoyed them. :-)
It depends on historical perspective... it's all in the details.

since this is a financial institution bailout (and not say an auto manufacturer bailout) - you've already proven my point.

not to mention if you add up all of the gains and losses of previous bailouts (my math may be off so feel free to correct me http://www.propublica.org/special/bailout-aftermaths), it adds up to a net loss of 173 billion dollars (it's probably more because I don't see Amtrak on the list - and that thing continues to lose money even today)

(even if history was against me, there is still no good valid excuse for not having public transparency)

krschultz your post, a logical and valid response, was all I was asking for. I just think it's lame when someone can't come up with a good counterargument, that they just post a petty complaint as a response
Depending on how far you go with the virtualization options, this scheme could be the basis of an superior browser plugin architecture. Have you guys thought much about how you might integrate with browsers?
Glad to see that he beat out the E-Harmony Pitch Guy. ;-)
December 12, 2003 ?
Openness and the Disaggregated Future of Higher Education - SlideShare
They're fully aware of the threat. That sentence is just corporate rhetoric for avoiding admitting the threat Google provides.

MapQuest does a fantastic job and I hope they continue to succeed, a shining example of a niche market that they nail on delivery and suitably monetizing.
It's always surprising that most people are that bad at math.

.01 x .8 /(.01 x .8 + (.99 x 9.6 / 100)) ~= 0.0776 or 7.8%
You may have a useful algorithm, but it does not determine if there is innovation left for X. It seems to be a function that determines if there is potential profit in innovating for X.
How's this for anonymous: send me your sign-up fee, and I won't tell PG who you are. ;)

...which brings me to my point: The general spirit around here of discouraging snowclones and other common easy/thoughtless forms of humor seems to be staving off a lot of the Digg/Reddit critical mass devolution.
Hopefully, it won't require developers to use a specific language or framework.

An interesting alternative idea might be to create a cross-platform "app store" written in AIR that delivers cross-platform AIR apps.
Caffeine takes 15 minutes to kick in. So it won't disturb your nap. Down an espresso shot before your nap and you will wake up in 15 minutes without a kitchen timer and you will be very alert too.
Personally, I don't see anything wrong with it; it still beats Perl for readability.

bada bing
As noted, the merge strategy(-ies) git uses is less prone to causing conflicts-- but TBH, you're always going to encounter some. (DVCSes in general produce fewer conflicts due to various tree merge shenanigans. Darcs and Codeville in particular have more interesting merge algorithms.)

The other huge factor I find that helps with maintaining git release/signed-off/otherwise cherrypicked branches is that git commits tend to be smaller and more discrete (due to, among other things, git stash and cheap history operations) -- I almost never see commits like 'Updates' and then 10-20 files with git, and they're endemic with every SVN/p4 instance I've seen.

It's pretty easy to stash your changes and make a tiny fix with git. Separating things out into discrete changes with SVN (and p4, named changelists don't help that much) usually involves some vimdiff/ediff and patch pain. There are some utils to make it easier, but git makes it trivial.
Such a good idea that it's been done, especially for games. (Steam, Direct2Drive, Stardock, etc.)
The key part of the article is this: "But you have to go look for those and that takes time and smarts." If you don't have those kind of resources (the smarts is the tough one to find), hardware becomes much more efficient.
According to this guy, the only ad hominem argument is invoking ad hominem. Of course, he is using the "no true Scotsman" fallacy to prove his point saying that the other arguments aren't "true" ad hominem.
Hmm... It seems a big fuss over the semantics of a single word, then, especially as you seem to be using it in a non-standard way. No one says, for example, "I bought a car yesterday, but I won't know how much it cost until I eventually sell it."

The bailout has an up-front cost -- an opportunity cost if nothing else. That's $4.6 trillion that suddenly cannot be used for something else, right now, regardless of the value of the assets we are purchasing.
Ender's Game Review
"Have you tried it? It just works more often than an svn merge."

I use it every day, and don't find this to be true. I have to resolve conflicts at about the same rate as I did with Subversion.

"Git makes it very easy to get to an un-conflicted state quickly, though, even if it means forgetting the merge all together. svn is slightly less leniant, and if you say "merge", your only options are to fix the conflicts, commit the conflicted files (and be murdered by your coworkers), or throw away your working copy. Not fun."

Don't be silly. When it comes to conflicts, you can either resolve them, or throw the merge away. Git is no different than Subversion in this regard.
Free Ruby eBook - The Book Of Ruby
Bettors simply aggregated the opinions of the pundits, the statisticians and media, and their sheer number averaged it out. Without access to the media, the bettors would not have enough information to be as accurate.

What the markets are are just an averaging of more informed opinions - look what happened when Sarah Palin got picked - the media hyped that up, and the bettors went with it.
Lunascape Browser: Firefox, Internet Explorer And Chrome All-In-One
Sure, but we expect doctors (who receive much greater education and compensation than most people) to get it right.
And in particular with probability. It's amazing how difficult it is for people to fake random data.

If you ask half a class to actually perform and record 100 coin flips and half to fake the data, it's almost trivial to guess which is which either by looking for a string of 5-6 heads or tails in a row (which humans almost never have), or by calculating the percentage flips following a heads that are tails (which should be ~50%, but for humans tends to be much higher).
You do realize that you could add 'fun' 'off-topic' and 'not-programming-related' to your ignored tags, then check "Hide Ignored Tags" in your preferences? This will prevent you from having to see any posts with these tags again.
There are several Job Alchemy above being one of them.

There's one in the UK (who's name I can't remember right now) which specializes in "referal" hiring, taking advantage of the fact many large employers give employee's significant bonuses for referred hires to essentially create a secondary market for recruitment based upon referal bonus payments.
Does anyone at HN know where the memristor is going? From my perspective this seems like exactly what is needed to maintain d/dt[computing power/$] during the next decade, but given how bleeding edge this is, it is difficult to find good information about just what is going on.

Are there any good articles or papers about how to make gates from memristors, for instance? It would be interesting to see what all the fuss is about.
Why you should sell open source software
Man I wish I had this for OS X apps. I know there are tons of awesome apps out there for the Mac, and I use many, but if there were some central place to find them I'm sure I'd buy more.
HN and the codebase does a good job of preventing the downward spiral encountered by digg/reddit by requiring a karma threshold for the more important features.

to get to the useful features, you have to prove yourself worthy with good contributions to the community, and all it takes is one really out of line comment and all your privileges are gone again.

gives the community a much easier way of self-policing.
This isn't a straw man. It was open speculation (I doubt...) on my part. I wasn't attempting to misrepresent their argument, but making the point that the presentation is completely unbalanced. They make vague reference to modern day synthetics being 'convenient'. It would be like denouncing medicine for its side-effects and high cost
while barely alluding to the fact that it saves lives.
Apple will now match competitor prices in-store
What's alarming and interesting isn't that they have a lot of years of school and miss this, but that interpreting diagnostic tests correctly is a core part of their job and they miss it. How many lives are adversely effected and how many billions are wasted by doctors making inappropriate decisions because they don't know how to interpret data correctly?
Installed on a single Humvee does not equal "being used". Lasers are being demoed by the military, just as they have been for years, and just as they will be for as long as the R&D money holds out.

There’s no ammunition concerns, just power, and despite being totally un-serviceable in the field, the lack of moving parts makes the possibility of breaking very slim.

This is so hilarious it makes my sides hurt.

First, there's the phrase "just power". As if you could run a military laser on a pair of AA batteries. As if the N kilowatt portable generator, the gigantic battery pack, the capacitor bank, and/or the long extension cord trailing behind you aren't pretty big handicaps to your movement and your logistics, just as ammunition is.

"Lack of moving parts?" Sounds like someone doesn't understand lasers. For one thing, although lasers are the most efficient converters of electricity to light in the world, their wall plug efficiency is still only of order 50%. That means that for every joule you pump into the enemy, you're generating a joule of waste heat. This works, because the heat is more concentrated at the far end than it is at your end. But you still need a high-performance cooling system. And your cooling system contains... moving parts! Coolant! Pumps! Heat exchangers! All of which can break down, and which tend to weigh a lot.

The other problem is that you only think the laser has no moving parts. But I assure you that deep inside the sealed packages, deep inside the crystals where the action is, atoms are moving. Metals are migrating. Defects are migrating. Meanwhile, on the outside, dust motes are fusing themselves to your lenses. So there's only so many shots you're going to get out of your laser before it dies forever and needs to be replaced. Particularly if you're running it at high power, which keeps it under a high temperature.
I meant changing color - maybe adding an icon.
But making it public as well (not just private).
So if you are on a post that a top user makes, you see his color header.