skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Timeline wasn't about the mechanisms of time travel, it was about the past. He may have gotten some physics wrong, but it was the historical stuff that stuck with me.

While I agree that some of his newer stuff wasn't so good, his older stuff really turned me on to certain fields like archeology, physics, nanotechnology etc. My mouth literally dropped open when I saw the headline.

I wish his family well. :(
If the only difference between the stated policy positions of Obama and Mccain was this one tax policy, then you might make some sense.

As it is I can only conclude that you are really bad at math.
Perhaps born with the genes but developed over time with education, etc.
For $0 I can get Linux, Apache, PHP, MySQL, Python, Django, Ruby, Rails, Java, MediaWiki, Mailman, Wordpress, OpenOffice, etc, etc.

With Microsoft, after 3 years, you have to start paying for everything. With the software I've listed above, I'll never be forced to cough up money for it, and I'll never be subject to vendor lock-in.

Microsoft's initial price of $0 looks attractive, but you'll never own the software so you have to factor in the Total Costs of Non-Ownership: they want to make you dependent on them so they can jack up their prices.

Most startups use Free Software running on a GNU/Linux platform, and Microsoft's BizSpark program is clearly a response to this. But people don't use Free Software because it's cheap, they use it because it's better -- which is why BizSpark will fail.

The BizSpark process also seems overly bureaucratic and there are questions as to what actually you are allowed to do with the software MS provide -- for my full review to BizSpark see http://www.includipedia.com/blog/2008/11/05/microsoft-bizspa...
It is hard to make a simil with addiction without having other connotations. Microsoft is a platform made on purpose to be incompatible with anything else and actively trying to keep you hooked and paying. That is the point, not death.
that's a relatively cheap snipe.

any curriculum will contain material that just isn't interesting or useful to every student.
Andromeda strain was written while he was in med school and published under a pseudonym iirc. I don't think he had time to think of a proper ending :-).
ASK HN: Git client for windows?
I want to host my source code on GitHub, but I want to be able to access it from my windows machines, using a MS Windows program. Any Ideas?
I disagree with the article where it says: Tools and languages are like foreign languages - if you don’t use it, you lose it.

You don't lose it, you just get rusty. I haven't coded in C, C++ or Smalltalk in years. If I started again, it would take me a few days to get up to speed. But after then I'd be just as productive as I was.
MP3 Gets a Logo. Who's Next?
In short: no.

I have seen tens of examples where people of incredible logical/analytical heritage sink to the bottom of the barrel, as well as those that rise to the top from no discernible "good" set of genes.

There is more, I believe, than being born in making a person understand and function on a logical level. It requires a whole set of correct external stimuli, as well as a certain drive.

For me, I can clearly define two key points in my life: one that got me started in the right logical way, and one that directed me into computers specifically. As for the drive, it's also very much a function of environment, because I have seen my own motivation and desire tide and ebb depending on various external inputs.

In conclusion, I would say that there is potential in a majority of us to achieve amazing things, yet this potential requires specific grooming to blossom.
Scott Adams lives in a world without transaction fees.
well , you might want to watch an video(online) about Bigtable or Chubby.
FWIW - I would gladly pay to use gmail (and receive support) ahh business models are beautiful.
As it is, I can only conclude that you are really bad at reading, since my post contains general observations about taxation, and only a brief remark about Obama.

In the interest of making everyone smarter, rather than throwing mud, might you care to share where my math is wrong?
Human beings don't always act rationally or irrationally due to emotions. So calling some as logical is illogical, assuming that you meant someone is completely logical when you say 'born logical'.

Where and how you grow up plays a big role in how logical you are.
The long list of skills is a symptom of a much larger problem. Too many companies are just clueless about hiring technical staff.

These things don't work: using HR, resume databases, keyword searches, creating an overlong and too detailed list of requirements and then treating them as a checklist.

Yet, this is the approach taken by far too many companies. The result, of course, is a stack of resumes a mile high that each contain a list of as many buzzwords and skills as possible. How do companies expect to find a good match in all that?

The way out is simple. Create a simple resume, with a small focused set of "skills". Leave out anything that's irrelevant to what you actually want to do. Then send it to a small handful of companies that run reasonable adverts. There may be fewer such opportunities, but I think a focused approach works better in the long run.
My father died from BSOD, you insensitive clod!
New Samsung Phone: a Real iPhone Killer?
Simple Explanation of OpenID via Fibonacci
Malcom Gladwell has a new book coming out in a couple of weeks called "Outliers".. He delves into all of this, I'm half way through it and I cant put it down. He has so much proof! Proof of all of the contributing factors that go into the exceptional accomplishments of certain extraordinary people. People like Bill Gates and Bill Joy. It's a little mean of me to mention the book as I think it gets released on the 18th, until I saw your post I resisted mentioning it.

The only answer I have for you is probably not what you are looking for- there is a Buddhist expression called "mu". It means you have to un-ask the question before we can proceed, your question is like saying "are you still beating your wife?" Of course, either way one answers is incorrect- if you say "no" it could mean you used to beat your wife, and if yes thats quite bad as well. The correct answer can only be mu. So, in essence, there are too many factors involved for a yes or no . Get the book and then email me if you would like, I'd love to chat about it, its fantastic!
There's a MinGW port:

http://code.google.com/p/msysgit/

Never used it myself, but heard fairly good things about it. It's officially beta quality, which means that some of the corner cases don't work right, but I've heard that common usage is fairly stable.
What about something like FixThisBarack.com?
think anyone would use it?
Mark Cuban: "Having an elected black President will do more to energize this country than any economic or social policy ever could."

... yeah if he were black. But why omit being half white? That's the gist of my comment. Or why not just say a half-cast? I personally am not phased by any which way.

But, it's important that US citizens (I'm not one so I am not pursing this thread further) create their own narrative, and I say aim to include as much information as possible, especially to children, instead of downmodding anything that comes in the way of the dream.
I beg to differ, their software is not quality and not a good price in the long run.

* Microsoft products are a nightmare to maintain, just one thing to show is the amount of reboots
required for most updates, including just applications or services.
* IE is a nightmare not just for users but for web developers, they destroy everybody else's
standardization attempts.
* IIS is another standards and performance nightmare, and they killed all other commercial competitors
with a dirty war of licensing and hard limiting their software (Workstation vs. server) by undocumented
configuration.
* Outlook/Exchange are incompatible with almost anything out there. [Edit: and some of their worse in performance!]
* Microsoft Office is not just incompatible, but Microsoft actively sabotages any attempt by third
parties to make a standard (last month half of the Office Open XML board quit in protest.) They did
similar strategies on the undocumented OS services dirty war back in the 90s.
* SQL server is also hard to move out of and is horrible in performance for similar tests compared to
open source solutions (Oracle being even slower doesn't prove it is good.)
* Their security record is one of the worst in the industry for the big players, several famous
researchers stopped informing them altogether. (There are a few exceptions here and there, like DNS
earlier this year.)
* They push draconian DRM systems and the darker side of Trusted Computing, where you completely lose
control of your own hardware and a big brother organization will be able to limit and
potentially spy on you without your authorization or even your knowledge.

This can go on for several more pages.

http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/1999/11/16/microsoft_serve...
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081003-norwegian-stan...
Technically you don't own FLOSS software either, never having to pay a license fee is very attractive.

Free is nice, but we still pay for commercial software. We spend $600 for each license of IntelliJ because it woks better for us than Eclipse.

Also, in the end you want to build something people want.

If you have a bunch of engineers who are good at .Net, why not use the Microsoft stack to get that done quickly? Go out and build!
Where did you GET Outliers, perchance, if it's not out yet?
I would try to attract someone who thought the job itself sounded interesting. But I can't figure out what you want your new employee to do. What exactly is "lead management software"? Why is it cool, and why is your company likely to succeed?
and a company (thankfully) has the right to make money.

That you actually have to point this out on a site largely populated by people running startups is pretty sad.
Now I'm really jealous. I've been waiting for that book to come out for months.
Michael Crichton was an amazing scientific and creative mind and the world is worse off for his passing. His books inspired many from my generation to have more of an interest in science and opened a world to adults and children alike.
Thanks Dave, but I don't think he's thinking about me...I'll be checking back to see who it is though, it sounds interesting!
I agree with the comment on mentioning compensation more explicitly. I have known several startups that were clueless about what "market rate" really is. Prove you aren't going to waste their time. It also shows whether you are looking for a great developer or just an average one.
Sure, what's your e-mail? Or just e-mail me at shawnpresser@gmail.com.
You consider "Joking (when appropriate)" to be a perk?
Good. Myself, I want to get rid of physical classrooms and go back to teaching, this time just online instead. Let's see what approach will prevail in the long run ;)
Why take your startup 'all-cloud'? A founder explains
I have an advanced copy. My father sent it to me, pops doesn't care for nonfiction and he knew I'd enjoy it. He used to own a bookstore so he still gets the gallys(spelling?). I'm almost done with it Unalone, email me and I'll put it in the post for you.
Ranking crowdsourced data with curves
A list of SaaS performance test tools
The real question is: what are you disposed to do / give up just for convenience?

Both MS and Google are all after that (so human) fact.
Hmm, I didn't actually get an email from you. Try again?

Also, keep in mind that HN readers won't be able to see the email address that you put in your profile... you have to explicitly put it in your "about" section.
I didn't see this here, I'll send the book out to whomever emails me first.
I didn't know that. I'm at TobiasCassell@Gmail- the book is still up for grabs.
I agree that a consensus needn't have every single person on board, however, the way people/journalists throw around that word in the context of Global Warming is as if every single person were on board. The verdict is far from unanimous from what I have gathered. Global Warming is a very controversial subject with very qualified climatologists on both sides. Let's be open-minded and reasonable before passing policy that will have very serious repercussions.

...I don't think this is Hacker News, unless we are talking CO2Stats. :)
LinkedIn Cuts 10% Of Staff
short of paying 7k/month (which I can't afford) to hire a real sales outsourcing service

The thing is, a direct sales process that works & functions predictably can be more akin to a production cost then a long winded marketing cost. If you run a training/consulting business a 'course' could cost you $A to prospect & sell $B to host & $C to teach. As long as $A stays more or less predictable & A+B+C still allows you to cover overheads, it works. 'Affording' shouldn't theoretically be an issue.

The part that is akin to an investment that you can afford or not is creating a system where A is predictable & reasonable. That might be achievable with a 7k/month outsourced sales. It may be achievable some other way. What you need to invest in (time and/or money) is finding it. So, your first couple of 7ks are an investment. An experiment. If it works, affording should no longer be part of the consideration.

There are companies that basically are a sales process just like there are companies that essentially are a product or a technology. If you are going to be a company that is a sales process or a big part of you is a sales process, then you probably need to be directly involved.
Sphere was the first novel I ever read. The imagery is still with me.
My problem with running XP on OLPC is that XP doesn't come with anything even half-useful to someone who may or may not speak English in a developing country.

OLPC's software was for learning and working that was language agnostic (mostly, as far as I could see) and offering stimulating applications for developing minds.

What the fk does XP come with? Minesweeper? Notepad? Fk nothing! I hate to swear but damn XP is so useless to _anyone_ new to computers out of the box.

So I care that the kids don't get the OLPC learning and fun stuff. This is why I can't bring myself to recommend to anyone of my friends that they get a computer with XP for their toddlers, coz there is fk nothing for them to do on it.

An OLPC for a toddler in any country would be useful on the other hand... Man this makes me angry (if you can't tell) :)
SOLD! Threadstarter was first!
To me, Obama is better than black. He is black AND white. That represents more the true value of american society.
Maybe it's true? How else can you explain the Messiah-worshipping fervor into which he whips his listeners? Seriously.
Obama Pwns Mcain in election, hacker pwns them both
I think banning laptops in class is a good idea. When I had my laptop in class I basically screwed around and looked up at the board occasionally to see if the professor had written anything on it. Turns out that's a pretty worthless way to take notes.

Then again, I get deathly bored of physical writing after about 2 sentences and half the time I can't even read what I wrote so I was more or less screwed either way.
Other people in this thread make other very good points, but I think this one needs to be said.

If I have a single unknown variable in an equation, and I have no way of estimating it, or knowing its variability, or anything, then anything I put down will most likely be wrong and will likely be off by several orders of magnitude.

Let me give an example. You are playing a first person shooter and you are told that you are going to pick how much ammo you'll need for the entire game at the beginning of the game and that if you pick too much "bad things will happen". How do you possibly decide? You can estimate based on other games you played, but if you look at all of them, you'll realize that they all need very different amounts!
The number you pick when you start the game will be completely arbitrary and will have VERY different effects on the gameplay.

Let me give another example, you are playing the stock market on a day trading scheme. You want to know if you'll profit, so you look on google finance and see a chart that is trending very slightly up but with a lot of variability. You say, well it looks like it is going up RIGHT NOW! Indeed you execute the trade and then you realize this: You have no idea when the end of the spike is. You have no idea when to pull out, and indeed the time you do will have a heavy financial impact.To paraphrase from the show House MD, there is a right answer. You may have no way of knowing what the right answer is, but you'll still be wrong if you're wrong.

This is the point that the guy was trying to make. When you know nothing, the only thing you can do is manipulate the equation to suit your perception. In the end you will only deceive yourself.
I am in law school. I started school not bringing my laptop but that quickly changed.

My notes are better because I can edit without crossing out. I can insert, delete, and copy+paste.

I make bold, italics, larger print, etc.

My notes are in outline format from the beginning. There is no need for me to waste time by typing my notes at a later date. Trust me. In law school you need a very comprehensive outline to take a final. Handwritten notes won't get you there. Also, when it comes time to take the bar, you want your old outlines. They will get lost in print form.

Also, several classes require you to have the text of large volumes of statutes. I am talking 1000 pages of statutes per class. I have electronic copies of those. That saves me from having to carry extra books (not to mention the tress).

Also, I can search my notes, cases, and statutes to find the information I need. I am not flipping through a book with 1000 pages of statutes. I can simply search for "notice" in UCC Article 9 and it will bring me to every single statute where notice matters. Very awesome.

I also search my notes and outlines from classes I already took to serve as a refresher when outside issues arise. Very handy.

Of course the computer can be a distraction. But it is a damn good learning tool, too. When it is time to listen, I stop taking notes. When a student or professor says something important, I write it down, just as if I used paper.
I noticed myself learning logical rigor as I learned to program. My hatred of bugs classically conditioned me to think through things in a way I wasn't accustomed to.

However, as with most yes/no questions, the correct answer is is "sorta".
Mary Meeker at Web 2.0 Summit: There is Hope
Business of Software 2008 Videos (Dharmesh Shah, Jason Fried, etc.)
OMG!

</sarcasm of sensationalist title>
Not passing policy is defacto policy, and there's a strong argument that not passing policy will have even more serious repercussions. The existence of a few qualified scientists saying that one thing either is or isn't true isn't enough to make it contested. Lord Kelvin believed heavier than air flight was impossible. The point is that the long-term predictions of our climate models can only be proven out at a time that may to too late to avoid widespread ecological disaster. One can't simply point at the gaps and say, well, you haven't proven anything. You need to show why an alternative is plausible. This is not done.

It may not be Hacker News, but environmental factors are one of the prime motivations for my own startup. I hope that hackers are interested in discussions involving science, engineering, and startups. But I wasn't the one to bring up this topic.
Y'know, I did say "almost always".

Seatbelt laws? Yeah, I can't think of much there, though I'm sure there's somebody out there who'll argue that seatbelt laws promote worse driving, and there have probably been some particular crashes in which seatbelts have led to rather than prevented injuries.

The GI Bill? Actually in my limited understanding that probably wound up having consequences well beyond what was originally intended, and it's likely that most of those consequences were on balance good rather than bad. But it doesn't make them any less unintended. It wrought major changes in higher education and in the demographics of cities vs suburbs, which were probably not on the minds of those who originally proposed the bill.
Meh, only recently. Hopefully things will return to normal soon.
... I wouldn't work for a company that lets HR drones write job descriptions - and honestly most companies I've had contact with from an employment POV actually have technical people recruit technical employees.
After loosing recently a good chunk of hard earned money following Scott Adam's financial advise I'm staying clear of his new ideas.

Sure I didn't pay much in commission but index tracker funds were a very stupid bet and just having an inflation plus simple savings account was many times better. Luckily I didn't go bold on this.
Please, expand on that.
If "begin with code and end with crap" is the first way and "think it through and code once" is the second way, I prefer the third way: http://www.ultratechnology.com/method.htm
The NLP concepts seem so broad and vague that whatever a socially skilled person is saying might be cast in terms of them. For example, can you imagine a single good public speaker that's not doing any "pacing and leading" or "emotion transfer"?
He is a very clever boy: since he doesn't stem from a white culture, but (quite) directly from an african one, he is able to capture nuances that practically no white man is able to see/feel/recognize.

He is really clever, in many more than one senses, and this is what US currently really needs...
So far the actual results are:

OH: Obama

FL: Obama

NC: ?

MO: ?

IN: Obama

ND: McCain

MT: McCain

All were wrong with IN.
I guessed from the title that it was going to be associated with that book. Its a really good read, and the best thing that's come from Marc Andreesen's blog. Highly recommended.
I can tell you that the currency difference is pretty sweet at the moment. However the timezone difference does make it more difficult to communicate with US/EU customers and business partners. The expense of enforcing contracts overseas could also be an issue. I wouldn't come back just because of tax rates.
What's more, he corrupts the youth and shall be sentenced to death by drinking a mixture containing poison hemlock.
So then you get these version numbers, even with decimals 2.6 or 2.7. That's nonsense. While version 1.0 should have been the finished product

Here's a number for you: 1 Billion nanodijkstras.
Is there a good javascript cheatsheet anywhere?

I only use it occasionally, and always get hit in the face by it not being Python.

"Oh "if c in string" doesn't work? Iteration isn't nice? Strings can't trim their own whitespace? Hello, haven't you ever used Python?"
"As we all know, there were a few very public and very unfortunate outages on the Amazon side, but being 100% honest with ourselves, as a brand new company we would have probably cause more downtime ourselves if we were running the conversion and storage for the app."

I rarely hear this type of thinking when discussing AWS. More people need to realize and accept this.
Obama promises new era of scientific innovation
Campbell/Jung revisted: The deep ties between our dreams and the religions of the world.
Fred, thx for the reference to this book. Just ordered it on Amazon based on your review and tons of others I found.