skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
When I was <18, most of the books I read were from libraries. My parents aren't poor, by any measure, but they don't believe in paying for a lump of dead tree you only read once. Books can inspire. They help you improve your literacy.

Local libraries are pretty cheap. Programs to give books to poor children may not be as cost effective. Giving computers to poor children may simply result in them being sold, either by the kids or their parents.

Commercial libraries (proprietary libraries) have existed. They typically catered to the kind of people who paid a lot for membership - upper middle class professionals. If we relied on commercial public libraries today, they would be stacked with O'Reilly's books, Tolkien, popular economics, management books, and the like.
No, not immediately, but Santorum and the American religious right in general make no secret of their disdain for this country's founding principle of the separation of church and state, and are clearly eager to impose their religious dogma on the rest of us – see the current far-right platform issues of abortion and now birth control, for instance. They really won't stop until they can impose christian notions of morality on the entire country.

So while Santorum himself is unlikely to bring on religious-based executions even if he did become president, a vote for him is a vote that the country continue down this frightening and destructive path. Stay on that path long enough, and eventually we end up where Iran is now.
Closer to a virtual machine which treats most things as function, nouns, and lists; fairly close to human thoughts. Naked and abstract and systematic hence easier to process, but beside cad/cdr name, I don't see too much machinery here.

here's IPL, an influence of lisp, also a list processing language (c/p from wikipedia)

IPL-V List Structure Example
Name	SYMB	LINK
L1	9-1	100
100	S4	101
101	S5	0
9-1	0	200
200	A1	201
201	V1	202
202	A2	203
203	V2	0

How human LISP feels now ;) ?
This made me laugh. Thanks.
Understood. If you hop on into the our exercise team's hipchat room (https://www.hipchat.com/g2m3UVDtY) and throw us some specific spots where you got stuck, we'll try to improve.
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CINT is really rather silly as the main interface to ROOT. ROOT is awesome, and huge, and you do need to use C++ to take full advantage of it, but it is also accessible from Python which is a far more sensible language to use in a REPL or in small scripts. I always did C++ for longer scripts or to integrate with other C/C++ work, but Python for quick scripts and REPL exploration.

Nice to see CINT evolving and using clang for better conformance (and performance, presumably), and hopefully this will free some time that was being spent on CINT but if you find yourself using this more than once for physics analysis, do yourself a favor and try python instead.
5 Reasons Why We Live In A Freaking Exciting Time
The author of Magpie has some interesting ideas about designing a language with extensible syntax. Sorry I can't find you a more specific link right away.

http://magpie.stuffwithstuff.com/index.html
Also, it may be worth checking out the walkthrough video and extended docs here, linked from @stchangg's post: http://khan-exercises.readthedocs.org/en/latest/index.html
I just installed the preview myself, and the answer is yes! It still gives the other displays a linen background and renders them useless, though.
Saying it’s bad to think your vote is foregone is different from saying it’s wrong.

And I’m not sure it is bad. It’s the truth, and it’s best to trust people with that. Knowing that my vote is effectively uncounted makes me more, not less, politically effective.
"Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes."

--Dijkstra

I think half of my CS curriculum in college was done as pencil & paper assignments. Logic, algorithmic analysis, and the like. You learn enough "computer stuff" to be able to use it as a vehicle for learning how to think.

We learned enough of Java in CS101 to explain abstract data types, encapsulation, invariants, etc. We learned enough C++ to explore OO design by patterns. We learned enough assembly to explore low level stuff like how a call stack actually works. We learned enough Lisp to explore language concepts. And so forth.

Anything else, well, that was yours to learn in an internship, or on the side with whatever project you want to do to explore it. And employability after graduation was pretty much correlated to how willing you were to work harder than what was required in coursework.
Humans who do a lot of math switch notations when convenient. For example, for addition we'll sometimes put a summation sign in prefix notation. For division we like to put the numerator above the denominator, a notation that's inconvenient in a programming language.

Come to think of it, humans usually add and subtract by stacking numbers vertically. I don't think you can point at infix notation as "the" human-friendly notation.
Show HN: Native Analytics (work in progress)
While you are at it could you support alternate syntaxes for the same Expr ? Perhaps encoding the syntax version at the top of the file or setting the reader at the top of the file? For those porting matlab code over either provide a tool to translate the source or put the reader in matlab compatible mode.
Yes, university funding has already seen some cuts, but I’d rather see more cuts to universities and fewer cuts to libraries. They’re not the same thing.

Of course they are not the same thing. So why are we comparing them as if they were? Rather than identifying a library's strengths and comparing that directly to universities, you should identify a library's strengths and a university's strengths, and compare the two sets.
Jury nullification will be at play here.
This or some variant of it is most likely the future of scientific publications, now that physical publication isn't really necessary.

A really good example is arXiv (http://arxiv.org/).
Wow. I cannot believe the pettiness of comments here. VLC is a fantastic media player, and I'm quite appalled to see the conversation here dominated by such little gripes. VLC plays media more reliably than any other program I've tried, on Windows, Linux or Mac OS X. And whether or not you consider it perfect, reaching the 2.0 milestone is something to be lauded, not bitched about.
Thanks for that link, it was very helpful. It got me wondering if one could run most of your PAAS stack on dedicated hardware at a colo, and the Mongrel2 frontend(s) would sit in a small EC2 instance(s). Could give me your opinion on such a setup?
I've been mulling over the idea of writing my own analytics package for a while now, and finally decided to sit down and do it. NA is a simple web analytics package that runs on a target web server, feeds directly from the server's web traffic and requires no tracking Javascript code to be placed on site's pages.

I'm early in the process, so any ideas and feedback is welcome.
Sounds like mine too. Also sounds like any decent program. I'm not sure why people expect college to produce you with every skill you'd ever need in a job. College is supposed to give you the ability to learn those skills and point you in the right direction.
Good article. Unfortunately while reading it, it's difficult to ignore the fact that neither of these should be cut at all before cuts are made to overseas military campaigns, CIA, war on drugs, DHS, corporate welfare, cronyism, etc. etc.
Several years ago I came to the conclusion that Computer Science is basically a narrow discipline of advanced "applied" mathematics, and I have always found that the best way to describe it.
Might be more doable to make a nacl plugin
Respectfully, I don't think I've done what you say I've done. I say "they're not the same thing" because, as I said in the post, a lot of people lump them together as "investing in knowledge for society" or the like.

I didn't set out to identify a library's strengths. I believe many of the university's supposed strengths are actually better applicable to libraries.
I feel like access to people in the field is _much_ more valuable than access to books on the subject.
Libraries are also a great place to apply for jobs or file your taxes.
Quite possible that I'm overanalyzing it, but only A/B testing would say for sure. Either way, thanks for reading the post and taking the time to question whether rearranging navigation options has an impact on conversions, which pages get the most traffic, etc.

My view is based on my experience. When I first visited the site, I was ready to sign up. But then my eyes glanced at the navigation bar, and the blog was linked first.

So I clicked on 'Blog' instead of signing up.

As much as I was ready to sign up, I also find it very interesting to read startups' blogs, so I clicked through there and only really came back to sign up because I was planning to write a blog post about Buffer's UX. I would have bounced otherwise.

Moreover, the blog's masthead + logo link to the subdomain's index (i.e. the blog itself), so while there's a prominent 'Sign Up' element on the blog (credit to the Buffer team on that), my initial attempt to go back to the home page (and perhaps sign up) was met with a return to the blog. I don't think most users have much patience, and it's quite possible that people visit, get distracted by the blog, and then bounce, especially when a first attempt at going back to bufferapp.com doesn't pan out as expected.

Even if the order doesn't matter at all, and there's no impact from 'Blog' being first, my point is also about subdomains, as I sort of hinted at above. So when I say the current UI directs traffic away from the main site, I mean to say that if I click on 'Blog', almost all of my interaction options from there send me to somewhere else on the blog.bufferapp.com subdomain where my options are less about those on the main site (i.e. sign up, explore pricing, etc.), and more about reading posts, commenting, clicking through to the founders' Twitter pages, etc. For all I know, that interaction may somehow increase brand affinity and the likelihood of positive word of mouth for Buffer. But in the short run it seems more likely that it will distract from at least one metric: registrations.
Ask HN: Strategies for single source HTML5 mobile apps?
Is it even possible? Most of the js toolkits like Jquery Mobile say they are cross platform and cross device ready, but none of them actually look and feel like a WEB app (They look awesome on desktop browsers but you probably need a little more on a desktop web app). The widgets and buttons look nice on mobile devices but I was wondering have people actually built applications with single source and if so how and what were some UI design strategies and methods you employed.
He didn't make the connection, and you'd have to be specifically looking for it to read that into his statement, I think. I read it as just a list of some of the qualities of the Iranian state.

And gizmo is right, there have been brutal dictators who use religion as a cudgel, and there have been those who haven't.
Thank you, and I agree with you. I'd hope nearly everyone agrees with what you said.

The way I see it, libraries are so incredible, and so important, that even the mighty university should be cut before libraries are.
I'm not sure what you meant by that, but the article does in fact link to the relevant source:

http://code.google.com/codesearch#OAMlx_jo-ck/src/chrome/bro...
> Look to Britain.

What happened to UK libraries?

The poster says

> Today, California cuts the funding for interlibrary loan (oh, sorry young, rural, LGBTQ youth who was hoping to get an anonymous loan of a book that might tell you that your life isn't a freakish abomination as so many of your class-mates insist, here, try this copy of The Sweet Valley Twins from 1989 instead). Tomorrow we have to charge for meeting rooms and our fines have been increased by 150%. The day after that we're a contracted out to a company that puts advertising in your books, has low, low rates on Red Box(C) rentals, and who's under absolutely no compulsion to protect your checkout history from police searches (also, you now get advertising in your email based on that history as a Value Added Service!)

Are there libraries in UK with advertisements in books and low rate rentals in place of free lending?

I remember there were talks in UK about putting advertisements in the official gazette but I hope they didn't really did it.
China to launch next manned spacecraft in summer
How Seconds Makes Your Phone Number Your New Payment Identity
I'm not sure if universities should have their funding cut but libraries seem very foolish to keep funding. Wouldn't it be better to invest all the money currently spent on libraries in to an online library? Imagine the amount of information we could have easy access to?
I did give this a try a while back, as an alternative to local coffee shops. Baristas seem friendly most of the time. I try to buy something every hour or two that I'm there, and respectfully leave after a while if the place is full.

Quite honestly, I didn't enjoy spending time at my local library. The atmosphere was depressing. The people running the place seemed unfriendly. They were used to dealing with people coming in and trying to hide in the bathroom during closing in order to stay the night, and things like that.

There was no good place nearby to get food or drinks. Internet access was slower, more inconvenient and more restrictive than most coffee shops. There didn't seem to be a community of people hanging out working on or talking about interesting things.

If libraries created an inviting place to hang out, I would gladly give them another try. I'm more than willing to buy food and drinks at a markup if they're offered. I consider that a good trade: I get sustenance to keep me concentrating for extended periods of time, and they get some compensation for use of the space and resources.
Having to deal with registration and account management is a choice, not a necessity. From bugmenot to mytrashmail, examples of websites not having to solve account management are numerous.

The registration is often a barrier preventing people from using your service, and it's not even mandatory to have user management [1].

[1]: https://jobpoacher.com/blog/blog/2012/02/13/what-craigslist-...
Feedback, tools and libraries along with any live examples will be very helpful.
But opendns is one of the servers that gives you bogus results instead of NXDOMAIN.
Education is for acquiring abilities, not just knowledge. Seeing that you have kept up with the current technology stacks with ease, I'd say that CS degree has served you well.
This article is almost as hilarious as the RIAA president's op-ed; unfortunately, this one doesn't reveal the author's name.
Display subtitles better? You did not test 2.0.0. This is exactly what was fixed in this version.

You might need to use the OpenGL output on Linux, though.
I wonder how the Facebook movie rentals thing is going... I think Facebook's ultimate destiny is as an aggregator, sending people to more niche/targeted sites.
Is it really worth comparing them so simplistically? This is a point-of-view from one side, pointing at a few flaws (of many, ignoring the positives) of universities, and a few positives (of many, ignoring the flaws) of libraries.

'Comparisons are odious' as they say....
Yes.

Some audio outputs have changed to the new mode, some have not. It will come in some future minor releases.
This comment is one of the best demonstrations of why an Apple TV set will be such an easy sell to cable providers.
Yes/No.

We also need to move many VLC modules to LGPL, since VLC/iOS needs static linking on this platform.

But, I am working on it. It takes a lot of time, and I am already doing much on my free time.
This is unfortunate, but this needs a correct media library to do so.

It will come in the next version.
I wouldn't shop on Facebook, for a few reasons.

One - I don't trust them... At some point they will do "beacon" or something similar again.

Two - Facebook will eventually either make you use FB gift cards or make a cut from the retailer. Either way, it will cost more.

Three - If I want a pair of khakis from the Gap, I can type "gap.com"... Or go down the Facebook navigation rabbit hole, which changes several times per year.

The only thing that makes sense to me for Facebook commerce is marketing at people who don't have access to credit cards, or at people whose only internet access is Facebook via feature phones.
The Delivery Guy Who Saw Jeremy Lin Coming
Why cities keep on growing, corporations always die, and life gets faster
Ask HN: List of public updated YC application videos?
The previous list on http://wikitorrents.org/wiki/ycombinator_applicants seems to be gone now (the domain isn't directing anywhere anymore).

I have a friend whom I wanted to show some application videos to of previously accepted YC companies. Can't seem to find a current list of them.
I think a lot of the argument for public funding of universities (and for K-12 education, even) is that public goods are created by having a highly educated population (workforce, voters, etc.)

To the extent that university education produces private goods (specific career training, credentials, etc.) there is a lot weaker argument for public funding.

The argument for public funding of universities is mostly not about it being a social safety net or producing equality of opportunity, at least not before the early 1990s or so, so that university students are generally from middle class or higher isn't as relevant.
Good point. UCLA and its ilk are famous enough, it'd serve the public much better to fund public services like libraries.
The top story on Hacker News right now, http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3607217 (also the link I start the post with), explains one of the problems with doing that. As many important functions move online, the library is one place someone without a computer and computer skills can use to gain access to the online world.

Libraries also provide a meeting place for the community, access to librarians, and many free classes.

I do agree it makes less sense now for libraries to have large physical collections. The shift to an online library seems inevitable there. But access to this from local libraries is still important.
neighbourhood watch and locally funded andor volunteer police, vigilanteesm & personal responsibility

fire insurance includes fire department service. you can go cheap and risk burning down but it's more likely that decent friendly neighbours will gladly cover yours if you can't. or you can move to more affordable housing within your means

health insurance with discounts for taking care of yourself

competition between doctors and between pharmaceuticals driving innovation, skills and real results forward while driving prices down.

would you rather get chemo for pennies while someone else can get immortality for millions or would you rather pay millions for chemo equally with everyone else

private or shared roads according to free will and common mutual interest

i don't want just anyone to come in to my house as they please. or my driveway, or if my driveway is very long = my road

i'm responsible for my property amd my own actions. i don't want to tell you what to do and i don't want your money. we can agree to exchange things for mutual benefit and i will do everything i can to keep to agreed terms - staking my word and reputation

there is nothing wrong with public libraries or charity regardless if selfish or for common good as long as it's funded with free will instead of threat of tax prison

crappy mismanaged unused library should go broke while the good library can pay for itself with fees and donations

just like your startup
Have you looked at Nemerle?
Quick Note: Chorme's Private Browsing does not cache anything. No need to mess with configuration.
I also posted that comment without reading the article -- that was just my first response to "yet another programming language".

I'm sure that it's filling a real need. I just wish that groups could cooperate to make a handful of languages/libraries better rather than having 100 competing ones.
Geeks and video geeks love to tweak at the best their media players. VLC is not the best tool for that, compared to selecting your own renderer, own codec pack+configuration and own subtitles codecs. This is normal.

However, since VLC is getting too mainstream, I see more and more of hate that is unjustified. When asked why, they cannot explain why. This is a bit annoying to be honest.

Finally, VLC being Cross-Platform cannot be the best on all platforms. We do our best, but we cannot be 100% perfect, especially with so little time. We need to do a company, but what Business Model?
Is this not the perfect use case for a torrent?
Looks cool. But what is the advantage of this over Mixpanel?
SSH has more robust security than SSL seems to if only because once you've established a connection with a remote host, whereupon their public key is displayed and validated, it can be saved as "trusted".

The same principle doesn't seem to apply for SSL in browsers where, so long as it's signed by a "trusted" authority, there's no question the certificate is valid.

There has to be a better way than this.
There are links to several at the bottom of http://ycombinator.com/video.html
Yup, and also scrub every new USENET post by 10:10.

That stupid Yanoff List wrecked everything. =)
“A healthy, 30-year-old young man has a good job, makes a good living, but decides: You know what? I'm not going to spend 200 or 300 dollars a month for health insurance, because I'm healthy; I don't need it,” Blitzer said. “But you know, something terrible happens; all of a sudden, he needs it. Who's going to pay for it, if he goes into a coma, for example? Who pays for that?

“What he should do is whatever he wants to do, and assume responsibility for himself,” Paul said. ”My advice to him would have a major medical policy, but not before —"

“But he doesn't have that,” Blitzer said. “He doesn't have it and he's — and he needs — he needs intensive care for six months. Who pays?”

“That's what freedom is all about: taking your own risks.,” Paul said, repeating the standard libertarian view as some in the audience cheered.

“But congressman, are you saying that society should just let him die,” Blitzer asked.

“Yeah,” came the shout from the audience. That affirmative was repeated at least three times.

-- LA Times article "Support at GOP debate for letting the uninsured die" [1]

[1] http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/13/news/la-pn-ron-paul-...
> Because it's the platform default. That's how it should be.

Yep, this is the exact reason. None of the developer like it much, but using the default option on a platform improve the integration.
This is intensely interesting but completely off topic.
I am really interested in your project. I am working on an service where I think analytics will have a big benefit to my customers. I am struggling with rolling my own or using a 3rd party service. Both have pros and cons. I think in the end rolling my own will be the way to go, since I want to show users how many people visited their site ( and how many people contacted them) in a very simple way. Basically just show them the two numbers.

PS: I am in Calgary (go flames go) :-)
my main machine is an mbp - which is maxed at 8 Gig. Every day it starts paging under at most a modest load. This is an artifact of the operating system and Safari (which leaks memory)

I had the same issues with uSoft windows which led me to switching to Mac's. Early macbooks and mbp's did not do this, but have been getting progressively worse since Snow Leopard. Lion has a very nice interface and a lot of convenience, but, for me, it's getting intolerable.

I'm reverting to Linux for development work. I'll probably keep the mac for graphics