skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Yes, there is something wrong. I had a good friend put himself on the job market six months ago. He has the total package -- has worked on and shipped well-known products, has reviewable open-source projects and contributions, great academic pedigree, nice guy, even good looking -- I said something like, "You'll have five offers at the end of this week".

Three months later, no offer. What was most interesting was how few interviews he received. He went with the cold resume drop approach. It's almost as if no one reads them at all.

He eventually just took a job with someone he knew from a company he worked with in the past. And in fairness he has several open door offers (I've told him that if he ever wants to work with me, just email me a start date).

But the fact that someone who I would actually describe as top 1% of devs I've worked with can't get a job without relying on his network is kind of scary. Imagine if you want to ever change from one sub-industry to another. And some of the companies he applied to are the same ones you'll hear complaining about the lack of qualified talent, yet they didn't even do a phone screen on someone who I am confident is a lot better than 90% of their current workforce.
7. Ongoing Diagnosis

I always thought of creating a wearable device that can report the body's condition in real time. A device that can test the blood to find out amount of haemoglobin, essential minerals, sugar, cholesterol, urea, water etc. The device could be made safe enough to be inserted just below the skin, it could be made to transmit the information via radio waves to a receiver outside the body where you can read the information. We could write a program for the receiver which will process all the information and compare it to healthy values and based on it provide real time advice to the person. Eg. When you are dehydrating the receiver will say "Hey dude, drink some water quickly, or else you'll faint in 30 minutes!" "Hey dude, you should get some Vitamin B/C/D/E/K." If the circulation of blood slows down it could say "Hey you've not exercised in ages. It is time to exercise." It will redefine how we take care of ourselves. Caring in real time!
This parable is trying to demonstrate a point; padding it out with "uncertain, incomplete information" wouldn't make that point clearer.
I agree when looking at biological evolution, such as mutations in genes, this won't happen in 1,000 years. You're correct, the time scales are far too short for that.

In my post I was instead talking about technological evolution, though I didn't mention this explicitly, so I apologize for the confusion. The evolution of technology occurs far faster than genetic mutations, and can be more purposeful.

For example, in the near future I'd imagine some sort of intelligent A.I. will be created, running as a program, which could learn to upgrade itself by improving its source code and hardware to become even more intelligent. It'll surpass even the smartest humans shortly thereafter. Rather than waiting for a random bit to accidentally flip (e.g. genetic mutation), it'll upgrade itself deliberately to gain an advantage far quicker, shrinking evolutionary time scales down to fractions of what they once were.
See the links from http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3689491 - the bug in particular has some helpful commit comments, then read through http://src.chromium.org/viewvc/chrome/trunk/src/webkit/plugi...
Our social structure prevents self-limiting behavior. For example, eventually the robot has to be re-charged. If it isn't contributing to society then why would someone give it free energy to recharge itself.
I have mine going into a private corkboard.
Screenshot: http://shadowcatcher.mindcast.com/clips/1331434175oei42xz279...
This.

I don't have a MacBook, but upgrading 4 Gb to 16 Gb in my iMac made a huge difference.
<sarcasm/> :)
Outlook 2010 Feature – Send SMS Using Outlook 2010
I do agree that negotiating while considering the entire scope can be useful and beneficial to both parties, but it can be counter-productive to disclose your priorities. If one of your priorities is not a priority for me, I can still pretend that it is a priority for me, and give-in after a lot of tough back-and-forth. Then I can use that as leverage as we go down the list.

I feel that you should test the other side's priorities before you disclose yours. You would not want to trade an elephant for a pawn.
I had this exact same experience. It sucks. I actually didn't start getting job offers until I spent a week basically memorizing my entire computer science education.

It doesn't matter what you've accomplished if you don't remember what a red-black tree is you don't know how to program.
Rtorrent: console torrent client
Hmm, that's pretty interesting. I had decent luck with just applying online, but with the couple companies where I got a referral, things moved much faster.

I've always thought that the software industry is one of the few things you can get into without having a really good network (although it definitely helps).
BBC Plans To Launch Video Market Of Its Own, Contesting iTunes
Well, last year, I started a social platform for my own neighborhood. Today, we are serving over 6k neighborhoods on a zero dollar, nights and weekends dev schedule, and are currently seeking seed capital to go full time. Compared to our closest competitor who started with a $17m infusion, has burned through half of that, with less than 1k neighborhoods. Yeah, we are passionate, we are entering uncharted waters, and have no idea what we are doing beyond dev. Hence the need for seed stage capital. FYI, we are Home Elephant.
> Years ago, companies felt a loyalty to the country they were based. Now, companies do whatever is necessary to achieve the highest possible profit margins.

By 'years ago', you mean centuries, yes? Or are you indulging in nostalgia about the Imaginary Past? There seems to be a tendency to go on about how wonderful things were back in the day, but really they were not. Take the 60s, for instance; the US and its companies interacted with countries substantially nastier than China today, and, well, the domestic picture was hardly rosy either.
Wish Y Combinator Bookmarklet could be used on iOS
If the bookmarklet source code was also in a text area on the page I could copy it into an existing bookmark.
Skills Kids Should Learn
I have a good blog story if someone wants to write it:

Create a fictional rockstar resume(s). Not too over the top, but someone clearly a cut above the rest. And submit to various companies online. Report on which ones actually query back with interest.
Painting Tutorials: 15   Painting Tutorials For Beginners
Who provides the Internet service to Internet Service Providers (ISP's)?
Ask HN: Tools to make an API from *any* website?
I'm searching for tools that let you automate the extraction of data from any website, which might mean making an API or RSS Feed out of any website. I'm thinking something similar to the old Dapper[1] or Mozenda[2]. Also, what I'm not searching for are scraping libraries and frameworks to use in an application that I would have to develop myself.

What are the tools available?

[1] http://www.crunchbase.com/company/dapper
[2] http://www.mozenda.com/
https://www.googleapis.com/urlshortener/v1/url

how to make this service would make a better read.
I like how he goes after Facebook, a company run by a 27 year old Millenial with $3.7B in revenue last year ($1.3B more than the New York Times)
Show HN: Codebot, learning programming by playing
The almighty cin has it disadvantages when it comes down to performance. That's why I will always prefer scanf/gets, for a rather simple I/O performance boost.
Ask HN: Do you think the "democratic Internet" is over-stated?
A recent TED talk explaining YouTube virality says that tastemakers determine the initial spike in views. If a celebrity tweets or a journalist writes about a video, that creates the conditions for virality.

It got me thinking that, despite all the talk of a flat democratic Internet, the basic system of hierarchy (or oligarchy) from pre-Internet publishing and media is still fully in place. It's just that different small number of people determine what gets mass exposure.

What are your thoughts on this, particularly in regard to how it diverges from the public meme of a truly "democratic" Internet?
Node for iOS - seppo0010/nios
I could write a bit more, but the summary of what I would say, having lived in India for about 10 years, mostly during my turbulent teens, is:

1. Poverty is not a virtue.
2. There was evil in the old days too
They don't have to go somewhere else, tons of work can be done from at home. Hell I'm running a company and working for another with only my mobile phone for internet access. I could go anywhere I wanted but I've a damp corner that I've grown accustomed to.
Give direction to your life : JOIN THE INDIAN NAVY
THE INDIAN NAVY INVITES ENGINEERS TO JOIN THE INDIAN NAVY AS SHORT SERVICE COMMISSIONED OFFICERS IN EXECUTIVE BRANCH AND TECHNICAL BRANCH

Application are invited from unmaried male candidates for grant of short service commisssion in general service and executive service of the indian navy 2012. course at indian naval acedamy, kerala.

promotion and pay scale : pramotion from sub lieutentnt to commander is on time scale basic subject to fulfilment of requisite service condition.

priviledges : in addition to the CTC mentioned above,navy provide free medical facility for self and dependents,canteen facilities,sport facilities.

physical fitness : in naval acedamic curriculam, a lot of emphases is laid on physical fitness. you are therefore , advise to remain fit by undertaking regular successfuly.
Managed to install it by installing this first http://snoopy.allmarkedup.com/
According to this article you're doing it wrong and should move to North Dakota.
Is there a reason why Paul Graham's essay titles are images?
Even with client that you feel are going to turn out good, contracts are for when things turn out bad, and it can happen with good clients, Putting every stupid detail in a contract is the right way to go, they set expectations and are the arbitrator of conflicts and disputes. Even with good clients both sides should have a strong contract specifying what is expected from each party with as much detail as possible. Doing so protects each side from abuse.
iPad dominates due to Apple's supply deals
Shelling Out Sucks
My stupid comment on the interviewing is: Go figure out how many people can do an excellent job as an interviewee, take the number, divide it by 10 or 20 - that's the number of interviewer who know how to conduct a good interview.
http://diffbot.com?
He also did early concept work for Blade Runner. Syd Mead talks about his small influence in the early designs.
Strange Effects: The Mystifying History of Neutrino Experiments
Conceptualization at it's finest, thanks!
Not going to look it up on my phone, but someone did that about a month ago.
Looks like it could be interesting, but doesn't give enough info to warrant a signup. Not going to signup just to see what it is. Plus, the signup isn't even a signup, but a request for an invite, so approval isn't even guaranteed for the signup. More trouble than its worth IMO. Too bad there's nothing explaining what it is/does for anyone.
It's interesting to compare it to the modern version [1].

In a way, it really isn't much more complicated now. It's changed to take a format string, but beyond that, once you rip out the platform-specific ifdefs, the SMP/lock code, and the automatic reboot code, you're still left with a pretty simple function that does basically the same thing.

[1] http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git...
Reclaiming My Web Address
Sleeping Bag Case Lets Your iPad Enjoy the Great Outdoors [Cases]
Clincher that was redacted by the editor:

"Get off my lawn!"
Dear Valued Logoworks Customers
Last September, HP made a strategic decision to focus its web resources on non-design related projects. As a result, Logoworks is now closed. If you completed a design project with us in the past, you can continue to log-in and review your project using the link above until March 31, 2012.
As someone who just went through this, I had a similar experience. I was on contract through January. January comes around and I figure I'll have a gig no problem. As a front-end developer, I already had recruiters knocking down my door.

A month later, I finally landed a gig. I had a few offers, but over the course of a month, I had more frustration with people I was interviewing. Three places I interviewed with weren't looking for a front-end guy, they were looking for a Javascript programmer (my goal wasn't to write JS 7 hours a day - sorry). Also, I had several instances where the company had no idea what they were looking for. One company said they wanted someone who did a lot of server sided Javascript (node.js and backbone.js) as well as being a great designer. Seriously? WTF?

I agree that most of the interviews I excelled at, was where I got up and showed the company the app I just helped build. As opposed the the "code quizzes" a lot of places now use. I actually stopped a guy in one interview who kept asking me basic CSS stuff and said, "Did you even look at the sites in my portfolio or my personal site I built?"

All in all, it was very frustrating and I felt like I really had to go way out my way to try and convince people of my skill level. At other times, I was trying to pry out of them what they were really looking for.
Exactly the kind of tools I'm interested in. Thanks.
How to Multiply numbers by 9, 99, 999, 9999 and so on in less than 5 seconds
Pinterest Rip Off?
As a weibo user, sometimes I delete message because typo, or it may hurt my friends' feeling.

When you see other people's message got deleted, you have no way to know whether it is deleted by the user himself or censored (at least not until just a few weeks ago).

I am not defending Chinese gov here. But I am curious how can those researchers figure out whom has deleted the message?
The sensitivity-specificity curve is going to be a roadblock. If your False Positive rate is 0.5%, True Positive rate is 100% and your incidence of disease is 0.1%, the probability that a positive result is indicative of disease is only 17%.

Take a look at mammography, the false negative rate is estimated as high as 30% and the false positive rate of 65%.

If you can stratify your population (ie. increase the disease incidence), you'll do a bit better, but it's an uphill battle. Sure, late detection is a factor in the median life expectancy with pancreatic cancer. However, I suspect that if tumors were detected 6 months earlier, it would move the median survival time by 6 months and make no dent in the 5-year survival rate.
Love to read an article on this topic written from the viewpoint of a young person instead of a 50 year-old who was raised in a period of enormous economic growth. Perhaps some young people are not "slouches", but are actually logical and evaluate pros/cons and decide to put down roots?
Is the universe computable? Digital physics
I tend to believe you get what you pay for. I hired Seth Godin's brand management firm, OnRamp Branding, to do my web design- since they subscribe to the ideas that Seth preaches in his books. They're slightly more expensive than average, but it's okay since they do better than status-quo work, which resonates with my company's mission. Other design firms offered to do what they consider great work for far less, but I like having a designer who specializes in creating 'remarkable' work.
If Chrome didn't bundle a better version of flash, and didn't use the system version of flash, users would find out that Chrome is "broken" the first time they got to a page with flash. Then they would switch to Firefox, Opera, or even IE if they're on windows. Those browsers do use the system flash plugins. Who wins? Not security.

If Chrome didn't bundle a modified version, and prompted the user to select a Flash version, the only one they could offer would be the system one.

Unless you're saying that the Chrome team should go to all the effort to build a custom version of flash, but only deliver it to Chrome browsers when the user specifically requests it? That strategy seems DOA from a cost/benefit analysis perspective.
While at its inception Weibo was a "twitter clone with Chinese characteristics"; it most certainly is not. IMHO, and in the opinion of everyone I talk to who has access to both, Weibo has created a "Microblog experience" that is fundamentally different (and for many more engaging) than twitter.

For example, Weibo has included inline images and videos from the get go - making your weibo stream a cross between twitter and pinterest. They have "badges", "real time chat" and other features found in other SNS applications but adapted to the microblog format. Their iPad app is beautiful - flipboard for the "microblog" format. And so on.

If you look at how people use the services, I think you'll find that Weibo users spend more time engaging with the platform than Twitter users. Its an all engrossing source of digital information, content and entertainment.

For anyone looking to put a "stream" into their app (which we are working on) its very interesting to explore the experiences and choices of both. They are not the same.

Having said that, Twitter has a far more open and accessible API and yes, it goes without saying, its not censored.
This person needs to finish reading the sequences.
Ask HN: Anyone got any design gig?
Hi. I am a freelance web designer. My portfolio (alexwyser.com) is under construction, but here are some of my work:

http://imgur.com/a/rnnrI

Recently I am having a hard time finding design gigs. I was wondering if anyone here needed any design work done. I generally charge around $800-$1200 for a redesign, but am willing to take on projects of any budget.

Please email me at alexwyser@gmail.com
After reading some of the comments and the blog post it sounds to me everyone wants to hire like Google... but they are not Google.

In the end when you want to hire, look at what they have done and ask them about that. In my opinion thats the only thing that counts. Solving quizes does not sound very important to me.

If someone can walk you through his thought process on his favourite project you can see if he/she is able to pick up the job you are offering.
Before the elites in India consider themselves comparable to America, I would hope they address the swingeing poverty and piss poor literacy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_India

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_literacy_r...
Not sure if you are referring to this: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3351699 . I ran that experiment.
For the first time in history, a large portion of adult lives will hinge on the unhackability of consumer gear.
I think it would work better if when self-modifying, it ran simulations on the result with its current utility function, but there would be a problem if it did end up modifying the utility function or modified away the simulation requirement.

It's hard to balance the ability to create new, more useful utility functions with prevention of creating a utility function at odds with what the original entity valued.
Which Is Worth More, Education or Skills?
I don't have any specific experience with India but I am also always a little skeptical with attitudes like that in the second half of the article. It seems to just be another instance of 'the good old days' syndrome. Especially the anecdote about violence - surely there were never murders in India before McDonald's moved in.
It's a problem for consumers, so it should be Apple's problem
It is possible to write an article targeted toward a particular audience while simultaneously educating them.

For example, I think a statement like:

"The U.S. House of Representative, a governing body similar to the British House of commons, held a vote..."

is preferable to the alternative:

"The U.S. version of the British House of Commons held a vote..."

Regardless, why not just take it out of the title and throw it in the about section.
We often find that there are plenty of technically qualified people out there, but what you can do isn’t the only factor in hiring. The most important thing about hiring talent is finding talent that works well with your existing talent. In other words: finding a good CULTURE fit. There are LOTS of smart people out there, but only a small percentage of those people are sociable enough to really do an exceptional job as a part of a TEAM, and teams, not talent, build products.
Well, so much for getting any sleep tonight. Seriously, thanks for posting this.
What an out of touch dude. I'm not sure he gets that the wealth is being created by our minds instead of our backs. I wonder if he could code anything he used to send or publish that article - or even if he understands even the absolute basics of how that series of tubes works. I doubt it.

If we're renaming generations, perhaps we can rename his the "You've Lead America Off a Cliff And Stiffed Your Children With The Bill." Generation.

Not catchy enough? Here are a few more to try on:

The "You Voted For SOPA" Generation

The "Civil Liberties? Overrated." Generation

The "Hey, I Don't Have To Go Fight That War" Generation

The "I Can't Email, But I Can Reform Washington" Generation
The phone screen
I find it funny that you combine awareness that nutrinos go through planets with a suggestion that they'd be good for communication.
Holga . D camera concept, 86 the screen
When Today’s Deal Is Tomorrow’s Regret
A big issue in modern hiring, IMO, is the combination of diverging specialized platforms and languages combined with overemphasis on keyword-hiring.

When I first got into the industry you had:

---

* old fogey LISP programmers

* old fogey FORTRAN programmers

* old fogey COBOL programmers

* Assembly programmers

* C/Win programmers

* C/Unix programmers

* C/Mac programmers

* some people on the cutting edge looking at this new "C++ thing"

* everyone else

---

I mean, sure you had some specializations but nothing like what you see now. Now you have:

---

* young retro hipster LISP programmers

* JavaScript/Client-Side programmers

* JavaScript/Client-Side/jQuery gurus

* JavaScript node.js programmers

* Python programmers

* Python/Django programmers

* Ruby developers

* RoR developers

* Java/EE programmers

* Java-Android programmers

* Clojure programmers

* Scala programmers

* Perl programmers

* .NET/C#/Win32 programmers

* .NET/C#/Silverlight programmers

* .NET/C#/WP7 programmers

* Objective-C programmers

* C programmers

* Embedded C programmers

* C++ programmers

* Embedded C++ programmers

* Go programmers

* D programmers

* Game Industry programmers (usually C++, often treated as a wholly separate category)

* PHP programmers

* etc

* etc (this is maybe 10% of the list I could generate without getting into the really obscure stuff)

---

Of course a spectacular programmer can pick up a new language/platform quickly and is usually learning non-day-job related programming languages on his or her own time anyway, but I've still both experienced and heard anecdotally of many situations where spectacular programmers were passed over without a second glance because they didn't have "at least X years of KEYWORD-HEAVY-SPECIFIC-TECH". Viable commercial quality languages and platforms are diverging way beyond the ability of even the most passionate programmer to be regularly using all but a small minority of them.