skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Not so much evidence (from trials, say), rather plausibility. We do not understand how Homeopathy works, but it goes even a level deeper: There is a certain and very specific process for creating those homeopathic remedies and from what we currently know about, say, physics, that process cannot leave you with some sort of active ingredient. If homeopathy were to work, our understanding of physics (which we have lots of evidence for) would most certainly be wrong in some ways.

That doesn’t mean that homeopathy is definitely wrong, but it does mean that the signal should be very strong for us to even be considering it to be not wrong. There are also levels to this: I’m pretty sure there are remedies about which we don’t know how they work, but them working would at least not require us to overhaul the laws of physics. That’s still worse than remedies for which we already have a model of how they work in mind, but at least it’s something.

Although you can’t really quantify that, I think such plausibility arguments are vitally important for any research. In fact, since time and money is limited, all researchers (in any field) will always try to limit themselves to what is plausible. Explaining why your model and your hypotheses are plausible is a big part of any scientific work. Plausibility is already a big part of science.
I've worked in several jobs where I could use either tool and I choose to use the Gimp. This has a lot to do with familiarity on my behalf, but I have used Photoshop in other jobs where that was part of their tool chain and I found PS as difficult to learn as the Gimp (i.e.: not hard but for advanced features you need to experiment or read the manual. these days you'd just Google)
Hmm, pretty certain nothing has changed recently there either. At least as far back as 7.1 the documentation has remained the same about this.

http://www.postgresql.org/docs/7.1/static/libpq-notify.html

What has happened recently though is that more language bindings to libpq have started exposing the NOTIFY functionality in more convenient ways.
Interesting that he writes a shell script to interface with a Ruby gem, rather than a Ruby script.
I appreciate your opinion, but perhaps it simply doesn't match your current interests or activities. For me, it was useful.

Perhaps you're just at a different stage in your journey. If you feel you have more to offer than the article it would be great if you could share your knowledge.
The 4GB is (obv) the limit of the Macbook Air as well.

I agree, running a VM leaves you at the redline. Running 2? Good luck.

I do run with a single Ubutnu VM nearly 100% of the time, but I skimp on it and only allocate 384MB usually. Sometimes I'll bump it up depending on what I'm doing in it.

All that said, I do wish that I could have 8 GB in my Air. But, with the extremely fast SSD, it's not essential. I use this machine as my daily driver (for mostly web-based Python, PHP and Go development) and love it. It's honestly my favorite development machine ever. I've never enjoyed developing on-the-go more, and at home plugged into a Cinema display it's a real joy to use.
I thought this for a while as well, but I wouldn't put it past manufacturers to have done some comprehensive testing before just moving to island-style keyboards.

I prefer the thinkpad keyboards myself and use a mechanical keyboard on my desktop (one which I consider to have the best tactile feedback available: a Topre Realforce).

However, as a dvorak touch-typist I was curious to find out just how well different keyboards performed, so a while back I did a 1 minute random word test on each and got (approximately) the following results:

#1) Topre Realforce: ~110wpm random, ~140wpm non-random

#2) White macbook (island style): ~98wpm random , ~120wpm non-random

#3) Thinkpad T420: ~90wpm random, ~110wpm non-random

I used this site to do the comparisons: http://speedtest.10fastfingers.com/

Would be interested to see what other people get.
It looks like Dell has set up a "storm session" where they'll take our feedback/suggestions, here: http://www.ideastorm.com/Idea2SessionIdea?v=1336432210237...
none of this explains why the compiler doesn't do some basic optimisations, or why the incorrect code generation hasn't been fixed. as long as it generates bytecode within the legacy spec, it should be perfectly backward compatible.
Aren't the ram chips usually soldered to the mobo on ultrabooks? Crucial indicates they can't upgrade ram on the XPS13. And a little googling says soldered RAM... Nothing on the Dell website suggests they can upgrade past 4.
Almost any trial that goes to jury is just as over 12 random peoples heads. Anything with forensics, anything that has expert witness. Even just understanding byzantine laws in the US is over everyone's heads. As most of this trial has more to do with copyright law than anything technological.

"nerd" stuff doen't have monopoly on complex
If you read closely, you'll see that I know that this makes sense to YC (and others in similar position). But it's not viable as a generic investment strategy.

YC have a proven track record and I'm sure if they allow no-idea founders in, it'll prove to be a big success too. But again, YC is the outlier here.
That sounds good on paper but in reality writing code for new product is based on faith. You don't know what will work and figuring that is both the most risky part of writing software as well as most lucrative (when solved).

And the only way to find out if something will sell is to build and try to sell. The method you advocate (get sales before you have a product) just doesn't work.

"A list of verifiable people that you don't know that want to pay you money"

How do you propose to "verify", or even find, people that you don't know?

"Someone that can write a check at BigCo."

Would you write a check for something that doesn't yet exist? How do you know, from just a description of the product, whether it's going to be moral equivalent of Vista (a massive flop by Windows standards) or 7 (a massive success)?

You don't, which is why no one pays for ideas or description of future products.

"Someone that is beta testing your product live."

That does require that code has already been written, doesn't it?
Google gets license to test drive autonomous cars on Nevada roads
Yes, that is correct. Recurring revenue is $300/month for a total of $3600/year.
Hilary Hahn and Hauschka: Bounce Bounce [video]
check out haxe. it is a good, modern language that compiles to a number of targets, including flash.
Flippa.com makes it seem like you might sell for quite a bit by viewing the sold sites but when you look at "ending soon" you see that most sites are going for < $200. Flippa just has a really dirty/deceiving feel to it, possibly just me being paranoid/skeptical...
There's a world of difference between "imperfect" and "merely adequate". Not having all the details squared away makes your product imperfect. Not having all the important details squared away makes your product "merely adequate". The key is knowing which details are important and which aren't. Using "We can't be perfect" to dismiss the details is a cop out.

I mean, the company that made these things could have decided that the first version shouldn't include the timer. This is the imperfect first version. Time it yourself, and we'll add a timer to the next version!

After all, that's all you need to feed your cats on a schedule, isn't it? Sure! This product is adequate. Why get distracted with unnecessary timers?

Of course, the product would probably have languished because there are plenty of other bowls you can fill on a schedule. The lesson? Get the right details squared away ahead of time, and get the less important details squared away later.
They are different enough in my opinion
I'm not sure how much I like stuffing random functionality into the database... Looking at the docs: "and then must periodically call the function PQnotifies to find out whether any notification events have been received" - it's actually polling via an SQL connection - that means even more persistent connections to the DB, another timer in the application, more difficult connection sharing (two pools rather than one).

Without knowing much about how it works - why would I want to use this system rather than just ZMQ/RMQ/...?
The other observation I make is that apart from their computational complexity, FFTs work well in hardware because they have reasonably efficient implementations.

Implementation of an FFT on a chip has two components: the logic/computing elements ( governed by O(n.log(n)) ) and the routing of signals between those elements. It turns out the size and speed of the FFT is mainly determined by the routing, not by the logic, and there is a tractable routing solution to a reasonable number of points [1]. The computation complexity becomes secondary if the complexity of the implementation is determined by the non-computational aspects.

[1] Based on experience in 1995.
I appreciate you posting it as well as letting me know the original posted here. And, looking closer, it appears swombat is not guilty of the thing that annoyed me, which is that someone recently asked "how do you get your first 1000 users" and didn't get much response and then this appears here just a few days later which gave me the erroneous impression he dug up some old article and did a quickie post, inspired by the question. But the date on his summary is also from last year.

I am just personally annoyed by the social pecking order crap generally. My aversion to playing king of the hill has long kept me at the bottom of the heap. It is very much a personal issue. Chalk it up to bad mood, homelessness, fever and general injustice in my life.

Edit: However, I will note there was no discussion on the original. Why? Probably because the author seems to be an hn unknown.
Ironically enough it looks like you are just as wrong as GP.

"The Kauffman Foundation was created to encourage entrepreneurship"

http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2012/05/07/how-venture...
Add Fidelity American Express to the 2% general purpose list.
Official driver support matters.

You won't run the risk of buying a notebook, install Linux, find that driver xyz doesn't work, then find the store won't take it back because reinstalling the os voids warranty. And waste money. This is a big risk when shopping for Linux laptops. Specially for cheaper brands that you can't easily find online reports about whether it works or not.

Official support makes shopping much easier.
I really really wish we could prosecute the RIAA under the RICO act.
How much are your eyeballs worth? [2000]
Chrome didn't work for me either, firefox was fine
Yes, but do you think the average layman knows enough to say, convict Enron of accounting fraud? Clearly not. I mean, a significant number of accountants didn't know enough.
I assume you are referring to the Apple 27" display listed here: http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC914LL/A?fnode=MTY1NDA5OQ

You do realize that it is 27" with a 2560x1440 resolution and it uses an IPS panel, right? That doesn't come cheap. Dell's comparable monitor is only $100 cheaper:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&#...

Of course, I would rather get the Dell, but the Apple display isn't really over-priced.
Technical Summer Intern at a Y Combinator Startup With Two Serial Entrepreneurs
Between the two of us, we have founded a combined six startups, raised millions in venture capital, created jobs for hundreds of people, traveled to 23 countries, worked with world-class teams, and built products enjoyed by millions of people. We love what we do and are looking for one highly talented technical intern to join us for a summer. We are in the Y Combinator Summer 2012 batch, with funding from Start Fund (SV Angel and Yuri Milner) and Andreessen Horowitz.

We are on a mission to build a new online marketplace.

Requirements:
You are comfortable working in an unstructured environment with evolving priorities, excel at working both entirely independently as well as collaboratively with teams, and are an expert at time management. You have previously built database driven sites or apps (we will want to see them and look at code examples). You are fluent in a backend language of your choice and proficient in frontend development. Design skills are optional, but nice to have.

Benefits:
We will cover your housing and compensate you competitively.
We will introduce you to anyone we can to help you grow and develop.
You can make friends at other startups and Y Combinator companies.
You will gain experience in a fast-paced startup environment.
You will be part of a fun, passionate, and experienced Y Combinator backed team.

Join us at: yc12intern@gmail.com
[Send resume, github link (optional), online presence link (optional)]
This is one of the greatest things about the United States. People figure things out and make things happen.
Thanks, I missed the "Yearly revenue" bit at the start of that line. My bad.
If you are interested in a coding role, and do not mind working for a startup, please shoot me an email. Details in profile.
My Inbox for the Internet
Technology is making good journalism irrelevant only to those who have no attention span or don't read.

The internet crushed distribution, but nowhere has it eliminated the demand for great writing. If anything, that need is greater now than ever.
Google should have banked on Python as the language for the Android platform. It would have been a better choice in many ways.
With that said do you still prefer the new one to the old one?
لقاء حازم ابو اسماعيل مع يسري فودة
I guess this means every code compiler is in jeopardy now too.
May I just put forth a preference for the backend to be based on ejabberd? Perhaps the folks at Process One would be interested in collaboration, as they are a significant contributor to the project.
Agreed. I feel sick every time I spend money on music; so I don't. I'm done. No more.
Have you considered selling it directly to your user base?
Oracle vs Android = WHY?
C/C++ Low Level Curriculum Part 8: looking at optimised assembly
'' Because Mongo's APIs are unique (not a standard, no third-party implementations), would this mean that your software is derived from MongoDB? Yes it would, simply because without MongoDB it couldn't function. ''

According to the recent EU ruling your program is derived from MongoDB's API. But to prevent 'monopolization of ideas', MongoDB APIs are not under copyright so your software is not a derived work. In addition the ruling voids license clauses with conditions on how you run the software past normal use, so clauses like 'except you can't clone the API' or 'can only link with approved software' or 'have to publish the signing key' are unenforceable.

Since it's not a derived work and GPL linking restrictions are not enforceable, you simply accept the GPL and distribute the .so and source for that code along with your closed-source program and use it. You still have to publish your changes to the GPL code itself, like LGPL, but that's all.

This is the flip side of the API-copyrightability coin.
My previous reply was bad, and for that I apologize. Yes, use application keys for your services/controller to make sure that it indeed an app. This prevents session spoofing and CSRF. Rails does this automatically, so do a lot of other frameworks/languages so it isnt a big deal, but some people use services built on Scala or another language without frameworks, so they tend to be susceptible.
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City sales top 2 million
Do people building anything real world care about IE6 any more? Hell, do they really care about 7?
This may be one of my favorite posts on SVN for the sheer guts of it. "We had many tire kickers. We want X."

I love how open and direct 37signals culture is. Very inspiring.
We got the Ark.
How are you really going to make substantive improvements without breaking a lot of things, or basically making it into a different language? Seems like there is a limit to what you can do. Maybe they can add a few optional things, like require. (Fast forward to 2014: Oh, sorry, Internet Explorer doesn't support require, app won't run). Maybe all of these geniuses should stop and instead come up with a way to get rid of Microsoft or Internet Explorer. That's the real problem. Just kidding (sort of).

As long as CoffeeScript still works in the next major version of JavaScript, I will be fine.
What is your platform? If it is Debian then it is as simple as this to install PostgreSQL and set up a PostgreSQL root user with the same username as your UNIX username (this to avoid having to modify pg_hba and and also not having to specify user when connecting to PostgreSQL).

sudo apt-get install postgresql
sudo -u postgres createuser -s `whoami`

After this you an just create a database and connect to it with:

createdb my_db
psql my_db
I am very curious if there is more information they'd be willing to release. For example, how many of those $99 customers are happy, how many have garnered business they can confirm came from Sortfolio, etc. It seems like they've started, but not finished, to make one side of the market, but there's not much evidence about the other.

So few paying customers could be giant firms paying on the off chance that they get 1 client down the road. For it to be a compelling business, it would need to be clear that paying clients are finding developers there.

I would also be interested to know their goals when they built it, and why it's being sold.
The bootstrap is not really hard when you've done it once, just jot it down somewhere.

In my experience most people stumble because the network security in postgres is pretty tight by default.

This is easily fixed and needs to be done only once.

First: Find your pg_hba.conf. It's in the database-directory, that's often linked to /etc/postgresql.

# Backup the original
$ cp pg_hba.conf pg_hba.conf_orig

# Now replace it with our desired security settings
$ cat >pg_hba.conf <<EOF
# Require password auth from remote hosts
# localhost and local socket are trusted
host all all 0.0.0.0/0 md5
local all all trust
host all all 127.0.0.1/32 trust
EOF

# restart
$ /etc/init.d/postgresql restart

From now on you can connect as any user from localhost without a password. Thus, we can now just go about our business.

# connect as user postgres (the super-user)
$ psql -U postgres
postgres=# create database dummy;
postgres=# create user bob with password 'pony';
postgres=# grant all on database dummy to bob;
postgres=# ^D

# Now you have a database that user bob can use.
# From remote he will have to use the password 'pony'.
# From localhost no password needed because of our pg_hba settings above.
$ psql -U bob dummy
bob=> create table ...
For what it's worth, the talk alluded to by Angus in the intro 'graf is available here:

http://blip.tv/jsconf/jsconf2011-jeremy-ashkenas-5258082

... you can watch Brendan walk through some of the Harmony proposals.
Gruber is arguing that AT&T ran an active campaign to steer people away from HTC phones because HTC let hobbyists unlock their phones. That seems unrealistic.
Don’t Pitch Your Idea To Venture Capitalists, They Don’t Care
I only recently figured out that my inability to easily use Vim was related to the fact that I'm not a touch-typist (not a hunt-and-pecker either). Good thing I'm just a hobbyist, wannabe programmer.
Sorry about the poorly written PHP code, I was 14.
I have an extra ticket to Ubuntu Cloud Summit tomorrow
I can't make it to the Ubuntu Cloud Summit in Oakland tomorrow, anyone want to buy my ticket?

It was $100, lunch and refreshments are included.

If you love FOSS
If you love PaaS
If you love SaaS
...
I believe this was a concern raised the first time they were trying to sell it, but a big worry for anyone considering purchasing Softfolio is probably what would happen when 37s no longer owns it.

It's sort of like their job board (http://jobs.37signals.com/). People like the job board because of the types of developers it attracts. Both companies and prospective employees value each others' skills and styles. If 37s didn't own that job board and sold it, it suddenly becomes 'just another job board'. Is it the same deal with Sortfolio? Anyway good luck to the potential buyers of Sortfolio. Hopefully they won't have wasted $480,000.
Fexl: Wrote "fold" directly in C for 35% speed boost.
"The government should be embarrassed for keeping that information from the court."

Well, this is that transparent and lovable government Mr. Obama promised us. Can all those bubble-heads that voted for "change" see it now? Can they?
The reason we say homeopathy is implausible is because we have a great deal of evidence to the contrary -- as you say, not clinical trials, but laws of physics that are very well understood and that are completely incompatible with homeopathy.

The very idea of plausibility must always go back to evidence; otherwise it's merely wishful thinking.
With the current popularity of HN in general there is now a huge dependency on timing and luck in any submission. Some people have favorite authors they look out for, and they get more upvotes in the noise, but it's all pot luck.

I'm working on a site that auto-discovers interesting people for you and might avoid the "celebrities get the votes" problem. Email me if you're interested. It won't be ready soon, but you'll go in the project folder.
Note: You need not restart PostgreSQL after changing pg_hba.conf. This is enough:

/etc/init.d/postgresql reload
How is that javascript's problem?

how bout a standard name format? phone# format? credit card# format?

Anyone sane just uses ISO 8601 and moves on
Im curious if reddit will make any information public on any requests for user information by the government. Something like http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/ would be nice for a site that is as open as reddit.
I feel the same way. Evernote is extraordinary in terms of document acquisition, but you're alone once you have to work with it. There is no sane way to keep things organized, other than folders. Saved searches are a joke too. Document editing is really poor. For example, you can't highlight any document, scanned or not (that's on OSX). So I think they got the funnel part right and now they need to work on the processing and editing part. Hopefully the purchase of Penultimate goes in this direction.
Everybody is praising Apple keyboards here. Strange thing is at my work place many have a "real" keyboard beside their MBA or MB.
Most startups have shit ideas and most of the good ideas end up failing anyway, where failing means mediocrity or bankruptcy or selling yourself and your team into slavery for a few years.

It's pretty retarded to fund startups with ideas - even for YC it almost never works out.
All horrible arguments. "Stuck?" Download a real browser.

IE8 viewers expect devs to slow progress or cater to them would be like horse and buggy drivers from days of yore lobbying to prevent cars from going faster than horses.

Stop complaining, get off your horse and get a (free) car. Encourage your clients to do likewise.
Usually Ubuntu, so I will have a look at this. However when running an application say in PHP its going to be running under the Apache user. How do I go about configuring that?
I KNEW IT!

I saw this UI and immediately recalled the ebook. I bought the ebook and reviewed it on HN. I thought the design was beautiful and elegant.

This is GREAT to see it in a live app.
Economists classify goods as being either rivalrous or non-rivalrous, and either excludable or non-excludable.

The ownership of IP is, in a sense, a private good (excludable and rivalrous), just like a car. Take patents - can buy and sell them, they're hard to steal, and only one person can have it.

However, the right to use (not own) IP is not a private good. While the original copyright or patent may be unique (therefore rivalrous) and easy to defend (thus excludable), expressions of it are not.

Non-excludable, non-rivalrous goods (the right to use IP) are a little harder to reason about.