skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
It proves that the technologies are capable products at the most massive scales. Do you have evidence to support that Facebook, Tumblr, or Etsy would have been better off had they chosen different technologies (of course not)? Or that they made things more difficult for themselves? How would Facebook be improved by PostgreSQL? At scale, data is so massively partitioned that the fact that you don't have windowing functions is utterly irrelevant. I hate PHP as much as the next guy, but the facts are that it gets the job done. And that, in business, is what matters. The angst on here about MySQL is unfounded and is largely a symptom of groupthink.
[...] you'd have to go far over the school level of maths to get such benefits.

Not at all. Even deriving the formula for the sum of the first n positive integers is something that requires problem solving skills while not requiring more than school-level maths.

Also, given that CS is a part of math, you can't avoid it if you want to learn some mental structures [...] by all means study math, but catching a bit of CS knowledge and programming skills at some point should be a natural consequence of it.

Huh? Physics is more a part of mathematics than computer science is. And I don’t understand what you mean by “mental structures”.

we actually DID invent a new way of thinking in the last 100 years

Could you explain what you mean by that?

Anyway, my point was that you can’t argue that everyone should learn programming just because it’s a way to learn problem solving.
You're thinking about maths, logic and algorithmic, abstract disciplines that go nicely with programming, coding, or however you would like to call the physical implementation of the mathematical ideas derived using your pencil. Although you could argue about when exactly the step is made from abstraction to implementation, I like to think that it's somewhere between compile time and throughout testing.
I could write that. Is there a guide for pricing this sort of thing? I would pay for it.
Most people don't even have the slightest idea what kind of problems software can solve.

I was once told by a good friend of mine in industry X[1] that people in that industry have money but they don't know whats possible - they don't know what could be automated or calculated with computers and so they don't do it, even though it would provide a lot of value to them.

[1] In general, I think the industry is irrelevant and this applies to most industries that don't already directly employ programmers. There are often already some high tech firms that do and they have a huge advantage over the masses that don't. In this particular case, the industry was the betting (horses) industry and there are actually plenty of firms that are high tech and hire programmers and mathematicians and such to create complex software, but I think his point is that there are still a lot of smaller firms and people who spend a lot of money that still don't know what is actually possible. He since moved to a much more high tech company, but he still does most (if not all) of his complex risk assessment modeling in excel.
Male Professionals with Higher Ethical Standards Earn Less
This has great potential.
Darla's Craft specials: Derrick Agency LLC (Allstate Agency)
People who argue for this can't just remove body language, a huge component in how we communicate, and expect that the loss can be recovered with a better project management app. There may be short-term benefits to working remotely, but there are very few examples long-term where it has worked well. This has nothing to do with the quality of the people working together, but with the bandwidth of communication being employed. Maybe that will somehow change in the future (for everybody's benefit), but it is certainly not viable now.
Ian Hickson, the HTML specification editor, reasons in length about responsive images here: http://lists.whatwg.org/pipermail/whatwg-whatwg.org/2012-May...
put * on each side of the word or phrase you are trying to italicize.
I don't understand why people wouldn't be obsessed with typing efficiency.

Granted you don't need to type all that fast for programming. However I do have to type full-speed when writing documentation, composing an e-mail, working on a presentation, etc.

Not to mention Dvorak and "crazy non-standard keyboards" demonstrably reduce RSI, which is a far greater benefit than typing speed. (Unless you like having disgusting chemical compounds injected into your wrists; or want your wrist cut open so that doctors can work on some of the most delicate tissues in the body.)
did the standard replica set election process not work for you? it is very rare for us to see a failed failover.
> lack a deep understanding of physics, which quite frankly is far more relevant to our every day world

Really? The average person needs as much physics as a great ape needs, which is essentially to just unwittingly count on it working. Very few -- if any -- of one's typical actions during a day would be simplified by a better understanding of physics.[1]

Meanwhile, the average modern person encounters software issues countless times a day. Many of those interactions pose a struggle that a modicum of computing knowledge would simplify, helping the person help the computer help them.

1. Except thermostats. Most everyone occasionally needs a refresher in thermostats versus HVAC capacities.
I have to agree with Jeff Atwood's original post, here. The complexity of modern society is requiring individuals to be more specialized. If anything we need improved communication so that inter-disciplinary projects proceed efficiently. As much as we exalt the individual here in the states, a team almost always surpasses what an individual can accomplish.
Sublime Text 2 Tips for Python Developers
If you don't think the world is perfectly just, God said you are calling Him lazy.

You're gonna make Him angry and He will make your life hell and you will get even more angry.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=numbers%2011&...

here's what I suggest: change your view of the world by removing blinding road blocks placed by the devil... or God because you're a shithead He hates, anyway.

You need food, clothing and entertainment. Do not covet.

EWverybody dies, everybody has highs and lows, saints are known to suffer and not live happily ever after.

Why you such a hater nonchristian?

Looking at his disciples, he said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when people hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil,
because of the Son of Man.

23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

24 “But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
25 Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.

----

Highs and lows balance. I figure God does not care much about lifespan. Look at Jesus. Jesus is famous after death like kennedy, I guess a person might like that.

Peter Gadwa said "Child soldiers? Heck, most 14-year old boys I know would think that was heaven!"

There's all kinds of false indignation and bad psychology.

Indians marry girls at age 13.

Fuck You, enemies of God. I love God and HATE His enemies.

God says...

C:\Text\BIBLE.TXT

ses and
Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go,
serve the LORD your God: but who are they that shall go? 10:9 And
Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons
and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go;
for we must hold a feast unto the LORD.

10:10 And he said unto them, Let the LORD be so with you, as I will
let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you.

10:11 Not so: go now ye that are men, a
Nope, the latest one. Against print, it's a wash for going sequentially from one page to the next.. but I also need to flick through many pages a second to scan or just get a feel for a book, and 1 page per second or two doesn't provide that.

I also frequently have multiple books open and jump between them scanning a lot as I do a lot of research. Again, not ideal for things like the Kindle, alas. But that's why I think we need both e-books and print.
>> 5) No virtual desktops.

I have used Dexpot with success in the past (in XP though. Haven't tried with Win7)

http://dexpot.de/index.php?id=home
WeLink’s Plans to Make Event Apps “Socially-Connected, Location-Aware Beasts"
I am with you! This should be a bulletpoint in a mission statement for every startup:

- if we get a reasonable traction with our userbase (which means you like our product), we promise not to sell to a bigger player, unless they promise not to close the doors within next 2 years.

or something like that...
> But Ruby has missed the boat on being a popular, general programming language in the way Python is big time.

Why do you think this is? My biggest hurdles were documentation quality, frequently flaky Windows compatibility (not necessarily in core, but definitely in a ton of gems), and figuring out to deal with the volatile nature of many gems (New Ruby versions are awesome! Monkey patching is awesome! API compatibility between versions is lame).

It seems like it's almost a cultural issue.
Tech news can be so stupid and petty.
I don't agree that Steve Ballmer should be in that list. Historically he has been responsible for Microsoft's massive expansion while Gates wanted to keep his company 'lean and mean', so in a way Ballmer is responsible for MS doing so much R&D, although he doesn't have the same ability as Gates to make his researchers focus on successful future products.
OTOH the one CEO that I would put at the #1 spot is Stephen Elop, of Nokia. Nokia had a great OS, API and developer ecosystem and Elop gave all that away. Despite what the media is happy to report the Symbian OS is a perfect fit for mobile technology, touchscreen or not; a RTOS kernel (just like any kernel, as the Mach Kernel used in iOS) only needs the adequate drivers to handle multi-touch screens. There was no valid reason for giving all that to Accenture. Nokia is making a great range of devices, but now all developers will be coding for Android, thanks to Mr Elop.
Conducting a Great Technical Interview
>In practice I've not yet seen the option on checkout (which is apparently the only point at which you can search for suitable lockers).

You replied with a blatantly untrue statement proven wrong by the very post you replied to. A link to search for drop points is right there. Do not tell me to coddle to someone who willfully posts incorrect information out of laziness or carelessness.

Especially when I was giving you exactly what you were looking for. It just doesn't happen to be in your part of your country at the moment which apparently is enough for you to come whine about it.
FYI, all modern Nooks run Android. The original model ran a proprietary system, but the modern Nooks are all Android and Barnes & Noble even has an unofficial policy of helping people root the tablets if they want to.
The important part to this article isn't that they are doing this. Its that they are back tracking on their own statements of why the caps were needed in the first place.

If you remember when they were arguing for the caps the main reason was the cost to deliver to the last mile. This clearly shows that is not the case as they have given all of their customers additional bandwidth above and beyond their stated plans.

Kind of makes the reason for caps in the first place null and void.
Anyone else bothered by the crappy coding style in that screenshot?
That's true. This should have two axes (at least). One with "domain specific knowledge" and other one with "programming expertise".

Indeed, when domain experts reach some arbitrary level of programming expertise, many good things may happen.
If 38 Studios collapses, Rhode Island taxpayers owe $112.6 million
This comment, I believe, completely undervalues the ability to communicate. A lot of the biggest changes in our world, good or bad, were spawned from books and writing. Written communication is still at the heart of our infrastructure. If you think about it, computers are mere vessels for messages. Aside from complex scientific computation and some entertainment, most people use computers for communication and for building things that allow communication.

If you can clearly and passionately describe a change you want to see in the world, you can get a lot of people behind you. Writing does, and always has, helped with this. I'd say being a very good writer can have a lot of benefits.

Now if you pair good writing with good computer skills, you have a the ability to get a powerful message to billions of people =]. I'd say they are both complimentary and extremely useful tools.
Eh, I still agree with the prejudiced guy.
Interesting to note that exactly a month ago today, thenextweb pointed out a far less egregious or even obvious offense:

http://thenextweb.com/media/2012/04/15/netflix-amazon-apple-...

"And finally…

Nobody likes plagiarism, but an interesting nugget emerged this week. Poynter reported on a Fast Company blogger who said that he meant to steal from someone else when he was accused of plagiarism.

Author Josh Linkner was busted for stealing the opening lines of a blog post by Chris Dixon. Now, Linkner did respond on Twitter and moves were made to amend the ‘mistake’, but the comment he posted to explain/justify the non-attributed use of someone else’s text sounded a little…schoolboy-ish – he said a friend had sent him the excerpt. So let’s assume a friend did send him the excerpt…why wasn’t it attributed to him?

We’ll let you decide what really happened…"
I was in a similar situation a couple years ago - I had to renew a domain whose registrar was eNom Canada and I wasn't listed as the site owner. I just explained the situation fully and offered to pay for the renewal myself and they eventually helped me out. They seemed pretty accommodating when renewals were involved, a transfer would probably require you to jump through more hoops. Good luck!
I feel that you're mostly right. However I think we all focus on different details, to an extent.

For example, I'm a great typist so the underscore key has never really bothered me.

But to call the author out on being detail oriented would be inane of me. I myself don't like keyboards that have small backspace keys. I also still hate OS X for having the window control cluster on the top-left corner.

I know I certainly get paid to think about the details. The only variable here is which details.
I am certain I could have done that assignment in 6th or 7th grade without difficulty.

That's the problem in a nutshell. If you choose a major where you already know 50%+ of the material, you won't get much out of it. I take it you took computer engineering (based on the FPGA class), but what if you had gone back to school and learned biophysics? You probably would have gotten more out of it.

I have lived this. I taught myself to programm in 5th or 6th grade. By 8th grade I was whipping up 3D games using OpenGL and what not. When I was picking majors and I absolutely did not want to go into computer science. I knew it was going to be a waste of my time.

My main 3 options were mechanical engineering, economics, and history. I based this solely on other areas I was interested in. I chose mechanical engineering and ended up taking about a dozen computer science courses for my major after testing out of the lower level classes. I learned a lot about AI, computer graphics, computer vision, and the like but skipped the BS 'learning how to programm' classes that would have been a waste. It worked out well. My mechanical engineering classes were all completely new material for me and I got a lot more out of it than if I had just taken CS.

To anyone who is a self taught programmer, I would suggest getting a minor in CS or double majoring. Simply getting a CS degree isn't enough new material to make it worthwhile. Math, physics, bio, chem, and economics all compliment a CS background very well. Obviously mechanical, chemical, computer, or electrical engineering match up very well with CS (but a double engineering major is TOUGH).
Thank you, Aaaron. That's what I was looking for.

It seems there is some load balancing / cluster node membership layer on top of MySQL which is used for storage.

But I guess, if they are integrated into a single packaged product, then it doesn't matter much (well SQL syntax would have MySQL peculiarities in it).

But if you look at the number of lines on top of MySQL (since MySQL was argued to be the understood and established by the grandparent poster) that all these solutions add, would be greater than 1000.
"let the compiler work its magic."

if you want that, use a higher level language. One of the foundations of C is that there is as little implicit behavior as possible. I'd hate to be left in the dark whether my . will now result in a pointer or a dereferenced value and I doubt it would even work for the compiler to figure this out in all edge cases.
When I read these I frequently get a "pump and dump" vibe

But what can you expect if you don't pay the company anything?
I doubt the investors were caught by surprise...
Except that in Lisp "-number" is totally different than "- number" and I rarely have to worry about it when I code in Lisp. I code in both Lisp and Ruby on a regular basis, and I don't see the ability to write "x-y" as any real advantage. I already separate my tokens with white space by default because I see "x-y" as a single token.
Every version of windows since 98 has claimed to fix 2)
Depends on what you are doing, there are plenty of times where REST is fine.

What people seem to forget however is that there are other mature protocols on the internet besides HTTP.

Let's say for example you want to send some information between two servers. You decide to do this with REST, so you make an HTTP request. What happens if the REST server goes down?

You either want to failover to a different host or you want to it to wait and retry later.
You could use some custom async queuing system like RabbitMQ etc but another thing to bear in mind is that postfix supports both of these things. You can simply send an email with your message to a target mailbox that the other server has access too and use multiple MX records for the failover.
Current Startup Doing Great.... Will Working On Side Project Slow Us Down?
I cofounded an awesome startup and things are moving along great. We got accepted into an incubator, and ended up leaving with a viable idea, customers, and initial traction. Now our company is doing pretty well, we just hired our first employee, pretty much bootstrapped profitable, and I cant really complain. 80% of our time is focused on scaling our customer base, we are still in the "trough of sorrow" phase but our "wiggles of false hope" are keeping us alive.

The problem is I have a couple other ideas that I keep getting alot of great validation from. I set up a launchrock page, and have thrown around around $100 in advertising and the page is getting alot of signups.

So I'm wondering should I build out an MVP with some of my free time or forsake this new idea since I'm so stretched for time. We are doing at least 11+ hour days on the weekdays for our current startup so I'm pretty busy as it is, but new traction on a new idea is hard to turn away from. And as a developer, I love building things so a new project definitely seems more interesting.

So where does the community stand an issue like this? Keep 100% focused on the startup that works vs. Building something else new that could suck away time, but that I have a good "gut feeling" about?
Congratulations to the lightbox guys. This is what every start-up aspires to do!
It's great that you seem to have settled on Clojure after 2 complete rewrites which apparently you have the time and money for but that also sounds like you might end up rewriting the whole thing once you don't like something about Clojure. I hope you really did your due diligence this time.
Yeah, I should have noted that. It's much harder to be "acquirable" if you're all over the place.
I'm surprised they commented on the company and user data not being purchased. Maybe it's to manage concerns over how Facebook handles privacy.

Also, doesn't this screw investors? I guess if you're hunting for homeruns it doesn't matter if you get a small piece of an acquihire or not.
Favouring dash over underscore to break words in variable names doesn't preclude using underscores in variables names ever.

A sometimes used _ is okay. Its_using_it_almost_all_the_time_that_the_author_is_questioning.
Ugh. As an Android owner that hates watching his browser shit itself due to a buggy Flash embed - I must say, Steve Jobs was right. Flash has no place on a mobile device.
The [Hercules System / 360](http://www.hercules-390.org/_ that the author mentions and links to is maintained by [Jay Maynard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Maynard), ROFLcon alumni and better known as [Tron Guy](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/tron-guy).
I wrote:

"So how do you do what they did with MySQL. Can you build an always available multi-master cluster that is available, partition tolerant and eventually consistent?"

Obviously in the article they picked Riak. So yes Riak and other Dynamo-type database have those properties. I asked if the properties of Riak+custom eventual consistency code can be achieved with MySQL (as one of the above comments was asking people to maybe not jump to all these fancy and exotic solution when MySQL is available)
How to Build a Startup by YouTube founding team member Christina
I used to teach physics and the kids who didn't love it would often ask why they had to learn it. I didn't give them any baloney. I admitted that the vast majority of them would never need it professionally. I did point out that logical thinking was important and physics would help them with that. But I think the truth is that science, like most other aspects of a good education in the "arts and sciences" is actually for the benefit of society as a whole.

I would bring in articles from major News outlets and ask my kids to spot the blatant scientific errors. Do you know how many articles report things that clearly violate conservation of energy? It is so rare to see a science article in the mainstream press without errors, that I don't even get surprised anymore.

Having people with basic science knowledge will allow them to be savvier consumers, better citizens, and, in those cases where their lives take them there, vastly better public servants.

Knowledge about programming is not an exact parallel, but I think it's reasonably close. I agree with Atwood that programming is not as foundational as reading, writing, and math, but it's right up there with a few other things that would be very good to teach everyone the basics of.
> you need to prove that it's a good idea and that you've made a significant investment yourself ... like thinking through the interface, and as many use cases / stories as you can think of, and describing in detail the problem(s) being solved.

That sounds exactly like the skillset of a good software engineer. This whole debate is about the fact that a whole bunch of people don't know how to break down a large problem into small logical pieces.

"describing in detail the problem(s) being solved" is about the most concise and accurate description of programming I can think of. Asking someone non-technical to do this is like asking a ramen noodle-eater to describe in detail the process of flambéing Steak Diane.
It's funny... just runned the query "days out near me" on google and bing. Bing shows the site at number one while google only shows it at number 3, 4 and 5 and never the top domain.
san jose does.
Looking forward to seeing you