skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Is it just me or does wi-fi seem to break down above 20-30 computers in a room? Why?
This may seem like it's coming from left field, but stick with me. The US Medical Licensing Exams are computerized. Many schools, including ours, are exploring administering computerized exams also. Building computer lab facilities to support conducting a computerized test with 180 people seems a bit over-the-top. The often suggested alternative is to administer the test over wireless. Virtual machines and other security concerns aside, when students pile into any of the auditoriums, just for class, it seems like we never get more than 20 or 30 of us connected. I have also noticed this in other venues, thousands of miles away. Is this a sideband or bit-rate issue? Can't have too many red flashlights blinking at the same time? Is this a solvable configuration issue with 802.11G? Sunspots?
Oh, fuck me. Why didn't I think of this idea. This game is going to knock the ball out of the park.

Anybody who owned a modem in the 90s knows how dangerously addictive these games are.
I was only thinking of Jobs.
WireIt - a Javascript Wiring Library
Welcome to Hacker News :). Nice site.
http://www.internshipin.com < Startup by 18 year old Jessica Mah
I listen to online radio stations that play the genres I'm interested in- preferably ones that provide playlists or song titles.

I find the various recommendation sites require work- with streaming radio i keep Stickies open, and just listen while I work- if I hear something I like I note it in Stickies then look for it later on.
Facebook shuts down the Whopper Sacrifice promotion
I think there are some good business opportunities for hackers in this proposal. I'd be a client, and I would promote it to a lot of other people I know.
What Will Save the Suburbs?
I don't think this worked? Maybe they have a bug or I entered it into the wrong spot.
"It's obviously a remarkable transformation from where it was as the largest company in Canada worth about 35 percent of the TSX in 2000," said Gavin Graham, director of investments at BMO Asset Management.

Wow, indeed! Over one third of the entire value of the Toronto Stock Exchange during the bubble. I don't know much about the business aspects of Nortel, but I bet they'll be subject of many b-school case studies.
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I agree with those who have advised you to just start programming. Pick something that seems interesting and write a program that does it.

I learned C by writing a (heads-up limit hold 'em) poker program. I didn't use any libraries other than <stdio> and <stdlib>, so I had to re-invent the wheel in some cases. It ended up being about 1000 lines (not counting comments and excessive whitespace used for clarity), and it was just a text-based interface that could keep track of the state of a poker hand, allow you to make decisions, have the computer player respond semi-randomly, and determine the winner.

I used the Deitel & Deitel textbook, but I didn't do any of the exercises or try to memorize anything. Memorization and exercises are overrated (unless you are going to be tested on the material). It's better to just read a chapter, come up with your own example that uses the concepts explained in the chapter, and refer to the book as necessary.

After I wrote the rudimentary poker program I wanted to make it smarter, so I wrote a tic-tac-toe program that used a recursive minimax algorithm to search the game tree. I ended up losing interest in the original poker program, but have since become a game programmer.

Don't become a "programmer": become a "web programmer", or a "game programmer", or a "compiler writer". Don't learn how to program just for the sake of knowing how to program--instead, learn how to write a specific type of program that you find interesting. You'll be more motivated and will achieve tangible results sooner.
I disagree. They had style and vision in the 80s, and in the 90s they were just selling fungible beige boxes. If the person at the top doesn't care passionately about design, it isn't going to just well up from below. Employees who care about design and have a good eye for it will fail to get recognized, and see that happen to others, and they'll get demoralized and leave.

Certainly I hope Jobs gets well, but if he doesn't, I think the key for Apple will be picking a successor who cares about the same things he cares about.
Watterson convered this in some of Calvin and Hobbes reprint books, but basically, a Sunday strip is at most 12 panels (call it 12 units) long. By modern convention, you have a 4-unit title panel, a 2 unit panel with a single throw away joke (or two 1 unit panels with a throw away joke), leaving 6 units left for the main Sunday joke.

A newspaper then has several options for displaying the Sunday comic. They can run the full 12 units. They can eliminate the 4-unit title and run 8 units. They can also substitute the 4-unit title for a 1-unit title and run a 9-unit strip. They can drop the 2 unit throw-away joke for a 10 unit strip. They can drop the title and throw away joke for a 6 unit strip (smallest they can run).

After Watterson's sabbatical in the early 90s (I think it was 1990), he fought for a full 12-unit (in a 4x3 layout), and won (since his strip was so popular), in which he was able to work without any constraint. He could basically do a huge 1-unit Sunday strip, or a 24 small panel strip, or strips without panels, or what ever he felt was needed for the Sunday strip. The artwork for the late Calvin and Hobbes Sunday strips was phenomenal and probably nothing like it had been seen for 60 or 70 years (and nothing like it since).
If Craigslist wants to do so much good for the world, why don't they monetize it more and donate the money to Kiva or their own foundation?
They have given some sites permission, such as http://housingmaps.com, as long as no ads are run.
Army using video games to tempt recruits
Looking back on the development of the LHC Grid
How large is their recruiting organization if they are laying off 100?
Umair Haque: Asleep at the Wheel of Creative Destruction
Smashing Creme Eggs
Pay to Play (Times Are Definitely Changing)
you could have entered it wrong. we need to fix/simplify a lot of things. Whats your ID ill add you
From the PyQT website: "Like Qt itself, PyQt is provided under a number of licenses depending on how it is going to be used. In fact, we try and follow Trolltech's licensing model as closely as we can." - http://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk/commercial/pyqt

So I'd guess from this that later versions of PyQt will be released under LGPL, though of course that's not yet certain.
i really like how two or more chain of events occur, and then converge for one effect. also, some parts are used multiple times e.g. spinning thingie that sling-shotted the ball, and then was used again as a ramp, was just too good !
What Should I Do with My Life, Now?
"Anyways, Windows 7 will invariably make a big impact, so I do plan on taking a look at it soon. But I'm certainly not motivated because calc.exe got some minor changes."

And suddenly I flash back to the hosting-reviews.com story.
http://www.google.com/search?q=china+becomes+third+largest+e...

Second link here for those that don't want to clear their cookies
This is probably a good end game for Burger King anyway. They got a lot of publicity attention and it limits the number of free whoppers which they now have to give.

According to the article, if they modified the app to meet privacy expectations, the app would probably be reinstated.
Basically it'll be a limitation of the Access Point, and the actual spectrum.

All of those clients will be connecting using the same frequency band - and Wifi uses a spread spectrum approach (basically), which means that whilst you can connect more clients, the quality degrades each time you add another.

The most I've ever seen connected was 30. I've heard of commercial grade AP's that claim to handle 60-120 clients (for airports and such).

This interference also depends on how the clients are actually using the network - if they're all downloading at once, I'd guess it would get saturated very quickly. Maybe as low as 10 (just a guess). If they are all relatively idle you could probably get a lot of clients on.

It's also not helped by the fact that certain clients and AP's do not interact well with one another (due to slightly different interpretations of the spec)... It's also not helped by other devices operating in the 2.4Ghz range. e.g. Cordless phones and such. I think microwaves also put out a of 2.4Ghz noise too.

However, you can run multiple access points - you just run each access point on a different channel. The trick here is that wifi channels actually overlap with one another, so pick ones next to each other and they'll interfere with each other (i.e. slow each other down). However, you can pick channels that don't overlap. IIRC in the US these are 1,6,11.

(p.s. This is also a good tip if you're in an appt building. If there are lots of other AP's take a look at the channel they're on and try and get on a clear band).

Theoretically you could also run (one or more) 5ghz wireless N network in parallel with this. Modern macs will be able to connect to this.
I think the common case could be even simpler

Document doc = DocumentBuilder.parse("test.xml");

no need to manually create an instance of the builder.
I disagree. Like it or not, this is the first time that a news network has opened their content for scrutiny, hopefully without editing which Al-Jazeera usually minimizes, letting the video speak for themselves.
It has the same value as anything else: Whatever you can get someone to pay you for it.

I just sold a chunk of (common) stock in a privately held (VC-backed) firm. I found a buyer, made sure I followed all of the rules of the employee stock agreement, and made a sale.

It is harder than publicly traded stock, but it still has value.
"Users, not labels, silence Youtube videos" is an absurd title.

If someone goes up to you with a gun and tells you to give him your wallet or he shoots you, and you "choose" to give him your wallet, it wasn't really your choice--the guy made you give him your wallet.

Similarly, when Youtube tells people that they either have to mute the videos or have them all deleted, it isn't much of a "choice" at all for the user. Youtube is the one deciding to silence the videos, not the user.
Wow, that looks very cool.

Most MMOs generate revenue through subscriptions. I see that the iMob game itself and the gameplay are free. Are you selling in-game ads or something?
Apartments Moraira
Luxury 4 Bedroom Villa apartment to rent in Moraira on the Costa Blanca, Spain, Private Pool, Sleeps 8.
I really love this talk, I've already sent it to several friends (including a couple of McKinsey suits, ha).

I don't agree with all of the parts about strategy being pointless. There's a grain of truth -- like go with your gut or something, but he takes it too far. But it is probably worth noting that I think his end game is happiness, innovation and spontaneity versus financial success.

The things I love (and I mean love) about this are:
# rollercoaster of entrepreneurship
# talking about how everyday is like a recession for entrepreneurs
# his general outlook on life and doing something very satisfying rather than scamming for a buck
Before (urban) warehouses and lofts became popular they were used by artists/startups (i.e. people more on the fringe) because they were so cheap... Vibrant communities developed, they because popular (and eventually the artists moved/were forced out).

This was the case here in Australia anyway, but I'm sure it applies in a lot of other areas.

Surely this could be the case for the suburbs too? A whole suburb taken over by people doing startups would be an interesting place.
Most games like this (and all of the super proftiable ones) have monetized through virtual goods.
You buy apps that unlock virtual currency so the entire game is open but you have to pay to get ahead quicker.
Or a TI83 during high school.
Listening to Schroeder: ‘Peanuts’ Scholars Find Messages in Cartoon’s Scores
YouTube Blog is super spammy (see comments)
imob 10 respect points: $0.99

imob 75 respect points: $4.99

imob 200 respect points: $9.99

imob 400 respect points: $19.99

How delicious.

The only gripe is not discounting those points.

Edit: Oh, yeah, join my mob! 100260987

Edit: 5 minutes in and I'm addicted.

Edit: Typos in the FAQs.

Edit: This burns the battery faster than the Energizer bunny in bed.
Google Ends Google Video Uploads, Shutters Notebook, Catalog Search, Dodgeball & Jaiku
It is too bad they don't take better care of their comments.

It is also too bad that there is no easy way to let them know.

I never try to give feedback to Google anymore because googlegroups feels like a bottomless pit. There are so many posts and I doubt my feedback will ever be seen.

That's one big problem I see with google's user relationship - googlegroups discourages user-input (mine at least).
Note that this guy runs a hosting company (http://www.gni.com/) & is a potential competitor to EC2's offering. Also note that his primary complaint is the EC2's SLA, but the link provided by GNi for their SLA (http://64.127.96.201/Support/ServiceLevelAgreement.aspx) points to nowhere.
"Left unexamined is the uncomfortable moral dimension of Paulson’s achievement. If he saw all of this coming, was it right for him to keep his own counsel, quietly trading while the financial system melted down? Do traders who figure out a way to profit from our misery deserve our contempt or our admiration, however grudging?"

Please. There were thousands of people, and hundreds of very prominent bloggers shouting as loud as they could that this was going to happen, and no one listened. No one wanted to listen. So, now, instead of blaming the people that caused the problem, they demonize the sensical people, who should have been listened to all the time.

Seriously, how big of an explosion do we need before we start listening to the people that predict the explosions accurately. This world is starting to get surreal.....in the past (maybe a year or two ago), one could pass this off as ignorance, but what we are seeing lately just can't be ignorance. Is this writer for portfolio.com really this uninformed? Has the entire financial commentary industry been poisoned by deliberate hiring of clueless people? They seem to only read each other and watch CNBC rather than reading bloggers who have had this all figured out with very high levels of accuraqcy for literally years.
Ask HN: please review "Introducing Fathomer"
"... These insta-neighborhoods were not designed or built for flexibility or change ..."

I remember being critically aware of this when looking for a house and choosing an area that was around 100yrs old. Doing this has a number of advantages, pre-built infrastructure, transport, a variety of different shops (remember main streets in towns?). So the idea was to find a place that had already spent the dollars in the past. In these types of environments you don't get mono-culture inhabitants. There is also a diversity in the ages of the inhabitants which counter-acts the decline that naturally occurs as
population ages.

"... And after decades of renovation-obsession that has simply gotten out of hand, it seems a prudent time to swap Viking ranges for double-paned windows and high-efficiency furnaces. It’s the perfect moment to fix what we’ve got. Despite their currently low numbers, green homes typically re-sell for more money than their conventional counterparts. ..."

I don't see this happening yet. The costs involved are high and the expertise in re-building houses so they a) capture the water from the roofline, b) capture the suns heat for hot water and power and c) keep the heat out in summer and keep the heat in winter is simply not there, yet (Melb, Au is dry and hot in summer, wet & cold in winter). I think the biggest hack would be if new house designs could somehow be cheaply be modified before construction to achieve efficiency.

Especially water.
may I ask how do you know that?
Here is my attempt to give Craigslist the features it badly needs (keeping track of which ads emails come from, keeping track of ads): http://listingninja.com
They definitely would have years ago.
Working towards a Vertical Language
No, I meant sell put contracts I had already purchased. I'm not that brave.
This isn't a "spending credibility" situation. Credibility is something you need when you're asking someone to believe something based on your authority. In this case, I wrote an article filled with links with the hope that the reader could evaluate the claim based on that material.

Besides, I don't think I should need to spend all of my waking time coding; I already spend several hours a day doing that. Why can't I take a break to argue that Haskell's tools make the language more production focused than most people realize?
Jobs' hiatus thrusts quiet exec into the spotlight
This is actually in reply to the entire thread, but I didn't want it buried deep in nested comments.

Anyway, some figures, taken from the New York Times Annual Report and 10-K filing for 2007: http://www.nytco.com/investors/financials/annual_reports.htm...

From the business.pdf ( http://www.nytco.com/pdf/annual_2007/business.pdf ) the overall number of employees are 10,231 (4,408 work for the New York Times Media Group---the rest for other newspapers across the country). I estimated the number of reporters at 650 (From here ( http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/a... ) people we find that people listed in italics are reporters for the New York Times and not wanting to count across 26 other pages, just counted the number of reporters here, which was 25, and multiplied that by 26 to get my estimate. Crude, but should get us into the right ball park). For just the New York Times that's about 15% of all employees are reporters. So, let's run with that figure.

Out of 10,231 employees (at all the newspapers run by this company), that means they have around 1,500 reporters. From the financial statements ( http://www.nytco.com/pdf/annual_2007/fin-stmts.pdf ) we can see that their total expenses are $2,928,070,000. Assuming an average of $200k per reporter (given elsewhere in this thread) that works out to be 10% of expenses (whereas total eages are around 22%). Obviously, an average salary of $100k (remember, these are reporters for various papers around the country) this makes reporter expense 5% of all expenditures.

2% is low, but not by much I would think.
This is by the far the most awesome (and most bizarrely awesome) community I've been a part of on the web. Crazy how much more than hacking Hacker News is about.
Actually why do suburbs need saving?
This is a bit unfair. Every code repository has this sort of thing. The quality of a repository shouldn't be the ratio of [no-external-dependency + extremely mature] projects, but rather should be based on whether or not people can find what they need there. I'd argue that Hackage has that.

As for being full of bindings to languages written in other libraries, why is that a bad thing? In general, these libraries are common, cross platform, and thoroughly tested. Isn't code-reuse worth something?
Jack Crenshaw's "Let's Build a Compiler" gives a tutorial in Pascal of how to do this. My own StoneKnifeForth compiles itself in an AST-free way in less than 120 lines of code, but I haven't released it yet.

Ur-Scheme (http://canonical.org/~kragen/sw/urscheme/) doesn't have any intermediate representation other than the S-expression representation of the code; it uses that to perform closure analysis. Probably an AST is the easiest form to perform this on. The Lua guys came up with an implementation technique for closures that doesn't require building a parse tree first, but it's quite a bit more complicated.
Let's downmod you instead, for trying to be a wannabe mod. An incorrect comment should be at -1. If it gets lower than that, well that's a shame, but from what I've seen it's more common for it to stay at -1.
I think it is starting to happen.

In Victoria all new homes now have to comply with the 5 star energy rating:

5 Star energy rating for building fabric and water saving measures including water saving tapware, flow reducing showerheads and water pressure reduction to 500kPa at outlets within the home, plus

Either a rainwater tank for toilet flushing or an approved solar hot water service

And from 1 May 2008, the standard has covered renovations (dropping the requirement for solar HWS or rain water tanks).
Lefsetz: Steve Jobs is a Rockstar
Cherrypeel.com is decent. It's pretty much like a reddit for indie music. The music is submitted by the artists themselves, so unless you have heard a ton a of music, there will probably be something new there. I don't have an account, but I go there every now and then to hear some indie bands.
Waffles -- nothing comes close. I have two invites available right now: first two emails to me get them, unless I get requests from people that have previously asked that I was unable to fill. I ask that you only request the invite if you intend to really use it, not if you're just curious to check Waffles out.
Nationalizing health insurance might improve quality; the quality of health care in the US is pretty appallingly bad, compared to, say, Argentina. I hear health care in nearly all the other OECD countries is also nationalized, lower in cost, and higher in quality than in the US, but I only have personal experience with health care in the US, Argentina, Canada, and the Federated States of Micronesia (where I can assure you that health care is terrible).

Admittedly the health care we've used so far here in Argentina hasn't been the public system, but I hear it's not that bad either.
Intel Capital Invests $23 Million in India
They may have in the past. As it is now it'll ask you for an email address, make the sale, and remember any relevant information if you want to sign up after, including your CC if you want to make it your account's default payment option.
The costs involved are high and the expertise in re-building houses

Water tanks and solar hot water seem quite prevalent in Melb - what's the cost/experience gap that you're referring to? Afaik you still get a federal rebate for installing a solar system. In VIC you get rebates for installing tanks, showerheads, etc in existing buildings.

But yeah, I broadly see your point - the two construction issues that get to me are (1) no verandas and (2) no trees. A veranda makes a big difference, and a couple of properly placed trees can make a big difference to the amount of (summer) solar radiation hitting a house.
The difference is that college is designed to be social. You're meant to interact with your dormmates, your classmates. It's all very pointed and focused on social interaction.

When I'm in a beginner's coding class, sitting next to a girl who doesn't know how to program and hates the idea of programming, and she'd rather copy my stuff, then it lowers my ideal of what the class ought to be. When the professor cares more about making a joke and talking about her son than she is about teaching as effectively as possible, it lowers my ideal.

Not everybody's like that - I love my roommate and some of my floormates - but my point was that college is not for everybody. For instance, at this moment it's not for me. I've got an idea for something I want to do with my life - not my whole life, but my life right now - and I'm benefitting from planning parts of my life around that idea, and seeing it grow, and possibly seeing it succeed. After that, I'll probably end up back in college, but older and wiser and surrounded, hopefully, by people who've gone through similar experiences.

It may be different in later years, but that's my perspective as a freshman. College is built around the social. If it wasn't, then it wouldn't matter as much.
Jobs not suffering from a recurrence of cancer, but his body not absorbing food