skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
They have envelope protection, in software, so if you tell the controls the size and shape of the camera and the surrounding objects they wont drive the camera through the floor whatever path you program in.

But they don't have proximity sensors - like the saw capacitance sensor. It just doesn't work in the real world with large objects and longer distances.

You have to rely on the actors staying on their marks if you want to do a very close approach.
Apple violated a Samsung patent, Dutch court rules
Correct. Having a web version isn't enough.
Perfectly valid, but incompatible ideas are how you reach your global maxima. You implement both of them and the one that has the implementation that makes the code better is the one that wins.

Ideas are ethereal. Code is real.
I run a project at my high school where students install linux on donated laptops, and use them for a variety of purposes. I read these articles and wonder if this project will come to a screeching halt.

Since our donated laptops are usually 3-5 years old, it seems the project will be able to continue for about that long without any UEFI-related problems. It seems we will start having problems when UEFI-based laptops are old enough to start being donated to us.

Is my understanding reasonable? It is pretty discouraging to think that this project will continue to evolve, only to hit a brick wall in the next 3-5 years.
The question asked are very clever and the answers sometimes funny and always informative.
I have never used it, but supposedly Windows PowerShell is pretty good. But Windows 9x/XP/2000 don't have it, and no matter how great the shell features are, it's severely crippled by the fact that Windows has never had anything like your typical Unix userland. Meaning that most of the CLI programs still have their old and crippled DOS CLI interfaces, none of which were ever made to be easy to combine into anything more than a simple .BAT file.
> Now you are suggesting that you wouldn't write such code in a dynamically typed language anyways?

I never suggested that...?

> With a statically typed language, when you make the error, you get told about it by the compiler. With a dynamically typed language, you find out about the error later, when that code actually runs.

> static typing enforces that you always use that function, and can't forget and accidently submit an unescaped string to the database.

So you are really just saying "static typing requires you to use static typing". This has nothing to do with actually writing good code or having any sort of validation. Just that the compiler tells you that you are sending the wrong type... that's what we are arguing about?

Look my whole point is static typing by itself gives you next to nothing (See my code example below) without some form of validation beyond static typing. That obviously holds true to dynamic typing as well... I'm not even sure what we are arguing about.
I do this _and_ the handle synchronization thing (with some angle tolerance to get the single button time). This discussion is making me feel a bit OCD.
There is a case for "optional typing". It's speed. I guess everyone agree on this one.

Better than "strict" typing, sometimes "hints" about the type would be enough.

ie: "ii often integer" versus "ii" or "ii integer"

From then on, those who favor strict typing would be happy, those who favor dynamic typing would be happy and those who favor "efficiency" (whatever this means) would be happy.

Let's close this silly debate.
Storyboard: 20 Years Later, a Look Back at Wired‘s Beginning
I am not claiming static typing is free.

But it is also untrue that you have to "add declarations and type casts". With type inference, you don't actually have to.
Interesting read, seems to nail the main points really well.

P.S Why is the Wordpress stament at the top in Ruby?
How Facebook Figures Out Seniors Have Cancer Before They Do
Teach Cheating to Stop Cheating
To me it seems a coup out. This may be due to my age, but I have very little respect for wishywashy feel-good conclusions (it is complicated? Great then I don't have to do anything about it, or accept that it is the way things are).

And I am not saying you should feel bad about the world either. Just that it is complicated is not an acceptable answer.
If a candidate says they are 'never' willing to work overtime, they are probably in the wrong business. I can't say I've ever had someone tell me never. Most engineers understand that there are going to be at least some support or production situations that need to be addressed beyond standard biz hours. I wouldn't say that is passion or commitment - having some expectation of at least occasional overtime is probably just a minimum requirement.
What VPS are you using? Is "cheap VPS" ~$20/month?
Very elegant way to show a point...
ZeroRPC for Python was posted a few months ago. For reference, here's the discussion: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3761954
They likely don't make sure it doesn't collide with anyone. There MAY be some local safety systems in place, like virtual light curtains and exclusion zones...
Thanks. Would you rather see it in something else?
I just read the first part of your comment as "no true programmer would need no filthy static type checking". Sorry if I misunderstood.

I find it hard to correlate use of static typing with development experience, that's all.
Even that needs a lot of work.

Okay, so I can create "connections" on an "if this then that" basis. I need more examples of the sorts of thises and thats that I can use as input and output, though. Like, apparently I can control my home appliances? And... what else?
From what I've read of the succesfull ones - as the victim sends more money more details of who was/has to be bribed, how the money was obtained, how the bank regs are broken are revealed.

Ultimately it becomes a carrot/stick - if you send more money you will get closer to the pay out BUT if you don't send more money we will reveal your role to the police/banks in your country.
What package?

The whole package of niggles that kept the Zune from mass market success. One was the fast-shrinking market for PMPs. Another was the fact that it was Microsoft, an inherently uncool corporation. I'm agreeing with you on this point.

Apple making money from the "dead" market, I believe, is a huge factor in the death of the market. It's a small market to begin with, people who want an MP3 player with a music store and mandatory music management software but don't want a smartphone. In that small of a market you'd be a fool to consider Product X over an iPod in that market no matter how much better Product X is. There's only room for one major player there, and Microsoft doesn't do well when they're relegated to second place.

I'm agreeing with you, but also standing by my assertion that Microsoft had no chance in the market no matter how awesome their product was/could have possibly been.
Google Analytics? Don't you mean the spinning odometer at the bottom of the page? ;)
> Chineese government may be commies

Yet another common misconception. The Chinese government has not been anything more than nominally communist since the days of Mao. The current Chinese government can be described as a single-party pro-business authoritarian regime with occasional streaks of socialism for the sole purpose of maintaining control. Cornerstones of communist regimes, such as widespread income redistribution and a state-controlled economy, are entirely absent in modern China.
Install 9 screens with at least 3 non interfacing systems on your desk which spans 2m one way and 3m the other or more, L shaped. Ensure your job, several times per day, involves having to stand up and walk to stakeholders 10s or 100s of meters away then verbally face-off rather than passively email. That should be healthy...
Great! I'd love to hear what reaction you get!
People can continue the sport of throwing Microsoft under the bus. But twenty years on, there isn't enough commercial demand for Linux laptops to create market meaningful enough that UEFI implementation will affect a laptop manufacturer's sales.

It's great that Linux is out there. I use Ubuntu for the virtual machine I use exclusively for Facebook. I use another copy for the virtual machine I use exclusively for Linkedin, and Xbuntu for the one by which I access Gmail.

The very fact I use Linux at all places me in a tiny slice of the computer culture - the fact that I am running Linux in a virtual machine is without a doubt not a particularly distinguishing feature.

I've been reading Hackers and Painters. And the problem with Linux is that it's proponents lack empathy (in Paul Graham's sense). Nobody is going to give their mother a Linux box - PG even talks about his mother's Mac needing an upgrade.

There aren't any Linux laptops at your local BestBuy today because regular people don't want them...and BestBuy's GeekSquad damn sure doesn't want to support them. It's not Microsoft. It's the market.
This still imparts quite a bit of force to someone, potentially killing them.
FYI, this is the second edition.
Here are the results of last year challenge: http://blog.opalang.org/2011/11/opa-developer-challenge-resu...
> Forty-nine percent of the population is rural [1] and are not going to be working in the factories that make our toys.

Actually, the vast majority of factory workers come from rural areas, where economic opportunities are essentially non-existent compared to the jobs offered by the likes of Foxconn.
Your coffee analogy also says nothing about whether sugar or cream are better than one another, or if either is necessary.

Though I can guarantee you that either sugar or cream with only 0.1% coffee content will still be usable as sugar or cream for other purposes, so I can't even agree with your analogy taken to its limit: that no amount will make the coffee better, because enough will make it usable for other things.

In fact, unit testing and static type checking are largely orthogonal to the complecting issue that Rich was getting act. Unit testing and static typing will both increase complexity; they are both ways of making assertions about the behaviour of the code, and for working code, they should both actually be redundant. But that doesn't mean, as a practical issue, that we should do away with either or both. We're fallible. Saying the same thing twice or three times increases the probability of finding something inconsistent if our statements are not representative of the Platonic ideal we're trying to express.
So what languages did you think I meant?

You mentioned bash, which I agreed with. I was also adding Perl to my personal list of complaints as a language I found difficult to learn.
Linkedin sued by Member for Hacking Incident | The Hacker News
I'm a programmer that in general prefers dynamic languages. Recently I've started writing production code in Scala for a couple of web services for which I really needed the performance and flexibility of the JVM.

Scala does have problems. But NOT the language. I find the language to be extremely elegant and well designed.

The problem lies with the community. I find Scala libraries to be an abomination of taste and common-sense. I don't know why that is, but in general I stay away from libraries commonly used by Scala developers.

For instance I prefer JUnit over ScalaTest, I prefer JAX-RS (DropWizard) over Scalatra or Play. I prefer Maven over SBT.

Of course, you could say that the language itself invites this nasty style of programming, because the syntax is too flexible and the features too powerful. However I strongly disagree.

For instance I've worked with a lot of Ruby and Python libraries over the years and most popular Ruby/Python libraries are extremely well designed, easy to use and easy to look under the hood. Ruby on Rails for instance was not pretty, however starting with version 3 it went through a major refactoring effort and now the codebase is clean and easy to follow; while being one of the easiest to use and full-featured web frameworks ever built.

Unfortunately when picking a language, you do have to rely on a community and an ecosystem of libraries. However in the case of Scala, if you don't like the style of the current community, you can just pick from the thousands of already available and mature Java libraries.
On HN: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4082775
Considering you're using Ruby to "require" a PHP CMS... Looks awkard.
I've skimmed the first two screen-heights of that page, and I still have no idea what it actually is or does. Maybe link to an explanation somewhere?
Dated: 2010/08/21

Previously on HN:
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1809346

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1624997

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1624041

Before you submit a URL to HN, try this query on Google:

link:(your URL) site:news.ycombinator.com
Create an Infinite Scrolling Gallery with jQuery,PHP,Ajax
But you have to use a language with type inference. That's still a cost. Maybe not a big one, but that was my point (and I'm definitely nitpicking a bit, I realize that.)
ugh, I know someone will come back without google skills.

here? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_and_Contras_cocaine_traffic...

here? http://www.madcowprod.com/10092007.html

also http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/december2007/131207_b_c...

etc etc.
Try the "Browse" link at the top to see recipes other people have made. http://ifttt.com/recipes
Great article but I have to wonder.. is it actually relevant today? With the huge demand for engineers and the utter lack of even somewhat qualified engineers, I wonder if people actually are still having a tough time landing a job?
It's a bit of a shame that it's a hard to remember name. I'm not even sure how to pronounce it.
Isnt all of this still under NDA? I dont think you can really talk about this yet.
Regarding bugs, I think it's clear that static typing does detect more errors - the issue is whether it's worth the trouble.

I think a more significant difference is the inertia of the codebase, how difficult it is to change. Static types make it harder to evolve interfaces; but unit tests make it even harder.

But both the above are just fiddling: the real advantage of static typing is runtime speed; the advantage of dynamic types is development productivity. In the history of programming, the latter always wins.
Gen Y blows off mobile security policy, claiming BYOD as right, not privilege
I actually think Godaddy is in the right here (and I don't say that very often). You've created a domain related service that could be confused with their trademark. Had you created an auction service that catered to any other niche I think it would have been ok because you were in different service categories. But no. You choice domain names.

Also, Godaddy own gomommy.com since 2002. You registered this name... last month.

To top if off, you're linking to Godaddy auctions with many of your domains. So if I click on many of them I end up on GoDaddy.
For the cases I was easily able to count, this is one bug per thousand lines of code. I realize that's a handwavy metric, but it's enough to say we're not talking about a ton of bugs.

On the other hand, successful conversion of these codebases is a very interesting result. Apparently static, at least static as sophisticated as Haskell, actually can express most of the idioms in standard python. This surprises me, as I've never seen a C++ program of significant complexity that didn't resort to void*s somewhere.
http://ifttt.com/wtf

Edit: Sorry for the trouble. We're working getting a link to our About page from the blog. If you hit the home page, the giant 'Learn more' link has been really successful at getting people there.
Stop blaming the recruiters
Are you measuring your social sharing buttons?
You can write far fewer tests if you have good static validation.

For example, taken to the extreme, you can write 0 tests in Agda, and still have more assurances about correctness than if you had 100% coverage in a dynamically typed program.
IDoneThis - Scaling An Email-Based App From Scratch
This is great! Thanks for the post. :)
I haven't heard of anybody suggest that static languages should allow lists to contain arbitrary types. Hmm, do tuples cover all the use cases for that feature?
Speaking of idiocy, a screen saver for the iphone? Jeez!! What a waste of talent and battery.

I do agree with the sentiment that APIs should be deprecated over time.
The entire transition to something new could have been made without alienating the current Windows's big user community. The reasons underlying the adopted changes are weak, change done mostly for the sake of change or because the existing state being "too old", and less considering the potential real benefits in usability. For example this - "the old Start Menu was crowded, forced you to scroll a lot through shortcuts". What the solution could have been? Addressing the mess of having too many useless shortcuts! Every time I was installing a new Windows version I had to manually clean the Start Menu clutter. What Microsoft did? What prevents now the new Start Screen to become overloaded with too many items? You won't be forced to scroll a lot through shortcuts, you'll be forced now to scroll a lot through loads of bloated screens! Where is the real progress here?
Erlang Factory Lite Vancouver 2012
I don't think any of that would help. Right now, either you get the concept or you don't.

Further down the line when "normal" people will be adopting this (they will) then the recipes will be the primary selling point IMHO.

Just tak a look at a few of those and you should "get" what it's about.
No, I don't read Gruber, and actually I strongly dislike Apple. But it's a comment that seems obvious to me. When was the last time any non-geek person said, "I can't wait to buy that new Samsung Galaxy tablet?" (Replace that brand with any non-iPad brand.) When was the last time you saw one in the wild, outside of Silicon Valley? When has anyone ever said, "Damn I really want a tablet computer" instead of "Damn I really want an iPad?"

On the other hand when was the last time you saw a regular human in a Starbucks with an iPad? I've seen iPads in the most unlikely of places, like small cafes in rural Mexico (no kidding). Likewise I've never in my life seen any other tablet computer in public, anywhere. Anecdotal sure, but Apple's sales versus other tab's sales back that anecdote up to some extent.

Tablet computers have been tried before, too, and didn't stick. Remember the MS tablet a decade ago? You can excuse it for poor hardware or poor software, but that's part my point--iPad has all that wrapped up, and everyone else is still struggling on both fronts while Apple is running circles around them. That's why there is no tablet market.
It would be more exciting if they had an API.

I don't see any way to add channels - either a hardware one or a software one. You could use RSS but that is it. And I don't see any way to add an action. They could very easily add a "web hook" URL for a custom action.

I get really annoyed when I see sites like this that anoint winners. They already have an API to work with outside sites but they just don't publish it
would love to chat with you more on this. we want to build something that fits exactly what freelance devs want. if you email me stella at matchist dot com maybe we could set up a quick chat?
> static typing by itself gives you next to nothing ... without some form of validation beyond static typing

You mean like the validation you get when you compile a program?

Yes, a statically typed program that never gets checked is strictly worse than a dynamic program, but that's the whole point of the type system: you can check it. This argument is a strawman because nearly every language with a static type system includes a validation step (maybe Dart is an up-and-coming counterexample).
A startup’s three visions
Apple’s Passbook, payments and the power of trust
"The Travelling Salesman Problem" vs "Ebay"
wtf am I reading?

I did not get the analogy. If only some spaghetti sticks to the wall, it means you have a messy wall, less spaghetti left to eat, and spaghetti that isn't all cooked yet. Sorry, but I do not get what you're trying to say.
I don't want it. I want a cordless one with a dock and a zillion-watt element that can boil a litre of water in forty seconds.
Money Refuels Self-Control
Infrastructure Neutrality is a Now an Absolute Necessity
This is the one of the root reasons why sousveillance is starting to capture public interest.

I'm personally irked at the lack of legislative oversight.
Maybe a greater point here with regards to nVidia is that the engineers are not making the decision to not over-extend the organization to support Linus, management is. What do you think the management discussion looked like when they were made aware of the "fuck you nVidia!" incident? Right. It probably took the form or "fuck you Linus!". And that ends all opportunity to engage in a constructive conversation.

It's not about engineering, it's about business and inter-personal relations. Skills that Linus, from the admittedly narrow sample I've seen, does not seem to have mastered at all.
Why does McDonald's food look different in the ad than what is in the store?
That would use more power because of losses in charging the batteries and standby loss in the battery themselves.

They could optimize for lower power. 0.3W seems pretty high, I would bet they could reduce that by a factor of 10 if they tried
The Amazon API battle for the cloud rages on
> But both the above are just fiddling: the real advantage of static typing is runtime speed; the advantage of dynamic types is development productivity. In the history of programming, the latter always wins

Have you used Haskell? Speed is just a (nice) bonus. Type safety is not about speed at all.

And I am much more productive in Haskell than I could be in a dynamically typed language. I can turn the code base inside out, and trust the type system to guide me to everywhere that needs to be fixed. When I compile it, it almost always works. I barely have to test anything.
Nah, all of these were announced during the WWDC keynote which means its public knowledge, it looks like Kinvey are a cloud based file / document store so it's showing you how you can implement similar features to iOS6 in your own apps using their API.
Some let you just press the "add minute" button and it immediately starts cooking on a one-minute timer. Want to cook for more than a minute? Keep pressing that add-minute button while it's cooking.
Microsoft introduces Windows Phone 8
Ironically, this page is unreadable on my iPhone.
So is it illegal to have your acquaintances and family invest in your startup? If not, then have all startups been breaking laws all along?

If not, then what's the difference? The link you mention does not address that issue at all (it just defines what an accredited investor is)
Get a Google OAuth2 Access Token via Ruby in minutes