skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
There is a lot of fresh thinking shared at HN, and I check New Links and comments here more often than I check any aggregated news sites or NYTimes or Merc.
IIRC, big companies used to claim they were gathering these patents to _prevent_ this situation from happening, using a similar logic to that of hoarding nuclear weapons to mutually assured destruction.

But it appears that something in the balance has changed, and I'm not really sure what. Are the lawyers just doing a bad job of agreeing on the licensing fees (i.e. penalty for having less cross-targeted bombs for a given opponent)? It's hard to know what to make of it all, putting myself in the shoes of an exec at one of these large companies. At least when I was at MSFT, we used to worry about this thing called "bad press" around lawsuits of this kind...
> what it means to be a good engineer: to be able to bow your head

No, I think being a good engineer means building good things. When the things get sufficiently complex, that starts to require control of your ego (what you described), being a good scientist/investigator, organizational skills, etc.
You can run their scripts in an iframe, e.g.:

http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2012-08-13-tarsnap-credit-ca...
I, for one, am for more realworldness like this on these devices (not misplaced realworldness though).

Given that an iPad can morph into so many things that were formerly analog - books, synthesizers, effects boxes, instruments, the calendar, address book, notebook, etc. - it is quite comforting to distinguish these roles based on the physical features of their real world cousins if possible.

The traditional computer's interface put many, um, "interface" barriers between you and the thing you were supposed to be manipulating - keyboard, mice, gui in particular. With these touch devices, the barrier feels smaller and in some cases so good as to be non-existent - i.e. our natural ability to figure out things in the real world by poking and prodding is what is being carried over into the digital world this time.

SJ said "it feels great to be able to touch your music" (or something like that) when he showed cover flow on the iphone. What purpose does "touching your music" serve? The answer is right there in SJ's statement. If you show a texture on the iPad's screen, we probably feel it in some way when we touch it despite the absence of the tactile sensation.
Yes. I was surprised I couldn't find any network file systems that could notify the client of changes.
Front-End Developers We Admire
There was talk about this happening years ago: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/twitter_api_to_get_ads_...

I guess nothing ever came of it. :/
It takes a VERY long time to load.
This whole patent thing is turning Hobbes' hypothetical "War of All Against All" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellum_omnium_contra_omnes) into reality.
It will, we just haven't gotten to those things yet :)
I like that stupid comments are consistently voted down.
We were going to make a 1k donation instead of directly contacting, but because it's anon we were turned off.

*Change that and we will still do it :)
I like the style, but it was basics indeed. I look forward to following parts. Something that initially confused me about sizeof on arrays is the somewhat deceiving parameter form `char s[]`.
Virtual 3-D ‘knitting’ adds new stitch for graphic artists
Garry Kasparov Arrested By Russian Police
the reason it fails is because it's looking for an artifact that doesn't exist:

Caused by: org.apache.maven.artifact.resolver.MultipleArtifactsNotFoundException: Missing:

1) org.clojure.contrib:prxml:jar:1.3.0-alpha4

Try downloading the file manually from the project website.
Nice introduction. I think it is worth pointing out that much of what you discuss is implementation dependent, the c standard doesn't require an implementation to lay out data in memory in any particular way. Instead it requires that access semantics behave in a particular way. These semantics, in turn, align with easy, low level implementations.
You could design an experiment to figure out whether manufacturers deliberately don't print blocks of a certain length.

Suppose the probability of winning on a single ticket is p.

We suspect that blocks of k winners are never manufactured.

The null hypothesis (the skeptic's belief before we do our experiment and gather evidence) is that each ticket is an independent random variable.

Assuming the null hypothesis, the following hold:

1. Probability of buying a block of k tickets where all are winners is p^k (where ^ is the exponent operator, double asterisk in Python, pow() function in many other languages).

2. Probability of buying a block of k tickets with at least one loser is thus 1-p^k.

3. If we buy n blocks, the probability that all of them contain at least one loser is (1-p^k)^n.

If our hunch is correct, how many blocks of k do we have to buy and scratch, verifying each and every block contains at least one loser, to prove it to confidence level c?

1-c = (1-p^k)^n

-> log(1-c) = n log(1-p^k)

-> n = log(1-c) / log(1-p^k)

For p=1/5, k=4, here are the numbers:

Confidence Blocks

90% 1438

95% 1871

99% 2876

99.5% 3309

99.9% 4314

So if 4-blocks are never produced, and tickets cost $1, you'd have to spend roughly $6000-$18000 to prove it (the more expensive testing gives more convincing evidence).

For 5-blocks, those numbers go up to $36000-$108000.

For 6-blocks, the numbers are $44000-$130000.

These numbers are initial outlay for the tickets, and don't account for the fact that you'll have winnings which you'll use to recoup costs.

You'd have to use more sophisticated modeling to account for drawing-with-replacement effects if you knew that manufacturers produce the same number of winners in each print run. (I believe they actually do this.)

Chi-squared tests are a more sophisticated tool you might use, but they're sort of a black box magic formula, whereas it's easy to understand the fundamentals of the method above.

Our protocol is rather weak in that it only recognizes a rejection of your hypothesis when a group of k winners is aligned on a k-ticket boundary in your purchase history. By considering a better protocol which takes into account unaligned groups of k winners, you could probably substantially reduce the cost of the experiment, but I'm now out of my depth ^_^
What changed was that Nokia was on the rocks, so they launched their missiles. And, as is the way with mutually assured destruction scenarios, Apple responded, and everyone else got dragged in one way or another.
Seriously, I hope everyone manages to block everybody's imports.

Then lawmakers will be forced to actually overhaul the patent system.

Because judging from progress so far, it seems like only a meltdown would do it.
Change the front page to show 30 hottest articles plus 10 new, 10 ask, 10 show, 10 jobs and 10 startups.

Run a contest to redesign the frontpage with all these sections.

As I said earlier, adding a section with upcoming startups by batch would greatly benefit us all.
No, Google cannot stop this. The only thing that can stop this is if Google, Apple, and Samsung all agree to stop doing it at the same time. Even then, the trolls will continue to decimate independent developers and occasionally catch a big fish for hundreds of millions of dollars until the patent system is reformed to exclude obvious and previously invented items.

So far, Google and Samsung seem to be willing to talk about ending the mutual destruction and Apple is recalcitrant. When Apple is ready to talk, maybe things can improve.
Luckily this sort of thing rarely happens. The reason is that you need great engineers to trust you if you want to succeed. By founding a startup you are taking great personal risk, but your employees are also taking some of that risk with you. Most startups pay (very very) below market salaries, and bring employees up to parity with a much less terrible place to work (very few very bright people would prefer to work in at a big company), and by giving out options.

I suspect that the CEO and other high level managers at this company will have serious trouble recruiting the next time they want to start something new, because they now have nothing to offer. Nobody is going to trust their promises, stock options they issue will be seen as basically worthless (since everyone will think they are likely to be screwed out of them), so they will have to pay market rates (which is probably 2x-6x what startups generally pay in total compensation).

If I were a founder of a company, and I were faced with this choice, I would probably rather let the company fold than cash out (or in this case probably just not go under) while leaving employees behind. Failure is rarely punished in the valley, but nowhere is dishonesty or double dealing more likely to be recognized and rejected.
It's Motorola, a subsidiary of Google, suing Apple. Yes, Motorola sued Apple before. But this is after Google acquired Motorola, so Google is now in charge, and it's relevant to put Google in the title - this is now all part of the battle between Google and Apple.
It surely sounds terrible from the author's point of view. Would love to hear the proponent side of the story.
Don't be evil means use your patents as a defense not to sue others. It means amass a big enough trove that others feel that suing you is going to be futile.

Evil is attacking the opponent with the new patents you just "bought" not even developed in-house
Why Smart People Have Bad Ideas [2005]
hahahah! I used to have enormous respect for him in the early days, later he and his blog turned into sh*t, so I stopped considering any of his opinions. He's like MG Seigler, but into Law and stuff.
Not cutting off third party apps right away also buys them time so they can improve the iOS and Mac apps (where I think the majority of third-party usage is), but I agree that the bad press is a larger deterrent than crappy first-party apps.
This is especially appropriate because "Solitary Poor Nasty Brutish and Short" would make a great name for an IP law firm.
Fuck Rich Kids of Instagram 
<-- Waterloo-based parody of #RKOI -->
//support local startups ;)
I stopped buying Apple products because of this patent nonsense, so I guess that means I can't buy that Nexus 7 I was eyeing either. Why is it that giant companies consistently act so evil?
(afaik) what makes this newsworthy is that this is the first lawsuit filed by motorola since it was purchased by google
I don't think people in 3rd world countries will be able to afford app.net accounts for $50.
That's the wrong way to think about it. Now that they're equally evil, you can buy whichever one you want. Or else you can't buy any and you might as well go out and play in the sun. Either way, you win.

But if you are planning on buying something, do it now. Soon you might not be able to buy anything.
At least they'll learn from this venture. Maybe avoid the mistakes made on their next such adventure.
A capable non-tech founder can learn, in a few months, enough about coding to:
* Build a prototype, which could be used to fund experience developers
* Talk sensibly with developers and get some insight into their skills and ability
* Build certain classes of application for real-world use, e.g. a content website, a basic mobile app

All of these are useful skills for a non-tech founder and in most cases, it would be worth their time investment (and unlike learning most other professions, it really is just a time commitment, for the most part).

I think the comparison to a physician is a fair one when it comes to full-blown development work. At the same time, an early developer is much more useful than an early physician, ie someone with the equivalent several months of medical training. Mostly because the developer has more leverage, ie if their early work succeeds, they can gain more resources to build on it.
"Don't be evil" does mean that you should't abuse FRAND obligations.

Hence why Google is being investigated for anti-competitive behaviour by ITC/EU. Given the important of FRAND in the standards process this is very much being evil.
I presume this was a sarcasm here?
Apple are suing Motorola(Google), so this lawsuit is just another part of the response directed back at Apple. It's not like Motorola just decided to go after another cellphone manufacturer for patent violations, as an offensive move.
It seems to me that a lot of people weighing in on this situation (mainly elsewhere, not on HN) are not even developers, let alone Twitter developers. As such, they don't really have any valid contribution to the discussion and only serve to create incendiary comments and stir up controversy.

From the consumer's perspective, sure, this looks like a raw deal. Twitter wants to shut down my favorite client. Those assholes! But the reality of the situation is they simply want to control the client experience so they can insert ads.

Of course, this all breaks down as soon as one client lets you put in your own application keys...
> Google and Samsung seem to be willing to talk about ending the mutual destruction

In the past they seemed eager to talk rather than dispute because they had no weapons to defend themselves. Now that Google has acquired Motorola, they have the patents to go after anybody they want and that's exactly what they are doing.
Is there any way to use this service without receiving targeted ads?

From their privacy policy: "We may use and allow access to other data collected by the Branch Service to enable the delivery of online advertising on the Branch Service, or otherwise facilitate transmittal of content and information that may be useful, relevant, valuable or otherwise of interest to you."
Yeah I agree it is basic. I needed to layout some of these concepts before doing the deep dive on arrays. Writing that post now will be out in the next couple days.
Considering that the post is 3.5 years old, it makes me wonder if this problem has always been around. I wonder if this problem is cyclic and peaks at different times during the year or during certain events, such as summer or demo days.
Depends on the type of union. My father is president of a chapter of a professional union that covers engineers and scientists. Fee is $40 every month but you aren't required to pay as the union negotiates for everyone. Fee helps pay for lawyers to review contracts. The officers of union are all volunteers so they run really lean.

Salaries/Pay aren't included in group negotiation, just benefits including time off for health issues/pregnancy also they deal with layoffs/downsizing/rifting. Union also provides health insurance group benefits for employees if their employer doesn't provide benefits.
SEC filing fans rumors of mobile wallet for iPhone 5
I didn't know this, either. This idea will only work if karma measures what we want it to measure. If karma isn't associated with quality but with site-gaming, or snarky commenting, or other bad stuff, this system creates a positive feedback loop for sending the site in the wrong direction. Yikes!
It still boggles my mind that revenue has not been prioritized with many (most?) of the hottest companies in the last decade. That must be unprecedented at such a scale.

That said, I don't think any investor ever thought their investments would have no revenue. I assume they just figured it would come through advertising, inadvertently making every new product a marketing tool.
Rich patent lawyers?
Once battery capacities reach the point where you only have to charge it at night for a full day's drive, you've solved the problem and you don't need to swap.

Perhaps that's true... once batteries get about 2x as good as they are now, owners of cars like the Tesla won't have to worry so much about whether there will be power available at their destination.

My impression is that the next 2x improvement in battery tech is pretty far over the horizon, though. Plus, we simply do not have the grid capacity to replace most Americans' automobiles with rechargeable EVs. Not even by charging them at night. Once 80% of the houses in your neighborhood plug in an 8-kw load at night, this inconvenient truth will become obvious enough.

Exchangeable batteries could be charged anywhere, anytime, not just where and when they are needed. That's a big win regardless of what happens with the core technology of power storage.
Not an expert here: Will all those PHP projects in the wild work with MariaDB? Everytime a friend needs a blog or wiki I have to make sure MySQL is installed because it seems few people who make PHP projects allow other backends.

I'd love to apt-get purge mysql-server from my servers.
So their PR firm has put out this statement: http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/17/onlive-confirms/

It feels a bit (actually a lot) strange that they'd dissolve the entire company and lay off everyone to attempt to get out of an agreement for servers or something. It just doesn't add up. Also, why the employee reports aren't saying this... just strange. PR spin at its best?
I do understand about the simplicity of the design, though I haven't tried to figure out exactly how git works.

When I see people commenting about git's simplicity it is not about data structures. It is about commands. And that really tells me little about simplicity. Anyone can manipulate the argument structure for a function and positional parameters in a command line interface. The real question is what does the function do, and how does it accomplish it?

The first thing that struck me about git is the apparent use of SHA1 hashing as a basic foundation for the whole system. Maybe that's not even true and no doubt there is much more to it. I'm not out to become an expert in version control nor to understand git completely because I only use it out of necessity. Older systems work just as well for my purposes.

I do not need many advanced features in version control; I'm using version control on a personal basis, not as a contributor to some highly dynamic project with many other contributors. Plain old rcs is still my main tool when I need the ability to move between versions. And diff still seems to work for detecting and printing differences after so many years.

But to me, as a user, the compilation process of any program is also part of any purported "simplicity of design". Programs that compile easily and quickly and are easy to modify score very highly in my book. I am constantly looking for more programs that fit this description.

I was not aware that there were many implementations of git.

I'll now be looking for some other implementations. On github of course.
No. The price of mobile service is the same for both subsidized and unsubsidized users.

When you buy a subsidized phone, you don't redistribute the cost. You eliminate part of the cost and in return forfeit a number of freedoms to your carrier.
Ask HN: App Store SEO - Keywords in long App Name. Best practice? Not allowed?
So I've been reading that using long, human readable app names that include keywords will really help in App Store search rankings (at least outside the USA). For example, recently: http://www.slideshare.net/searchmanseo/how-to-improve-app-store-search-rankings-with-mobile-seofor-beginners-13822379

I've since followed this advice, changing my name from:

Version 0.1: "ChillWith.me"

to:

Version 0.2: "ChillWith.me - organise hangouts with your friends easily by suggesting & voting on the details of your hangout. Chill with me!"

This has proven to work, in the Aussie App Store at least. My app ranks 1st or on the first page for words like 'organise', 'hangout', 'hangouts'.

However with Version 0.3, without changing the name, the app got rejected for:

3.4: App names in iTunes Connect and as displayed on a device should be similar, so as not to cause confusion

It would be appropriate to change one or both names so they are more similar. And remember, it is not appropriate to use keywords in your app name; please use these words as search terms for your app by entering them in the Keywords field in iTunes Connect, Manage Your Applications.

For your information, the following words are considered keywords:

organise, hangouts, friends, easily, suggesting, voting, details

So is this practice outdated? Is Apple clamping down on this? I still see many other apps with long, keyword driven names? Any other tips? I guess I'll be changing the name back to "ChillWith.me" for now.

Thanks,
Jimmy
http://chillwith.me
C and Assembly( your gonna need the asm / microprocessor internals knowledge). Also I'd recommend minix as a start http://www.minix3.org/, here's a really basic intro to drivers to give you the basic idea what that entails, http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/articles/drivers_linux.

One thing, if you're just starting out (which it sounds like), I would NOT recommend looking at the linux kernel src. And lastly, modern operating systems by tanenbaum is a good introductory text that has the plus of being a fun read. Good luck!
Man, well done. I am too exhausted by my cynicism about the startup world to make such posts now. But it is very important to remember that in the current environment cynicism equals knowledge. Naivete and idealism are mostly put-on. Investors need this greed-based faux idealism to attract young talented people.
I think that people bemoaning the declining "quality" of members of the HN community would be even more perturbed if HN lost any of it's potency as a platform for hyping portfolio companies owned by the investing class.
I have a different problem in that the 'more' link uses some crazy key instead of 'page=2'. If you press it a relatively short time after being loaded, you'll get 'unknown or expired link', meaning you need to backtrack, reload the page, scroll again, click... it's trained me out of bothering to do it anymore.
Turkit, Javascript code for achieving consensus among AMT workers, especially with multiple stages. See the Find-Fix-Verify pattern: http://www.behind-the-enemy-lines.com/2011/04/want-to-improv...
By doing multiple stages of crowdsourcing, you can do complicated tasks with high quality, like: Improve the grammar of these reviews. Zappos did this and saw a lift in conversion.

Crowdflower, which is good for achieving high-quality one-shot annotation, but not so much for pipelines of annotations.

MobileWorks, which is good for achieving high-quality one-shot annotation, and says in the docs that it has pipelines. I haven't figured this feature yet out.

CrowdControl, which supposedly solves every problem, but is priced as an enterprise solution.

If you want to build something cool, implement pipelines of work. i.e. build a crowd-programming layer that has subroutines. Look at what CrowdControl says they are doing.

[edit: If you also want to build something cool, implement a reputation system. Don't just assign workers a single number. Figure out what kind of tasks the workers are good as, and do a per-task reputation system. For bonus points, solve this correctly, by dynamically gauging the skillset and difficulty for each task, rather than simply grouping tasks into N clusters, where N is low.]

Email me if you want to discuss. I've been thinking about this for a while.
It's the articles like these and the discussion thereof that has dragged down the quality of HN these days.. sad.
pg - I'm curious if you've ever given thought to the idea of exposing a filter or ranking Domain Specific Language to us ... something that we could enter in a spot in our user-profile ... so that we could either choose the current ranking algorithm or could write our own.

It seems that HN may be different things to different people, so perhaps allowing the presentation to be customized might put people at ease?
How about just adding a flagging option for each comment and making the flagging weight related to the karma of the account. Therefore the opinion of people who have in the past made high quality contributions are weighted stronger than those of the others. And this is something I am suggesting with an almost pathetic karma...
There is a phrase common in patent law called "dancing with the gorilla." This is what we are seeing. It is not limited to just software tech patents, this occurs in other areas as well.