skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
If you had the option of buying an iPhone with a 4.65 inch, high resolution screen that still managed to be comfortable to use with 1 hand, would you still prefer the smaller version?

If so, your choice would be a personal preference that has nothing to do with functionality, unless for some reasons your hands are too small to use a larger device with ease. From an objective standpoint, a phone with a larger screen is easier to type on, better suited to displaying videos, and more capable of displaying a variety of text-based documents (powerpoint, technical manuals, web pages.) The only drawbacks of having a larger phone are that: A) some users have smaller hands than others, and B) it takes up more space.
If I may expand on this, get everything altered. Seriously, find a tailor you like and can communicate with and let them go to town on your clothes. 50 dollar pants with 30 bucks of tailoring will fit better than 300 dollar pants with no tailoring just about every time.
Why on Earth did you buy it if that isn't what you wanted?

It's like buying a hardcover book and complaining that you couldn't get it to be any other book. They're not selling iOS devices as hobbyist machines for tinkerers. You buy an iPhone to be an iPhone, an iPad to be an iPad. That's not a bad thing, it's an attribute of the product you bought as much as its price and processor.
It's on her ethics page on the site. She is married to a Google exec.
I'm sorry for my honest comment but this just proves what some people over the world thinks: Americans are dumb! =X
Living in multiple countries always has, and always will be a huge hassle when it comes to DRM-ed wares / online shopping (there's usually a tangible benefit from saying that you live somewhere that you're not currently, because of regional pricing etc so providers tend to lock it down). They also have a legal obligation to verify your location to ensure that you're paying the right taxes etc.

If you're in a complex situation where you live in a second country, there's almost always a problem with buying stuff online if you need to bill in one country / ship to the other - and workarounds like needing to create two accounts are pretty common IMO (though usually it's just a case of needing to use a CC from the right country or having the billing address be your address in country A, but having the country field set to country B).

So no, apple's not too unique in this situation, but I've never experienced being unable to access stuff that I bought in one country (though I stay away from buying digital copies of movies etc for this reason), and I've definitely never heard of another company charging for this type of legitimate support, so they're likely unique there.
This is awesome! Definitely using it!
Cool project!

Are you printing/writing out the postcards yourself? Or are you automating/outsourcing it?
Can't wait, best time to be in SF and work for Oracle!
But they do care about overpaying.

But they keep coming back to Starbucks, and they buy subsidised cellphones, with two-year plans.

And they think they care about overpaying.
Hmmm. I think I must have clicked through this the other day when I signed up for the machine learning class. There was something that looked a bit like an EULA.
You are right, now that I read the original article, it appears the particular ant genus they were studying does not use pheromone trails. Since this ant species gather seeds which are scattered by wind and could be brought back by a single ant, they don't need to build paths to the food source. Instead a returning ant interacts with other ants which are ready to leave and the rate at which ants leave the nest grows with the rate at which ants return back (so a leaving ant is a data packet, a returning ant is an ACK packet).

The paper: http://www.ploscompbiol.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fj...
Mee too, but this is nothing, recruiters spam call me at Office phone at the middle of the day :(
I think I am going to start answering a couple of offers this way once in a while just to blow some steam :)
do you have a link to that?
Some people go to their GP and that helps reduce the load. But see the need for out of hours doctors clinics being placed in the same place as A&E units - Swindon has electronic signs telling you the estimated wait times for each unit, with big signs telling you where out of hours doctors unit is.

Continuing to remind people about pharmacists, NHS_Direct, GPs, and out of hours GPs is helping reduce pressure on the NHS, but still.

See also the gently cheeky "Acute admission units" - a method for A&E units to avoid the penalties for keeping people longer than 4 hours by cycling people out of A&E and into aau for monitoring and then release or admission into hospital proper.

Over the past 5 years I have seen many A&E units; and spent many many hours in them. They have all been very busy, and often with many people who probably didn't need to be there. (Although I have no way on knowing that; I am not a doctor and I have no medical training and there's no way of telling just by looking at someone if they should be there or not.)

The most serious problem in all of them was people turning up for things that were very minor - a splinter; a bruised ankle; some other very minor injuries. These are the kind of things that may need treatment, but you don't need to go right that instant to hospital. I didn't even mind the people who were waiting quietly, but you hear people grumbling about the wait times. I'm not sure they realised that there are minors, majors, and resus, and that if there are 8 ambulances outside it's likely that majors is chock-a-block and all the clinicians are a bit busy tonight.
> Apple has a monopoly on legit iOS App distribution,

I know why you think that, but you're missing that there is a completely legitimate app distribution mechanism outside the AppStore.

You can install (and distribute) whatever apps you want for iOS devices, and users can download them from the web and install them on the device. And I'm not talking about jailbreaking.

Since the first day the iPhone has shipped, you've been able to download and install apps built with javascript from anywhere on the web.

These are full apps, written in Javascript and running on the machine. They have access to the iOS design components such as the navigation controller and tab bar UI, etc, can read touches and orientation and even your current location.

You can turn off the network- put the device in airport mode- and they still run. These aren't links to web apps running on the web, they are full apps.

Apple only curates what goes on in the App Store. Apps distributed outside the App Store are not curated. Apple built this platform for apps specifically so it wouldn't have to curate them.

Its just that once the App Store came out, everyone switched to writing native apps (And at the time, writing native apps are what people were clamoring for) that that native app distirbution model won out.

But the javascript app platform is still there on the device and completely un-regulated by apple.

It's also still supported by Apple, and each year at WWDC they have a couple sessions talking about it.

I know it fits some people's ideology better to believe that Apple will only let you run apps approved by Apple on your device, but it simply isn't true.

Further, if you want native apps of arbitrary origin, you can join the developer program and run whatever native apps you want.

But Apple has always allowed this other distribution mechanism. These apps can't spread malware and so there is no need to regulate them. Since native apps can, they need to be curated, hence the AppStore.

It is disingenuous for people to pretend like Apple only wants you to buy apps from the AppStore-- because the javascript app platform has existed since a year before the AppStore and they continue to maintain it.
The Galaxy Note is a great device, but I admit it's not for everyone. It's supposed to be a hybrid between a tablet and a phone, like the Dell Streak or the Nokia N900.

I'll admit I have slightly large hands, but I can use a Galaxy Nexus just fine 1-handed.
The original paper, which is quite informative and easy to read: http://www.ploscompbiol.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fj...
> So HN, what do you think the purpose of investors actually is?

Operating capital. Investors, either private or public, provide funding for company operations in exchange for the right to profit from those operations.

The fact that stocks rise and fall is perfectly natural -- it reflects public perception of the value of a company. Economic theorists who think deeply about this stuff, think it's possible that markets are often close to perfectly efficient, meaning the money naturally flows to the place where it does the most good -- meaning maximum profit.

There are a number of possible distortions in the market. One of them is "insider trading", where business insiders exchange privileged information and make trades on that basis -- information the public doesn't have. Insider trading cheats the average investor, therefore it's illegal.

In general, equities markets are fair, meaning everyone has the same chance to succeed. And the fact that stocks plummet from time to time is a market fact of life -- sometimes it reflects public perception that a company is overvalued, or that another company is a better investment.

Equities aren't that difficult to understand. And they're one of the better long-term investments.
As an amateur photographer with a small collection of DSLR and MILC camera lenses at home, I'm quite excited by this: "In the future we can potentially replace all the bulk components in the majority of optical systems with just flat surfaces." In other words, this will allow large-sensor cameras to get a lot smaller and thinner.

Edit: WRONG! As sbierwagen points out[1], even though the press release states that the technology is "completely scalable" [to different wavelenghts of light], it actually works only with wavelengths greater than that of visible light. Too bad :-(

sbierwagen: Thanks for the clarification.

[1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4433970
I think a more probable headline is "Nothing happens." Except that won't be much of a story.

Seriously, who's going to read "Samsung owes Apple $1B for patent infringement" and come away thinking that Apple is the bad guy? There are perfectly valid answers to that -- people concerned about the terrible state of patent law in the US, open source advocates, Hacker News readers -- but "average consumers" is not in that set of valid answers.

In practice what this means is that by Christmas Samsung has a bunch of new phones out that don't violate Apple's trade dress patents and everyone who is not a nerd mostly forgets about this. Samsung may lose on appeal, they may not, but a year from now they'll still be the #1 phone maker in the world and they will have phones that are more distinctive than they have now.

Or they will have phones that all look like Nokia's.
> If you don't like the way the patent system works, then criticise the system, but don't criticise a company for making use of it

So when and how exactly are we supposed to complain? In a vacuum? When nothing bad is happening, just start writing letters about how awful the patent system is and hope somebody listens? Do you honestly think that would ever work? It's a ludicrous proposition.

If you want change, you have to illustrate why that change is needed. You do that by highlighting demonstrably problematic cases, and by showing that the parties involved are behaving in a fashion that is contrary to the public interest, yet legal, and thus changes to the laws are needed. That is how it works. If anybody thinks the patent system needs reform then this is exactly when they should put their effort into complaining, and they should absolutely be criticizing Apple for their actions. It is not just appropriate - it's the only way change will get achieved.
How did this not happen before? Was it not obvious to previous CEOs that this level of bureaucracy was a problem?
Quick question. Lets assume the best and this idea takes off. How do you plan to scale?

Seems like you have to put a lot of effort into printing and mailing the postcards for $1.99.
Otherwise smart and capable people are often handicapped by an inability to ignore tone, style, grammar, etc. and judge the argument alone.
I have a Canadian iTunes account and live in the US. It works just fine for me. I can still buy apps and update them, on iOS and Mac. I haven't encountered any IP issues. The only downside is that I need to keep using my Canadian credit card, and there are some apps I can't download but could use, like Spotify.
> and there's no good way to automate the developer recruitment process

Part of the process has already been automated -- sites that test a candidate's ability to solve coding problems.
We have a mobile app ready for release that you can take to the tailor of your choice and poke in the measurements. Stay tuned on that front. We're also looking into some more advanced measurement technologies.
Some first person accounts from a SW engineering perspective from Peter Adler & Fred Martin - both from the MIT lab that developed the LM Guidance software.

http://www.history.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11.1201-pa.html
http://www.history.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11.1201-fm.html
Now we never know the truth about the moon landing.
This trial is about Apple vs Samsung, not the patent system. Samsung filed counter-claims against Apple too. So I don't quite understand what you mean by the jury being biased.
Yesterday's article didn't have as much information about what Beatlab is, but there was a lot of discussion http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4428878
I probably get 3-4 inquiries a week from recruiters. About 2/3 from LinkedIn. I suspect that most software engineers in the Bay Area (and other hot markets) share my experience.

I usually politely ignore them. I changed jobs a few months ago and during that process I talked with a few. Not surprisingly, there are good ones and bad ones. That's the final word on it I think. Not all recruiters are idiots and scumbags. Not even most of them.

The worst ones, to me, were the ones that just spammed me with any remotely-related job instead of curating and sending me what I'm looking for. I also loath it when they give me pep-talk style, "Just be on time and don't sound too arrogant or cocky." Seriously? I'm a professional with a decade experience. This is a highly paid job. You're not talking to a University Career Fair candidate.

For some, I cut off contact. For others, I told them to remember me and contact me if they had anything that matched very specific job descriptions or outlandishly high salaries. Others I worked with pleasantly.

The best, to me, were internal recruiters and recruiters working at VC firms. Both of them have a deeper interest and better connections.
Sure english is not my native language and I can only try to use it as good as I can.
You've been able to run Unix on Macs going back to the 1980s. In the 1990s there were several variations of Linux that ran on Macs, and Apple hired the mklinux guy to make sure that linux kernels ran ok on Macs.

The only time in the Mac's history that Apple wasn't working to make sure it could run Unix was 1984-1987ish before they released their flavor of Unix.
Why not just get Win8 then? You want them to create two product lines because you want to keep the start button?

Furthermore, when someone does send you a link for a Win8 app you won't be able to run it. Or if you want to developer a Win8 app then you won't be able to.

I've been using Win8 since the release preview as my main desktop machine and as a desktop OS it's almost strictly better than Win7. The Metro UI is just a curiosity at the moment as I don't have a touch screen, but Win8 is still a better desktop OS than Win7.
Maybe they're comfortable some places, but they're a ridiculous piece of clothing the majority of the year in the US. Living in Atlanta, I've made it a goal to wear a suit as little as possible as I find myself hot/sweaty in all but the deepest parts of winter.

I feel the whole concept of a suit is quite out of place in a modern world where climate controlled buildings are the rule rather than the exception and most business/frufru social events happen within them.
Please have something informal scheduled for after the demos. It's the end of the weekend, everyone is buzzing from the pitches & finally knows each others names & enough about each other that the shyness has gone - and then it's all over! Usually a group drink ends up being set up last minute with no real structure, which is a shame because lots of folks have usually pre-arranged their travel etc.

Once the intensity of building is over, that's when the real networking begins.
Having looked at their site (http://7regentlane.com) and indochino (http://indochino.com), I'm a big fan of what these businesses are doing, namely making tailor-made clothing more accessible to those who might otherwise be intimidated by the process. But I'd like to see the business model extended beyond suits and shirts.

What I really want is perfectly fitted jeans, casual shirts, t-shirts, casual coats etc. As much as I'd like to dress smart all the time, the extra time involved in caring for the clothes isn't appealing, nor is the idea of always being overdressed.
You feel it's intellectually stimulating. I find it tedious and boring and the exact perfect model of the type of article that doesn't belong in this site. So, flagged.
I had Yellow Dog Linux installed on my iBook G4 without issues ... not sure what OP is going on about.
That's not the tone I get from the article at all. It starts that way to play up the difficulty of what he's trying to achieve and set it up so that the people it covers later seems even more gutsy and/or amazing for trying and/or achieving the goal.

In this case, the hero and focus of the article is not Ellison, but Stan Honey, the guy behind the new software system, and Ellison is just the force of nature that set the stage.

A lot of Wired features are written that way and there's very rarely any venom in it.

In this case even Ellison is painted relatively sympathetically, as the eccentric billionaire trying to do something slightly crazy but that might yet have a chance of success against really tough odds. It describes some problems he's run into, but it also cites people who see what he's done as positive.
I don't have hard numbers, so let's do some math on talent acquisitions.

It's been said that engineers are worth up to $1M in talent acquisitions [1]. We talked to lots of folks while negotiating our deal and that number matches what we learned for the total cost of the acquisition, including retention packages (about 3 years) and the cash portion of the deal.

For the same of argument, let's describe a large and expensive talent acquisition, as a sort of "worse case" for the acquiring company. I'll use roundish numbers to make the math easy: Let's say a $2M raise on a $8M valuation, for a $10M post money valuation in a company that had 10 engineers at the time of acquisition.

Usually, in talent acquisitions, the investors barely break even, but occasionally, they get 2X. So again for our example company, let's say that the acquirer pays $4M cash up front and $16M over 3 years for the 10 employees. That's $2M per engineer! Waaay off the charts. If you assume an even distribution (never the case; the founders and key people get a bigger slice), then that's an average of $533k/year per person.

If the average senior engineer's salary is $150k/yr, then then acquired employees need to be 3.6X more productive than a same-sized team of typical senior engineer to justify the costs of the acquisition. Note that this entirely ignores recruiting: Finding 10 senior engineers is fucking hard. Even if it was dirt cheap (it's not), it costs a lot of time and it's a gamble on creating a team of 10 people who truly gel. If you've ever worked at a big company, you know that there are always teams that outperform others by factors of INFINITY (ie. some teams are incapable of shipping), never mind beating the average by 3.6X.

Again, this is a pretty bad deal for the acquirer. The overwhelming majority of talent acquisitions are muchmuch* smaller. In those smaller deals, the economics make even more sense for the buyer.

I realize that my math is fuzzy here. However, you gotta believe that the people running fortune 500 companies have done the math in far greater detail and decided that it's economical. It would be a worthwhile project for someone to create a more thorough analysis with what-if variables.

[1] http://www.quora.com/Startup-Acquisitions/Does-Facebook-have...
> Surely Apple has a responsibility to defend its patents and innovations?

People love to say this kind of thing. "They had to defend their property!". No they didn't.

Throughout the 2000's we had an orthodoxy that all these seemingly obvious and bogus patents being filed by huge companies were OK because they were for "defensive" purposes. In other words, the very premise for why most of these patents were not vociferously protested against was the fact that the companies were not going to exercise them aggressively. Now that the stockpile has been accumulated we have people like you saying "Well, it's not their fault, since they have the patents they have to defend them!". Again - no, they don't.
Android fans like to talk about how much better their android is... it is the same phenomena you see with chevy vs ford.

Only its like saying your yugo is better than my mercedes, when the difference in price is $100. It's silly.
> I really liked typographer Jessica Hische's outlook: "the thing that you do when you procrastinate is the thing that you should do for the rest of your life".

This is hideously shallow and shortsighted advise. The stories of people "making it" are always inspirational, though for every one of those, there are thousands of people toiling away in obscurity with nothing (material) to show for those efforts. If people blindly followed the above, the world would literally be filled with people attempting watch TV, play video games, read books, nap, or just plain do nothing for a living (for example). And, yes, people can try to turn all those into different forms of livelihoods, but how many would actually manage to make a living wage doing that? Less than 1% at the most extreme? Probably.

Further, sometimes you have to do what you like rather than what you love. Or maybe even what you need rather than what you like. I get paid a very nice salary to do something I quite like, but don't necessarily love. The thing I love to do, on its face, pays 10x-15x less than what I do now. I am working at creating a venture that includes what I love and hopefully could ramp up to my wage now, but that takes time and I need to do it smart...because people depend on me.

I do encourage people to take chances when they are young, or when the kids are out of the house, but there is a window of time when your dreams and aspirations are LESS IMPORTANT than the people who depend on you. This is just part of being a mature, non-selfish adult.

So, if you want to chase your dreams and only your dreams (re: happiness), do it in such a way that others are not impacted. If you have a family, or kids, my advise is to not be selfish. If you can do it in such a way that you are not putting them at risk, great. If not, I believe you should wait until such a time that they are self-sufficient.
With OneNote in mind and being a Tablet PC user myself, I'm really baffled by the decision to make handwriting available only on x86 Surface version. There's really nothing that would've prevented ARM version of Surface to become a killer OneNote host...
Check out Bonobos...http://www.bonobos.com/welcome/n

We saw a presentation by their founder long before launching 7RL. Good people and great products.
How Long Do You Want to Live?
As a myopic geek I am looking forward to ultra flat glasses :)