skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Yeah. Additionally any article you'd get there will oversimplify to the point of mostly offering an admonishment to check with an accountant.

As a business typically you are going to pay for net income. Calculating net income is going to be difficult in this case because it depends on what you are raising money to do.

Raising $500k to pay some experts to go develop the world's best pizza recipe in a year? Do this the same year as the fundraising? If you can spend all of the money you raise on bona fide business expenses (but see amortization below!) then it isn't going to raise your tax liability at all.

Similarly suppose it is for a pizza oven. Now we get into the complications. Do the tax laws (we are talking tax accounting not GAAP or financial accounting here) allow you to take the whole thing off the first year? or are you required to amortize the cost at a specific schedule? Irrespective of the ability to do so, would you prefer to amortize over a specific schedule with the idea that you save up for a replacement? Now you get all the questions that matter and the answer as to whether it raises your taxes or not are not at all straightforward.

The real lesson should be "talk with your accountant but also learn the basics yourself."
Well, you can't get thousands of bucks of costs in GAE if you don't set limits that high.

The way I do it: I've set the daily limit to something really high, but something that won't make me go bankrupt (like $100/$200, while I usually spend $5/day).
I don't worry about spikes in payments - as the article says, it's not worth to waste my time analysing all the border cases. If a border case happens, I'll deal with it then.

It's much worse with Amazon Web Services which has no such easily set limits. I've heard about a guy getting slapped thousands of bucks bacuse of bandwith usage due to some bug.
Really? They don't pay income tax?
Around 3 years ago I was living in Auckland and wanted to escape the city for winter. Hearing people moan about the weather and cold was getting boring and bringing me down. A friend told me about a town called Wanaka and it sounded like a fun place so off I went. It was the best decision I've made yet. Even the police are friendly here. For example I once ran out of gas and while parked on the side of the road a cop pulled over and gave me a ride to the gas station and back. During the ride he told me how much he loved his job. I've found my new home.
Given how Instagram is "valued" at one billion dollars (was it two?) I don't see how you would have much trouble raising twenty five million for something as game changing as that.
Your pocket data center sure opens up a lot of possibilities. A cell phone datacenter. Well, sort of like
a high powered botnet built around cell phones.

You get funding, I board a plane to wherever you build this, and help you hack it. :)
There's a Yotel at heathrow? Damn. Wish I'd known that last week :-)
64-bit integers don't really solve the bugs, they just make them slightly less probable. They basically don't help against malicious input in the general case.

The most famous example for this kind of bug is probably the binary search implementation in Java:

http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/2006/06/extra-extra-read-...

The interesting thing about this bug and many like it, is that you don't need real arbitrary-precision arithmetic to avoid it. The result of the expression (a + b) / 2 can be proven to safely fit into 32 bits if a and b are known to fit into 32 bits as well - the compiler just needs to make the result of the intermediate expression (a + b) be stored 33 bits, or to transform the it into a mathematically equivalent expression that has the same properties as the original expression with a 33-bit intermediate.

Of course, this only can be applied to a subset of algorithms - I suspect this quickly devolves into the halting problem in general. But maybe new languages could specify that such halting problem cases need to be manually determined (explicitly choose between arbitrary precision arithmetic and truncation). The simpler cases can be deduced automatically. I guess that means in addition to uint32_t and uint64_t we'll probably need more specific types, such as "positive (nonzero) integer in the range 1 to 1 << 32". Which would be tedious if you had to specify it explicitly all the time, so you'd need good inference and solid support for generic functions.
Forget the Web, Valley Start-Ups Get Real
2 NEW VIRUS'S 4 U
Again, where do you read that automated is the point? I read "space saving" & maybe an implied cheap and/or low maintenance. There is no mention, hint or implication of automated.
cool! Will wait for the next writeup.
There are other factors involved. There's really easy migration to Australia which has a stronger economy, it's common for people to have other passports so it's easier to move elsewhere because of that too, there's less of a belief that we're the greatest country in the world that could bias American emigration. America is also a big place, so people can move around within the country fairly easily if conditions for any particular group of workers in any particular place is bad, which isn't the case here.

It's not quite as simplistic as you make it seem.
Bill Gates Wants a New Toilet and He's Willing to Pay for It
Write JavaScript in your Local Language
The story of how the CHDK was born is really amazing. Remember that "print" button on your camera, the one you never use? It has a light on it. Apparently someone coaxed their camera into outputting the source code of the firmware getting the "print" button to flash on and off.....
Well, as with technical/coding matters, there are 3 tactics to reduce probability of getting into trouble:

1. Learn basics of accounting (or coding for that matter), it is not that difficult.

2. Have a good expert in your team and rely on his/her judgement.

3. Listen to 3 experts talk and form your own opinion.

Going back to the crowdfunding example, the actual decisions and actions will depend on the start-up's specific situation.

When we speak about R&D, for example development of new software or hardware, in most of the cases it is possible to capitalize R&D expenses and defer those expenses hitting P&L. BUT this will actually increase corporate profit tax in the current and following 1-2 years. And this will increase cash outlay now because due taxes are indeed need to be paid.

On the other hand if the start-up [meaning legal entity] is not profitable, it is possible to defer profit tax using carry forward provisions [which have specific limitations re amounts/timeframe/eligibility].

So, yes, learn basics, but speak with expert... :-)
Could be a case of Baader-Meinhof [1], or maybe you haven't been socializing in right forums. The word "grok" has been in popular use on Usenet since the early 1990s at least, probably before, since it's from a 1970s Heinlein novel.

[1] http://wikibin.org/articles/baader-meinhof-phenomenon.html
I prefer a domain and my own server. But nobody will see what I write. The average user can't use G Reader. They can use twitter and facebook. Why hasn't this issue been solved? I want a network with friends who are users that gives me control. Contradiction in terms?
Here is my rant, as an experimental (panorama, gigapixel) photographer: Canon, Nikon, and the rest of them will go to their graves keeping their firmware closed and un-scriptable. It is a tragedy. Mobile phones and the Gopro are eating their lunch. The fact that there is even a (niche) market for things like the Eye-fi (wifi sd card) goes to show how utterly clueless and behind the times these dinosaur camera companies really are.
I left. I'm in London now.

It's easy to find out why, even in the context of the article. You see what the rest of the world has, and want to take part. Want to work on building a Boeing 777? You can't do it in New Zealand. Sure, you can work at small companies building small planes, but if you want to be working "world scale", you have to be where all the people are.

To relate back to HN, there are a few small startups, but the market is different in New Zealand. As a nation of small businesses, about 95% of the population work for a company with 50 or fewer staff. If your business involves selling to other businesses at scale, there are comparatively far fewer opportunities to do this.

NZ would be a great place to put a remote team (Mozilla have one in Auckland) and Kiwis love the idea a company will pay to fly them around the world every now and then. Even better, if you pay them in USD or GBP, it generally works out favourably for both sides.
You are right, sorry for the false information.
It turns out -- US law is enforced in NZ, by ... the FBI (Megaupload) so no, I don't wish I was there.
I am no Java expert but they write that this syntax automatically creates a anonymous inner class - every time you create a collection instance in this way. Or am I wrong about this?

Most of the examples given are creating static objects but the last example a non-static object is created in the same way. Imagine you are doing this a couple of times then you end up with a lot of anonymous classes. Isn't there a limit on the number of classes you can have? At least it makes debugging problematic.

But I might be wrong about this since I am not a Java expert...
Microsoft's UX Guidelines (HIG) for Windows 8 Metro/Modern Style Apps
THere is a culture in New Zealand of after leaving University going overseas to "See the world" (their OE: Overseas Experience). Many highly educated people end up staying there because of the more interesting/higher paying jobs.

However, after they start a family, it's fairly common for people to want to move back to New Zealand as it's seen as a great place to raise children. When people come back, they've acquired a large amount of experience from other places.
So, HN, here's a question about electro-ethics:

Would this business of guessing whether a prospective customer will spend big money be more ethical if it were transparent -- that is, if these escores were visible to the persons being scored?

Or, is it OK as is? Or is it just no good?
Well, that’s why they say ‘over’
What most people fail to ever figure out is that this social-status hack (velvet-roped queues) has a lifespan.

In the nightclub industry, people understand this. They create artificial barriers to entry so that, when people get in, they spend loads of money "on the experience" because they feel lucky and perhaps a bit superstitious. It works for a few months and makes an enormous amount of money.

Two years later, some other club is hot and that one is a non-concern, full of "B&T" (bridge and tunnel, i.e. non-New Yorkers) and college kids on spring break. There's actually a lot of truth in the Yogi Berra quote: "That place is so crowded, no one goes there anymore." Once "the crowd" can get in, no one important wants to be there, and the $10,000-per-night people have moved on. A nightclubs has a lifespan. The owners and promoters put it into maintenance mode and start another one. This works extremely well for that industry. If you can sell a $30 bottle of vodka for $700, you've figured something out. Having to start a new club every 18 months isn't a major burden for the owners and promoters. It's the Hollywood model of starting a new project every year.

This works poorly for the airlines, which have infrastructural needs that require them to focus on the long term. The airlines play similar status games. There's economy which is deliberately uncomfortable, and first/business (first in domestic flight, business) which ought to be 1.5x the price (50% more space) but is between 1x and 5x depending on a bunch of weird variables, some of which are deliberately indexed to the person's socioeconomic status. You never get a good sense of what a ticket "should" cost because they deliberately keep it vague.

In the long run, this leads to abandon. Truly high-status people don't use commercial airlines anymore, not even international first. The rest will fly commercial but hate the experience, and would probably ditch the planes in a second if we had decent (250+ mph, 5-8 cents per mile) train service like they have in Europe. Morale in the industry is at an all-time low. As soon as credible alternatives to the mainline commercial airlines exist, they're done for.
Show HN: Twitter in London
try mercurial - dvcs with svn's simplicity.
"reliably prove their identity"

What is the relationship between the level of reliability and the ability to provide democratic government and social support? Obviously democracy does not demand 100% reliable identification, if only because many countries with governments based on democratic principles do not require 100% reliable proof of identify in order to vote, participate in government, etc.

(Nor am I suggesting that you think it's 100% - this is a rhetorical point only.)

Historically, the case of Clarence Henry Willcock in the UK is relevant. The National Registration Act 1939 re-introduced compulsory identification cards. The practice extended after the war ended. In 1950, Willcock refused to present his card, saying "I am a Liberal and I am against this sort of thing". While the courts upheld the decision and fine, public opinion was against that level of identity checking, and the policy was scrapped in 1952. In part too because of the cost.

So we have the case of a democratic system, with social care programs, which seemingly decreased their ability to identify people reliably.

Denmark is another example of a country, widely accepted as having both a democratic system and high social services, which doesn't have a highly reliable identity system.

So it does not seem that what you are saying is essentially true, and it is possible for a democratic government to have high social support systems without having a reliable method to prove their identity - at least, no more reliable than we had 100 years ago.
I think that the fight-or-flight instinct has a lot to do with this. When you wait in line, you're in an architectural non-place so your guard is up, and you have someone right behind you at your back.

One thing almost every office plan gets wrong (unless intimidation is part of the design) is open-back visibility. It makes people stressed and unhappy and less productive than they could otherwise be, but a lot of offices use this style of plan because it's cheapest.
What's special about the web? (pros and cons of installed apps versus web apps)
So the job of a manager is just ensure that CEO's orders, no matter how stupid they may be are executed without any shadow of doubt, and no questions asked? By highly intelligent employees?
That's some lame management and some lame company to be in.
"I've seen too many organizations and teams try to use agile to "fix" things while completely ignoring issues like product development, customer development and even culture."

I've had the same experience. It went as far as developers wanting me to negotiate every little thing with the product owner so stuff could be done in a later sprint - even when there was plenty of spare time left in a sprint. For me this removes a lot of fun in my work.

Same was with clients, developers tried to put all client incidents on the backlog. Even though some incidents could be alleviated with very little work and make a customer happy.

I'm a developer myself and I can't thrive in such an environment. It was actually not very agile with regards to fellow developers from different teams or clients.
Agree about the art-gallery use case, and as a guy that has been involved in a lot of product companies I think it's important that the initial demo videos show solutions to real problems.

If your initial launch marketing positions the unit as some esoteric solution to a non-problem (especially if it's for a "rich persons" non-problem), people seem more apt to forget about the product overall. Show some demo videos of it being used for REAL applications, and there is a greater chance people will remember it and/or aspire to wanting one (which helps keep you stuck in their subconscious). Nobody is going to go to work and say "did you hear about that robot you can use to browse art galleries remotely?", but they will say "did you hear about that robot that you can use to go grocery shopping?" (or something similar, I don't have a better example because I can't really think of a good use for a telepresence robot, but that's just me).
Time seems to speed up as we get older because life gets less memorable and less surprising. When you're growing up, life is filled with novel and surprising experiences that are used to anchor our memory because of those aforementioned qualities. Psychological time is directly related to the formation of new memories. As we grow up, everything gets into a routine that we barely notice at all. Just think of how much you remember of your daily 9 to 5 for example.

This phenomenon has been studied several times. In 1890, William James wrote the following in his 'Principle of Psychology':
"In youth, we may have an absolutely new experience, subjective or objective, every hour of the day. Apprehension is vivid, retentiveness strong, and our recollections of that time, like those of a time spent in rapid and interesting travel, are of something intricate, multitudinous and long-drawn out…But each passage year converts some of this experience into automatic routine which we hardly note at all, the days and the weeks smooth themselves out in recollection to contentless units, and the years grow hollow and collapse."
How to seed your startup userbase in standalone mode
Yeah. A great example of how people go wrong when makers focus on the product they're building rather than the people they're building it for.

As a programmer, my natural inclination is to sit in my fortress of arrogance and build the thing that I "know" they need. But learning how to do user testing, user interviews, and customer development has persuaded me that the important moment isn't when the product ships, it's when somebody actually uses it.

I almost never use my non-phone camera anymore because the point for me isn't taking a picture, it's doing something with it. Which camera companies would know if they treated anthropologists with the same respect as CCD scientists.
Something like Xtend ( http://www.eclipse.org/xtend/ ) ?
Milk in New Zealand is traded internationally. From what I gather, countries that New Zealand exports milk to are willing to pay a higher price than what they get selling it back home.

Note: These are just some vague memories when I drunkenly discussed the problem with some Fonterra execs.
It's not too bad if the device uses USB and you have a working Windows driver for it: run Windows in a virtual machine on Linux, pass the USB device through to it and log the traffic using Linux' USB debug facility. Then figure out what that traffic means. It depends on the device how difficult this is, but for simpler devices it's actually quite straightforward.

For other types of devices or if you don't have ANY driver, it's obviously somewhat trickier, as most I/O protocols are a lot lower level than USB (the host controller driver takes care of most of the heavy lifting for USB). I suspect you'll need specialist debug hardware to log the generated traffic.
As always, if you downvote, do let people know why.
The Startup Peanut Gallery
I think you mean Standard Template Library in that context. The C and C++ standard libraries aren't referred to that way (at least not commonly!).
New Start-up Nanoly. Not another bullshit app for your iPhone.
In the case of BP's rebranding, the numbers quoted here seem to be mainly BP-side spending, such as replacing signage on facilities and repainting vehicles: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1350238/BP-attacked-o...
Well, at least one of those 2 million+ accounts is for my build server, who is not a particularly active committer, nor a paying customer.

But for my main account, I'm quite happy to pay Github their not very many £s per month.
MediaWiki has a templates feature.

https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Templates
My company was using AppEngine to host our product but we switched over to AWS (python, nginx/tornado, mongo) last year because of similar problems. On a small amount of load the problems you are describing can be high. On a large scale like we have these problems cost a fortune.

We new that some of the costs we were incurring were do to bad design on our part (We were all new to No-SQL databases when we started). But after going through our internal cost of resolving these issues versus rewriting our app to use Mongo we decided on the latter. We haven't looked back since...
I think there's a fundamental difference between being a "manager" and being a "doer".

If you're a "doer" (for example, a developer) your to-do list for today is likely to have three or four items on it - each a couple of hours in length - and context switches (interruptions, changing task) are expensive (half an hour or so).

If you're a manager, your to-do list is actually about a hundred items long - but each item only takes a few minutes to complete (also meaning that it's probably not written down and it's hard to enumerate what you actually did today). And most importantly - context switches are cheap.

So reviewing someone else's work is actually only a ten minute job (it doesn't need to be detailed - just check to see if it fits with your philosophy).

But for a developer that's ten minutes plus an hour of context switching - making it very expensive.

For a manager that's ten minutes, plus a minute of context switching - making it cheap.
There's also this plugin : https://github.com/canha42/pinterest-pin-it

Which lets you choose the "pin it button" image, lets you disable it on any page you want, etc. :)
Interesting, this reminds me of a quote from Josh Foer's book about memory:
"Monotony collapses time; novelty unfolds it. You can exercise daily and eat healthily and live a long life, while experiencing a short one. If you spend your life sitting in a cubicle and passing papers, one day is bound to blend unmemorably into the next-and disappear. That's why it's important to change routines regularly, and take vacations to exotic locales, and have as many new experiences as possible that can serve to anchor our memories. Creating new memories stretches out psychological time, and lengthens our perception of our lives."
In Java, you have a gazzilion of classes. You have seriolusly many classes. And if you use Clojure or Scala or JRuby, you number of classes multiplies.

You just stuff a hundred of jars full of classes into your classpath and never look back.

JVM hums happily and does not care about however much classes you have. No problems with debugging either because why would it be? Anonymous classes are as introspective as non-anonymous.
Thanks for explaining that, I think I get the distinction now. Can I just ask one small follow up?
Why would you prefer to see firebird used in this way than mysql?
Considering Yo! take a lot of inspiration from Japan for their products, I'm honestly not surprised. Look at Yo! Sushi, for instance.
Yep, I too don't understand the fascination with puzzles. I love solving real problems but I hate those idiotic puzzles.
Start writing a game. You will learn a lot more from the problems you have to solve for your game than from a dozen project euler websites.
Your IDE would complain all the time. Seriously, you lose one of a few good parts, stellar IDE support. Why bother with Java then?
Infertility and High Natural Background Radiation ...

"Conclusion: Findings of this study indicate that women's Primary infertility rate in the HBR residents was considerably less than in the area with ordinary background radiation."

http://docsdrive.com/pdfs/medwelljournals/rjbsci/2008/534-53...

"Y. Tabarraie , S. Refahi , M.H. Dehghan and M. Mashoufi , 2008. Impact of High Natural Background Radiation on Woman`s Primary Infertility. Research Journal of Biological Sciences, 3: 534-536."
it's not written in ruby so it sucks