skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
ngen isn't really an AOT compiler so much as an "ahead of just in time" compiler. You use it to run the JIT compiler and have Windows cache the output so that it can be reused instead of regenerated every time the program is run. Compared to a real AOT, it has several technical limitations, including:

1. You can't distribute native code. The usual workflow is that you deploy bytecode assemblies, and run ngen during installation to get the machine code into the local machine's native image cache.

2. You're still dealing with a two-phase compilation. This implications for what kinds of compiler optimizations are possible.

3. For the paranoid, having to still distribute bytecode means that your binaries are still easy to decompile.

On the other hand, it also has some technical advantages. Generating machine code on the client machine makes more processor-specific optimizations possible, for example. And keeping JIT compilation in the loop means that you can still support features like Reflection.Emit().
Fellow HNers - the comments you see here are from random people on the internet without the slightest qualifications and their own pet theories and agendas so please take them with a grain of salt.
Google should work on creating their own Android tools, or at least make a very optimized Eclipse for Android.
Quick clarification: I am not claiming that Piracetam can't have any effects in healthy, mildly-to-moderately gifted individuals, it's just that I am not certain you can extrapolate from studies of Piracetam use with impaired individuals.

Finally there could be other benefits to Piracetam use (reduced anxiety, better memory, better focus, etc..) even if there's no "boost" to performance IQ.

I just don't (yet?) see conclusive evidence of this.
I'm not talking about CSS, I'm talking about removing the content from HTML and sticking it in a database. Thus HTML is merely a template to be reused over and over. Hence boring layouts that work with all content equally well. In some situations this is critical, I'm not arguing against its existence, but we've gone too far in that direction whereas, as this article points out, there's not a lot of tailored web pages on the internet any more. Which is a shame.
The CC#s themselves, no. But I do find the topic interesting on a few levels. It's fascinating sometimes to think about where we are socially and technologically that enables this sort of thing to happen. By this, I mean the whole 'anonymous' movement as a whole.
Wish it had vector support, Balsamiq images look really blurry in scaled PDF documents on retina displays :(
still causes anxiety for grown folks, me included. :(
PayPal Set to Suspend Domestic Transactions in Argentina
Well, part of discussing is determining where best to put resources. I.e. "What is necessary to change things?" If you can nail down places that are lacking, then you can actually attempt do something. That said, I understand you point, as none of these discussions ever really achieve much.
> This. The Firefox OS license for carriers should be "you can modify our OS however you like, but you must take no steps to keep users from installing a clean one, nor penalize them for doing so."

If Firefox OS is to be open source (OSS-compliant), then you can't impose this sort of restriction.
Apple is taking a Free program and distributing copies that have restrictions on them. But you can easily get the original Free version that has the exact same functionality, byte for byte. Seems like a technicality to me. The end user still has full access to the source code in its untainted GPL majesty.
While I agree with open data and that citizens ought to know more about their government, I'm still uncomfortable with the idea of releasing the home addresses of FBI agents. What good does that serve? What government transparency goals are achieved?

This leak doesn't seem to really do anything, except make it look like Anonymous are desperate for any dirt on the FBI after the UUID incident.
I'll dispute it. If I cram more code into a single line it will not lower my defect count. In fact there is a chance that the concision may turn into clutter and become harder to read/maintain and that may increase defect count.

Is there a measurement term for number of symbols (in the lisp sense) in a given program? Example: '+', 'add', 'defn' would all be individual symbols. I could see a loose correlation between symbol count and defect count... maybe.

Or to go even more abstract: number of concepts per program is probably the ultimate measurement we are looking for: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concept
You can invest in a basket of real assets (commodities, real estate etc.) that reflect the things you expect to be spending on. There are also real return bonds (e.g. TIPS) though those are somewhat vulnerable to manipulation. You can also diversify to other currencies, foreign real estate. Stock indices may be another option.
Still completely hopeless.

However, I'm great at putting Math into an algorithm, or using code to work out a problem (this was not acceptable in school...)

I passed compsci with good marks, went straight into jobs so I'm obviously not that bad!
No, you're not the only one! I much preferred the 3GS's design.

I will say that I'm the only one I know who considers the iPhone 4 to be a complete abortion of industrial design. It's fragile, it's unpleasant to hold due to sharp edges everywhere, and I almost always have to spin it around in my hands like a trained seal every time I pull it out of my pocket, because (unlike the 3GS) it's difficult to tell how it's oriented by feel alone. None of these things are true of a good design.

Apparently you can pull the SIM out of an AT&T iPhone 4 and wedge it directly into an unlocked Galaxy Nexus HSPA+, even though the iPhone takes a micro SIM. I ordered one of the latter after the iPhone 5 (non)announcement yesterday and am looking forward to seeing how that hack works.
Sartre, and many others have used amphetamines.

The real question is not that of the shill above, but: <b>which major figures in the last X years were NOT on some kind of drug</b>.

Americans...
But it is relevant. If you can learn about all the confidential technologies like UICollectionView from free WWDC videos, then why is an NDA really necessary?
Absolutely. Apple has primarily been a marketing company for the last decade. They should keep that in mind, for their own sake.
It takes a lot of courage to admit that you struggle with depression, even with an anonymous account, so first off I want to say good on you for writing this.

I've had severe problems with depression before, and one of the biggest realizations that helped me out of it was that I have the power to change nearly every aspect of my life. There were many things in my life I wasn't happy with, and it took me a long time to realize that it was in my power to change them. It took me a much longer time to actually implement a plan and change them, to the point that I feel pretty comfortable in my own skin right now, but that realization was the start. I spent some time on medication (Lexapro) and in therapy, but I'm not a psychiatrist so I can't make any specific recommendations on that front. I can say that I viewed the therapist less as a doctor and more as an outside observer into my life, to whom I could talk about almost anything and get some trusted advice. I think it's paramount that you talk to somebody about this before you hurt yourself or, less dramatically, before you spend more time feeling depressed and questioning why you're even alive. Talk to a therapist, talk to a hotline, or even talk to a bartender somewhere if it's this bad. You've taken a first step by posting here, and that's a really brave thing to have done.

Please e-mail me if it's this bad and you genuinely feel you've got nowhere to turn. My e-mail address is in my profile, and while I'm not a psychologist/psychiatrist, I will gladly give you what assistance I can. What've you got to lose?
The Creation of the Unix Operating System
And clearly you are sufficiently biased, likewise, that your opinion must be irrational. Oh no, wait, we've just fallen into several logical fallacies.

Next time, please switch on your brain before posting.
Flagged as way off-topic.
787 Dreamliner comes to United
LINQ was never an attempt at functional programming; it's an exercise in querying collections in a type-safe manner. Perhaps you were thinking of F#?
Why? It seems like a complete waste of time to this typical software engineer with 100x more objectives than time.

Why not convert all your Java code to Scala? Because you have real work to do and reskinning your existing code provides no benefits, that's why. If it works, don't rewrite it, go make more stuff work.

Maybe the dropbox folks don't have anything else to do, though. Not my place to judge.
I just opt for parens every time. I really think they shouldn't ever be optional if in some cases they are mandatory. That this is a matter of personal style is somewhat frustrating.
The value judgement on Flash wasn't the point. The point is that I can do what I want to regardless of someone else's value judgement.

And I'm far from alone. Over a half million people downloaded it from Google's app store and I'm sure that just as many have put it onto their phone without going through the store. - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.adobe.flas...
Midwest startup meetups started to be flooded with business guys with an app idea looking for a tech guy to build it for 5% equity and no cash... I hate to use stupid teenage acronyms, but "smh" is appropriate here.
This is the first time a single phone (the SGS III) has outsold the iPhone in the U.S.
Spate of Attempted Robberies Hits NYC Startup Offices Onswipe and Shelby.TV
I'm cofounder of Hacker School. I'm happy to answer questions about the residency program or Hacker School in general.
I love the Startup School talk DHH did a few years ago where he talks about having a product and charging money for it... Pretty hilarious delivery.
IMDB data has serious licensing restrictions. I would be extremely surprised if it were used as a source for this.
That the solution proposed kills conversion and is unnecessary.
A subjective article cannot be false, silly person. It is evidently well-research and supported by evidence; that's as much as one can ask. You may disagree with it's stance, but that's another point. Get over it.
1) Destructuring assignment: http://coffeescript.org/#destructuring (although they lack an object example).

2) This has to do with the unary plus operator more than just cs - since +varname is an expression, it treats it as such. Fair complaint - I've never run into that. Also, this works just fine if you put the plus on the end of the first line:

a = long_var_name +
hey_another_var

3) When would you use those?

4+5) Are cases of the unary operator in 2)

6-10) Sure, this is limiting if you want to write switch statements like that.

I feel that your coding style is different, or that you're listing edge cases to be contrarian. Coffeescript has a much smaller range of syntax deviations but that's part of what allows it to be so brief and clean.
Mapping values in an object:

http://coffeescript.org/#destructuring

On backslashes:

https://github.com/jashkenas/coffee-script/issues/2457

Basically, if statements are that long, the code should be refactored. This makes it easier to read and reduces the opportunity for bugs. That pattern is one of the main reasons I like CoffeeScript.

switch a
when b, c, d
e()

Is clearly explained here:

http://coffeescript.org/#switch
It looks like it borrowed that syntax from Haskell.
I think it's all TBD at this point. Early smartphones sometimes had no-camera models for people who worked in offices (or went to other locations) where taking a camera wasn't allowed -- this was common even in ordinary corporate settings. These days smartphones with cameras are so ubiquitous that virtually everywhere has bowed to the inevitable.

Pioneers using this sort of things will no doubt run into issues. But if they become mass market products, the vast majority of people will simply get used to them unless they have special circumstances.
I'm still unable to get a clear answer to the basic question "Why should I use Quora?"

I work at a startup in Austin, I read HN daily, I enjoy news about SV startups, etc. Still, I haven't found a compelling reason to spend any substantial time on Quora. I'm happy to read a particularly insightful answer when I see the occasional link pop up on another site, but that doesn't make me want to search Quora for other information.

I wonder if my disinterest in Quora is common among developers outside of SV?

If I, a tech savvy developer at a startup, don't find the idea of Quora particularly interesting, why would Average Joe be interested in joining the community?
No simultaneous Voice and Data for iPhone 5 on Verizon & Sprint
Ask HN: How do you keep your code elegant?
I would love to have folks share tricks they use to keep their code elegant.

A little background for this request. I am a self-taught hacker and when I work on projects, I typically spend a bit of time thinking through the structure of the code, breaking it down into functional modules, figuring out a good database schema, etc. In order not to get carried away with over thinking the architecture, I usually set a time limit on how long this process can take and almost always end up with a very simple, straightforward design that gets the job done efficiently (enough) and, dare I say, elegantly.

The problem comes when the project hits the harsh light of day and I start getting feature requests from users that I never anticipated. Once I start implementing these new features, I discover the code is no longer as streamlined or straightforward, the database schema is now less than ideal and I need to rely more and more on documenting my code instead of being able to trust that the flow is self-evident.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm pragmatic enough to realize users do not give a shit about the code and just want stuff to work but I care. I'll throw in a hideous hack if that's what it takes but I like beautiful code and even if I am the only one who knows what's going on behind the scenes, I get a small sense of satisfaction knowing just how well it all hangs together.

So, let's hear your tips on how to ensure your code stays beautiful.
Maybe Apple and Microsoft should release all their software under a permissive license for the good of hundreds of millions of users. Is that what you are suggesting? I do not have any problem with people/corporations releasing/selling their code as they see fit, but I do take issue at people feeling entitled to set the terms for other people's code. If the other contributors do not mind the violation, they are free to remove his code and release their code as they see fit.
1) The point is, a standard connector that does what they needed already exists. Given Apple's history, I'm guessing they won't use the bulky $1.99 cable from Monoprice.com. Instead, they will ship a $19.99 cable with a much smaller connector, and with half the quality and durability of said $1.99 Monoprice cable.

2) Any part that can handle 5 Gb/s Superspeed differential signals is guaranteed to have the necessary electrical characteristics to handle any conceivable A/V and control stream formats used by a phone.

Physical-layer connectivity is not handled by the main CPU in any case. It's just a matter of selecting or designing the appropriate bus controller, which they will have done anyway in the course of switching to their new proprietary connector.
I'm still kinda worried about the interface of Google Glass, resp. the actual handling of the device: if you'll be limited to voice inputs and to swiping on the ear piece in the final version I suspect that this device will be not be very usable in an every day situation. esp. when you're using it in public you just might look like somebody who is constantly scratching his head.

I speculate that you would still require a touch screen to do most of your tasks, such as writing instant messages, checking when the trains go or just for browsing the web.
Turn by turn existed before Android.
Computer vision in early stage product development with Python
Interesting perspective and, like I said, one with which I'm not familiar. I've used a few Android devices (basically, I've played with all of the Nexus devices because we have them around for work), but only for a day or so at a time.

Personally, iCloud solves all of my syncing issues; the device is basically always online and all of my data's always up to date without manually syncing. All of my media is in iCloud, so I never need to sync my music, movies or TV shows. Likewise, I can purchase all of that media from the iTunes store on the device. Maps on iOS 6 is hugely improved with an enormous (and potentially disastrous) regression – there are no transit directions. And I've never noticed the beeps from Messages when I'm typing a response… I must have internalized and learned to ignore those. ;-)

I think it may really come down to: I can't use Android because I'm so tied to iCloud/iTunes and some of my favorite apps (Tweetbot and Reeder are probably the big ones) haven't been ported to Android. Also, the lack of polish on Android (even in 4.1) and in all Android apps drives me nuts. Maybe I'm too brainwashed by iOS. Every time I use an Android device, I feel like I've picked up an unusable and barely functional rip-off of iOS.

Likewise, perhaps iOS isn't usable to you because you're so tied to Google's ecosystem, and you're accustomed to Android and Android apps. And because you're used to the way everything works in that universe, iOS feels like the backwards, decrepit OS.
I think parent's point is that s/he wants b,c,d on different lines if they were long variable names.
Admittedly I was a bit shocked to see my passwords start pumping out: all I needed to do was click "Allow" and away it went. Why would keychain remain unlocked? Why doesn't that command need sudo? This seems like a pretty decent security flaw to me...
I hate tau. An event like this should be viewed as a cool nerdy thing, a celebration of the culture and fun of mathematics. Thanks to tau, nerds start bickering over a senseless and useless distinction as to whether a factor of two should be present in a transcendental constant. Did we really need another pointless division and source of argument in our society?
Was this site's design inspired by Y Combinator?
-Yes. We copied most everything except the 90s markup.

thought that was hilarious
Read the article. Their first step was to run their existing JavaScript through a js2coffeescript converter.
Almost any comp sci program, on either side of the border, is going to have a lot of dead-weight students who just want to put in the classroom hours and would never dream of programming on the side.

These are the kids who never really learn how to program (there aren't nearly enough classroom hours in a 4 year degree to turn you into a competent coder; building your own side projects is a necessity). These are the kids who give rise to all the complaints about Why Johnny Can't Code, and why academia doesn't prepare people for industry. These are the kids who make up the bulk of the anecdotes about people interviewing 10 candidates for a programming position and finding out that only 1 of them could actually program at even a novice level.

It doesn't really have anything to do with being in Canada.
"It's just javascript" !== "You don't have to change your workflow at all"
Indeed. Who really gives a damn about Quora?
It's sick

Sometimes I really hate the English language. I think in highschool I remembered which adjectives meant good and which meant bad, but now they all completely confuse me. Hella, bad, the sarcastic awesome, wicked, twisted, ...

-- a twenty-something curmudgeon.
Hotel-room hacks: Picking the lock
I use Django for my projects and I don't share this opinion on the maturity aspect. Can you explain your statement a bit more? What aspects of Django are immature?
Is this a well written satire?
The headline is misleading because the author hasn't really quit twitter.
> Hint: drugs such as modafinil, caffeine, nicotine are part of daily life <b>because they have a demonstrable effect</b>.

The original story talks about racetams as opposed to stimulants. I don't think the fact that stimulants... stimulate is controversial: it's just side effects of stimulants are also well known. Of course, some stimulants are more socially accepted than others: no one calls me a junky and an addict, even though I run to the coffee machine every morning lest I experience (non-trivial) withdrawal syndroms (headache, excessive sleepiness).

Racetams appeal as they (seem to) have no known side effects -- which is that part that sounds too good to be true. As far as I understand the mechanism is such: poor absorption of choline (either due to lack of choline in diet or issues with choline receptors) creates cognitive impairment; racetams and choline "fix" this impairment. That isn't controversial.

However, what I don't know (and what tokenadult doesn't know) is what affect racetams and choline have on healthy individuals. In other words, is the money spent on months' supply of choline and *racetam simply better spent on French press, a good grinder, dark roasted beans, and a gym membership?

I don't know and I'm curious to see some studies. Note: I am not saying that folks shouldn't experiment with racetams, it's just they can't know a-priori it will have the advertised effect. OTOH if you are not short on money, there's nothing wrong with experimentation: the Placebo effect alone could be worth it. It's just you have to draw the line between "someone on the Internet reported did X and experienced Y" and "X implies Y is a scientific valid conclusion".

Of course the worst scam is energy drinks: a cup of coffee costs less and tastes better than five hour energy -- and I am at a loss at how a five hour energy could do something that coffee can not.
Given that we just switched from contact-for-quote to a new version of standard pricing (we had a old version which was confusing!)we don't have the numbers yet from the switch. Will post the results once we have them.
I'm totally going to use this for way more bad than good.
Yes. Still haven't upgraded from a 3G for this reason. Feels much nicer to hold than other phones do.
Cooperation in open source
Hardly a security flaw. How do you expect Safari/Chrome autofill the same passwords? And after the password is auto-filled any JavaScript can access the input's value attribute.

I use this in my .emacs so Emacs can grab passwords from Keychain, but the same approach would work in bash too:
(defun find-keychain-password (host) ()
(condition-case nil
(let ((passstr (second (split-string (first (process-lines "/usr/bin/security" "find-internet-password" "-gs" host)) ": "))))
(substring passstr 1 (1- (length passstr))))
(error nil)))
> It's not about preserving it in mint condition, it's about preserving it in usable condition.

And for me that means not bothering with an expensive smartphone. I had a phone like that, sat on it and broke its screen. It was hundreds of dollars down the drain. I don't want to have to worry about a stupid phone or not putting it in the right pocket, or it getting wet, I got other things on my mind usually. So I just have a simple flip phone. If a mugger wants to steal it fine, they can have. If sit on it again and break it, "ok", I'll get another one.

Maybe everyone is just incredibly rich or like to spend a lot of time worrying about their expensive toy, I am neither.
So it takes less people than ever to start a company, and that's supposed to be a bad thing? They could have easily framed it as "its cheaper than ever to operate a start-up".

A more interesting angle would be to compare the total number of people employed in start-ups over the years, as a percentage of the labor force.