skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
>> For some people, mostly executives and other business oriented disciplines, this is a fair deal as it is what the free market bears; they do not and will not care about long-term health of the industry, the other side of the stick, or the designer on the line. It just doesn’t click for them, and that’s understandable somewhat because they’ve never been in a similar situation before.

I think you have all your work ahead of you to show that using 99designs and similar sites has any real effect on the "long term health of the industry." Similarly, I don't see how it represents a lack of care for the designer on the line, seeing as to how numerous designers happily use the site themselves.

You say that your problem is not the amount of money, but with the concept of spec work -- "doing work for nothing." And to that I reply that I totally agree. Doing work for nothing is a problem. But you're blaming the wrong person. You should blame the people who choose to do that work, not the people who offer to buy it. Designers are perfectly capable of saying, "No, I don't like doing work that will possibly be for nothing, therefore I won't participate in 99designs." Nobody is holding a gun to any designers' heads and forcing them to apply this questionable business model to their work.

You could argue that it's still unethical on the part of the client, because they're taking advantage of ignorant designers who are unaware that they are entering into an (arguably) bad deal. But that line of reasoning doesn't hold water, because 99designs makes it very clear what the arrangement is. Nobody here is unaware of the risks of doing competitive spec work.

You could also argue that the problem isn't with the designers who participate in spec work, but with how their decision affects the market for desginers who don't want to do that. But if a large number of designers can be persuaded into doing spec work, then some combination of the following facts are true: (a) there are too many designers, (b) there are too few people requesting high quality design. In either case, it means simply designers may not be worth as much as you think they are, in the numbers you think they should be. I hardly think you can call someone's morals into question for not choosing to donate extra money to designers.
IIRC, some U.S. states (Wisconsin might have been one) had similar laws. The margarine companies used the workaround of including a separate food coloring packet, which the customer could mix in at home.
>"I do think 99designs has become more taboo over time."

Only on a site like HackerNews. Everyone I've shown 99D to thinks the idea is great (as do I).

I don't understand why designers care one lick what other designers are doing for work. I don't begrudge people for using AirBnB instead of a hotel, or using Uber instead of a normal taxi.
Thanks for mentioning it - HN Kansai co-organizer here. We had our last event last friday and you can find our presentations online here (one on the Raspberry Pi, one on an upcoming app "ContextPower", and one from Sacha Greif on "Side Projects"): http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPbAAnPEAdq6bgpvuarNAg...
Divide and conquer always works, especially when you are chasing tasks that can't be comprehended as a monolithic entity.

During chasing any big task you need.

a. A way to break them down in logical chunks.
b. Way to manage and execute them.
c. Way of measuring progress and tracking feedback.
d. Small chunks of iteration, where you can execute, take feedback and adapt quickly.

How you do this, is left to individual convenience.
They can be called "milk" legally because the definition of milk includes the whitish fluid produced by plants. The dairy industry has tried to argue against its use "to prevent consumer confusion" to no avail: http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2010/04/dairy-lobby-t...
I am not making the argument that using 99designs is not legal, I'm making the argument that it is not moral. It’s a society’s job to match legality to morality, and just like everyone has different opinions on morality, you’re more than welcome to use as it is legal. If people were forced to work there, it would not be legal.

>Now, if you take a look at the link to the original 99 designs contest, you'll see that the artist who won the contest is now known as "Please_Remove" -- gee, I wonder why?

Going with your assumption that he or she became famous, why does she want to be not seen anymore at a spec-work site, one would think? It's either because he / she is embarrassed to worked at one time at a spec work site, or that he or she, after gaining experience, understood that spec-work is actually not that good of an idea. Considering the weakness of no-spec organized movement amongst designers, I would say the latter.

I also happen to be an active contributor to the Stack Overflow, and I find it very useful. I also contribute. It’s a fair deal. But it’s not spec-work. I have no expectation of compensation. While seemingly similar, it’s stands at a very different place.

That said, I agree that 99designs is a good training ground for budding designers, nonetheless it not existing would be an even better one.
I'm actually rather curious as I see this argument repeatedly and it doesn't match my personal experience (I've corrected plenty of mistakes both with a user account and as an IP and I don't think I've been reverted once). Do you mind sharing what kind of articles or mistakes have you had this experience with?
I'm inclined to think a lot of people who use 99Designs and other such sites do in fact consider and empathize with the designers on the other end, as do you. As you have rightly stated, there is no deception or forced participation. It's a free market.

What I don't think a lot of 99designs customers consider is their impact on the health of the design market. Allow me to illustrate this in the software development world:

...

Imagine you have a potential client that has put out an RFQ. You write up a proposal and submit it. You are not selected, but you learn that the potential client went instead with an offshore company that bid literally one third of your bid. There was no way you would have come close.

You may say "I build quality software. I charge what that's worth." The offshore competitor may write less efficient code that's much harder to maintain – but this client doesn't know, or care. They care that the software meets requirements and was delivered on-time and in-budget.

That's what designers who disagree with 99designs are concerned about – clients that don't understand what they're missing out on when they choose a one-off crowdsourcing instead of a collaborative, iterative process – and a market that comes to accept this as the norm.

Now maybe for a one-off side project, you simply don't need a full design process for a logo. Maybe a client that needs a quick prototype for an app doesn't need the quality codebase you can provide. I'm not against either of these scenarios. I just don't want to see the market for either industry lose track of the value its best talent can provide.
I understand your argument, and I realise markets(unregulated) will dictate whether a service is viable or not. I just think it's an unfortunate stance to have.

For the good of the design community I would encourage people to put the effort and source a good designer.

I take the same stance when consuming anything. I try to source products/services based on value and ethics, not just price and convenience.

BTW Dribbble(dribbble.com) is a great hub of good designers for hire.
The problem is the way you introduced yourself made me think you were arguing a different issue than you were.
Check out http://dribbble.com/

Lots of great designers for hire.
I have no idea if it would work, but what if a site was made where you could hire designers that you knew were quality so you wouldn't waste the time of people that weren't likely to get their design chosen?
As Ryan says passion first
I consider Wikipedia a good source for conversational information, and to that effect: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:World_map_of_lactose_...

Actually, a little more looking, I think I also found the Yale study it's from. Here's the power point: http://cst.yale.edu/sites/default/files/worldwide distribution of lactose intolerance, madison 2010.pptx
I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one that goes back and checks their comments.

I know it's superficial, but it still gives me a buzz to wake up in the morning and see a bunch of up votes and replies to something I wrote the night before. It's equally frustrating when I say something I think is smart and it gets ignored.

Damn you internet, validate my existence!
>"...reduced the living standards of millions"

Regulating markets and working conditions post WWII in western nations did exactly the opposite.

For unbridled capitalism and truly free markets check out some of the living standards in South East Asia.
Milk consumption makes males taller and broader [1]. So the sheilas want to breed with the tall milk-fed hottie and not his short, weedy and flatulent lactose-intolerant friend.

[1] http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.nutr.26...
I just want to be cautious. My cofounder and I are working on the video and application in time for the deadline but since we're in New Jersey there's a high probability of power and internet loss in our area... which would really suck.
I was simply pointing out the obvious difference between SO and 99D. I'm neither for nor against the 99D way of doing things. I'm sure there are many secondary benefits to be had from participating in these kinds of competitions, not least of which would be improving ones skills and (potential) work prospects.
Can software eat poverty? 60k spent per fam in poverty? Wth?
Agreed, this kind of content is the best of HN in my opinion, along with programming / ops "war stories" like this one:
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4709438
I don't think you quite got what I am trying to say. Addictive smartphone checking isn't culture, it is a problem that culture will be generated to solve. (Well, it could also turn out to be not nearly as much of an issue as we think it is, and then we will all forget about it save for the odd blog post making fun of how we were scared of something as normal as walking or watching a movie.)
I have heard many productivity techniques but I haven't read each of them in details how they work because well... I don't have time to read them in details. A 20 pages summary would probably fit me better.

Having said that, I've been building http://nbaschedules.appspot.com since October 20th (last weekend) one feature per day. An example of what I viewed as a feature: Facebook and Twitter share buttons, adding Google Maps to each stadium, adding navigation (first release didn't have a nav), etc.

I have a 6 month old kid and a full-time job in a "semi-startup" company. I also spend all of my son's waking hours to play with him. I wouldn't want to sacrifice that time slot even for a single second.

A progress is a progress is a progress. I suppose that's my core principle. Always work on something that contributes to the goal, no matter how big or small that is.

PS: This small website is just a personal playground to learn the whole SEO/Internet Marketing stuffs. Opinions and Advises are more than welcome since I'm fairly newbie (please be gentle!).
Lowering designer's wages is not an immoral act, of course. Still I would rather say it lowers low-end designers' wages, rather than all.

However, is it immoral to ask someone to work for below minimum wage? I believe so. Apparently the western society agrees, consequently we have laws to protect that. I'd say we do most definitely have two profoundly different concepts of what is moral and what is not.
Not trying to be obnoxious, but why?

I'm allergic to cats, and while I might often joke that they're beasts from hell (seriously, have you ever paid attention to cats? They're preternaturally Satanic,) I don't actually wish them any harm.

I know nothing of milk allergies or their severity -- is it so bad that just being near milk will cause you troubles, or is it only ingestion/contact. If the former, I suppose I get it. If the latter, why would it bother you that other people choose to consume it?
Except tablets, because herp derp DRM
Giants Win The World Series
> For the good of the design community I would encourage people to put the effort and source a good designer.

This is insane. Nobody in their right mind would do this over what 99designs offers. It's an order of magnitude better in terms of both price and convenience, and I'd wager that on average you're more likely to get what you want out of it.

> BTW Dribbble(dribbble.com) is a great hub of good designers for hire.

I beg to differ, having tried multiple times over a year to find designers there. Anyone whose work I liked wasn't interested in being hired, or had a price tag way way outside my range.
> "asians are said to have a near 90% adult lactose intolerance rate"

I'm very skeptical of this. I was born and raised in Asia, and all of my peers were raised on a diet with regular milk consumption. So either we were a huge cohort of statistical outliers or that number is way, way off.

I do know that lactose intolerance rates for Asians is much higher (and consequently, less socially troublesome due to the fact that dairy is generally not a core part of cuisine), but 90% is way, way, way out there.
> If people were forced to work there, it would not be legal.

Indeed, if people were forced to work anywhere, it would not be legal.
Off topic comment.
Just tried the surface RT at the Microsoft store today. I think its awesome. I am considering the surface PRO for purchase. However, I am concerned that I cannot use it as a "laptop" i.e. balance the surface while typing with the keyboard on my lap. This is probably 50% of my usage scenario. If there is a heavier version of typecover that can support the tablet without a kickstand when placed on the lap I would rush out to buy the Pro version.
If a logo produced by a single employed designer or firm is better than a logo produced via a 99designs-style contest, then you're going to have to prove it instead of merely claiming that your way is superior. The Stack Overflow logo doesn't seem to be missing some sort of je ne sais quoi that a non-contest logo would have. I'm also happy with my 99designs logo. If I'm hurting my business with such a logo, I'd appreciate some sort of proof.

Otherwise, this seems to be an argument about maintaining designer wages, and I am rightfully not concerned. Everyone wants their wages to go up and the prices they pay to go down.
>>You may have heard of paying yourself first to gain success in personal finance.

Can you elaborate more on this.
Most ed-tech startups suck
I'm a native speaker of Korean, and the song doesn't sound bizarre.
I have 2 invites. I'll send you one if you want.

The other invite is also available to whoever else wants it.
Full-screen mode did nothing for me. I can enter and leave full-screen instantly. It added the kind of speed bump that has room on the side to be perfectly circumvented.

I don't think it's possible to create a distraction-proof UI that is also user-friendly.
Sorry, I don't have a solution here. I just find it insane that we spend that much and the families we are trying to help get so little. I fully understand that a lot of people are getting paid along the way with that 60k, but most of those people could do other jobs as well.

Anyone have have big ideas on how to fix this?
Street Dance 2 2012 is the sequel to StreetDance 3D which was released on 21 May 2010. The film has been released in RealD 3D, XpanD 3D, and Dolby 3D with Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini returning to directing.

http://freemoviesite24.com/2012/10/street-dance-2-2012-720p-...

http://freemoviesite24.com/2012/10/street-dance-2-2012-720p-...

http://freemoviesite24.com/2012/10/street-dance-2-2012-720p-...

http://freemoviesite24.com/2012/10/street-dance-2-2012-720p-...

http://freemoviesite24.com/2012/10/street-dance-2-2012-720p-...
One of my fellow ISP admins (silicon.net, I was elite.net) had the same problem around 1995. GIFs would load on web pages but not JPEGs. They'd load for some amount of time and then hang.

The way he diagnosed it was to do a transfer of /dev/zero out one link. It worked. But it stopped almost immediately out the problem link. It turned out to be the same problem -- no zero bit stuffing configured on the line.

By the way, this same technique, known as "weak bits", was used as a floppy and CD/DVD copy protection scheme.
Instead of voicing yet more disapproval for 99designs, I'd like to make a positive suggestion for anyone looking to save money on a branding project:

Go to a portfolio network like Behance.net and browse the portfolios under branding. You'll find plenty of interesting, talented, and available designers, many of whom are just starting out or live in far-flung places with low overheads.

It won't be quite as fast or cheap as going with the crowdsourced alternative, but it will definitely be faster and cheaper than going with a firm that touts big-name clients. Most importantly, you'll get to experience a real design process, and maybe even forge a relationship with someone who gets to know your business and what you're looking for when you need more design work.
I think "snort" was a joke so that you wouldn't get angry :-)
The problem is, you're a sharecropper. Microsoft owns the Kinect and its surrounding ecosystem-- lock, stock, and barrel.

If there's a real market for Kinect development tools, Microsoft will sooner or later own it, exactly the way that they own the C++ development tools market on Windows, Zune, XBox 360, etc.

It would make a lot of sense for them to release something like what you've developed for free. After all, if it pushes up Kinect sales and locks developers more tightly into the Microsoft ecosystem, Microsoft will want to do it.

Even if they don't want to release the development tools for free, I see no reason why they should let you access their hardware. The next version of the device could easily have a locked-down, encrypted communication channel. Look at how hard Microsoft tried to prevent the various XBox iterations from getting hacked. They even went so far as encrypting the buses that ran inside the device.

If you really want to work in this area, build your own hardware and make it a truly open platform. However, be prepared for attacks from a known patent troll.
We apparently had different interpretations of the color article. You seem to think the article was about there being two valid viewpoints (color exists and it doesn't), whereas I think it was just about trying to get the computer scientist to understand color.

> Or, to put it more snarkily: your claim that bits have some unrepresentable property of "color" sounds like non-geek misunderstanding to me.

The legality of information should and does involve tracking how they were obtained. This is not a property of mathematical bits, but is a property of the physical encoding of those bits in this world. Since the argument here is over how the law should work, a geek making arguments like this is just wrong. This is not a "they're both right" situation.

> Let's not rehash the arguments that the essay already eloquently expresses; neither of us will get anywhere that way.

Go reread the essay and see if you can really find support for your viewpoint. I just skimmed it (quickly, admittedly) and it seems to say what I remembered it to say.
Certainly not all of Asia. In India, from anecdotal evidence, almost all adults are lactose tolerant.
You were just talking about the distinction between morality and legality, then you justified your position on morals with laws.

I do not believe that it is immoral to offer less than minimum wage for a job. I do not believe that any consensual arrangement between clear-thinking adults is immoral.
If you are in a reasonable sized city, showing competence at hack nights and meetups. No matter where you are, a presence on Github and helping folks on IRC.
Why have two accounts if the work account is not more secure than the personal account (since both accounts are on your computers?) If you want some devices to only have the work account, you could still use a shared folder to sync between the work account and the personal account rather than actually using two clients.
Med/Law = pattern recognition machines to detect statistical regularities. You show them a plane. Then give them another object and ask them whether or not it is a plane.

Math/Eng/Science = use of pattern recognition over a multiple of composable machines to create something new. You show them a combustion engine, steel frames, gears and vulcanised rubber wheels, then they connect it to the invention of bikes/trains to make a car.
That's a great example, thanks for bringing that in. I was more thinking of community management since I'd just been skimming "Building Web Reputation Systems" again and its authors have quite a bit to say about the entanglement of social and technical problems. But like you say, there are a lot of domains where technical problems are entangled with social ones - it's just that those domains are software engineering as a practical discipline, not computer science as a branch of math. My favorite examples are time zones, Unicode, and country names/boundaries.

How many time zones are there in the world? How many will there be next year? Your NTP server needs to know.

How will you store humans' names that can't be expressed with the BMP alone? The iCloud servers need to know.

Is Taiwan a country? How about Kurdistan? Where are the borders of India? Google Maps needs to know.

There is plenty of software that won't have to deal with these problems ... but these problems can be huge headaches, and part of that is because of their nature as both social and technical problems.
> Do they have a citation for this? I can't find anything.

The Guardian made the claim: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/24/gangnam-...

It's a bit dubious, and there are no other sources I could find.
hmm not sure what you mean by internal structure that seemed obscure.

GDrive works just like you describe: a simple, normal folder. That's it. I put stuff in, it got synced
The weight difference is water. But if you loose a third of the calories when converting to cheese then I assume they're in the whey. I doubt that people who were hard up for calories would discard the whey unless they had some cultural objection or superstition.
You're twisting the OP's words. It's not unethical to participate in a work arrangement where the supplier puts in spec work and knows they might not win the contract.
It's not the difference in performance but having to compile against a different architecture altogether. These two are architecturally different and porting an old legacy app like office cross platform must not be an easy feat. I don't see examples of old apps easily being ported over across platforms.
I was a happy Dropbox user until Google Drive came out at half the cost, so I switched and bought 100GB of Google storage --- Big mistake! --- Google Drive is beta quality software at best. Many bugs, missing features and no support.

Google would not refund the extra storage I bought, so use Syncdocs to sync to it. Syncdocs works just like Dropbox (reliable) but uses Google Drive server as storage backend.
Food and Water - FEMA [pdf]