skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
It sounds like you're saying that now that Starbucks has an entire infrastructure in the UK and therefore can't just set up somewhere else, you've got them by the short and curlies, so you can change the laws any which way you want to extract as much tax from them as you please.

Starbucks followed the law. You may not agree with the way they did it, or what the law says, but AFAICT nobody is arguing that they've done anything wrong (in the legal sense) right now.

The avoided taxes are corporate. All the VAT, taxes related to the jobs they've created (which are legion, as you yourself have admitted), local taxes (I am unfamiliar with how these work in the UK, but I presume they exist)... are still being paid. Starbucks is significantly improving the state of the coffers, and it's also minimizing how much it does so, as is its right and responsibility.
Right. Perhaps a better way to summarize this is that:

* Lisp made the first giant step of having code representable as data for meta-programming, and chose sexprs to do so

* Common Lisp came later, and made the important step of requiring this representation, which means that in every CL implementation you're required to have the code as data aspect

* But the flip side of this is that CL hard-wires just sexprs, it forbids an extended type, which means that you can't get anything more than sexprs (without resorting to "extra properties" hash table tricks)

* Meanwhile, Scheme (R5 and others that have only `syntax-rules') took a step back by specifying only rewrite rules which can be implemented in any way an implementation chooses

* But some Scheme implementations did use sexprs, but since they need to encode more information (lexical context) they extended them into syntax values (note that some Scheme low-level macro systems try to present users with a simplified interface where user code sees just the sexprs)

* Later on, Racket took further steps and enriched its syntax values with "more stuff"

* R6RS got closer to this too, by adopting the syntax-case system (but some people had issues with "wrapping" symbols, since you can't do that with the hash table trick)

* And finally, R7RS (the "small" version) is going to take a step back into the R5RS days. (And in the "big" language it looks like they'll adopt one of these systems that try to keep the sexpr illusion.)
Generic Function Objects
Wait what? Didn't MS squash Apple before their comeback precisely because they catered so much more to developers... ?
Then the researchers tested how both groups felt about beating. They found that the amusics could hear it and disliked it about as much as the control group.

followed by:

Co-author Josh McDermott at New York University reported previously that harmonicity seems more important than beating for dissonance aversion in normal hearers. In the new paper he and his colleagues argue that the lack of sensitivity both to harmonicity and dissonance in amusics now adds to that case.

Am I thick? These paragraphs seem to directly contradict each other (1st says amusics are sensitive to dissonance, 2nd says they are not).
You don't seem to understand VAT. Consumers pay VAT on goods and services ( some exceptions ). Without further financial activity, these receipts are simply forwarded and paid to HMRC.

For purchases that included a VAT component, ( and that is or should be all orders ), the amount paid to VAT is deducted. If the balance is positive, the entity pays HMRC. If the balance is negative ( for instance, when making a loss on expenditures vs income ), HMRC pays you.

In other words, it's entirely possible that HMRC pays Google. Customers, ( or those not VAT registered ) always pay the tax.
> Following a number of stories in the media over the last day about Starbucks and the amount of tax we pay each year, I believe it’s important that we share the facts with you on this important issue.

I know that anything they say after this is going to be sleazy lies and distortions. It is baffling to me how they think they can churn out vapid puffery and expect people to believe it.

The comments on the blog are delicious, and I really hope parliamentary researchers are reading and passing information onto the select committee.
sounds a lot like the Surface, minus the unix shells, that is..

I guess the real question is whether it is possible to simplify computing for the general customers while at the same time preserving the ability to tinker with the computer comfortably for the developers..
I still fail to understand why AWS is growing. It is slow and expensive. It may be useful, and a lot cheaper if you could plan the AWS with spot price, long term rental, and generally play the AWS game.
This looks extremely good. The video is also very well done; props on that!
Kingston DT Ultimate 3.0

The loop is quite big and made out of thick plastic - works for me.
Bleh.

I'll eat my own faeces if this was actually made by a Scot.

Seems more like the sort of collection of witless stereotypes that a sassenach with a humour deficit would come up with.
bs. apples tools cost money, as does the developer license and vs express has been around well for the last 4 years now at least...
The Starbucks brand is controlled via a corporate entity in the Netherlands. This is pretty common; IIRC Ikea does the same thing.
Multiple monitor support is one of the bits of MacOS that most annoys me. Some quick sample problems:

* if you have a laptop connected to an external monitor, and you disconnect the monitor then all your windows migrate to the laptop display. But they don't migrate back again when you plug the monitor in again, so you're stuck with a lot of manual window rearrangement (or third party utilities to work around it)

* the menu bar only appears on one monitor, so if you're dealing with a window on the other monitor there's a huge trek with the mouse to get to the menu. (this is kind of fallout from the fundamental choice that the menu doesn't attach to the window, so I can see why it works the way it does, but it suggests that a UI which worked on the Mac Classic might be being a bit strained in a modern world of multiple large monitors)

* new windows/dialog boxes often appear on the "wrong" monitor

* fullscreening an app on monitor A removes all the app windows on monitor B

So I can see why the parent might be irritated too.
I develop/Ace-based development IDE+ Firebug/Chrome Dev tools everyday for Ruby/Python/JS development. And for online web developer, who target web development, Chromebooks have the potential to become a web development machine too.

The Toyota/Lexus metaphor is totally pointless. As a developer and proponent of web based IDEs, I believe that a platform needs its developers on itself in the longterm, not on some other platforms.
Yes, when has free market competition ever lead to good things?

Furthermore, I think you are making the unwarranted assumption that it's a race to zero, as opposed to some balance point greater than zero where the companies actually have some reason to pay that tax. If we're all paying taxes for the common good, then presumably there's some common good in it for them, too? Or are corporations only things that we extract money from?
Sing with me together!

single boy,
single boy,
single all the way!

single man,
single man,
single all the way!
He quoted US case law as well as UK precedent. Of course he would argue the same thing the other way round.
it does if the text you are dealing with is specified as ascii only
Guide: Load a WordPress site in under 0.004 sec
Seeing the Judge Learned Hand quote taken out of context is a pet peeve, mostly because it happens so damn often.

Your latter quote is actually from Helvering v. Gregory, which was the 2nd Circuit case.

Here's a quote from the case actually named Gregory v. Helvering, which was the SCOTUS case[1]:

"In these circumstances, the facts speak for themselves, and are susceptible of but one interpretation. The whole undertaking, though conducted according to the terms of subdivision (B), was in fact an elaborate and devious form of conveyance masquerading as a corporate reorganization, and nothing else. The rule which excludes from consideration the motive of tax avoidance is not pertinent to the situation, because the transaction, upon its face, lies outside the plain intent of the statute. To hold otherwise would be to exalt artifice above reality and to deprive the statutory provision in question of all serious purpose.

Judgment affirmed."

In short, business transactions must have a business purpose, and the substance of the transaction is much more important than the form.

[1] http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/293/465/case.html
That's not what's happening though, there are reports by the parent company that the UK business is profitable, when it suits them to boost share prices, yet reports from in country that there has been a loss so they can minimise taxes.

I agree - it's possible that Starbucks UK is not pofitable, and that the parent company is, or vice versa. But reporting the same thing in different ways to different audiences seems fishy to me!
In that case, the smart thing to do is not to work for the PHB, rather than pervert your craft in an attempt to impress him/her.
Slight correction and additional facts: The Newton was not a tablet. Nobody referred to it as a tablet at that time and nobody categorizes it as one now. The Psion Series 3 PDA arrived on the market before the Newton in 1991, and had a sizable user base by 1992.
The problem is that shareholders include everyday people who have money in mutual funds who invest that money in large cap corporations who depend on management of those corporations to maximize their shareholder value at the expense of all outside, non-investors. Including employees, governments etc. as long as it is legal and maximizes long term shareholder value.

It is a fundamental shift in finance theory that occurred about 25-30 years ago. Many people will argue that management should put the shareholders above all else. I think there is a somewhat muted, but real discussion happening in a lot of places that the currently accepted system may not be the best one, but for now, management has a fiduciary responsibility to shareholders.
Nexus 4 and Nexus 10; UK Sells Out in 30 Mins
Show HN: Address book storage you can trust.
Top 11 Reasons to Visit the Hilo Docs in the MSDN Library
This is a very subtle advert. So quick digging raises one interesting question: Are they being paid by Patriot?

Clearly they're using Amazon referral links here but that image at the bottom of the article is both professionally taken and unique to this article (I put it into Google Image search and TinyEye - neither had relevant results).

If they are being paid by Patriot then I would suggest it is immoral not to say that in the advert/article.
What’s new in Android 4.2 Jelly Bean?
It's quoted "out of context" because it is generally considered to be a persuasive obiter dictum.

And that's how law quotes work. Sometimes the facts of the case bear on obiter dicta. Sometimes they don't. That doesn't change their degree of persuasiveness.
Amazon seems to choose to be unprofitable so they can keep up their revenue growth. If they cut the unprofitable new sectors, they would b profitable, but why bother? Wall Sreeet doesn't care.
The usual good recommendations; "be a polite listener of your customers by targeting their satisfaction". that simple advice repeated again and again everywhere turns out to be the key for any startup to get traction.
He did not. He said that Microsoft's approach to sale was modest. Then misquoting and English-to-French-to-English translation did their jobs.

Official statement:

>When asked about Surface, Steve’s use of the term “modest” was in relation to the company’s approach in ramping up supply and distribution of Surface with Windows RT, which has only been available via our online store and Microsoft retail and holiday stores in the U.S. and Canada. While our approach has been modest, Steve notes the reception to the device has been “fantastic” which is why he also stated that “soon, it will be available in more countries and in more stores.”
I agree, too. Sometimes, while trying to remove the superfluous elements, we kill the essence of the e-mail copy. The original one is fairly good.
One interesting case in US history involved an affair of Alexander Hamilton. It resulted in not only a lot of extorted money, but legal and political intrigue as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton-Reynolds_sex_scandal
Founder here - very excited to show HN and look forward to all comments and thoughts.
Programming framework webfont icons
Richard Hamming : You and Your Research
Hey, might just be me. I'm usually the 'Ben, can you help me with a regular expression' guy over here, but I stumbled, hard, and failed to connect the '-' with a range of characters (probably because I never thought of 'space to .. something').

So I read the snippet, thought 'Yeah, a character class of space, -, ~' and fell on my face in the next couple of lines.

Yeah, I should've known better, I know how to read it. If .. I invest the time and don't glance over a construct and hope to just get it instantly.

I wouldn't want to see this in a code base without proper documentation (be it a comment, a function name or whatever. Something).
Finally a product that is going to open source itself it wins on kickstarter. Thats what usually stops me from contributing
> The first point is that NI is pretty much unavoidable anyway, so including it doesn't really make you look great. Only really low-level tax evaders try to get out of NI and PAYE.

IANATL but do Starbucks even have any PAYE or NI tax to pay? Isn't it their employees that pay that? Just because Starbucks happen to take the money off of your pay cheque for you doesn't mean that it's not your tax liability that's being paid for.

Not having your employees systematically avoiding tax (e.g. like what happens at some levels in the civil service) is great and all but it's not like Starbucks are out there preaching to their employees about how awesome it is to be a tax payer.
Even though I enjoy most of his blog posts (and learnt a lot from them) and subscribed to his RSS feed, I have to agree with this... This particular blog post feels like a personal post, something that I expect to see on my FB/Twitter feed rather than HN's front page...
Elegant and ergonomic - http://i50.tinypic.com/2qicw79.jpg

Sorry, can't help :) It looks quite useful, especially the car headrest mount.
Developers are a relatively small percentage, and in some ways not an overly profitable one as whilst we want the best we're also prone to pushing machines as hard as possible, as long as possible.

I've been developing on OS X for something like 8 years now, ranging from C++ dev work up to RoR and some other bits. I've never had any real issues with it as a development platform, never felt like the OS was getting in my way or anything similar. I also heavily use Linux in my day-to-day and that's definitely more developer focussed but it can also be way less productive at times. ML is a solid consumer focussed OS but it's still a very nice development platform as well, but thats my opinion.
> It certainly is against the spirit of the law.

No judge will ever make a ruling on the basis of "the spirit of the law". They may try to divine the intent of Parliament or Congress according to agreed interpretive rules.

But it's still about rules. Predictable, and precise.

Even the law of Equity, which is the closest to being the law that is about the "spirit" of the law ... relies on rules.

Otherwise you no longer have a government of law, you have a government of men. Those don't work very well.
I think it's mostly about resource usage.

Google services don't really benefit much from UK infrastructure (except digital infrastructure, which is privately owned for the most part at this point in time).

Amazon and Starbucks simply would not be in business without UK roads, UK police and other UK services; so Amazon and Starbucks are benefitting from taxpayer-funded services while not contributing their fair share to their maintenance.

EDIT: sorry, I wasn't clear -- I'm not arguing that Google should be treated differently, I was just suggesting a justification for the difference in perception.
Your mistake is in your assumption: different people have different values of "fundamentally immoral". Different people do not have different values of "illegal".
Ya, I love the idea of these. How do you have one already, thought they weren't shipping yet.

Also a pretty sweet solution for (encrypted) backup.
In the video they show the mount resting on a leg and on a cushion. If that works as advertised that'd be a killer feature. iPad stands have to take into account that people don't typically use an iPad at a desk, so the typical rectangular stands won't do the trick. This looks very promising, and much more comfortable than the alternatives.
Good point - I guess if they are saying in their UK tax return that they aren't profitable and the US reports that they are making substantial profits in the UK then that is extremely fishy.

Aren't they just transfer pricing their profits out of the UK to Switzerland and the US?
No, I'm saying that Starbucks operate coffee houses in the UK, as such they are operating a business within UK borders. Regardless of some status as a homeless multinational they are operating a coffee shop business within the UK.

It makes no sense to me that a local or national chain should be at a disadvantage because they pay corporation tax in the UK, when a multinational can essentially run the same business but spirit away the profits when tax-time comes around.

That's what I mean by the government holding the keys to the market, it should be possible to say that if you want to operate here and have access to our (clearly lucrative) market then you run by the same rules as everyone else, giving an honest account of the profit and loss made on the business in this country.

"The avoided taxes are corporate."

So? The corporation is operating a business in the UK.

VAT is a tax on the purchaser, not the company.
PAYE is a tax on the employee, not the company.
Yes, they pay 'business rates'. As they are required to.
And no, I'm not suggesting what the are doing is illegal, I'm suggesting it should be made so.

The benefits of Starbucks operating the UK without paying corporation tax is debatable. Is it really improving the coffers if people would go for coffee anyway, in a place that does contribute back to the society it's operating in?
Haha! Like to see that... not! What are some true Scottish funny ones then?
Xcode, interface builder and Instruments are free. For a few weeks last year, you had to buy them for 0.99$, but they changed their mind and now they're free (as they have been previously).
I'd say that you do have a moral obligation to pay taxes, regardless of the legal facts.
Google’s ad revenue higher than combined U.S. print media industry’s
He's talking about the ideas from Dyson's "Time Without End" lectures: http://www.aleph.se/Trans/Global/Omega/dyson.txt
Pay attention to the last paragraph discussing "snapshots". Switching between modes of execution is tricky.

See also how this is done in PyPy: http://morepypy.blogspot.com/2010/06/blackhole-interpreter.h...
Well, for now.
Devs cook up 'leakproof' all-Tor untrackable platform
How about Canada? I was supposed to get an email today but never did. Anyone else from Canada get one?
The product itself looks cool, but things like this keep catching my eye:

> HI ! Looking to purchase MULTIPLE REWARDS IN ONE GO ? YES YOU CAN !

> FREE shipping in the US and EU. Add 10$ for all other countries.

> EARLY BIRD SPECIAL !!!

Except, Kickstarter isn't a store, right?

If they allow stuff like this, it is. It's an interesting new kind of pre-order store. And it should be regulated like one.
Two generals, Agent Shirtless, and 30,000 pages of sexts
If your timeframe is the last 15 years, it would be wrong to speak of an exodus. In 1997, linux on the desktop was a niche market, only for people who didn't mind editing a text configuration file now and then. Nowadays, you give a desktop with Ubuntu to grandma and she'll be perfectly happy with it.
What Ubuntu and RedHat did was copy the "it just works" experience from Apple's MacOSX, not caring about the non-grandma power users who got their arms and legs maimed in the process of fighting NetworkManager, dbus, and GConf-2.
Or the *BSD people, who would prefer a desktop environment that runs without Linux emulation.
So, as far as I (or anyone) can see it, people are still engrossed with the Egyptian standard of living and don't mind the slavery so much that they would do an exodus. It might still happen, I guess, if a substantial part of the distro-sponsored Linux developers (Ulrich Drepper, Lennart Poettering, whoever) operates with their fingers stuck in the ears, plowing through with whatever semi-evil plan that they set their mind on.
Go programming language turns three
Glad to hear it. Thanks!
In AU I believe.
IE10 review: still disappointing for HTML5 games
see what they did： //player.youku.com/player.php/sid/XNDczOTM0OTcy/v.swf
25% Angel Tax Credit
Creativity, "The Grind" and Why We Need Side Projects
2010, and his MacWorld example has "evolved."
Given he so eloquently puts the arguments, it baffles me to think that we might just be an extremely lucky and rare occurrence in the universe. To me, it is more terrifying to think we are the only ones, than to think there are aliens. The vastness of spaces suddenly seems so claustrophobic.
I don't know about Starbucks, but I know Google does the same thing and pays branding rights to their Irish HQ.

Unfortunately, I can't find the article that details it. If I can, I'll post it.
For curiosity and entertainments sake, I would recommend anybody to read Isaac Asimov's "The Last Question". It can be read under 15 minutes and it a entertaining read on this subject and entropy in general.

However for serious arguments sake, the whole problem in this question is "definition of life" itself. However even if we consider that heat death is inevitable and that we are assuming human beings to be around then. Then there are way bigger threats to our future than the heat death of the universe.
> I didn't claim morality was objective, no need to behave as if I did.

> it is fundamentally immoral to operate like that.

Sounds pretty objectively-stated to me.

Count me in the camp that disagrees with you. Normal people do all sorts of perfectly legal tricks to pay less income tax. They're not cheating; they're just paying the minimum they're legally required to pay. Same deal for business. Whatever they can get away with without breaking any laws is the minimum requirement. Paying extra tax out of some patriotic duty is illogical, as is not taking advantage of the perfectly-legal loopholes found.

It is not up to the businesses to pay more tax than the current legal framework requires; it's up to lawmakers to amend the tax code so that 'undesirable' loopholes are closed.

Businesses act to maximize profits. There is nothing immoral about this.
PyData NYC videos posted
You're talking about Linux consoles, OS X not having invented Linux...

What the hell are you talking about?
> As for Google I feel it is less of a problem. They mainly deal in digital goods. They don't have a big presence in the UK. They just offer their online service's here.

I don't buy this. It's absurd that a UK business can pay to place ads on the Google UK website, presenting them solely to UK consumers, and yet the money involved in this transaction never touches the UK.

It goes straight to Ireland, then the Netherlands, to Bermuda.
To support the very civilization you benefit from.
I have never found the Learned Hand quote persuasive specifically because I know the context.