skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Coming from reviews by recent owners (of which, I will be one in about a month and a half) and my own test ride, the distraction level is actually very low.

At night, the display switches to a white on black interface with a dimmed screen brightness. Unless you are seriously distracted by any light in your car at night, this isn't going to get in your way. Really, the only way you can make it worse is by leaving a website up with animation on it or bright colors.

In addition, any important info (navigation, media playback, range indication) is available on the dash display. The default interface is relatively static, so it's not going to try and distract you from driving. The most motion is going to come from the dash, and that's right below your eye line, provided you're actually keeping your eyes on the road.

I saw this at the Beta event last year and even though I wasn't the driver, I ended up spending most of my time looking elsewhere besides the center display. The car and the driving experience is really front and center, not the touchscreen.
https://github.com/darius/superbench is not a big fancy cross-language shootout, at all, but I tried a few little programs I actually cared about. LuaJIT 'won' in the sense that of the languages I tried it had the best combo of performance and pleasant productivity, informally. I didn't try to quantify the latter.

(Also, no Java because I wouldn't seriously consider it for hacking-for-fun.)
Great news and good luck to the both of you!
Video: Super Great Toilet Keeper
Who are the two female executives in charge of Microsoft Windows?
Scott Guthrie for CEO!!!!
Or selling too well and causing the Microsoft partners to make some noise.
Is the iPad Mini the Beginning of Apple’s Decline?
Are You Living In A Computer Simulation?
If I can get a Lamborghini body on a Tesla chassis....SOLD!
You're playing with lots of anxiety here pg! Anyway, hope to see you soon in our interview :)
Good luck everyone!
There are a great many people in the world who are technical and generally disagreeable.

Similarly, not all change is good change.

Organizational changes in the Windows org increased fan-out and forced managers to take up additional roles, and also decreased leadership opportunities in the org. The changes were in theory supposed to be better for the leaf contributor (now you're only X steps from CEO!), but in reality, having opportunities for growth is probably much more important than having two fewer people between you and the top.
Courier : J Allard :: Surface : Sinofsky

Both of them equally sad departures. The latter more so.
Wait, Apple fired their top software guy and MSFT's top software guy leaves. Why does this sound like Sinofsky is heading to Apple?
You dont get to this level without thick skin and a constant desire to climb the next mountain.
That's only if you accept the current "third party doctrine" interpretation of the limits of the fourth amendment. There is nothing in the amendment itself to limit its protections in the way that they have been, and, in fact, these limits have not been enforced uniformly.

For instance, even though you make (or made) telephone calls in the clear over a third party network, the government cannot tap your phone calls without a warrant (and, in fact, protections were even expanded to tapping of public pay phones to target specific people in Katz v. United States).

The third party doctrine must be dropped by the courts or protections for things like email need to be made explicit by congress. However, the current interpretations favored by courts are not inherent to the fourth amendment.

Timothy B Lee does a great job blogging about this stuff on Ars Technica and elsewhere. Here's a good starting point if anyone wants one: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080530/2014171272.shtml
Value is linked to price. Tesla is doing the public a disservice by encouraging the notion that the Model S starts at $49k, when it really starts closer to $70 in order to approach a conventional car in utility.

Do you get $70k worth of car when you spend $70k on a Model S? Absolutely. You get something that can hold a candle to if not surpass the $70k BMW M5 in every way. But the curve isn't linear - the $49k barebones Model S is nowhere near as useful as the BMW 528 you'd get for the same money.
Where are the results of the benchmark?
I don't get this point. Windows 8 is probably the most connected windows ever. The store, Skydrive ads, all are driven by services behind the OS. I don't think that Sinofsky opposed or didn't get services.
Please actually read the review. They don't pretend the extra features come in the $49k model.

Additionally, it's a holistic approach. Nobody said it was a blowout victory in every single aspect.
Various approaches to a simple interview problem
And of course, we can expect that Ballmer will still be around...
Inaccurate headline. Skype never ratted him out, a third party company did without getting permission from Skype. At least that's my interpretation from the article.

It sounds like Skype employees gave the data to the third party, but Skype claims this is against corporate policy (and I believe it). Sounds like an unfortunate mix of Skype's disorganized corporate structure and a partnership with an unscrupulous company.
So, to put it short: he loses his fortune, flees to a corrupt developing country, collects firearms there, gets arrested, thinks the govt need some black suited special ops in a boat to kill a dog, gets accused of murder so he goes on the run which would be a smart thing to do, but then he doesn't want to flee the country that presumabely wants to kill him because it's lovely.

Sounds like trouble really likes this guy, or dude is simply nuts.
Gizmodo has more details, especially regarding his meth activities and drug use (which could explain his paranoia and erraticness): http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2012/11/john-mcafee-wanted-for-murd...

Reading about John McAfee is similar to reading about Hans Reiser - - brilliant minds wasted doing stupid things.
Would you rather assume your readers are knowledgeable and help them rise to the occasion, or assume that they're ignorant and one day be proven correct?

My background in journalism has taught me to favor the former.
A comparison between Backbone.js and Knockout.js
Courier didn't cause J's departure and neither did Surface SteveSi's. Besides, Surface has been out for a week.
> with Ive now in charge of software design we can at least expect some more aesthetic polish

I hope he delivers something more than polish - if he can make the human-machine interface more intuitive/seamless while toning down the visual cruft that would be great.

> their biggest strength is providing a good platform (hardware and OS) for third party developers to shine

Definitely. That seems to be their angle with the iPad mini vs the better spec'd & competitively-priced competition.
Fly out to the cayman islands and I'll show you a bit of island life
Also, he and SteveB were supposed to be on good terms.
A lot of the worst, too. What, exactly, are you going for here?
A.K.A. The Cobra Effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobra_effect
Windows President Steven Sinofsky Leaves Microsoft
Thanks SJ.
That really bothered me. I understand this is demonstrating a novel UI and user experience, but lack of "save" genuinely ruined my experience.
The problem is, I want my phone to be able to authenticate with way more than just Google services.

And I want it to be able to do that in a way which doesn't require me to remember several dozen secure-against-2012-vintage-password-cracking-techniques.

I _know_ that sometime in the next year or two we'll see another password leak like, say, LinkedIn's recent one - so I know I need to use 12+ "upper, lower, number, and 'special'" character non-dictionary passwords to ensure I'm not trivially exposed by rainbow tables or gpu crackers.

A quick count on my phone just now, there's at least 33 different services my phone "remembers" it's login for. Some of them use OAuth-style authentication (Twitter and Flickr, for example), and some (Google, Facebook, and Amazon) are 3 factor auth protected (but, against a rooted phone that wouldn't help much, since I'm using the Google Authenticator app to generate the auth tokens, if my phone were under someone elses control they could watch me using and unlocking the authenticator app...)

But there are still dozens of services - email accounts, websites, web service backed apps - that require the phone to have access to the cleartext password, either from me remembering it and typing it in, or from it's own storage mechanisms - secure or not.

My phone would be _remarkably_ less useful to me if it didn't store passwords, or only worked with services that didn't require password storage.
Its running via gunicorn (socket) behind nginx (proxy). We also utilize celery and rabbitmq for workers (emails, pdf generation etc.) - besides that, nothing too magical. We use fabric+git to allow for quick hot-fixes and new releases.
The best part for me is how you start the car. Just get in and put it in drive. You don't turn it on, it does that just be entering the car with the key fob in your pocket. When you're done, put it in park and walk away. It even locks it for you (a configurable option).

So much about this car is so...cool.
First of all, there are more things than typed arrays (vectors) in AS3, the main thing being a consistent runtime. Also the way you structure an AS3 project is different since the language supports packages/classes etc while in JS you (for better or worse) don't have these concepts so you end up with many different code styles. Even though browsers implement the some of the features, there are subtle differences in the implementations. This results, in real world scenarios, that this stuff are being abstracted away, layers and layers of abstractions, libraries for everything. I have my doubts that this SWF interpreter can be efficient.
Good point, thanks. I'll fix that up.
"...you'd have to get sign-off from all 3 for any features to be implemented."
"...created a massive number of 'committees' to go through to get signoff for any work to be done."

Did you guys call him Signoffsky? :p
Well, for your first point, I'll agree that code boot camps and university are entirely different things and with entirely different purposes. But if code boot camps are going to advertise themselves as an alternative to university, I think I'm completely within bounds to compare the two.

For your second statement, sorry if there was a misunderstanding, but my comment was directly in reference to people who have gone to university, and who subsequently make comments in public, including on this board, about what a waste of time it was. It had nothing to do with reasons to hire people, or figuring out what one might want to do in the future - but everything to do with people who pissed away four years of what can only be described as full of opportunity, and now complain about what a waste of time it was.

And my statement stands, I don't think I'd want to hire or work with someone who honestly believes that they didn't get anything out of university.
And Windows 7 had none of the services that it should. It's 2012, don't you think it's a bit late already?
could use an editor! did the notes/data provide any interest? never know if anyone gives a shit about that stuff but me
That's true, and it's something that's being discussed on the PHP core mailing list.

However, I support PHP 5.2 (pragmatic reasons; 5.2 is still used by a huge percentage of hosts), so I wouldn't be able to use that anyway.
Here's Ballmer's letter about Sinofsky's departure: http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/12/3638174/steve-ballmers-le...

Edit:

Sources inside Microsoft say a clash of personalities led to Sinofsky's departure: http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/12/3638340/microsoft-steven-...

Steven Sinofsky's letter to Microsoft employees explaining his departure: http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/12/3638770/steven-sinofskys-...
The decryption keys aren't just sitting out in the open so any amount of encryption is better than none.

This is like asking why would we encrypt data on a server since the decryption keys are accessible.

Of course they are, they're needed to decrypt the data. But at least it takes more time to find the keys and that "can" be a deterrent much the way "The Club" is a visual deterrent that can still keep a car from being stolen by demanding too much time to break it.
Probably because Microsoft was deathly afraid of being accused of "bundling".
Hmm, I'm not sure about that. It seems like successful people would be able to recognize their faults and mistakes. That whole maxim we sometimes talk about here where if you aren't failing a lot, you're not trying hard enough doesn't really work if you're not able to learn from your mistakes.

Now, I've never heard of this guy until now, but I wouldn't be so quick to assume he's unable to evaluate himself.
My experiences with PMs were universally good; these are people who would look at ideas in-the-baking and find ways to improve them, run interference for a number of projects, put together decision-guiding research, and generally somehow manage to bring things together.

There are bad apples in every bunch. The reason MSFT has so many PMs is not that they are under-competent; I suspect it has a lot more to do with the fact that it is a large organization that is often unable to silo teams from each other effectively.
It might seem like a small difference if you're not used to handling pistol cartridges, but if you are, that's like saying it's difficult to tell PHP from Perl.

Edit: Also, there is usually an imprint on the bottom of the cartridge that says "9MM LUGER".
because that would be the end of apple?
From what I understand, Surface RT has been completely sold out for a week or two now at all the Microsoft stores. Not sure what that means though...
... and before anyone quotes that the Surface sold "modestly", please cite the source because the original article making rounds this morning was corrected since the quote was taken out of context.
You can run superopt/benchmark.sh on your machine. I'm away from home and the machine with the various languages installed.
How to get a job as a C++ developer?
Hi,

I am a Java developer but currently found interest in C++ development. What should I do/learn first to land to get a job as a C++ developer ?
Lol thanks for the offer! If I get into YC I'll open a bank account there :)
I wonder what "team player" means here.

Now I know absolutely nothing about internal MS politics. My immediate suspicion, based on how MS seems to operate, is that's code for "won't bow down to Windows/Office".

I really hope that's not the reason. There have been so many times Microsoft seems to be unable to get out of its own way because they have integrate Windows/Office into something somehow. Maybe he was part of that problem, but the fact us was involved in Windows 8 makes me doubt it since they were willing to make radical changes (good or bad).

If I had to guess, I'd put money on the lukewarm Surface reception being a final straw. The timing seems too perfect.
Secret of the Obama Victory? Rerun Watchers, for One Thing
Go fuck yourself, you're wrong. Offensive speech is the kind that isbin most need of protection :)
The Book ($39) – 226 copies sold
The Book + Videos ($79) – 137 copies sold
The Complete Package ($169) – 100 copies sold

In my experience real price elasticity only exists in business books. The author's example illustrates what tends to happen in real life: something that is 1/4 of the price rarely sells 4x better than the 1x-priced product. This generally means that you are leaving money on the table. The problem is that testing pricing can be a difficult art to master.

In some market segment selling a cheaper product in exchange for volume can actually cost you a ton of money. In hardware, for example, the customer looking for rock-bottom pricing will often be the most demanding in terms of support requirements as well as the expected value delivered.
IMO the sign-off culture would be a problem at MS with or without triads. When you have such a large middle-layer (especially ones with ranks like 'partner' who seem to mostly be faking it) there are going to be loads of people whose chief role is to be a gatekeeper who needs to 'sign-off' on something. There are going to be layers of management who want to perform that filtering and relaying you mention, even though it does nothing for the company. And until some kind of purging happens, that won't change.
While that may be the case, it is merely one usage of the word. "Git" on the other hand has a singularly offensive meaning, but that hasn't done much to derail the success of the tool.
The article suggests that he was "fired" in some way:

> Sources have said the move came amid growing
> tension between Sinofsky and other top executives.
> Sinofsky, though seen as highly talented, was
> viewed at the top levels as not the kind of team
> player that the company was looking for...

and

> In a press release, Ballmer praised Steven’s work,
> but also talked about a need for “more integrated
> and rapid development cycles for our offerings.”

Further, I think your parents' question still fits with a little bit of wrangling even if he wasn't fired. It would be interesting to know what it feels like to reach a very high rank at a company and then to step down.
>Surface RT selling modestly due to limited distribution

[citation needed]
You know what, you're right. The newton was Gassée, and jobs probably did nothing with the laser printer.

However, i think stuff like this: http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&s... indicates Jobs pushed good people to do their best work. The mac wouldn't be the mac without jobs. Neither would the Next cube. Maybe John Chambers is just as involved with every product Cisco makes, but a terrible self promoter.
You should have your son do an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on the Reddit website. The title "I'm an Iraq War veteran who now works at Tesla. AMA" would get a lot of hits, and more importantly good publicity for a great company that is hiring Americans.
I'm a CS student at Carnegie Mellon. Let me know if I can help out. my hacker news username @cmu.edu.
Yeah, I agree about size (I wonder how much of it is that Elon has a 98th percentile family size -- 5 kids and at least one wife at most times). I'm happy to trade 0-3% financing for operating expenses, though, so if I could buy a $50k car which saved me $100-200/mo over a $30k car.

The sweet spot today is probably a 2y old gasoline Lexus or Acura(, or maybe an Audi or BMW if you really care about certain performance aspects -- or a diesel mb or vw if you drive exceedingly long distances), for opex, financing cost, and experience.

I think this will change before 2020, though.
1. Java programmers usually don't think of Java as imperative. This leads to problems.

2. The phrase you're looking for is "spot on".

3. Generated code is a code smell. Again, you see a confusion between static and dynamic behavior.
Can you tell us more about Larsen-Green? Can she deliver?
What city does pg's Internet Connection show on Google Analytics?
I was geeking out over a nice spike to our ycintro video which happened on Nov 3, but wondered how one would know it was pg (or crew) actually looking at the video. So I pose this question, does anyone know which city pg's internet connection would appear on Google Analytics?
What, exactly, are you going for here?
I have a native iOS app that works with GitHub's API. I had the exact same concern as you. As a user, I would much rather use an oath of flow instead of entering my password.

Unfortunately, GitHub actually suggests you use basic auth for native applications. Their reasoning is that the application secret would need to be shipped with the binary, thus making it… not secret (even with various obfuscation).

Source: http://developer.github.com/v3/oauth/#non-web-application-fl...
I also made a Text Statistics javascript class based off of Mr. Child's! Any plans on putting your version on GitHub - I'd love to star it and use it to improve the version below.

https://github.com/christopherwoodall/Text-Statistics/blob/m...

as a Chrome addon https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/reading-level/lgfk...

edit: found it https://github.com/bilalq/Tranquillity-Editor/blob/master/pu...
I don't have strong opinions on any of this, but that letter really reads weirdly. It has an almost-no-transition set of segues between "congrats for all the work you've done recently", "Sinofsky is leaving", and "so here is who's in charge now", with a conspicuous lack of explanation or connection between those points.
It is written on all 9mm cartridges regardless of who manufactured the ammo. It would be hard to distinguish it from say 40 S&W ammo from across the room, but my guess is the reporter just read what was on the cartridges.

"9mm Luger" is about as specific as saying there was a 12oz soda can on his table. The details about a specific cartridge are only written on the box, but can be determined from a casing and a photo book. If he said he has "124 Gr Remmington Golden Saber 9mm Luger" ammo, that would actually be specific information.
"Putting the rapid charger into your home (if you have one and don't park in an apartment complex/on the street) is another four figures."

Hold up. No one needs the High Power Wall Charger and Twin Chargers. I actually reconfigured my reservation to remove these. They are a symptom of range anxiety. Most people will be able to get by with a simple NEMA 14-50 outlet. That charges the 85kWh battery overnight.

I almost never drive more than 300 miles in a day. I rarely even break 100 miles. For the rare times I do, I can go to a Supercharger and fill up for an hour and be back on the road. But again, the majority of the time I'll be charging at home on a standard outlet. In fact, I'm going to try a standard 120v wall outlet for a while and see if that works for me. If not, I can get a NEMA 14-50 installed pretty easily by any old electrician.
There were a lot of good choices out there around the W7 timeframe. I can't really imagine the decision-making criteria, but I suspect it was a tough choice.

Windows is too big of an organization to steer by force of will. Hopefully the new head will be somewhat less contentious and more willing to defer to her deputies (supposition), but be similarly demanding in accountability.
> Government-guaranteed monopoly profits?

They also were forbidden from profiting from a large portion of the work that they did....

If that weren't the case, we wouldn't have GNU.
Steven Sinofsky leaving Microsoft effective immediately
If this means less or no more Metro in Windows 9, that seems like great news to me.
Great job at Hack 'n Jill, Bilal. Looking forward to more cool projects!
Looking at a cartridge from a few feet away, anyone who's a gun geek and has decent eyesight can probably tell you that a 9mm cartridge is either that, a .40 S&W, or something very obscure. Also though, almost all handgun cartridges have their caliber stamped on the rim. I just checked to see from how far away I can read the markings on my Federal .40 (I don't own any 9mm, but it should be basically comparable). In good light and at just the correct angle, I can read it from about arm's length. Otherwise I have to hold it close.
Steve Ballmer's letter to team on Sinofsky departure
The YCombinator office is in Mountain View.
Yeah, Mr Number is definitely the least favorite thing still on my phone. Is there anything better? Just for spam-blocking, I mean.

I'd especially love to see something done in the open-source spirit.
A co-worker is working on a tool to provide visual diff of function block PLC programs. PLC programming tooling is so far behind.
And Ballmer has already decided to say the "sales were modest". Maybe he already knew why Sinofsky will soon leave.