skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
My view is perhaps a bit limited because I'm in the software industry. Are other industries represented fairly well by the current laws and is it only the software industry that are demanding changes?

Though government is adept at yielding to special interest and industry groups, fundamental change may be difficult to hope for if the software industry is the lone voice at this point.
All this really needs is for the standard search engine to automatically generate the prior art for every patent search. No matter what you search for - pop! - there's your prior art instantly posted to the public domain with an open license.
There are already large numbers of aircraft flying over Afghanistan looking for the Taliban, aren't there? That's obviously not too expensive, it's just a question of political will.
On the letter analogy, things owned by the government are treated differently from things owned by a 3rd party in the private sector. The government generally is more restricted in its actions. And in the case of the USPS, there are further statutory restrictions beyond those required by the Constitution that are written into law, specifically about protecting the privacy of mail in transit. The same is true with phone calls: wiretapping statutes place certain requirements on when a wiretap can be authorized, beyond the minimums the Constitution would require. One of those (which the AT&T wiretapping scandal hit) is to actually make it criminal for a phone company to volunteer information to the federal government without a warrant, which basically closes down the 3rd-party-consent end-run around search warrants, since it explicitly makes it criminal for them to consent. I do think it's a good idea to consider extending some of these to email, given its pervasive role that's largely replacing what physical mail and phones used to carry. But that requires admitting that email to some extent needs to be treated less like a purely private-sector business, and more like a utility.

Your last point is an interesting one, though. If a provider specifically includes in their service policies a promise not to give up the user's data, then it seems like the provider would have a good claim when they attempt to quash subpoenas, even if the user themselves doesn't have any particular rights in the matter.
Oh god, I was worried for a moment this was about the car brand.

(Though they're probably on their way out too.)
87% Of Consumers Will Use A Mobile Device To Make Purchasing Decisions
Just don't ask the guys that were/are doing Lotus Notes to SharePoint migrations ... we loathe it as much as its users.
I've just wishlisted this on Amazon. Thanks for posting it. It follows along very well with what I'm reading from Michael Gerber's E-Myth (also a bestseller on processes)

http://www.amazon.com/E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-Abou...
Django is a whole different beast though. It comes with the kitchen sink and its own cheeseshop. It was designed to cater for every single edge case, but in my opinion, is the very definition of excessive complexity.

Most of the things aren't needed by most people, but it gets installed anyway.

EDIT: I am an idiot who clearly doesn't know much about Django and spake without prior research.
I don't think the skinned knee analogy is quite apropos. Skinned knees are caused by gravity. Patent litigation is caused by the deliberate action of patent litigators.

I also disagree that conflict in the form of litigation is an unavoidable consequence of technology innovation. To a small developer, there's little effective difference between patent litigation and a bullet in the back of the head. They're both a death sentence, except the bullet would be over quicker. Instead of streamlining the process of executing small developers, courts and legislators should remove the actual threat.

I should note that, though I disagree with many of your points in many of your comments, I do value the alternate perspective you bring to patent-related discussions on HN.
These days, being a developer without a social network death-march project story is like being an EMT without a gory accident story. They do exist, but their box of anecdotes seems a little bare.
The Embarrassment Test
Hi Toby, thanks for taking the time to respond and update your page, much appreciated.

With regards to open sourcing, let me make a couple of notes which might help change your mind ;)

Firstly, open source is not the same as no control, or lack of authorship. Open sourcing simply lets others use your material in their own works, and depending on which license you use you can maintain a lot of control over what those derivative works can look like. Time and time again in the open source community we see that actively maintained projects almost always stay together. With large projects where differences arise we see the project split, often to fulfil multiple different needs, but almost always the original project remains as the single source of 'truth'. In truth, there is nothing stopping someone from trying to run their own linux kernel, and some have succeeded fairly well (such as the android kernel project), however everyone still sees Linus' as the 'true' kernel project; a lot of work went into merging the work done for android back into the mainline kernel for this reason.

What does this mean for you? The fact that you are the creator of these documents immediately gives you control of how they are shaped, even in an open sourced format. By open sourcing you allow three things to happen more easily than you would otherwise.

1. Others can use your work in their own works, according to the license you provide. This is bad or good depending on how you see it.

2. You allow someone else to keep maintaining the project if and when you lose interest. This is almost certainly a good thing.

3. You make it much easier for people to provide improvements and 'bug' fixes. You have already stated this is something you are willing for people to send you. By allowing people to actually make the changes themselves, and publish them back to you to incorporate into the 'true' version, you make it easier for people to help you. You are empowering others to do your work for you. You might claim that you lose control over what gets into the project this way - you don't. If someone points out an error you will want to correct it. If they rewrite a paragraph maybe you like the general idea but not the exact wording. You can ask them to rewrite it with suggestions until you like it, incorporate part of it using your own words, or ignore it completely; the power is yours.

Lastly, open sourcing does not inhibit you from making money from the ideas. You might want to treat carefully when selecting a license, and make sure any contributors (if you have any) are aware you might make money from the idea (sharing profits or not is a separate issue, just as important to understand). This side of it can get thorny and would be the one reason I might avoid open sourcing it, or at least avoid taking large contributions.

In any case, open source can be a great tool, and you can still maintain control of your project when using it.
Ok, not trying to start an Apple war here, but:

> The notification system is still inane

No comment, haven't seen Android's version

> Mobile Safari still lags when scrolling

I haven't experienced this (iPhone 4 w/ iOS 5). Can you give specific URLs where this happens?

> all your app icons still show up on your home screens

You can make folders for your apps

> you still can't use widgets on the home screen

Not sure what this means (again, haven't used Android).
Show HN: Christmas tree delivery in the San Francisco Bay Area
Same here. Good concept though, connecting groups of guys and girls, right?
Wish it allowed me to type in the box..the interaction is a bit confusing..
This does seem remarkably out of character for Leahy, perhaps the draft language was from the the committee general.

I am giving him the benefit of the doubt since he is such a Batman supporter.
Ad networks might be wasting your spends
I thought that when I use it as a textbox it would automatically auto complete and hint a month, or dynamically show calendar selecting date while I'm typing, it did neither of those things.

Also I haven't looked at the API that hard, but from the examples it looks like it only supports american way of setting the date i.e. DD/Month/YYYY

Update: another big omission, I can select year only by scrolling through it month by month. i.e. try selecting February 12, 2016
Disappointed Not Angry
Ribbon, A “Bit.ly With Payments”: Simplified Checkout To Any Platform
David Kappos was an IP lawyer at IBM before moving to the Patent Office. He's an insider who has benefited from and built a career around IP litigation. I'm sure he sees his profession as worthy and noble. Certainly not parasitic and destructive.

A stout defender of the status quo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kappos
Fuck man! Not the fucking rug. That rug really tied the room together.
Beer is always available in the fridge. It's consumed at a slow pace though, usually at the end of the day by a few people, and not every day.
Tim Ferriss and Amazon Try to Reinvent Publishing
There are many, many examples of successful regional clones dominating their market to the point where the branded newcomer doesn't ever get traction. Even Google struggles against some local-language versions in some countries.

trademe.co.nz is an ebay clone that got traction in NZ long before ebay ever got going, and now ebay is nowhere there because of the network effect.

Taking a young-ish but proven business model from the USA and rolling it out in your own country can be a very viable way to get success.

However, it takes all the usual combination of drive, talent and capital to do so. And you've got to get straight onto it, because it's such an obvious idea, others will also be doing the same thing.
Four Ways To Turn Insiders Into Assets
this is a cool and easy addon to jq.ui datepicker
https://github.com/trentrichardson/jQuery-Timepicker-Addon
Science on the Brink of Death
Aafcarv
Why would Japid be faster than Scala templates?
Looks great! And with a few (minor) modifications I was able to get it to work with a non-jQuery framework! Thanks for that. I'm getting fed up with all of these ".js" projects that rely heavily on jQuery when they don't need to. I'm going to keep this library in mind for a project I'm working on.
Clearing IE's Caches - Not as simple as it appears
Hacker Found Guilty of Breaching AT&T Site to Obtain iPad Customer Data
I always add the client to the profile, but I don't think they've ever logged in. And I'd prefer to do it the proper way (aka add the SEO company as a user) than let my client share their login details around.
The sections "How are browsers hostile to cryptography?", "What systems programming functionality does Javascript lack?", "What else is the Javascript runtime lacking for crypto implementors" cover issues you would encounter with browser extension cryto.
@defen, Android lets you put widgets like weather, clock, stocks, etc, in your home screens. Something like this: http://phandroid.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07...
Carriers can and do ship updated carrier profiles over their networks—I receive carrier profile update prompts on the Rogers network a few times a year. The profiles that are distributed with iOS are the latest version that the carrier provides when that iOS version ships.
All issues? Even obscure, or technical laws? I'd love to hear more about how that works out. Certainly, the parliamentary system in Canada is a mixed bag.
Right there in the very first line of what you should not do here in comments, is a description of what you're doing here. In spades.

http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
oups :D Sorry: in French, there are 2 n in "perfectionniste" and in English, I never know when I must remove one "n" :D
$750,000 per day with 2 iOS apps
From what I've been reading it's mostly for security, not speed. Using Quantum teleportation, nobody can get any useful data from intercepting that third piece of information.
> But yeah, let's definitely eat our own to ensure ideological purity.

"our"?

Leahy was the author of PIPA, so I'm not one to extend that umbrella. He has been a champion of civil liberties and other worthy causes, but that doesn't mean he gets a free pass on everything. If we blindly defend "our" side in two-party politics, we inevitably end up defending some pretty bad legislation. I'd rather assess each piece individually.
If you agree with me completely, we wouldn't be having this discussion, as Scientology is _not a religion_.
It is not today's innovation I am worried about, it is tomorrows.
Amazon Launches Brand Pages for Small Retailers
the problem is that you have to install hotfixes and windows patches every weekend to keep the thing running.
This is why we need a Robot Rights Watch.
Because it's still too expensive when compared to flying. Just look at the cost of the high speed rail plan in California. Until the price of jet fuel is much higher, economically, it makes more sense to fly.

I say let the high speed rails come naturally (because they will eventually): don't try to force it.
The chief is an idiot.
Thanks Paul, never thought I'd come across the name Gil Fronsdal name here. I used to listen to Zencast a lot, I should do that again some time.
The Internet is 7777 days old today
Series A Christmas trees. Only in the Bay Area. It would be great to add pictures of how the trees look like.
The article is interesting, but how you managed to do this even more so.
Having recently been on a jury, I wish airport security was as hassle free as a courthouse in Massachusetts, where my bag was x-rayed with my laptop in it, and I walked, shoes on, through a metal detector.

I also agree that, in practical terms, security at a courthouse faces many more real-world challenges than air travel.

That should tell us something about appropriate levels of security.
should be corrected now ;)
Hmm...looks like a guy trying defend/validate his own job. Last I checked, people had no problem keeping up with innovation. I have yet to hear somebody say: "Slow down! We are innovating too rapidly!"

The patent system is a feeding trough for parasites, little more.
Part of the debate is what problems REST is suited to solve. While most evangelists will never come out and say, "you should use X for everything," they will try to fit it into whatever situation it will "reasonably" fit into, which is probably a bigger domain than the problems it's "best" for.
We do on occasions, but only on Fridays after 4 pm and not more than a couple of beers (not an official rule, but everybody pretty much sticks to it) unless its a planned office party.
No.

Inability to write is more than just inability - it's a disability that often comes bundled with "tl;dr". Some people can better articulate their thoughts when speaking and that's fine: just speak to yourself while preparing to write the letter.

I can understand the need to feel close to another human being, but it's generally what SO and such are for. And believe me, she is much more attractive than you and I don't want to be your therapist and I don't want to make you feel good. It's not my purpose and not my duty, don't try to coerce me to do this, because I won't.

The truth is that written communication requires much more mental discipline and preparation than verbal one. And that's good. Very good. Taking the time to actually think through your problem as a preparation for writing can well cause you to discover solution on your own, saving us both a lot of time.

There are situations when phone/skype call is more efficient - mainly when we need to have a short feedback loop, when we're brainstorming or on the other hand when the issue is really minor and you have no access to IM at the moment. The former case - ok, I'll talk, but send me an outline about what we're going to talk, before the call. And then stick to it, don't digress and don't talk about your cat (I love cats!). If you can't do any of those, you're just hyperactive person and you lack any mental discipline and quite frankly I don't want to talk to you. The latter case - well, ok, it's going to take 30 seconds at most, so I don't mind at all, I probably can recover and be back to work in five minutes or so.

Ok, sorry - I probably overreacted here, but that is because I read the article and then the comments there and that was such an awful experience. So don't take this personally, please, my anger is directed towards all the people who mistake their inability to write or emotional immaturity for something else.
> Perhaps there's a startup idea in there.

Bill Nguyen, Inc. for the last two-odd years...
Note that this article is by the author of wheezy, a framework that just happens to do quite well on this particular metric.

Yes, I'm a maintainer of Django, so I'm biased too. But look: there's a good argument to be made that parts of (even of all of) Django is too complex. This, however, is not that argument; this is just a made-up metric.

ETA: I misspoke above: McCabe isn't made up. I meant to write that this was a cherry-picked metric. Leaving the above as is because people have already replied to it.
Could Nate Silver Predict How Good Your Pumpkin Pie Will Be?
AOT already means something to clojurists. It means removing the extra runtime compilation phase of .clj into classfiles. The JIT is what the JVM does, which still occurs just like before.
We have bottled beer and a "home"-brewing kit at work. I think this is fairly common in startups. Obviously, use good judgement and save it for the end of the day.
Keep it running no, keep it secure yes. That is true of any production system, regardless of vendor, or should be.

Your system/business setups simply reflect this, either through clustering or planned outages.

Not sure why I'm providing a rational opinion to a snarky jab at Mircosoft, but imo, they have made fantastic progress on the security front over the past decade.
Right. By making this fuss on NPR they encourage pseudo-scientific predictions by laypersons of what this big discover is, that are almost always fantastical and far in excess of anything that is really likely to be discovered by such a mission. This mis-setting of expectations then undermines the actual discovery, particularly as the overall level of scientific ignorance in the media is pathetically high.
+1 on years - for selecting your birthdate, it'd take quite a while. Besides that, nice job!
The Million Dollar MBA Of The 2012 Class
Amazing that how every essay PG written can shows you the ideas.

-You have to be a founder to found, who you are defines what you can do.

-just another founder at work
Once a month actually, and only if the patches were applicable. It really is not as bad in the MS world as you think. They made great strides in both stability and security over the past 8-9 years in the server OS area.

And, I say this as someone who has literally nothing to do with them on a daily basis anymore.
In the last quarter life science startups received about the same amount of money as internet startups (both were around $1.7bn). Plenty of startups exists in other areas, you're just not likely to find those kind of founders on HN.
Do you cover the entire Bay Area?
I was also thinking about the footnote problem, while reading PG's most recent essay [1]. Maybe, it is time to kill or supersede footnotes on the web which are one of the examples of the paper text format skeuomorphisms, more common in scientific writing. Footnotes give the serious feeling of a well planned and well thought attire to essays where the main point is elaborated and the distractions are left out, for a delayed, independent, optional reading. However they make the deep readers'[2] experience worse; mainly they prefer to follow the true thought-flow of the writer, and evaluate each footnote in its context rather than separate from the main text.

[1] How to get startup ideas http://paulgraham.com/startupideas.html

[2] By deep readers, I mean people who don't want to miss a single idea in the essay.
How much of that code on UI is for accessibility or backwards compatibility
looks like a single var pattern inside an immediately invoked function expression to me. works well and great for readability
Glad to hear. I have a Nexus 7 on the way, so hopefully it will be awesome.
Agree with a small correction: The first USPTO satellite office opened was in Detroit. After that, the USPTO announced plans to open offices in Denver, San Jose and Dallas/Fort Worth.

http://www.denverpost.com/politics/ci_20981965/denver-get-u-...
I happen to agree that this kind of measurement is pretty much useless here and that I don't pick my web framework via cyclomatic complexity, but let's not be too disingenuous. He's not making up a metric, it's a thing, and an occasionally useful one IMO.
HTML5 has type="date" for input fields. It'd be kinda cool if this could automatically use those in situations where the browser doesn't support the picker natively. Unless I totally misunderstand the point ;-)
i'm not really into pokemon.
I feel like the detection of e.g. amino acids on mars is just wishful thinking. That either points to panspermia (either mars->earth or earth->mars or, uhh, alien-> both?) or concurrent development of extremely similar forms of life. Both scenarios strike me (irrationally) as extremely unlikely.

I'm guessing it will discover a biproduct of biological processes, e.g. high levels of methane.
Just regarding the re-naming, not sure if that will happen. From what I hear Ellison is a serious ego maniac. I would doubt that he'd think to change his companies name. Then again I'm not even close to a branding expert.
It has develop. I rarely use it, but it's there. AFAIK it is not missing any features that setuptools has but I stick to the simple stuff.
Indeed: the problem space being APIs. Feel free to point me to an example of fielding pointing to an API problem that shouldn't be RESTful.
I got 9 points for this. What is happening to this site! ;-)
interesting, I wouldn't have expected that much from services.
Immediately-Invoked Function Expressions and Parentheses
There are various posts on the distribute/setuptools/distutils mailing list. I don't keep track personally, but I do know that it's pretty widely accepted at this point to use distribute.
Horrible jokes, but the concept is interesting. There is a contructed language called Laadan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A1adan) that is supposedly female friendly, i.e. "is designed to counter male-centered language's limitations on women, who are forced to respond 'I know I said that, but I meant this'."

According to that mode of thinking imperative, C-like languages would not be female friendly, whatever that means.