skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
This argument strikes me as missing the point. Piracy isn't a morals problem, it's an economics problem. Exhorting pirates to stop being pirates is likely to be about as effective as Don't Copy That Floppy or trying to fight drug cartels with Mr. Mackey and DARE -- they don't think what they're doing is wrong, or they don't care, and you're not going to change their minds.

Which leaves you with an economic choice. Either copyright holders can have more availability and less piracy, or the other way around.

Now maybe they decide they want less availability and more piracy -- maybe they think (almost certainly incorrectly) that that will make them more money. But if that's the case then you might as well go ahead and give up on the pirates, because that's the decision you've made: The decision to create a supply shortage and therefore a market incentive for piracy sufficient to create a critical mass of pirates and commercial enterprises reliant on piracy who, once established, will fight for their own continued existence.

The best case scenario is that the outcome is less violent than the organized crime families created by prohibition or the drug cartels created by the War on Drugs.

Or you can make sure everybody can get their fix from legitimate sources. Then piracy becomes less profitable because it has less of an advantage over purchasing, and some existing pirates discontinue their pirating, which reduces the strength of the pirate community, reduces the demand for illicit releases and thus the incentive to supply them, etc.

But hey, it's your decision. Do whatever you want. If you want you can fight the market and then wail about morality when the inevitable economic consequences ensue. But I wouldn't.
For a much lower price, actually. $1140: http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MacBook-MD231LL-13-3-Inch-VERSIO...

Or $1430 (still over a hundred dollars less) with twice as big of an SSD: http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MacBook-MD232LL-13-3-Inch-VERSIO...

This XPS does have 8GB RAM (versus 4), but that's the only big advantage that sticks out to me.
Interestingly, I had the opposite experience with my trackpad: on Windows, it just supported the basics along with scrolling along the side. On Linux, it supported a bunch of multi-touch things (like two-finger scrolling and two/three finger button presses), both horizontal and vertical scrolling and circular scrolling (some of these were settings turned off by default, but they could be configured from a nice settings GUI).
There isn't a moral consensus of what 'owning' entails. You seem to suggest that owning an item means that nobody in the world can make a copy of it without your permission. I don't agree with that.
> I was assuming that you would also use Linux there - that would also be a better comparison.

Not really - I'm comparing what works out of the box on both computers with official support and zero tweaking whatsoever.

Even without the XPS13, I'd just as soon get another computer and install Linux on it myself. That way I can choose my own hardware, and I don't have to deal with the annoying Apple keyboards, some of the known Linux issues specific to Apple hardware, and (most importantly), the incredibly irritating delay on the Caps_lock key hardcoded into the firmware (which I believe remains an issue even when running Linux).
>> it simply means you probably won't go to jail.

...for a super long time. My bet (admittedly founded on nothing) is that they book you regardless.
Or, better example: you make some popular clothes. Hollywood is wearing them and they are just THE RAGE. You'd like everyone to wear your clothes, but you think it's better to force people to buy them from your Santa Monica boutique that is only open on Sundays for an hour, and require a receipt from the parking garage to get in the door. People who have been to your store in the last month are allowed to order online, but only a month after you release a new line. A year after you release a new line, you make everything available online, but only if you buy the entire line at once.

Another clothes-maker, noticing the popularity of your design and the growing frustration of your customers (and potential customers), creates clothes that look and feel exactly like yours, and make them available with free shipping online within a few hours of you making new designs.

Your customers (and potential customers) who don't live in Santa Monica, or those who can't make it to your store during business hours, or those who take public transit—frustrated with the roadblocks you've put between your clothes are their wallets—start buying from the pop-up e-tailer.

You complain about how this (and this alone) undermines your business. Your customers say you forced them into it. Neither of you is right.
I did use the words "perhaps" and "like", and the definition of "as much as", to me, is 1:1.
IRS needs bigger weapons to fight exploding ID theft tax refund fraud schemes
If I create a unique and artistic picture you can not take the picture from me without it being theft.

If you say "Nice Pic!" and paint your own copy, you have NOT done anything morally wrong, I have not been harmed. You HAVE broken copyright laws.

You can not have a moral right to ownership of an idea or thought.
So much better now. My only complain is that when you shrink your browser window you lose the interests section, which I visit all the time for specific news.
What's the point of having open, published standards if you only have one implementation?

You might ask, what's the point of having more than one rendering engine implementation, but look what happened with IE6.

Edit: Fixed formatting and reworded while I was at it.
I would download your fancy clothes.
You might want to check out the /r/forhire subreddit. I have done several projects from there that didn't take very long and paid quite well.
Even taking the production-ownership right as a given, that begs the question of whether copyright should even exist at all.

Remember that, unlike land or physical items, copyright exists only as a societal convention without a rivalrous physical component.
I feel like I have to chime in whenever the newer Lenovo keyboards get mentioned: I've owned a T61 for over 6 years now and I bit the bullet and bought a W530 when it came out this year despite the complaints about the missing top row of keys and the chiclet-style keyboard.

It's been almost 6 months now and, honestly, these days when I got back to do stuff on my T61 it's a world of difference. The W530's key presses are much more substantial and have a better feel; the quality of the keys seem much better; and the seemingly awkward placement of they keys (excluding the Print Screen key) seem highly justified to me now. And more importantly, the chiclet-style keys are grew on me almost immediately.

I've used the MBA and other chiclet-style keys and the main difference to note is that the Lenovo keys are slightly concave. This, to me, makes the keys feel less chiclet-y and more normal, though they do have the visually noticeable spaces between each key. Compared to the MBA, the MBA's flat keys just don't feel right and I feel make typing less accurate.
Very cool post -- looking forward to part 2.

For what it's worth, the syntax foible up for discussion here is intentional. Because CoffeeScript allows you to pass an argument on the right hand side into a function on the left hand side without having to use parentheses, there are several cases where we need to disambiguate:

f / a /i

Repeated division, or a function being passed a regex with space in it? CoffeeScript treats it as:

f / a / i

The example in the post is:

func (arg1, arg2) ->

We disambiguate by saying that if the parentheses are attached to the identifier on the left, then they're part of the function call, otherwise they're part of the argument list as usual. It seems fiddly, but is useful for writing code like this:

load(url).then (response) ->
handle response

... as well as code like this:

reduce(list, {}) ->
for arg in arguments
...
Node.js/Ember.js/Parse.com Website Jumpstart
The reason IE was bad was Microsoft's business practices. The problem is the carpenter, not the wood.
Hopefully these learnings will help other early startups.
...I'm not saying that we didn't land on the moon, I'm just saying it's interesting to wonder if it really happened.

But you're absolutely right -- I'm glad I know now that I'm working on a new C# compiler for a dead language that no one uses.

Oh, and by "us" I meant HN. If you haven't noticed, I've been part of this community for quite a while.

Edit: This comment is maybe snarkier then I meant it. Add an eye roll or two and you'll get the gist.
> The main thing that distinguishes this keyboard from Apple's is that the keys aren't as flat - I'm used to tactile and auditory feedback on the Das Keyboard[1], and while neither Apple's nor Dell's keyboards provide this, having the indentations makes it slightly easier to type quickly (notice how the Das keyboards all have slight indendations too).

That should make a big difference; I'm amazed at the number of typos I make when I'm using a mac. Thanks!
I have a Sony Z series, and it works reasonably well. The external dock/graphics card thing that connects via LightPeak is very cool but doesn't work at all on Linux. (To be fair, it doesn't work under Windows 8 either :P), but apart from that, it's been a great laptop.
That's not true. The version released on iOS was a port of Carmageddon 2 and has nothing to do with reincarnation..
Mr Right tell me the secrets of the universe please
Seems like a novel idea. My suggestion would be to change the design of the website. Make it vertical instead of horizontal --- i.e. input above the output. That way it'll display properly on an iPhone. Clearly you have the technical chops... Now you need to find a good designer to work on your bootstrap theme!
I think piracy is morally wrong. It's quite simple. Take your argument for pro-piracy to the logical conclusion. Everyone consumes all media through piracy. Does that world look as entertaining as the logical conclusion of people pay money into the system that creates the entertainment?

I think it'd be hard to argue that a system where people have to give up time and resources to produce something consumed by those who put nothing back into the system is sustainable.

Pirates benefit from the system without contributing to the system. That's morally wrong.

I find it hypocritical that the very software systems that enable people to pirate have built in algorithms to limit the activities of those who take more than they share. Those who take but don't give back are called leeches and even the leeches don't like leeches.
The people doing the taking are not technical. Thus, "take anything" is safer than "take these things but don't bother with these other things".

Hopefully the irrelevant stuff can be returned quickly.

It'd be good if forensic images could be taken quickly and then all the equipment returned.
from the outside it looks great. But still can't run in on Chrome/XP or on iOS4.
I realize it too. And as a software developer I need copyright laws (or, at least, I did before SaaS).

That's why I personally don't pirate.

At all.
If there is a fetish or interest in a specific topic, there will be sites faking the shots for more sales - all about supply and demand. There are then obviously also the people with real content that are looking to share that as well. It's like the movie 8mm - they are searching for proof of a snuff film, and while everyone says they don't exist, and all the ones they find are fakes, they finally uncover the one they are holding on to is indeed real. The majority of those sites will be fake - but there will be some that are real as well.
Whatever was the real cause for your issues, Linode's default small swap space is a plague. A system starts to misbehave much gently if there is enough swap.
"There is a moral right to own that which you have produced."

Sure. You produce a tool, it's your very own tool. You produce a painting, it's your very own painting. You produce a pie, it's your very own pie.

Ralph sees your Very Own Tool and decides that'd be handy. Ralph knows taking your Very Own Tool would deprive you of your property and decides he won't do that. Not to mention it's a physical item and the law has something to saw about theft of physical items. So Ralph, being the upstanding citizen he is, makes another tool just like yours - his Very Own Tool. Ralph's also a bit of an extrovert and tells everyone about this great new tool and other people want one. So Ralph sets about making more of the tool you designed to sell to other people.

Do you have the right to be upset at Ralph for making money off your idea without compensation to you?

Controlling copying of your creations is what copyright is about. It says that with respect to certain works, you as the creator own the right to make copies ... or to license other people (or companies) to make copies.

P.S. Now don't get me wrong - I understand that a tool design is probably best protected by patents. Maybe this "tool" is a sculpture that's also useful to accomplish a task. My argument is about "intellectual property" in general.
iTunes 11 finally available for download
> Well, just increase the font size.

No way to do that globally on OS X, and it's not just font size that's the problem.

> I'm not going to discuss Linux vs OS X font rendering again

If that's what important to you, then yes, you're probably not going to be happy with anything but a Mac. This computer isn't really meant for people who are happy with OS X on Apple's hardware, if you ask me.

For me, I care about the display only to the extent that I get eye strain - beyond that, the other advantages of Linux (esp. on officially supported hardware) win out by far.
Microsoft's better, faster Surface Pro with Windows 8 starts at $899
> Is it the money?

It's always the money. If there's no revenue stream, small sites stay small and you never hear about them.
"Mom/dad, can I please please please have Minecraft? All my friends have it and it's only $15 and blah blah blah"

Depending on the household, what follows is probably either loads more whining, the parent arranging some kind of deal involving chores and vegetables, or the parent acting as a broker ("give me $15 and I'll use my credit card"). In the end, the kid ends up with their copy of Minecraft, and promptly begins either building things or setting other peoples' things on fire.

Imagine that scenario, but instead, the kid believes they are preordering a game that their heroes are making. Perhaps if they are a bit older but still naive, they understand that the game does not yet exist, but they cannot fathom the possibility that their heroes will not follow through. I can easily see that scenario playing out almost the same: "Mom/dad, can I please please please have the Yogscast game? All my friends are ordering it and it's only $15 and it's going to be amazing and blah blah blah..." The parent probably won't read far enough into it to understand that it's a Kickstarter for something that doesn't exist yet, and will do whatever they usually do in these situations.
Off-topic: Is there some js library that handles the Pinterest style look with infinite scroll? I've been seeing this design pop up more and more.
Agree with everything, except:

> I don't think this laptop could/should really compete for the same audience as the Macbook Air

I assume their market for this machine would be towards devs who might otherwise use an Air? I think of this machine as competing directly against the Air, which is why I used it as a comparison.

Why you don't think they're competing?

(This comment is meant in as non-combative a way as possible, I liked your response a lot. I hate the internet?)
> First of all, piracy is not morally wrong, the morals of it are ambiguous, just like everything else.

Not really. The content owners stated that there are certain legal restrictions on their content. If you violate it, then you are expressly violating the owner's will and the law. I have yet to find a moral system that's OK with this outside of "the ends justify the means".
I'm a big +1 for static code analysis as a "silent observer" of code practices. We have various static checks run on each build and if a certain threshold is crossed, the build will kick out an error (we've decided not to have it fail entirely, although some could argue that's a reasonable thing to do).

Although we're a Ruby and JS shop, we take advantage of different services and libraries that perform different checks. In dynamic-language land it's a lot harder to do some of the things that static complication provides, but it's a heck of a lot better than nothing!
Basis Takes On Jawbone, Nike, Launches Its Health Tracking Band
It's not at all morally ambiguous. It's morally wrong.

You might choose to benefit from the work of others without compensating them as they've asked to be compensated, that's your choice. But don't pretend it's not wrong.
You don't have freedom of speech. You don't have freedom of speech in the US and you certainly don't have it in Austria.
Why our mobile videos suck
Man so far I've been spending 10 minutes a day on typeracer, as a morning warmup. You did a great job on making it fun!

Some random ideas I have about it (since it's easier to talk about stuff than to build it):
* Your quotes are all from famous books and movies, and you have affiliate links to Amazon... brilliant!
* Do you have a mechanism that minimizes repetition?
* Do you ever need to fake competition?
* Could you visualize mistakes as crashes, to keep things exciting?
* Consider making a keyboard UI for the site (Although I use vimium)
* Build a mechanism to challenge your friends.
* Analyze history and plot it. Take into account difficulty of paragraphs (come up with difficulty rating based on your user data).
* Give typing tips; perhaps it's enough to analyze words that the user mistyped, and offer them more passages with them.
* Improve the CSS. The UI should reflect the incredibly high level of polish in the gameplay.

Maybe I'll have more random ideas when I play it tomorrow. ;)
1366x768 , why oh why?

I don't care about whatever "cloud" software BS they've tacked on but if you're making a laptop for developers you should have north of 1000 pixels of vertical space.

Even 1280x1024 would be better.
My Global G-2, 8" chef's knife was not cheap, but it makes chopping shallots and tomatoes a joy. It's it by far better than the cheap crap you'd pick up at a department store.

However, spending an extra $1,500+ for a Bob Kramer 8" Carbon Steel Damascus Chef's Knife by Zwilling J.A. is not going to make a wild difference in my amateur chef'ing. And I would probably have an aneurysm every time it slipped and clanged off a mixing bowl.
Show HN: The Cross Browser Handbook
How to hack your way into a hot startup with no experience
I'm someone who didn't back the project (I've just never backed anything on KS - I'd love it if it offered paypal). But I bought it immediately upon release. And you guys fulfilled your promises and you've done a great job releasing more content.

Overall - really impressed by your product!
The credit card number is the decryption key. The DeDRM tools for Calibre only require the credit card you used to purchase the book. In contrast, Amazon encryption only requires the serial number for the Kindle you are pulling the books off of.
Do you mean the constant chorus of individuals who enjoy putting down MS for fun?

Or do you mean an internal cause?
The Verge's review for XPS13 with Windows said 4:55, so with Linux it could be slightly better.
>the next major release of Windows will undoubtedly break everything all over again.

Not really. Windows 8 hasn't broken anything (although there have been UI changes and some apps have a few bugs that have cropped up). Rather, they have introduced, for the first time in two decades (literally), a completely new foundation on which to build apps. That foundation won't be swept away in Windows 9, and I expect it will mean less things break, not more.
I'm pretty well-off financially, but the things that give me the most satisfaction in life have to do with parts of my life unrelated to acquiring wealth and stuff, including family, church and hacking (which doesn't really cost much of anything once you have even an inexpensive computer) and various creative endeavors.

I'll take job satisfaction when I can get it (and fortunately I have it right now after a few years of not having it), but a good job and a good salary aren't the goal of my life, but the means for me to achieve my goals.

Of course, maybe I'm too well-off to think my material possessions don't make as much of a difference and I'm just being a hypocrite.

Maybe I'd feed differently if I really were struggling like I know too many people do, but regardless, I would rate myself very successful and in no way envious of the so-called 1% (of which I am most certainly not a member).
Wouldn't it help if exit node were run by associations renting some office space instead of individuals ?

I mean, the president (and other members) of the association can still be charged with criminal offence, but having a legal structure might help. At least they should raid the association's office instead of the member's homes.
Do you work for Microsoft? I can't recall any enterprise Microsoft products that I would have chosen to use out side of the office.
Did you notice this in the ad?

http://www.karaokewebstandard.org/
wishful thinking, MS... nobody gives a damn about your browser anymore
Apple finally releases revamped iTunes 11
In the strict public policy sense you could argue the raid/seizure either way; The pro-raid argument would go "This activity harms society by allowing criminal activity which is part of the economics of exploiting children, thus it is right for the state to step in and make these raids to identify and contain those threats." Then you could make the anti-raid argument, "The economic disruption of taking a legitimate business off-line and possibly causing irreparable harm to innocent citizens does not warrant such a drastic measure without solid evidence of complicity in the commission of a crime."

In the United States there is an analogous situation which is that of the 'high speed pursuit.' In the pursuit situation the officers have strong reason to believe the driver of a vehicle was involved in a crime and seek to arrest them. The driver of the vehicle doesn't want to be arrested and so they drive away quickly. If the officers give chase, they greatly increase the chance that harm will come to innocent bystanders. If they don't give chase they risk losing their suspect. Generally those debates come down to things like "what crime might they have committed?" and if it was failure to stop for a right turn, that is seen as not being as 'reasonable to chase' as hit and run vehicular manslaughter.

I tend to fall into the "Do the police work to figure out who the crooks are and if you need the co-operation of an end-node provider then get a warrant to compel that co-operation." But I also have spoken to officers who feel that such restrictions are 'red tape' and keep them from doing the job they were paid to do.

In this particular case we don't have the police version of the story. Perhaps they think this guy is complicit? Did they raid/seize any other end nodes? Did they have a warrant and what did it say? Had this person been involved in other questionable activities? "Presumption of innocence" is not a principle that extends outside of US borders so its always difficult to contextualize police action in other countries to Americans who take their constitution for granted.
LivingSocial Confirms Layoffs
If you've never read Eric's blog, I highly recommend it for anyone into language design and implementation (C# or not).