skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
They are indeed confused.

We are working with large enterprise clients (big pharma). Last two years they practically all adopted iPads for their field forces. Went with single device policy, which created a lot of pain for IT - no Office, no deployment tools, no AD, etc.

MS and Intel then start a marketing blitz in those IT departments, hey, enterprise, we love and understand you. Cool, IT guys fall for it.

Problem?

MS wants enterprise to adopt Win8 Pro on Intel devices. Which practically all are around 1000$ and have a battery life of 4 hours.

Enterprise IT wants something similar to the iPad, for even cheaper. They want an iPad with sane deployment tools and MS Office. Cheaper. Because their people in emerging markets have limited budgets.

Enter Windows RT. It is just like an iPad, cheap, better power efficiency on its devices. Awesome, right? Except that it does not offer the deployment and management tools needed. It is practically an iOS device in that regard. The MS Office on it is Home/Student Preview edition, which seem to be upgradeable if you have the right CALs. But it runs like shit. Buzz is that the whole thing was a very late add once they realized that MS' main selling point was Office. Late, panicky scramble.

And now add the fact that MS seems to be launching MS Office on iOS soon.

And then we have Modern UI. Nice for consumer apps. Facebook looks cool. But enterprise tools? On iOS we have freedom. On Modern there are guidelines, horizontal swipe and pagination is key. You're used to high information density, utilization of screen real estate to show as much as possible on one screen to avoid a user needing to navigate away? Forget that on Modern UI. Whitespace rules, it is like the GMail redesign on steroids. No wonder they need Classic UI to make MS Office available - Modern UI in its current strict incarnation cannot scale to offer this kind of functionality.

So yeah. Intel is not in a good spot. Microsoft neither.
The next 6 months will be decisive. Lots of pilots going on, Samsung has a good enough Win 8 Pro device out there, Surface Pro still not here. Surface is not even launched in Japan, might not be till late next year.

Whoever is in charge of platform strategy at MS should be made to go away. With access to those resources they should be kicking ass.
I enjoy using Windows 8. There are problems. Shutting it down isn't obvious. Selecting "Lock" will bring up a sign in screen. Putting your computer to sleep won't... its all a bit strange. Like I said though, it is a fairly enjoyable experience.

I haven't used the Surface. I don't see myself getting one. I have the iPad2. I only use it to surf the web. I don't need a replacement. Maybe in 2-3 years.

I think Microsoft has got a branding problem. The Surface is obviously running something different to Windows 8. I only get it because I know what ARM is... its impossible to explain to my parents. "It runs on a different type of processor so is different" is met with a blank face or "But its runs Windows right?"

There is also a fear, especially with my parents about Windows 8. They have just about mastered Windows 7. A lot of this fear is misplaced. There was a lot of talk of Desktop UI and Metro UI. It would have been simpler to say "The start button has been removed and instead has its own screen making programs easier to find and use."

Instead they banged on about different UI's. Different types of applications. All very confusing. Then you have the lack of branding. I still call Windows 8 app's "Metro". I think it is a good name. I don't know what they are called now. When I enter the store in Windows 8 it isn't obvious what the new name is either..

Microsoft made a big mess of branding and advertising Windows 8. Someone should be fired because it is harming the take up of what is imperfect but pretty good software.
Show HN: Realtime multiuser, multitouch block toy
For me, it wasn't a find. I was there. In the wars. The horrors I could tell you of the RCR Wars of ought-five… The find was merely providing a [citation] to my memory of the earlier process.

Seriously, problems around things like refinements aside, it seems to me that Ruby is progressing faster and more regularly than it has for years. Yes, it sometimes takes major alarmist posts by non-MRI implementers to get the attention of enough people to get a course adjusted (e.g., refinements), but I think that we're seeing much better collaboration and development on Ruby and more compatible Rubies than would be possible with the RCR mechanisms that were previously involved.

Imperfect, but by keeping to the tools that the main developers already use (email)…it is less problematic. I also think that it has helped that there have been implementor summits at several of the major conferences. Further, I think that it's helped that Matz himself is also working on an alternative implementation (mruby).
patents are destroying technology
I'm not the biggest fan of Microsoft in the mobile world, but until they launched Windows 8, I actually thought the idea of the "hybrid" device might work, and may be the future of both tablets and PC's. You can use it as a PC when you need it, and as a tablet, when you don't. Best of both worlds, right?

Wrong. When I started using Windows 8, I realized it's actually the worst of both worlds. If you want both in the same package, then you have to live with a ton of compromises. Here are some of them:

1) You can't have a large screen, if you want to use it as a tablet, too. Maybe 11" at most, and that includes hybrid devices more like Surface, with light weight tablet parts, and detachable keyboard. The ones like Lenovo Yoga are completely unusable as tablets, unless you intend to use a "tablet" on your desk all the time, at which point, what's the difference compared to just using a touchscreen laptop?

2) Then 10-11" screens are not very usable for real work as a PC, so you have to compromise a lot in that, too.

3) 10-11" is pretty large and heavy for a tablet, and it seems most people are starting to gravitate towards 8" or smaller tablets, which makes it even more likely that people will want the tablet and the PC as 2 different devices in the future.

4) If you want a "hybrid", then you're forced to use x86 chips, and unless you want the performance of a netbook, you need Core chips inside. These have 3 major drawbacks: low battery life, heat/noise, and high price tags.

5) Windows RT devices, while a bit better on the tablet part, because of the ARM advantages (better battery life and more competitive prices), can't seriously be called "hybrids". They only have Office for PC use.

6) 13" or higher "hybrids" are also a joke, as you can't seriously use them as tablets.

7) You're still forced to use or avoid the "touch mode", even when you want to use it as a PC. I consider Windows 8 worse for a PC user than Windows 7. I brings a lot of new stuff that are there to annoy the PC user, not help him. Whatever small benefits it has over Windows 7, they are not worth it for the worse user experience. And this is for the more "techie" of the PC users. For "normal" mom and pop users, they are going to find it even worse, after using XP/Windows 7 for so long, and now having to basically learn and unlearn a ton of new stuff, which is not easy for this type of user.

So whichever way you go, either more towards the PC part, or the tablet part, you're going to run into major compromises, if you want to use a single device as both PC and tablet. So I don't think anymore that hybrids are the future, as they seem to do either one part pretty badly, or be mediocre at both. You're better off keeping these two type of devices separated.
Interesting. I was at a mall last week where a security guard had caught a shoplifter, and the guard was downright friendly with the guy. It appeared that he was just going to let him go. The guard was asking the guy whether he'd shoplifted before, why he did it etc, but in a very relaxed conversational way. I hadn't thought of it as a customer service policy (both not to scare customers and keeping a potential future customer).

I also talked to a science-fiction / hobby store owner years ago, who mentioned that most of the shoplifters they caught had also been their best customers. (His policy was to ban them from the store, though.)
Swedes and the Internet 2012 - statistics now in English
Does that mean if there's an open source application you like, all you have to do to get it on your Surface is open the source code in the latest edition of Visual Studio, recompile it, transfer the files to your Surface, and you will be able to install and run it?
Erm no... I'm a C++ developer. I call Java annoying because it is inefficient and has a garbage collector.
As long as you enjoy what you do and keep learning new stuff. Don't loose sleep over if it is currently "important" or not.
I second Moom and there is also Cinch (http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/cinch/) which I have used before. They do roughly the same thing, but I prefer Moom since it involves less hand movement, but it's a matter of preference.

Moom people also have Witch for window switching management on Mac. Personally it's not what i was looking for, but worth mentioning.
Startup question 
Hi
I am a senior developer and would like some advice.
if a startup has raised 3 rounds funds totaling 750 k is it possible for another round. The product is already on the market and some contracts signed, this mean in 3 years they couldn't keep the capital under control?

If they asked me to bring my computer this means they can not afford to pay me in the future right?
I also feel this way. For some reasons, I think my natural, quick feeling toward that would be that paying 1.99$ 'seems' more of an annoyance than paying 0$, and since it's not enough to be deemed worth the annoyance, I can picture myself putting 0$ instead of 1.99$.

For the same products, I feel I wouldn't change the price if it was listed at {3,4,5}.99$, I don't really know why. 1.99$ feels too close to an transaction fee, or some kind of things like that that feels like the money will be lost in The System. While paying >3.99$ seems to have more consistence, more purpose, since my intuition tells me that more of the value will end up in the proper pockets.

That's a very subjective take on this, but I support your idea that more people might have paid if the default would have been 3.99$.
Boxopus – Download files from torrent websites straight to your Dropbox
Apple UI paradigm is different to that of Windows. The windows of Windows are application based, while the windows of the Macintosh system are document based, hence the seeming "lack" a screen maximisation.
So is corporate theft.
Office politics a danger to morale - Microsoft
Well crafted. =)
Okay, well, to spoil it for yourself, unrot this:

ybpny.pu, Ehol, Envyf, Wnin, CUC, ubcr lbh fcrnx (naq jevgr) Trezna.
This is actually a SEO blogspam thing on Microsoft's site - the title however is beautifully ironic.
ultimate….deccansojourn.com
Can't help it... but not very copyediting...

"Judge Koh noted that it would not be in the public's best interest if consumers to deprive them the right to buy Samsung products when only a limited number of features were found to be infringement."

Argh!
You got me a bit confused here. If I understand correctly what you 're saying, you 're still using Python for prototyping the core algorithms and C++ in actual production systems. I'm not saying Python is not good for production systems in general, I'm wondering whether it is good enough for real-world implementations of machine learning algorithms.

Also, I believe most people would consider Java as an alternative to C++, hence all the Java-based Apache projects, such as Mahout, Solr etc.
corporate theft is a real thing, but it can hardly be called corporate theft when things like round corners, big colorful icons, are the thing being "stolen". Apple is not protecting their brand, they are using the law as a weapon against their rivals.
I agreed that writing app in HTML5/CSS/JS is easy to mantain. But why not get access to those native features too? Hybrid apps seem to be very logical way to build apps now.
Take a look at many emerging services like http://trigger.io and get the best of both world.
'Minecraft: The Story of Mojang' documentary premiering this Weekend
I actually use the local lab/photog shop for prints and camera work and lens rentals, but they want $1,150 for the T4i with 18-135 STM. Amazon sold it to me for $799. (It's back up to $865 now, but still.)

I looked, but I couldn't justify the extra $350 at this time.
Storm in a teacup. Its no different to Windows CE, or a plethora of other similar named products. Most people who would be confused will no doubt have a sales person to explain the situation. Most other people will have a clue and this won't be an issue.

To be perfectly honest this reminds me a lot of the PS3 vs Xbox reporting when they where released. PS3 couldn't catch a break, still sold OK, but nothing but terrible reviews. Eventually it came out of the woodwork was most media agencies where taking money from the gaming industry (and probably MS) to write anti PS3 articles, out right media assassination. My money is on the same tactic being used now.
Do you care about it? Do you end up feeling unfulfilled at the end of the day?

For me, I'd be very unhappy if I had to work on things that don't matter (one reason why I hated writing software for hedge funds...) But that's a personal preference - part of what gives my life meaning is the impact I have on the world. A lot of people don't think in those terms - they just want to earn enough to pay the bills, indulge in their hobbies, and spend time with the people they love - and that's fine.
I think a significant amount of released games would argue that point pretty strongly.

Sure, it makes some things easier, but it comes at some cost.
It's really heartwarming to read pieces like this in a place like HN. It remind us that, after all, we're people. We like techhnology, programming and, well, you know, the usual topics around here. But, in the end, like the article said, people matters. So much that everything else is noise. This is a lesson that that you probably won't learn on another person, but on yourself, because it's not tied to reason, but to a different, non-logic, part of the mind. That's why art and poetry repeat themselves over time.

Everyone has his/her moments of grief: don't let they come when it's too late. React as soon as you can: there's people around you that may not be there tomorrow, so take your time to enjoy their company and tell them you do so.
What are you buying for your insurance? With car insurance you're buying protection for yourself against a risk that either you cause an accident or someone else causes an accident that you are involved in.
Why on earth would they point out that the number of active Amazon accounts is 2.6 times Ohio's population more than the number of people who voted in the 2012 election. Is this a satire of infographics?

(By the way, "over" is your mystery word.) And the crazy font is FG Jasmine 2, according to whatthefont.
I was considering to pay until I saw your post. I think this is an excellent business model and online education is something I'm willing to pay. Internet is full of content on any subject but organized content like on Coursera or Udemy always delivers some added value.

Screencasts are also my preferred way of learning something. If the instructor is a good programmer you always learn things much beyond the code itself.
Instagram says it now has the right to sell your photos
The presumption was that puppet is an important standard in System Engineering and thus important to know or at least to understand quickly (the stage is solvable also without puppet knowledge, the errors are in the brackets/puncutation)
I will say this, since it's somewhat amusing, but it's the first time I've been scammed for negative $43 dollars. I wonder if the scammer figured that he could get me some hush money and hoped I'd let the rest slide?
I think one should also consider intentional firearm deaths. I might be wrong and the analogy might not be appropriate but high premiums could disuade people at risk from owning a firearm in the first place and maybe prevent some of the intentional violent crimes.
If I made a whole bunch of awesome potato skins for a party and said "It is suggested you only take up to two potato skins", and you take 10, you are a jerk. Or at an open bar, if you don't tip the bartenders you are a jerk. Or if there's a potluck and it's suggested everyone brings something, and you bring nothing. Jerk.

"The rules" don't define whether you are a jerk or not. How you behave in the situation, does. They said up front that it cost them $3 to give you the cards. If you paid $0, you knowingly gave them the shaft. That's jerky.
I assumed that (not now, but in 5 years time), you'll bring your 7" or 10" tablet home, plug it into its dock (a-la laptop docks now), which will hook it up to your full size mouse and keyboard, and your 27" high resolution monitor.

It'll have enough processing power to do what most people need from a machine, and when you need to go out, you grab it out of its dock, and all your programs, files and settings are with you, running on their tablet-optimised version.

This is the end game as I see it and I'm pretty convinced this is what Microsoft is planning for. If that's the way it goes, they have a huge head start over Apple who are insisting on keeping OSX and iOS separate.
I was referring to a liability insurance, if you kill or injure somebody (outside of legitime defense) with your firearm the insurance.
Yes: the problem with all the minimalist approaches to anything (starting with architecture) is that "we, the people" are confronted with something with which we do not know what to do.

Is this a conference hall, a chapel or a dining room?
Is this the main room, the entrance or just the aisle to the toilets?

Design, whatever designers may say, is just a means to convey a message: either it succeeds or it is bad design.

It cannot be like modern poetry or modern 'art', where either you know the code or you understand nothing. If this happens, it is not good design, it is a different thing (which may be valuable in itself but not 'design' in this context).

You can write a newspaper with telegrams. It certainly would be cheaper. It would also be unreadable.

Edit: sorry cannot help mentioning it. Minimalists are usually as 'dogmatic' as any baroque artist might be. But at least, when you see baroque art you appreciate the harmony instantly. Not so with minimalism.
Half Of The Forbes’ 30 Under 30 In Tech Are Y Combinator Alums
Wow. Wonder if their users will be bothered to care
Unlike Facebook, I don't think Instagram can afford these antics.
Funny, even big sites like LinkedIn break this. Is there some exception to some types of mail, like bulk mail received after signing up with a service?
Oracles for Random Testing
thanks, good ones!
It seems I can't edit my first message to add them.
I know a password recovery tool called SmartKey Password Recovery. Maybe you can have a try. It seems from http://www.recoverlostpassword.com
Or maybe you Google Search it. Good luck.
"Better people" equates to "gives more money to charity".

Not a statement I'd make, personally.

(Personally, I'm a Mac user, stingy with money, prefer to work off my white middle class liberal guilt over attempting to assuage it by throwing a little spare cash in its general direction).
I'm starting to realize that Instagram is not the service I thought it was. I initially thought it was Flickr with social features, but more and more it's turning into Facebook with photos.

There is zero content discoveries features, so you have no way to get new followers or find new people to follow. And the top posters are all teenage pop stars that I've never even heard about who post completely uninteresting photos.

The more Instagram turns into Facebook, the more this opens up a spot for another company to build an actual social network around photos. Whether this will be 500px, Flickr (again), or somebody else entirely, I don't know.
Instagram's target market doesn't care. These aren't professional photographers, or even amateur ones like flickr, they're teens and 20-somethings with camera phones who want to be able to take and share cool photos with their friends.
Yep, just exactly what is happening in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Talibans surely are disbanding due to drone attacks.
Flutter (YC W12) Named By Apple As A "Best Apps of 2012"
http://sathyasaibaba.wordpress.com/category/unconditional-lo...

I had to share that.
Hmm. Normally the price discrepancies aren't that large, so I can't blame you there. Next time try talking to them - camera shops know whats up and will often work with you on the price. Negotiation is also one of the nice parts of dealing with actual real-life people.
YouTube's year in review
More Than Half Of The Forbes’ 30 Under 30 In Tech Are Y Combinator Alums
Why do we have to imagine a sister or girlfriend, instead of ourselves?
What Amazon does after first time shipping adress changes (in Germany as of yesterday) is to re-ask for your full credit card number. After that the new shipping adress is part of the account and valid.

But what I confirm is great customer service. Last week my sound card broke down after almost 2 years and it took about 5 minutes to get the return information and the according refund once the item showed up at amazon. No hassle what-so-ever with waranty issues and replacement of the original item, just a plain and simple refund.

That's what customer service should be like. And that things like that can be exploited is true, but that's equaly true for almost all other things. If it's a calculated trade-off from amazon's side there shouldn't be a problem.
I wish they would ignore their damn differences and get Google's map data back :-/
"You might call this the anti-free-software movement." - More like anti-free-services movement. There is nothing wrong with free software.
I bet celebrities will care when their picture unknowingly appears in some ad.
So, how big is the target market for over saturated photos of someone's dinner?
Would we interpret death differently if it happened "naturally" (as in old age)? [NB: This is a genuine thought that came to me after I read this (poignant) essay and I hope I am not being insensitive]
In the UK, they don't do this - they send it on to the recipient, but hold the mail at the office until the recipient travels down there and pays postage plus a £1 fee.
Major cities in Poland probably don't really count as major, but both Warsaw and Posen had good data. Same with Amsterdam and Haarlem in the Netherlands, and Fribourg in Switzerland (tiny city, but, on the other hand, a university town, canton capital and all-around awesome, so not exactly some forgotten village).
Yah I read that. But no judge uses a technicality if they can dismiss on more concrete grounds.

Sounds to me like she agreed with Samsung, but the technicality forced her to go a different way.
It doesn't matter who the target market is. This can create a precedence, and make other "social" enterprises greedier. While I understand a contract can specify almost anything and there's always "if you don't like it, don't use it" way of looking at this, but there should be a basic sense of decency among all that claim to be serving the wider public.
Amazon (N.Virginia) acting up again - API errors...
12:07 AM PST We are investigating increased API error rates and latencies in the US-EAST-1 region.
(but you still give yourselves a green dot). Ugh.
See http://status.aws.amazon.com/
The Taliban are poaching rhinos in Africa for a living now? Sounds like we've got them on the run, at least.
Pyramid 1.4 (final) released
Design in broad sense can be related with fashion. But when we talk about UI design we use the term more in engineering sense rather than the artistic one. We can use the term design not only as in Fashion Design, but also as in Circuit Design. When we say UI Design we actually mean both senses. Aesthetic preference can be a factor, but it's never the essence of the act.