skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
>No, because consumption taxes don't reach profits that aren't spent on goods and services.

Nothing lasts forever. Eventually the profits will either be spent or escheat to the state when the last heir to a fortune dies without any descendants. And you can't very well benefit from having money if you never spend it.

>They are massively regressive.

This is trivial to fix. Send everyone a check for a fixed amount every month as a "tax refund" and the effective tax rate of those with less money to spend drops or becomes negative.

>It over-incentivizes "investing" money.

All taxes are distortionary. If you tax income then you under-incentivize investment. Why is over-borrowing and over-spending better than over-investing?

Would you care to elaborate as to what bearing your list of assumptions has on the issue? It wasn't clear from your post.
I am truly excited about this partnership. I use both UserVoice and Crittercism (they are both awesome companies - great software and support to boot).

I have never used the integrated forum feature from Crittercism, and a lot of that is because I do use the UserVoice forum... didn't really want a bunch of separate forums in the app. So, to see them partner up like this really hits the spot. Will integrate ASAP.
That's a great point about having a winner not being all it's cracked up to be. Having to show something is enough motivation for me.

Also sponsors often take away as much from hackathons as they put into them. I'd love an API hack day where all API's including open protocols were on equal footing. At the API Hack Day I went to there were actually prizes for using the sponsors' APIs.
2012: Apple's annus horribilis
After some use, I definitely see the direct and immediate value of getting feedback from an alternative perspective. I'm hearing people question the credibility of the reviews but I don't think that's the point. If someone tells me my header graphic is illegible or my site doesn't display in IE6... that's helpful as is.

That said, this feels a bit like a Ponzi scheme in the sense that I'll only get reviews as long as there are new/active users... I could see that being a long-term issue (as with any site following this model).
There's also DeskSMS, from the author of ClockworkMod and ROM Manager: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.koushikdut...
Robert Wood Johnson offers $200K for health and patient care apps
Paint a straight line
A computer screen on a contact lens
From their compiled heist docs [1]:

There are two things that compiled Heist loses: the ability to bind new splices on the fly at runtime and splice recursion/composability.

I haven't checked or read the doc thoroughly, but if it's what I think it means - all we get is hierarchal splices. Which is still a lot, but it's not quite as magical.

[1]: http://snapframework.com/docs/tutorials/compiled-splices
Why You Should Intern At A Big Company
I do always get a "Invalid website address." error when entering my URL - what to do?
The Internet Archive is genuinely one of my favorite sites on the Internet. From the vast audio archives[1] to the insurmountable web archive[2], I find myself using it daily.

[1] http://archive.org/details/GratefulDead

[2] http://web.archive.org/web/20070405032412/http://news.ycombi...
Google rolls out in-app billing version 3, featuring new design and less code
4 takeaways for developers from the FTC’s latest privacy report
It's a "must read" for anyone developing apps for kids.
funny you can also see who re-pins your mugshot. if I were a criminal on there, time to drive up to their house and rape their kids
A Stronger Bike Helmet, Made of Cardboard and Inspired by a Woodpecker
I spend most of my day in the library at my school (it's the only place I can study between classes.) Even though it's a "library," the administrators don't enforce any of the noise rules, and it's (ironically) one of the noisiest places on the campus.

There's one group who comes in every single morning and literally shout to communicate with each other. I've complained about them multiple times but nothing has been done. So what I've started doing is bringing two pairs of headphones: My Sennheiser in-ear buds and my Sony over-ear noise cancelling headphones. With both of them on and some Miles Davis playing softly in the background I can effectively block out all other noise.
Futuristic handcuffs would administer shocks, drugs
Show HN: Minipedia - Offline Encyclopedia for iOS
Options -> Mail Options -> Behavior -> Inbox -> Check "Show on Startup"

While you are on that page, enable SSL by default:
Turn on SSL: Check "Make your Yahoo! Mail more secure with SSL"
Very helpful info. Much appreciated!
Yeah, I'm not going to an XXX domain at work. The idea is terrible and not worth whatever benefit was in mind.
Ask HN: What language do you use for CouchDB views?
Are you using javascript, erlang, python, or something else? Why?
>If you are managing smaller reserves it makes sense to leave it offshore - but with larger reserves such as with Apple investors want you to do more with it (they want to _get paid_)

If they hold stock in a company whose share price has appreciated as a result of accumulating undistributed profits and they want money, they can always sell some of their shares.

And are you sure they can't do acquisitions? What stops them borrowing the acquisition money from their sister company, or doing the merger for stock?
I agree. Unethical, yes, but immoral is a serious stretch.
Another Launch for the X-37B Mini-Shuttle
With that I agree.
[Shameless plug] I also wrote one of these a couple of years ago. I wanted it to run entirely from the phone though rather than all my messages going through some third party. I ended up using Restlet (http://www.restlet.org/) as the server, and writing a client in Backbone (in the early days).

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.stackednot...

(I haven't touched it for a while, I don't even have an Android phone any more so no idea if it still works :P)
Ask HN: would you share your stock portfolio to be able to see everyone else's
1. Users share portfolios and trades automatically by linking their brokerage accounts.

2. We let you see what others are trading, search for the best investors by any criteria, and follow them to see every move they make.

3. We analyze performance and patterns and award badges to identify investment strategies and success, in order for users to be able to decide who to follow.

Would you use it?
There's no reason you wouldn't get repeat customers. That would eliminate the Ponzi scheme angle.
So I suppose my original comment should have just outright asked: What can a hacker actually do with (hypothetical) remote access to the electrical infrastructure? Open switches under load to effect an arc blast? Blow up a few substations?

Once hackers start mucking around with the grid, things start shutting down by themselves (cascading failures like in the 2003 blackout that you mentioned in another comment). In this situation, damaged equipment can be replaced fairly quickly (far quicker than if, say, a $60 billion storm throws trees across the wires).

I guess I was just looking more for responses from actual electrical engineers with knowledge of the problem. Otherwise we're all just talking out our collective asses, right?
It doesn't upset me when people notice a fact of reality, if it actually is the case. If Chrome was slow, it would be slow and a valid thing to point out, and we could discuss it.

But when someone makes a claim without giving any examples at all, that's kind of annoying. That's what leads to popular conceptions based only on accusation and rumors. But A+ for passive aggression.

Flash and sync are features that have been in Chrome for a really long time. So they're not an example of Chrome "getting bloated." If Chrome is slower now than it was in the past, it isn't because of these, since previous versions of Chrome that you'd be using for the comparison also had these features.

You might just want to check your system for laggy spyware. It's always possible that Chrome could get worse over time and slower than before, but it's not something that's showing up in CPU or memory usage like it clearly was for Firefox when it started to get worse.

So I believe it might be slower for you, but if it is, it's probably not because of feature creep or "bloating." An anecdote isn't a trend.
The Emscripten Relooper algorithm "takes basic blocks of code - chunks of simple code, at the end of which are branches to other blocks of code - and generates high-level structure from that using loops and ifs."

http://mozakai.blogspot.com/2012/05/reloop-all-blocks.html
Are you suggesting Amazon's practices have led it astray somehow?
"Xiaomi has already sold 300,000 of its latest phone model, launched in October."

It doesn't even look like the phone sold well; it sold out, but not well. Numbers like that will not be concerning to Apple, HTC, Samsung, et. al.
I love how this post, in addition to having great content, subtly demonstrates a use case for ReelSurfer.
This is the strangest warning against A/B tests I've heard. "Be careful because you might end up producing something that is #1 internet retailer". The Amazon home page might not be as sexy as the latest whizz-bang startup, but success doesn't lie.
Site down: The case for redundancy
Sounds great!

Please email me at kevin@fitsby.com so I can send you the APK
This is essentially a one-line blog post and is basically just spam. Even as a developer I've had to spend significant portions of my day on the phone, which you can't really do in a library-quiet voice. Many offices don't have adequate amounts of dedicated rooms for this, and it is not very practical to abandon your desk for a significant portion of the day to do work.
A Last wish before the end of the world? 
Just a fun website which allow user to post their last wish before the 21/12/12 !
I've tried doing that but somehow cancelling all noise around me really bothers me. I'm used to hearing normal background noise and removing it weirds me out.
Will everyone be able to see how much I have invested?
It was general for gtalk.
I was chatting with my girlfriend in Paris and I'm in Montreal right know.
Both gtalk stopped working and we finish the discussion on Skype.
thanks! my email is kevin@fitsby.com -- i can send you the download link
ChangeIP (dynamic DNS) being abused by malware
I think they are called 'offices'.

If the door is open, come on in.
If the door is shut, and something is on fire, knock.
If the door is shut, and something is not on fire, seek alternative means (email, ask someone else, etc).

Honestly, if people can work remotely, why can't they work from the office in a room with an actual door? I am not sold on open floor plans, but if that is what you end up with, I would at least prefer a quiet one.
Google+ isn't working
Windows 7 Product Key Finder
I'm not letting Vimeo off the hook either: I wanted to see the videos bigger, but not full screen. Clicking their logo said "sorry there was a problem loading this video". So I clicked "Watch later" and both videos were added to my Vimeo profile with title, screencap, etc. Clicking either video there tells me that I don't have permission to watch the private videos. Argh.

EDIT: Now I can't even watch the videos on the Skills Matter page. I get this message: "You have been temporarily blocked from Vimeo - The connection you are using has been automatically prevented from communicating with Vimeo's servers. This ban will be lifted automatically after an appropriate period of time." WTF?
Not working here, in St. Louis, MO, USA. I was kicked off a hangout about two hours ago (haven't been able to get back on hangout since then). Plus was still working, but now I'm getting "500. That's an error." after about 20 seconds. [Edit: now getting 503 instead of 500.]

Something crazy happening in Google-land, with the earlier Mail outage (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4899922), and now this.

[Edit 2: Seems like it's running again, but much slower than usual.]
We hide how much you have invested by not disclosing how many positions you purchase.

You'll see trades from people you followed: what's being bought or sold, at what price and how that trader has performed in the past.
No they're not, its an 'old' article and those rumours have already been denied time and again by Nokia. Sure, they could be lying, but why bother denying it in the first place?

And as Nokia reported on that very same day: https://twitter.com/DougatNokia/status/275249883366182912
Ask HN: Where's the Vfx/CG technical online community?
I'm trying to find a place like hackernews but for VFX/CG developers/research folks. Where do you guys usually hang out online?
My list (all focused on the art side instead of the technical side):

3d total
cg channel
evermotion
cg society
fxguide
it's art
reddit.com/r/vfx
I love the idea behind this site and if I get some useful feedback on my website, I'll be ecstatic.

Anyway, your site not really a success yet. You've just been Hacker Newsed. Traffic will probably go back down after today. It's happened to me before.

Anyway, it looks like a major bottleneck you are experiencing is that you have to moderate every review that's written. I don't think that's going to be sustainable. I'd try having using rate reviews "helpful" or "not helpful" like they do for reviews on most online stores. And then maybe have an automatic filter for easily detectable things like foul language or gibberish.

Good luck, I like you site.
$50 Android smartphones are disrupting Africa says Jimmy Wales
EU wins Nobel Peace Prize
Atom feed added at: http://miyagi.herokuapp.com/articles.atom

Thanks for letting the need for a feed be known!
Will believe it when I see it.

Am kind of hoping they are, simply because Nokia makes solid hardware and treated Linux well with their N-series.

But they're not high hopes.
Americans don't value silence the way other cultures do (I'm an American btw). I'm not sure if it has to do with the ratio of introverts to extroverts, or if it's simply that we're an individualistic culture, but often I strain to hear in a restaurant these days. Anecdotally, I've noticed that the higher end restaurants tend to be quieter. Not sure if this is because of clientele or the higher quality construction of such places blocking more sound.

While I was in Japan, I noticed that it was quite possible (and many did) to take a nap in McDonald's. Conversations indoors tended to be very reserved.

As a country, I think we're getting louder. I've brought a Decibel Meter with me before and seen it hit north of 70dB. This constant level of noise everywhere we go can't be good for our hearing.
Sequoia’s Leone: In Venture, Big is the Enemy of Great
Apple Maps leave Australian motorists stranded
Indeed, not stepping back can lead you (via A/B testing) to just find a local maxima in usability/uptake/etc.
Ocsigen Eliom 3 released
Check out https://flippa.com/ ,and be aware of the following classes of problems:

* It's very easy to artificially elevate visitors as displayed by eg. Google Analytics; same goes for inlinks, site ranks, and any other quantifiable metrics

* Specifically with Flippa, do a historical follow-up on their "just sold" list via eg. archive.org:
http://web.archive.org/web/20110611031734/https://flippa.com...

Success/survival rate on the 1-year mark is extremely low; same goes with buying any "sideproject" -be extremely careful what you buy into.
Am a user, but primarily as free storage for live show recordings. It's a great service and should be supported for all they do, but unfortunately I won't be a donor anytime soon.
On phones, webOS was pretty slow and not all that smooth, until the Pre 2 came into existence with about twice the processing power and webOS 2. Unfortunately, webOS was already floundering at this point and Verizon was the only U.S. carrier to launch the Pre 2, so very few people ever got to experience it. There was the HP Veer on AT&T as well, but that was quite the niche offering.

Despite webOS being around for two years before the launch of the HP TouchPad, the device was less refined because so much of webOS 3 was new. It was the first webOS device without a hardware keyboard, for instance. It was also the first without a gesture area, the first with that new notification system, etc.
Sounds like an awful place to work. While i'm all for productivity, I have never seen it correlated with office volume, either positively or negatively. For as long as phones sit on desks, this policy sounds ridiculous.
Using Google's AppEngine, how many sites could you monitor how often before you would hit the billing threshold?

I see they now offer Go in addition to Python and Java. I'd probably go with Python because it's so easy. Although, it might be fun to have a go at Go.

https://developers.google.com/appengine/
I noticed my local library got rid of about fifty percent of its few remaining books a couple of weeks ago. The extra space means the body of the building is now devoted to activities relating to schools, I think.

As somebody who once did work experience here: http://tinyurl.com/d28gxz4, I was a bit puzzled to be in an almost bookless library.

I suspect "coffee shop rules" are the future of libraries.
Higher-end places in America do design their spaces to be somewhat smaller, intimate, and mute sound. Diners and management also respect auditory space a little more when you're spending big bucks on a meal.

These places also don't blast rock music over PA systems while people are trying to eat. I've been in some joints where it's literally an arms war between the diners and whoever has their hand on the volume control. Management wants the place to seem lively and hip, but by the end of the evening people are literally shouting themselves hoarse.
But at that point, why not just aggregate the services, in which case you've effectively become Uber?
"It has a business purpose and the business it serves makes good money."

I've come to the conclusion that the best way to understand how to behave on HN is to treat HN as a place of business.
> well, I noticed how hot it makes my laptop

That says it all

> Does that need to be C++? I believe most if not all of the Java compiler is written in Java.

Depends which compiler you mean. Oracle's is a mix of C++ and Java.

> Why would that ever be a requirement? What's the difference between a VM and a runtime library (which even C has)?

They are not several megabytes in size.

You seem to like C, fine for you.

I won't touch C again unless one of my customers requests me to.

Clang, GCC already moved to C++.

Haiku, Symbian, z/OS, Mac OS X drivers and many parts of Windows kernel are written in C++.
> CodeMirror is being seriously considered independently in WebKit's and Firefox' DevTools, built-in.

Whoa, can you cite sources for these?
Maybe link to the original instead of linking to daringfireball that only contains a link to the twitter feed (or what you younglings call it)
http://storify.com/joestump/an-ios-user-migrates-to-android
...
Nice writeup on your implementation.
It Won't Scale
So a major company is looking for a Sr. Developer in C++ & Java and rumor sites are quick to point out Android? Linkbait it is.
The free accounts should stay free. However opening new accounts will not be free :(
Tangential, but I am a little frustrated that I can't sign into one of my google products without being signed into all of them. I get so nervous any time I sign into google music somewhere that I'm not necessarily actively monitoring because it means someone can just type "mail.google.com" into the browser and basically unlock my whole life.

(I'm not making any statement on apple or apple vs google)
The collaboration argument comes up so much I think it's fair to label it a red herring.

If you need to collaborate, take your conversation to a meeting room to hash it out. The general working area should be as quiet as possible.
Now they want to pivot _back_ to where they were two years ago?

The game's over. Enjoy the shotgun marriage to Microsoft.

Feel free to make noises about how you're going to run off with Android.

Ballmer doesn't care. Just remember to lie back and think of MeeGo.
In my opinion the most important skill is philosophy, I think someone once asked "To be X or !X?" Without philosophy we have nothing, no science or math. If greatness is doing the best we possibly can at everything we do then that's "great" for us personally but does it make other's lives great as well? It is one thing to be of the highest possible skill level, or in other words "great", at something like programming but what if your goal is to make everyone who touches your work from testers to line managers live's easier? Wouldn't you be perceived as "great" regardless of your skills as a programmer? Will Smith seems like such a great guy his energy just radiates from everything he says and does and his work ethic is also inspiring. But a performing artist's role is probably more altruistic than someone in a technical role where the altruistic outcomes are less obvious. Start with philosophy my friends.
Web Malware - Working with Evil Backdoors - Part III
Nice call, I'd use that and tell people about it.
Love the idea! However it doesn't seem to be working currently.

I click "get review" and I'm prompted to review someone's website first -- which I already did several times over.
I haven't done anything with Go yet (barely even looked through docs), but it would be an interesting project to at least build a small part of it there and test.

Judging by Google App Cloud pricing, I'd probably be able to get somewhere between 200-300 users on their free tier. The biggest data hog is the database ops and storage; right now I'm archiving all historical data for each server.

I'm more comfortable with AWS at this point, though, so I'd probably stick with just moving one or two services to that before considering App Engine. I just don't have the time (right now) to try to work with more than one or two systems.
Cosmic Rift was amazing. I loved that game.
It doesn't take much sound dampening to significantly lower the sound in a public place, due to the positive feedback loop. Take a restaurant with tile floors and cheap ceilings -- not only does that make it louder, but people have to then talk louder to be heard. And that in turn makes the volume even louder yet. And table cloths really make a big difference also.

Another thing that can affect volume is the density of tables in a restaurant -- same feedback loop in place. If you can't hear the conversation at the table next to you, then you can speak in a lower voice also.
I saw 50 Cent say as much on CNBC when asked about piracy of his music.

He said that he thought of it as loss-leading marketing iirc.

EDIT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCzb5zpV0PA
My local library has a coffee shop in it.

Luckily there are lots of books, I haven't seen them removing any.
Free real-time brand monitoring with Google Alerts and a Feed Reader
after visiting sf last year i became a donor to the internet archive (for practical purposes) and the long now foundation (for philosophical purposes) with a company match. will be looking into whether i get a company match outside the ordinary 'window' - would be nice to add another multiplier to this matchstravaganza.
That is, at it's core, my point. What happens if the case is thrown out? Even if removed from Social Network X, your fugitive status will live forever in the Wayback machine, on scraping sites, and so on.
Only that append-only journal (transaction log).
1 to a billion; the rise and rise of Twitter
Agreed. I've unfortunately already used them in a couple apps that had very nasty navigation requirements, and while it "works", it doesn't feel discoverable at all.

I went with actually showing the flyin navigation on app start, essentially making the flyin navigation the 'home page' for the app. I'd say just going with regular list or dashboard navigation would have been more intuitive, so I'll probably not use the pattern again in future...