skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
That question is answered by theodicy- the philosophical field of justifying God's dealings with the universe. I recommend C.S. Lewis's _The Problem of Pain_. The short version is that if you give people free will, then there is a risk that they will try to hurt each other; if you always intervene to ensure that they can't hurt each other, then their free will is worthless; and if they don't have free will, then what's the point of them living?

Now as I said, that's the short version, and in such drastically abbreviated form the argument has holes you could drive a humvee through. An alternate explanation is that the creators of the simulation simply don't care about us at all, and we and our problems have nothing to do with its purpose. One might also ask, if the creators do care about us after all, why didn't they just make everyone morally perfect so they wouldn't freely hurt each other? In which case me-with-my-theologian-hat would say "maybe a life of pain is the very process by which morally perfect people are created". But theodicy is a very large field which I cannot adequately summarize in this post, so if you want real answers, just start with that book.
You already can't buy books for the Kindle or Nook app via in-app purchase, nor can you pay Dropbox for space. Why is this news when SkyDrive has the same rule?

And why doesn't SkyDrive just go "oh", and like everyone else, remove the in-app purchase option?
http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2012/11/21/online-cour...
I absolutely love how we are going to get to see the developing world become developed in our lifetimes.

And how the level playing field will force us to scale innovation rather than operation.

Man, this is the best time to be alive!!
You can actually gear into a REIT to a similar level. Most REITs have internal gearing, so applying your own gearing, albeit at lower ratios, will produce a similar effect.
That said, I did not entirely agree with them :)

I agree that Kickstarter is unlikely to raise 300 million dollars for the next Hobbit trilogy. I disagree that a huge blockbuster will never be crowdfunded. Transformers, Harry Potter, and Avatar all cost less than 300 million dollars. 30 million people pre-paying 10 dollars is not ridiculous, when you look at how many people use Google, and how many users Facebook claims to have.

Surprisingly, movie studios don't necessarily fund the projects that they profit from. Since you mentioned LotR universe:

"New Line made enough pre-sales in foreign markets, and there were enough subsidies to pretty much cover their costs. New Zealand was not the only subsidy. There was also the British Commonwealth subsidy and the German tax subsidy in those days. New Line didn't have to put up any cash to make that movie."

Also movie studios consistently claim to not make profits from their movies.

"However, New Line later produced accounts showing that instead of making a profit, the movies made "horrendous losses". According to Hubbard: "We found it surprising because it was one of the biggest box office success of all time.""

Other funding options: a company could start making short films and then transition into making larger, more expensive ones once it gains the trust of its audience. The films could be broken into "episodes" to reduce the amount of money that each chunk would cost. This all ignores patronage, another alternative funding mode.

Lastly, most movies aren't blockbusters. Even if everything I just said is a lie, the vast majority of movies will be just fine, because their budgets are laughably small. District 9 was shot for 30 million dollars. Primer was shot for 7000 dollars. When Harry Met Sally cost 16 million dollars. Citizen Kane cost 15 million. Pretty Woman cost 14 million. The government funded BBC has produced such things like The Office, Monty Python, and Billy Elliot on less than 5 million each.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&#...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_accounting#Examples
> user-submitted-content based porn website

If you think about it, there's no real difference between the code base for a user submitted porn-site and a user submiitted site for videos and pictures. The only change is the template used on the frontend, and the nature of what you allow to be uploaded.

So a user-submitted content site can be created with a turn-key script that can be had for less than $1000.

Now, in my experience with ad-based content.... advertising rates vary by a pretty sharp degree from month to month if you go through a 3rd party agency. You can make 6 months at X rate, then see a sudden unexpected 30% decline on the same traffic. Couple that with the fact that adult-based ads pay less. For example, Facebook makes $1.00 Desktop CPC, but adult ads regularly sell for $0.01 CPC---1% of mainstream!

Because of that, I can see why sites will have 8 or 10 ads per page in order to get enough margin to cover unexpected rate losses.

I do think you are 100% right about one thing. Smart conversion optimization would be a huge boon in the adult market. Currently, none of the major CPA firms take adult content so its a green-field market. The schelp factor is that you'd have to work with 100s of independent accounts, all with minimum payout floors, but its doable with the right team and lots of traffic.
One way I've heard it described is that the caterpillar effectively develops an organ that is analagous to an egg from which the butterfly hatches. Then the rest of the caterpillar's body becomes food for the newly-hatched bufferfly. This all occurs inside the chrysalis so that we are spared from witnessing the carnage.

I have no idea if this is a valid way of looking at it or not, but it's one explanation that I've heard. The appealing part about this is when you realize that some wasps lay their eggs inside other insects, which then become food for the wasp larvae in the same way that the caterpillar's body is supposed to become food for the butterfly.
Facebook is planning to buy WhatsApp
Apple doesn't have anything close to a monopoly in the smartphone market.
10%-15% cut if you use your own payment processing? You lose the one click convenience customers have to add all this extra data etc.
Android Smartphone for Blind and Visually impared
The guy has to be making crazy bank. Wonder why he didnt just pay his taxes. When you are bringing in a likely 100m a year, what difference will another 10m make? I think the guys behind huge sites like this just have weird personality's that make them like to hack every system they can which obviously ends up in situations like this.
Android systems are no slouch. I think legislative measures should be a last resort
AKB also built an empire on handshakes - buy the media, get a ticket to give a girl a handshake.
Another tutorial for new people to the industry can be found on http://startapornsite.smutnode.com
Well who really knows how two IT giants communicate.

There is little to stop MS from expecting the DropBox model to be accepted - it depends what else they are asking.

We simply don't know the details of all this, beyond the MS focused blog item.

MS want Skydrive and their own mobile/tablet App prowess recognised..

.. and here they are David compromising with Goliath!
True, mitochondria contain functional DNA, but the majority of mitochondrial genes have migrated to the eukaryotic nucleus. The transcripts are transcribed in the nucleous, translated in the cytosol, and the protein products are translocated into the mitochondria. There's not necessarily anything preventing the remainder of the mitochondrial genome from making the same transition, although perhaps the mitochondrion would still require a "placeholder" chromosome because its cycle of reproduction is tied in with replication of that chromosome as it is in bacteria.
From the (much better) Next Web article which I wish had been linked instead:

Microsoft has persisted in trying to work out a compromise with Apple, but has thus far failed to come to an agreement. The company offered to remove all subscription options from its application, leaving it a non-revenue generating experience on iOS. The offer was rebuffed.

If a service has a subscription option, it seems, and it is not listed in the iOS store, the application cannot, and will not be allowed. That is, unless you are small enough that Apple doesn’t bothers to check. I assume that smaller companies could slip under the radar.

(note for transparency: I worked on the SkyDrive team until a few months ago, but don't know the latest details of this situation.)
For the record, he's talking about user-generated content so even if users upload unlicenced materials he's covered by DMCA protections.

He won't have to worry about licencing content, since he won't knowingly use copyrighted content beyond what freebies are offered to CPA partners.

I think everything you're saying makes sense for a Paysite, but he's not a paysite---just an affiliate and traffic producer which is a bit more downstream.

As for dealing with the major players to have traffic funnelled through him, he won't be able to do that initially because (a) traffic trades require that you have traffic to trade and (b) you're going to want to have your traffic stream through organic links and SEM since you likely can't afford to pay for traffic for a non-paysite: the ROI just isn't there in advertising.
So much of this is still useful and relevant. Kind of amazing how much the web relies upon these ancient (by our standards) tools. UNIX is one of the most incredible technology stories ever.
Khiladi 786 2012 is a very nice movie.Born to an holder of a matrimony office Champak Lal (Manoj Joshi), Mansukh (Himesh Reshammiya) has been a complete failure yet since he has full-grown up and tried to help his father taking part in their intimate occupational.

http://freemoviesite24.com/2012/12/khiladi-786-2012-hindi-mo...

http://freemoviesite24.com/2012/12/khiladi-786-2012-hindi-mo...

http://freemoviesite24.com/2012/12/khiladi-786-2012-hindi-mo...

http://freemoviesite24.com/2012/12/khiladi-786-2012-hindi-mo...

http://freemoviesite24.com/2012/12/khiladi-786-2012-hindi-mo...

http://freemoviesite24.com/2012/12/khiladi-786-2012-hindi-mo...
The asynchronicity stuff has made it into many a presentation, but it's not really about that. If it were all about async maybe someone can tell me why they're not allowing I/O completion ports and APCs. It's about not trusting developers, and rooted in an overreaction to the perceived problems in the existing Win32 ecosystem. You can do async I/O with Win32 just fine, but Microsoft now believes you're too stupid to do it.

Also, there is a port of sqlite to WinRT.
Devil's advocate: where do you draw the line?

MIT did a Gangnam style video, did they pay Psy for the right to do so?

If BMW were to do a Gangnam style video, surely Psy would expect to be paid, right?

Why BMW and why not MIT?

We are in a liminal period where copyright is sometimes enforced, and sometimes not. Social pressure and business inertia causes some people to play by the rules. Risk taking, greed, and ignorance causes other people to not do so. Where this ends up is anyone's guess, but it isn't likely to stay this way for long.

[That said, I'll reiterate my previous comment about record labels who bring hundred-million-dollar suits against their fans: fuck them.]
I think the unfair part is the rule that you can't link to your website if users can buy things on your website. If apple wants to maintain a monopoly on in-app purchases that's their prerogative, but not allowing you to link out to an external purchase is just a huge dick move that seems unnecessarily desperate.
Mark Otto owns getbootstrap.com by the looks of it, which at the moment just redirects to the github site.
"Best", Cheap, Support.

Pick two.
Active sufferance
Well, it's not romantic if it's actually practical. Bottom line, I think, is if you really get the shell, it is almost infinitely useful.
Well, it's worth pointing out that this issue existed before pinterest. Tons of local PD's post mugshots on their websites.

Try googling the names of idiots you went to high school with. You're sure to find someone's mugshot.
That's my point. The Relooper does a good job with vast majority of code that you might conceivably want to compile to JS, making the lack of goto not a problem in a practical sense for these compilers.
Similarly, he wouldn't get any money from people making commercials without copyright law. They would simply rip it off without asking.
I think the problem is, flat 30% on in-app purchase is just too much when you're working on a margin.

One solution would be for Apple to introduce plans.

eg:

classic - flat 30% - no monthly fee

pro - flat 15% - $500 monthly fee

irock - flat 7.5% - $2,000 monthly fee

That's just an example, but I think the main issue is that a flat 30% just doesn't work for some types of business.

[edit: fixed confusing typos]
Perhaps YouTube has a re-inclusion program?
Allow apps to charge users the extra 43% if they are buying from the app compared to the price they would pay direct, without the markup.
I listen to headphones almost the entire day, but when I want to have a conversation with someone, I sure as hell don't want to have to go to some meeting room to have it. It just seems like asking your employees not to communicate...
I made the same argument lower in the thread but with omission of an instant price bump the instant you get the home or buying purely with cash, the idea of getting a very expensive home with the strategy of banking the difference in appreciation is typically a very bad idea. Banks will love to tell you its a great idea and that is because a million dollar loan held for 5 years at 5% interest will cost you 250k in interest to hold the asset effectively wiping out the 250k profit if that happens.

The only true reward is going to the bankers for taking the risk of loaning a million bucks.
Jqueryui.com is down
Thanks, didn't know, until now I was going with the "first computer programmer" herd.
Renaissance (wo)man for Customer Success role at OrderAhead
At OrderAhead, we’re rethinking the way people shop at brick-and-mortar businesses: a world where inventory and pricing is immediately accessible, where comparison shopping of offline products is effortless, and where purchases are made with one-click for immediate checkout - all from your phone.

We’re looking for an entry-level generalist who has the long term potential to do it all, because all will be required of you: Customer Satisfaction. Operations. Business Process Design, Relationship Management. Business Development.

The ability to make our customers and merchant partners happy through a variety of channels is the baseline, but that requires an encyclopedic knowledge of every aspect of the company, and the difference between a dilettante and a polymath is stark.

We need your abilities and responsibilities to parallel the incredible growth of the company. You’ll work hard as hell and, sure, some days are a grind. But every moment has a tangible impact on reaching a lasting, meaningful vision.

Requirements

+ Entrepreneurial spirit: Wanting to be at a startup shouldn’t be a curiosity or passing interest. It should be a passion.

+ Flexibility: The needs of a rapidly growing startup are manifold, and will range from data-entry to long-term strategy. You need to be willing and able to wear many hats.

+ Resourcefulness: The ability to get the job done. Be creative, be innovative, be scrappy. Because you’ll have real responsibilities.

+ Good people: Must be/be good with people; gotta genuinely like people. It may sound asinine, but it matters.

Undergraduate degree and 0-3 years of experience

Please send your resume and a brief statement about why you would be a great addition to the team to opsjobs@orderaheadapp.com
Yeah, one of the things that Akimoto Yasushi (the genius behind AKB48) did was create an idol group with girls that have a more down-to-earth and "accessible" image. They perform daily at a theater in Akihabara (the nerd district in Tokyo), and after the performance you get to meet the girls. And they supposedly have had no plastic surgery, which is supposed to contribute to their accessible image in a country where plastic surgery is quite popular in the entertainment industry (though many have said this is a lie and called them 整形B48/Seikei-B48, a pun on their name using the word for plastic surgery).
Jquery.com was down
It probably wasn't clear but I thought it went without saying that the example I gave is a horrible idea in practice. As soon as you see the word "leverage" you should start getting scared.

When I hear the word "mortgage" I hear "leverage" whereas most people hear "monthly payments where I own the house instead of renting it." It's bad news.
He would call me up on pay phones to talk about game design. Every few minutes he would have to play a series of tones from his little blue box to get another few free minutes of talk time.

Correction: That would have been a "red box". ^__^
You make a good point about the linear flow that's typical in media players. I haven't looked at the VLC source, so I'm not sure about how it's structured. With 7M LOC, I'm guessing that there might be some entanglements. The async model causes the async pattern to propagate all the way up the call chain. The I/O and other async dependencies would have to be decoupled from the gcc library to minimize impact on the existing code base.
I question how much of the "user submitted porn" is actually user submitted. Flickr, YouTube, etc i buy that all the content is submitted by users. Porn sites, it seems far more likely that the content is mostly uploaded by paid staff. It's hard for me to believe that there are people who see a porn they like and think "wow, I should submit this to youporn". If you're going to build a porn site, the biggest part of the job is probably seeding it with content.
The Dot Reply
you got a typo: win prices -> win prizes
I didn't get an email confirming my account, on the sign up area after doing my first review, I tried both of my gmail addresses and have yet to see anything in either.

Cool concept, add a meta aspect as others have said.
Xilisoft Video Converter
Might be the U8230, slightly better features

http://www.phonearena.com/phones/Huawei-U8230_id5625

Figured it out from this screencap http://i.imgur.com/McJSj.jpg

compare: http://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/phones/29267-large/Huawei...

Maybe the M835 http://www.phonearena.com/phones/Huawei-M835_id5204

because of the smaller top margin, but the buttons aren't shiny on the M835 http://i.imgur.com/Monkf.jpg

240 x 320 is far too low resolution for anything though
Be sure to watch the video with Fabian Thylmann on the bottom of the page - or direct linked here: http://youtu.be/VCQCsWOivGo
This has some similarities to Bondi http://bondi.it.uts.edu.au/ by Barry Jay (but implemented in Clojure rather than being a Binary.)

I'm interested to hear your thoughts on Bondi and/or Barry's work.
Breaking even on a small website is easy. Doing it on such a large scale, not so much. Never mind making a profit.

People have this unrealistic view of porn site owners, as being rolling in the dough. It's true for soeme, but they're a minority. Doing porn brings a lot of heat, not just because every tax man out there assumes you're cheating, but also because if anyone is geetting naked for you, you MUST be some kind evil human trafficer, and probably a child pornographer as well. It's a strange lil world. Sometimes I miss it.
Indeed it will certainly attract needed scrutiny. Both by the lawmakers and by the courts.

The presumption by all of these vendors who operate their own app store is that they are legally protected in tying their hardware product (their smartphone, for example) to their online store.

But there is a history in both the written law and from the courts that makes these 'company store' policies illegal.

There is no technical reason whatsoever that prevents a smartphone/tablet vendor from allowing their smartphone/tablet from accessing anybody's online store. An Amazon tablet should be able to visit the Apple online store (if they sold Android apps) just as easily as an iPhone should be able to visit the Android marketplace (if they sold iOS apps.)

Imagine the outcry if Chevy could force you to only buy tires or gas for your Malibu from their store. Or if Mattel could force you to only buy outfits for your kid's Barbie doll from their store. Or if Dell could force you to only buy software for your laptop from their store.

The law has long been clear that this type of market coercion is illegal.

The only reason that today's device vendors are still getting away with this is because the threshold for an outcry hasn't yet been passed. But the more stories we read like this, the louder the volume is from the everyday consumer.
>Certainly, the learning curve is much steep for Unix > utilities than, say, Python.

Now what makes you think that? UNIX shell tools have a very consistent interface which is really pretty simple (pipes in, pipes out,) they are well documented, and they're interactive and easy to play around with no zero setup.

Also, the UNIX shell has been around for 30 years now and isn't going anywhere. So what's the best investment? Python will change more in the next five years.
false. And this article you mention is 8 days old.
http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/02/whats-up-with-whatsapp-face...
Oh I didn't realize they weren't in open beta or release. They've been promoting it at hackathons in Seattle for several months now.
To me this is just another argument for The Great Stagnation. Don't get me wrong, it's fabulous that the lives of Africans are being improved by technology. However, what if Africa catching up with the western world is just a side effect of technological progress slowing down as Peter Thiel and others have commented about? We marvel at our smartphones, but so what. They make them in china for $50.
If it's not very computationally intensive program, using javascript/html is starting to make a lot more sense
Honestly, who (outside of Korea) would even buy an entire PSY record, though? I don't think album sales are a very big revenue stream for such a novelty act. Single-song downloads, advertisements, and talk show and event appearances are of course where the money is at for him.

Nice to see that he isn't trying to "charge for smells" though.