skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
It's not a debate if you just tell people off and offer no rational.

I went through gen-ed classes that I literally never attended. I sometimes read the books and got A+s in the courses. I went through a high-level technical communications class that was to re-teach basic English mechanics that a proficient high school student ought to be able to master. I was retaught the primitive basics of C, Java, and C++; nothing that couldn't be learned through a few online tutorials and nothing advanced enough to prepare someone for an embedded job without prior internship experiences.

On the other hand, I got instruction on advanced algorithms and had two year long projects where we worked for actual clients (Microsoft, others) for actual money with deliverables and accountability. But that wasn't worth the $200K it would have cost if I didn't have scholarships.
Rama (Freddy Lenz) I assume, who else?
Real disaster recovery plans require preallocated resources
Kim Dotcom made something like $60 million in income from Megaupload the year before it was shut down. Some people will jump through a lot of hoops to make $60 million a year.
What is your email strategy?
Do you have a source?

I tried googling javascript runtime (primarily v8) exploitation and haven't been able to find any examples of this ever happening.

Edit: I'm not saying its not plausible, but wouldn't it require root/user access? What benefit would it provide over other type of attacks with that level of access? Just because there's no browser tools to check for it?
Would you mind publishing this? We run into this issue too.
>Unless you have a revolutionary and marketable idea and are 110% confident about executing it with the utmost discipline that will guarantee something that you can call "success", please stay in school.

I'm really not sure what that has to do with it; proportionally, I know more people that didn't go to college that got individual contributor programming or sysadmin jobs than who started companies. The things that school gets you can be as important (and sometimes more important) in a management/owner role than in an individual contributor role.

I know for me, it wasn't hard to get myself up to the minimum technical level for a Programmer/SysAdmin gig... but my social skills are, well, lacking. I don't know that you learn those in college, but I always thought that college was an important part of the social development of the 'middle-class adult' that I was missing.
Which will then be confused with the Ruby testing library.

At least there the naming sort of makes sense. Spec sounds like Speck, which is German for bacon (sort of).
Yeah. 1994 is when I started seeing Zen and the Art of the Internet on the endcaps at Crown Books. Late 1995-1996 is when I started seeing books about the web given the same prominence.
why does only one cylinder bind at a time?

It seems to me like the lock shouldn't be able to turn at all until all of the cylinders are pressed to the right height.
I think you made an ad hominem attack and your concept of the real world is aged and out-of-touch.
> Apples and windows are relatively benign objects without disturbing imagery attached to them.

I think this is how most people think of bacon.
I believe most drop-outs didn't drop out because they wanted to - ie family problems, lack of funding, etc.

That's probably why the statistics favour the students.
I wish something like this existed for everything. It's incredibly easy to get left behind and just not know what is out there.
>They haven't found any concrete flaws though. Just speculation and outright wrong information.

I have no doubt that some of the criticism is rooted in just a general hatred and cynicism about "kim.com" and has no foundation, but some of the things they're doing are legitimately questionable. Like having javascript served from their servers have access to your password. If you want it to be secure against them, you can't really do that. If they get compromised then their server will serve compromised javascript and your data can be read by the attackers the next time you access it.

But it's a trade off -- using javascript has somewhat lower security but is easier for users to use -- and it seems like they even recognize it. The way around it is to use a community-verified open source client (like a browser plug in) to process users' passwords and never leave them or the unencrypted data in the control of code from the Mega server, and it appears they have plans to do that. And that has other benefits as well, like making it easy to use high entropy machine-generated passwords for every piece of data and having the plug in store the passwords encrypted on your local disk with a master secret, so that you only have to remember one strong password for all your data (or, if you're paranoid, one password for each set of data classified by security level).

>The "If you can break SSL, you can break MEGA." made my day.

Yeah, is that actually not a straw man? Someone really said that? I have to hope they were being sarcastic.
What about a CS student who gets a full-time job offer as a sophomore? Why stick around and pay for school if you can instead be paid to get more valuable real world experience.
If I wanted more content like a single gif in a blog post I'd go to reddit. This is currently #1 on HN.
There's a Mythbusters where they quite literally tackled the action-movie-style busting down the door. Turns out it doesn't matter how many locks are on the door when Jamie kept knocking them off their hinges.
Speaking of unconventional desk surfaces, does anyone make a good wall-mounted standing keyboard tray? All I can find are crazy articulated arm systems and gigantic freestanding desks. I just want a ready-made shelf designed to be used for only a keyboard + mouse facing a wall-mounted monitor.
How exactly is starring emails going to keep them from piling up? I don't see the gain here.
I read your counterpoint, and thought it was less coherently structured and argued than Holloway's. I think your argument may be stuck too much in an idealised present/future.

Quick question, have you gone to university?
An education is necessary. Some schools are good at delivering that. Some are crap and you are wasting your time and money. And of course, lots of opportunity outside of school to learn as well.
Great story. You didn't stay in Canada? :)
Interesting, I tend to go deep into the woods, but did, on one occasion, find myself tripping on LSD on a riverboat casino in Mobile, Alabama.

At the time Black Jack seemed like an overwhelmingly deep and mystifying game; can only imagine what the dealer thought ;-)
Oh, I just realized that your OP.. That makes a little more sense...

>I simply have no respect for anyone who can't see the value in that. It's the worst kind of childish, self-centered worldview.

I stand by my original statement of your tendency toward hyperbole.

It's fine that you feel the need to be all high and mighty about this, and tout on about your various respect hierarchies and where others fall into them, but at the end of the day, you're really wetting your pants over nothing. Honestly, I think you just lack reading comprehension, or maybe you just want attention yourself? However, I will refrain from internet diagnosing you.

You know what the other guy's post said? You should really re-read it. It said they should come as equals and be judged accordingly. There you go; That's pretty much the summary. Whether or not you agree with it, is that position really as ugly as you make it, or are you simply overreacting? Did it really warrant calling him out in a public forum? I understand white-knighting, and "Won't someone think of the frail, helpless children!" mentality, but Jesus, man..

One guy says, "Don't coddle them."

You say, "That guy is childish and selfish! Coddle them"

There's the summary of this thread. Calm down, my man. Difference of opinion does not an asshole make.
At least 95% of the time, you'll be better served by finishing the degree. It's a low-risk high-reward choice. Unless you have a huge appetite for risk, I don't see the upside in dropping out. Work on your startup while you're in school, it's not like homework should be taking up a significant portion of your time (if you're really good enough to be dropping out anyway).
New Digital Archive Resurrects Classic Dungeons & Dragons Adventures
Exactly what I'm saying.
Thank you very much for sharing.

It is interesting that it is possible to be so introspective and at the same time for it not to help. In a certain way that is one of the common approaches in therapy. Let patients confront their irrational persistent thoughts. Would you say that this ability confers an immunity to therapy?

> stop trying to "flip a switch", no matter how much you try with the very best intentions and your deepest love

Yeah that is really the first instinct. I've been on both sides of it, and still (wrongly) think that it would work, even though it didn't seem to work before.

I'll have to try the show of support. That makes sense, thank you for suggestion. Looking back, getting out and changing the physical surroundings sometimes make a difference in the mental state.

> I think it is the thought of making something better with your own hands that can create quite a positive pull.

That makes a lot of sense. Some people are better at providing that. It is the personality and demeanor too perhaps -- just being with them, creates a better state.

Thank again you for sharing.
I think it's an ad hominem attack only when the character assertions bear no relation to the argument at hand. In this case, for him to call the OP young and ignorant is perfectly relevant, the implication being that he only dismisses higher education because he is not experienced enough to realise the value of it.
From the OP:
"Counterpoint author: David Fontenot is a serial hackathoner and director of MHacks Hackathon from South Florida. He is studying Computer Science Engineering in his Sophomore year at the University of Michigan."
What was Snip.it?
That happened to me buy my girlfriend wouldn't let me leave.
Maybe you could mortgage your house and short the stock too? Let us know how that works out for you.
Is there a way this could be solved through a wikileaks like organization? I imagine there has to be at least one disgruntled FDA bureaucrat...
If I wanted more comments complaining about GIFs turning a site into Reddit I'd go to Quora.

;)
The "not submitted by me" is the key point. I submit my own posts when I think they're of interest to HN. I have zero problem with people downvoting or even flagging a post that doesn't belong here.

But when we comment on the post, we ought to follow our guidelines. As you did, you were able to criticize the post without being rude, mean, or nasty.
Are you saying healthy psychedelic use must be in a "therapeutic, spiritual, religious, or shamanic" context? Yes, you do have to give these immensely powerful mind altering substances respect, the same way you have to go into a flight lesson with respect for the machine you're flying, but combining that respect with the primary goal of having a fun time seems perfectly valid to me. After all, no matter how profound or world shattering the experience may be, it's still just your own brain working on slightly modified parameters.
Ingress - Crowdsourcing Solutions to NP-Hard Problems?
It's really not that hard. The branching logic is simple.

If you have a better, actual alternative to university, do that. Else, do university, which is an established default for those who can afford it.

If you can't afford it, the debate isn't even relevant.
Why download? I simply ripped all my CDs to mp3s.

That was a pretty good collection.
I'm more genuinely interested in why Bitbucket isn't an option for the OP. If he hadn't brought up Bitbucket in the first place I wouldn't have asked.

If you meant the disclaimer, then yes - just being honest about who feeds me :)
Due to imperfections in the lock. It only takes a tiny difference for that tension to not be applied evenly so you can focus on one pin at a time.
So you're saying that you're pissed off because they're working on a free app for you, for a free service for you?
Have you thought about getting work from clients in other countries? I think for most of us the Github rates are ridiculously low rather than ridiculously high.
> Counterpoint author: David Fontenot is a serial hackathoner and director of MHacks Hackathon from South Florida. He is studying Computer Science Engineering in his Sophomore year at the University of Michigan.

Is this you then?

What would be interesting is your argument for the case, ... obviously if you don't have one you might want to save some time and money and withdraw from UofM.

The existence of remarkable individuals, which is by no means a recent phenomena, demonstrates that for some a university education is not, in the strict sense, a necessity. That hardly addresses the issue of whether or not Universities as entities are worthwhile enough to be considered a necessity in a society.
I had this opportunity about 10 years ago. I passed, and in retrospect I'm incredibly glad I did. Couple of years after graduation, I realized I had interests beyond software engineering, and while the lack of a bachelors can play in Silicon Valley, it doesn't pretty much anywhere else. Also, if one day you decide to go into the management route and want an MBA, the lack of a bachelors is going to be a deal breaker.
Obama's War on Pot
The idea is that the process is more important than the result. It's more important that you enjoy working on it than actually finishing it.

You sound more interested in processing the data than making the tool.
Attention shoppers: Retailers can now track you across the mall
Why has not a single person pointed out that the number of Linux games is very obviously artificially low? All of the Source engine based games are effectively ported via the TF2 port.

And no mention of the momentum that will be caused by the Steam box?
Manufacturing tolerances aren't 100% perfect.
Last phone to use the qualcomm snapdragon s1 processor was the htc droid incredible. It came out in 2010 and reached end of life near the end of 2011.
White House announces National Day of Civic Hacking
The WWW didn't get its third 'W' until the unrestricted domain market opened up via Network Solutions in 1995.
So what's it actually like working with Steve Jobs?

Half joking aside, it would have been nice if the author would have spent more than 1/5th of the article actually talking about what he claimed he was going to give insight on. Instead the author spent most of the article tooting his own horn, which is fine, if that's what the title had indicated to expect.
Help fund “Producing Open Source Software”, 2nd Edition
an education is necessary. Some people conflate education with credentials (or certification). WHile one is a proxy for the other, some people don't see it as so and insist that you must have the credentials - for example, HR departments in large corporations. Hence, to cover your bases, you need the credentials, as well as a good education.
Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't running Windows virtually still require a valid Windows license?

So I'm not exactly sure what this would achieve in the way of cost savings.

In fact by adding in another OS layer the business tech support costs may in fact rise.
1. Look at current job market.

2. Look at unemployed graduates.

3. Define "established default", or better "establish good default".
I remember seeing this explained on Mr. Wizard as a kid :) He used a giant cardboard key and a poster with moveable tumblers attached to demonstrate it.
Doesn't a standard ikea shelf do the job?
Yeah, just look at how that culture of secrecy screwed up projects like the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad, Safari... the list just goes on and on.
I recently bought a NAS after a string of DIY fileservers, and I'm glad I did. It does a better job of taking care of the disks than I could, and has a nice web interface for managing volumes. The biggest thing it has going for it is hardware designed specifically for being a NAS; disks are easier to swap and ventilation is much better.
Or searching in safari. The fact that there is an actual web browser on there is what makes these removals so ridiculous.
I beg to disagree. I was surprised that Apple Maps also get the information granularity completely wrong, that is the amount of data presented at a zoom level. This, and not the data, made the app uttterly unusable for me on a recent trip to Hong Kong. I could either see the overview of the area I was in with no street names for all the minor streets around me, which made it unusable. Or I could zoom in and finally see the smaller street names, but lose all overview. Also unusable.
It seems like they could have just copied Gmaps for that... I sure hope they fix it soon.
Nice job! Just the other day I was thinking about how great it would be to have a voice-read readability (http://readability.com/).

* Is there any way to go to the listing on HN? (I like to check comments occasionally).

* When clicking "View original article" it takes me to a separate page where the article is read and there's a new button to visit the original article. When I click the new button it loads the article in the frame. Is there any way all this can be collapsed to just one step? (I click it the first time, it goes to the separate page and already has the article loaded).

* It would be really interesting to have a bookmarklet for this like with readability.
Thank you for sharing. I can't imagine having to go through that.

> I would advise to be incredibly careful doing that though, since they may sit and agree with you just to reassure you and get you out of the way.

That is an interesting perspective. I have seen that happen. They wouldn't want to upset me or make me feel like a burden or a failure for not successfully helping them, so I would gets agreements and assurances but I could tell there were not genuine.

Sometimes persuading them to do something else, sometime different, just being in a different place helps temporarily of course in that state people don't want to do anything or go anywhere, so that doesn't always work.
> But I'm sorry -- if you're more than 10 years out of college (or ~5 years for a CS degree)

Silicon Valley is cyclic. It's not always going to be in a boom phase. Eventually Google, Microsoft, etc, are going to figure out how to get more H1-B's, get colleges to pump out more CS grads, etc, etc, to increase supply, drive labor prices down and drive competition for jobs up.

Which is not to say you should or shouldn't go to college. Rather, you should have a slightly longer perspective on the issue and not just ignore peoples' opinions because they're more than 5 years out of school.
If you read German, also take a look at this: http://www.gulli.com/news/12565-nachruf-guenter-freiherr-von... (scroll down for paragraph about Kim Schmitz)

The basic idea would be that Megaupload looked very much like his mid-90s warez BBS scheme, just on a much larger scale.
Interesting article, considering today's Mailbox app [1] launch. The killer feature of the app seems to be the ability to process emails in your inbox, telling the app to send them back to the inbox at certain time intervals (later today, tomorrow, next week, etc.).[2]

I've been casually learning Ruby over the past several months, and was inspired by Mailbox to hack together a very rough snooze feature independent of the app.[3] The Ruby app hooks into special Gmail labels and causes emails in those labels to 'resurface' to the Inbox if certain conditions (mostly timing, e.g. the 'Tomorrow' label resurfaces emails at 10AM the next day) are met. It will take some time to develop the snooze workflow, but I like the system so far. An independent snooze function also has the benefit of letting me continue to use Sparrow to manage my email on iOS.

[1] http://mailboxapp.com

[2] http://mashable.com/2013/01/22/mailbox-app-review/

[3] http://github.com/mattparmett/snoozer
it's the next 'key' pin. (the little stain is a key icon.)
You know I have almost the opposite take. As important as secrecy is to them, and for how big and rich they are, they seem very sloppy at times. We've seen them tip their hat with user agent strings out of the cupertino offices, shipping retina resources before the retina machine is announced, etc.
You Should Go For What Makes You Happy (Divorce Me)
Everyday Numbers 1 -- Credit Card Numbers and the Credit Card Network
Last summer Phish played two nights at the Harvey's in Stateline NV (ie South Lake Tahoe), a Tuesday-Wednesday. Apparently no one working at the casinos knew what Phish's fan crowd is like, because they were all pretty surprised when the crowd of brightly colored tripping kids (who would be awake until the sun came up) all came back to the casinos after the show ended on Tuesday and filled up their blackjack and roulette tables.
The Firefox OS marketplace is brilliant
> Which raises an interesting question - how do you make money on a platform like this?

Professional services. Hardware sales. Turnkey solutions (you want to support industry X using Java? ...). Development tools (to the extent not provided by third-parties). Certification/compliance. Associated products (nice Java app you've got there, need a database to go with it?).

Here's a thing: making money off of software by itself is hard. One of the lost messages in the recent trash-talking of Microsoft is that the fall of the House of Redmond also means the fall of software as a standalone, unit-sold, high-value product. Nobody but nobody else operates this way, certainly none of the current tech leaders: Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon. Two sell ads, two sell things. None sells software.
When you look at some of the iApps - like iPhoto - i dont think he's irreplaceable. iPhoto sucks and always has. In software design, his influence was definitely hit and miss.

Even a genius can err at times ;)
Market opportunity: Resell standard Ikea shelf kits as "wall-mounted standing desks" and capture a price premium from bcoates.
i must say experiencing level 5 is amazing and scary. one truly understands how reality is constructed by the perception of the senses.
And all that without making anything anyone gives a shit about :-)
Why does the font size change from sentence to sentence? What bad typography.
Triggit Hosts First Padrino Meetup in San Francisco
Canonical might switch Ubuntu to rolling releases for 14.04
Indeed. No reality distortion fields or elevator firings or questions about virginity. Then again, I suppose all those really crazy things happened during his fist stint at Apple when he was young and restless.
This has actually been discussed in great detail by scientists and engineers at a conference. The resulting PDF is here:

http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/low...

The TLDR is that it'd be really bad, but I encourage you to read it -- it's pretty fascinating, given that geomagnetic storms of an intensity great enough to take the first world off the electrical grid for a few years isn't just geologically common, it's historically common.