skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
There are many implementations of the Java programming language.

Interpreters, JIT VMs and native code compilers.

Most developers are only familiar with the official VM you can download from Oracle, which uses a JIT for code execution. This one is a mix of C, C++ and Java code.

However alone from Oracle (previously Sun) there is a VM implemented in Java (Maxime), a VM only with C bindings for hardware access with everything else done Java (Squawk), the C++ code for Hotspot might be replaced with Java (maybe around Java 9 timeframe, project Graal) and the embedded edition of Java also supports native compilation.

The Jikes RVM, like Maxime, is a meta-circular VM fully implemented in Java.

Additionally there are native compilers like JET Excelsior.

Despite what people think Java != VM. It is only a question of bootstrapping.
Is closed source worth it for performance?
I didn't think it would be around this long to be honest. I'm not anti-.NET at all but I think Microsoft tried to push .NET in all sorts of places and turn it into the one true platform -- even though they seem to only rarely use it themselves.
So the government has mysterious shadow figures that communicate with tens of thousands of newspapers, TV and radio stations and major news web sites, telling them what not to cover, and somehow this has never gotten out?
The best way to watch the Superbowl; Livefyre's lights stayed on!
This is not ridiculous, it's the definition of Software as a Service.

There are two main factors at play:

1) Cost of reproduction (copying)
2) Value to end user

Hardware has historically been harder to reproduce because it's physical. This gap is closing as hardware becomes a commodity. You don't need a server anymore - just spin one up on EC2. Need chips? visit a Chinese bulk electronics markets and buy them by the scoop.

Software provides more value to the end user because it makes the hardware do something. People pay for great software because it cleverly moves information around to meet their needs. You still need hardware to run it, eventually, but it becomes dramatically less important. The servers that power your webmail are entirely abstract to an end user. Angry Birds runs on basically anything. etc
What really shocks me most in this post is the fact, that someone might be jokingly stating something like:

“This talk was so pointless. After she mentioned her kids at the beginning I started thinking of ways to hunt them down and punish her for wasting my time here.”

As the author put it, it is never, ever ok, even to joke on something like this. Never imho.

But this kind of humor(? or should I say, missing empathy, humanity) seems to run deep in some circles of our industry.

What this comment in the post tells me, is - not only do we have to deal with some childish idiots, but with persons showing signs of personality disorders.

Maybe persons commenting that way, should check with a professional. Just suggesting.
Because the browser may render the tool tip slower than you'd like. Plus, it may be too generic a look for bespoke sites.
Okay. Care to point us all to the official standard POSIX flags documentation? Even then, you are probably going to find that there are just as many systems that your script needs to run on that are POSIX incompatible as there are systems that don't recognize the long flags.

My ultimate rule: write the code that is the most readable, because in 10, 15, 30 years, someone can easily update a script to working arguments from arguments with long words, whereas single letter arguments may have multiple different meanings on different systems. It's the same with naming conventions and code constructs: the how and the what should be obvious from the code.
Energy Department networks hit by major Cyber Attack
But take a look at each of those cases. In every one it was _citizens_ who didn't get paid back. Each time they did it so that they could pay back the foreign investors.
The write up does not address anything interesting. It doesn't even say why the company failed. Not enough users? Not enough revenue? Failures of technology? Not worth reading.

A thank you letter to users is not a post mortem.
I've heard good things about AeroFS (YC S10), which is sort of like Dropbox except it runs on your network of computers. It's a peer-to-peer filesystem.
I think this is a great idea in principle. Being able to learn and understand the solution quickly on the internet is a very valuable skill.

At the same time, there is deeper stuff that really isn't suited to this approach. If I were conducting an interview, I'd set the candidate a task the evening before their interview that involved something I knew they had know experience in, to see how well they can delve into and understand new tools.

A face to face interview is a great way to really understand how good a candidate's core knowledge is. Do they understand data structures and how to manipulate them? Do they understand algorithms and their complexity? Sure, you can look this stuff up, but it's the kind of knowledge you need to have before you even start.
To clarify, it is white-knighting when the woman doesn't care, when there was no actual offense, and it is really just an opportunity for someone to show off about how chivalrous or sensitive they are.

You don't have to be sensitive or show yourself off to shut down misogynists and you definitely don't have to go looking for unclear offenses which the purported victims have no complaint about.
But aren't the graphics drivers supplied by Intel or nVidia, not HP? Whenever I've had to download a graphics driver update it has always been from the manufacturer of the chip. I don't think HP is to blame for that...
>At least you can fork it internally though and support it if need be.

That's almost as realistic as "the community could do a clean-house implementation of XNA" for large projects.

That you wanted to use an project in your work, doesn't mean you could also maintain it when it's abandoned. You might not have the: interest, motivation, time, skills.
Not at the moment, but it's high up on the to-do list along with:

Automatic synching of changes with your databases so that when you save a new version, your database environment is automatically updated.

Git-style branching.

Versioning of your data (if you're storing any metadata in your db).
You think the average programmer (user) has a Tesla computing device on his computer ?
I think it's hokey to structure interviews on the model of a TV game show. Much better to see what they consider doing when they don't know the answer to a question, or suggest an approach to them in the moment to see their skills in finding information.
Are you suggesting the possibility that Rupert Murdoch might secretly be a liberal, just with a keen sense for business? While profit may always a motive, I suspect it's a very rare media entity that is objectively focused on profit.
It's interesting that the number 4 seems to keep coming up in the topic of work personalities.

The head of innovation over at Wells Fargo, who happens to be the father of a good friend of mine, actually wrote a book on the topic and came to some very similar conclusions as you did. It's a short and good read.

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Innovation-Goats-Your-Lemonade-Stand/d...
Not in my experience - I have had spare parts overnighted to me on two occasions. Theres a 24/7 online chat which has had surprisingly good people that have been able to fix issues.
Just curious how you got fucked by Workflow Foundation? We use it in our app. We haven't moved to .NET 4.5 yet, so not sure if this some looming issue not on out radar, or perhaps you used it in a specific way no longer supported?
My god you're coming across as a zealot here. People are allowed to care about the security of their data, you know. Global warming doesn't stop time and not everyone needs to be working on that problem. Further being relieved about secure data is wholly independent of being worried about global warming; one can be both.
Easily share ebooks with friends
I’m Tired Of Companies Ripping off our site, So I’m Calling Them Out
Thanks for the feedback. Not hoping to have to write one of these again anytime soon - but I'll keep that in mind.
As near as I can tell, the answer is to use C++. Which I would have been pretty annoyed at not too long ago, but I've recently re-acquainted myself with it and am enjoying it a lot more than I ever did XNA (and my Github has a bunch of XNA stuff all over the place). I'm using it specifically for a pixel-art 2D game and while that first step is a big one, I've found myself getting remarkably comfortable with it in a very short period of time and I can actually say that I know what is going on in my code.
How not to get hacked by China
I really hate it when some apps require unnecessary permissions. Why would a game require access to my contacts or my personal photos and videos? Flicks me into the paranoid mode, especially since the news about Facebook and other major companies exporting your contact list and personal information to their servers.
6 Awesome Free/Open Source Software For Web Developers and Web Designers
Because it was peaceful and therefore, not really all that interesting to a medium that relies on quick attention-grabbing events?
Jokes on you, my code still looks exactly the same!
Yes, we likely all wont live long enough to see climate change. At the rate bacteria are becoming AB resistant you'll like die from an infection that can't be treated long before the sea levels rise a few millimeters.

There are a lot of problems that we need to look at before climate change, like population control, water management, antibiotics etc etc.
Very interesting. Regarding ownership of natural resources, though, I think that's pretty relevant and related to the financial crisis. In other countries, that's exactly what's taken as collateral for loans. As I understand it, Iceland refused to give up the volcanic heat for debt -- a very wise decision.

I think Iceland (and other countries) could do well looking at Alaska and their oil fund for inspiration:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Permanent_Fund
The double hyphen is actually part of a pretty common naming convention (BEM-style) for distinguishing between separate components, component modifiers, and component sub-objects.

Examples:
https://gist.github.com/1309546
http://nicolasgallagher.com/about-html-semantics-front-end-a...
http://csswizardry.com/2013/01/mindbemding-getting-your-head...
http://engineering.appfolio.com/2012/11/16/css-architecture
Community is just a string of pop-culture references. I don't find it funny, but then again I also don't spend hours on TV tropes either.

I found Arrested Development mediocre as well, and a lot of people claimed it was the funniest thing since sliced bread.

By the way, BBT is a mediocre show too. Which is why it is so amazing to see people arguing against it like it is worse than Hitler.

I watch BBT. I don't take it that seriously. It is a fine way to waste 20 minutes, and has low re-watch value. Just like tons of other shows (Family Guy, Friends, HIMYM, etc).
How cool would it be if I could recommend a new friend for you to go skiing or golfing with, based on how much overlap you had in common (Friends, Schools, Hobbies, etc). Pretty cool, right?

Doesn't sound cool to me. The most interesting relationships I have are the ones where there is not a huge overlap. They are more interesting.
I do variant number 2 all the time. I'm not interested in pop trivia. If someone wants to consult C++ STL docs, or unix manpages, or python library docs, that's fine. They just have to tell me they're doing it. Relying on what someone has memorized is silly.
Jakobshavn Glacier drains 6.5% of the Greenland ice sheet
Workflow is one of those great examples of Microsoft building and ditching platforms/technologies. They've gone through almost as many cycles there as they have with data access technologies.
GoDaddy: smart and sexist
I read that the card system turned into a running joke at DEFCON (people giving their buddies cards at the slightest insinuation), which could lead to watering down the purpose or making it somewhat of a joke to receive one in a literal sense. Do any other conferences have in-the-moment/non-confrontational methods of calling people out?
It took the scientists as little 2^23 sessions to extract the entire contents of a TLS session cookie

That's half a million sessions. I think an attack is possibly unlikely.
Yeah, developers like to bash Microsoft for this behaviour, but all commercial companies do the same.

I have been experiencing this since the mid 80's from all kinds of vendors.

Surely people older than me even have similar experiences from before.
it was a catch-up attempt at flash in the first place - they were very late to the game. i know people will say this is hindsight, but... silverlight wasn't around until 2007, and by 2009, when MS started pushing it hard, it was pretty apparent that flash/richui toolkits were on the way out.

silverlight shouldn't have been something they bothered with in the first place.
http://goo.gl/2CH7n from NYtimes: "One of the descendants, Michael Ibsen, is the son of a 16th-generation niece of King Richard’s" which means 18th generation descendant of the King. Each generation has roughly half the DNA of the ancestor (Y Chromosome and mitochondrial (female only) DNA excepted. Thus an 18th generation descendant would have just 1/2^18 or about 1/256,000 of the King's DNA. Of course this amount would actually be larger since other ancestors to the King would have been his ancestor as well.

In the Talmud there is a famous expression, "He who saves a life is as if he saves and entire world and he who destroys a life is as if he destroys an entire world." and this relates to the meaning of this statement.
Malware on the New York Times
This is a tough one, because I can see two sides of this pretty easily. In one sense, I can understand what makes this so valuable to an employer trying to evaluate a prospective employee. On the other sense, I'm reluctant to do free coding with production-level potential.

Have you seen any resistance from applicants to this method?
Netflix's big long-term advantage is buying	power.

They have 30 million users spending $100/yr. Assume they spend half their income on content. That's $1.5bn/yr. That's a huge amount of money, and it's only going to get bigger as they grow and expand into new territories.

Increasingly, Netflix revenue is so high that it will seem inconceivable for content owners to turn them down in a gamble to go it alone and increasingly hard for anyone to compete.

I am extremely bullish on Netflix. I think they have a sound business model with huge upsides and the downsides are hugely overstated.
Not a very useful comment.

Depression was not the issue according to someone much closer to the situation than you.

Are his parents depressed? No, I know them both. They are not depressed. Were his grandparents depressed? No. I knew his grandfather.
Learn Excel keyboard shortcuts to speed up your work
This! Yes, I'd love to give feedback on what wasn't there. But, legally/risk-wise, it's just not worth it. Who knows if the fact that they couldn't write a line of Ruby for a Ruby-on-Rails position could be some reason to sue? Not that they'd win but just the possibility keeps employers from giving even a peep of feedback. Never, ever gonna happen.
Nearly all the talent at 1UP left to work in the games industry long ago, but Jeremy Parish is still there and has been there throughout all the selling and buying. Must be odd for him to be back at Ziff again.
IF it's a padding oracle, then rc4 should be immune, right?
This sounds like every Berkeley idealist that eve climbed a tree and grew a beard. While I applaud your interest in working to do some good in the world, I'd suggest digging a little deeper than watching a movie. If you have the skills required there are plenty more beneficial projects you might want to get involved in.
I actually relate to you - but when meeting a stranger online, I'd rather have inroads to use to introduce myself than have none and say "we have nothing in common, but would love to chat."
Interview with Roku’s Nowhere Man
Some lessons learned & stats would have been nice but it looks more like a rip post , maybe the poster has not closed the chapter yet
When they're not innovating, it's a problem. When they're throwing things against the wall to see what sticks, it's a problem too. I feel like they really can't win here. Is XNA really that far off from other Microsoft platforms anyway?
Is it time for responsive notifications yet?
Tinmanoilchange.com is attempting to lower the national average price of an oil change from around $35 to under $10. The service is a loss leader and is meant to get customers in. This presents an amazing opportunity for small shops to begin and cultivate relationships built on trust with new customers. I plan on pressuring shops to lower their prices (and increase their quality) by posting the best deal in every major city in the US.
Well, the tone of the commeter was "Whew! It's only a video about catastrophic climate change. As long as my stuff is okay, thank heavens". It just seems an absolutely selfish and silly response.

I'll try to be less zealot-y. Pretty much every other person here is saying "meh, calm down everybody, not a big deal." Sometimes someone has to be a zealot, you know?
Actual actual link http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-01/first-solar-may-sel...

Also has more information about incentives etc.
Conferences are a problematic area even if one ignore what kind of community it is. (be that IT, gardening, Sci-Fy, trucks, manufacturing, or furries). The math is not giving out pretty numbers.

Lets compare two conferences. One is 5% females participation, and a other is 50%. We can directly say that the risk of getting sexually assaulted is minimum 20x larger at the 5% conference than the 50%. there is also a number of additional considerations one can add to the risk assessment like age, marital status of people in the conference, and access to alcohol.
Chrome gives a malware warning when you visit this site - watch out!
So, how would I correlate a specific commit in Git to a version on DevJoist?

Until then I'll just use https://github.com/thuss/standalone-migrations with my non-Rails projects.
For documentation, this will do: http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/009695399/utilities/con...

What current systems have arguments that conflict with those?
pretoriusB, you appear to be hellbanned. Not quite sure why - I don't see anything offensive in your comment history.
I think a bigger question is why didn't the US media cover the creation of the EU. I seem to remember that the day that that happened, it warranted all of a paragraph or two somewhere near the back of the NYT.
No, that's wrong, a reader that knows his onions, e.g. me, will be puzzled as to what the writer's intent was and spend time investigating if there is an error before deciding the writer needs to spend more time studying his onions.
Right, I'm just saying that this event didn't cause an immediate increase in sea level.
Although TBBT is supposedly about Caltech staff, a more, shall we say, accurate view of students at Caltech is the movie Real Genius. The depiction is only slightly exaggerated. Many of the incidents in the movie are based on things that actually happened in the 70's at Caltech.

The extras in the movie were frequently real Caltech students, recruited because the art director for the movie was unable to duplicate the look :-)
I'm also interested in the true post mortem. 3+ years is a long time surely something valuable was learned.
> Just old-fashioned comp-sci uselessness.

Yet so many interview tests tend to have a focus on CS backgrounds. I just went through a few weeks of interviewing and some of the questions asked were really there to see if you knew your CS stuff. For some companies the questions were at least relevant to the industry and tasks they were trying to accomplish, but some were so far out there it just didn't make sense.

The company I finally decided to accept at had a sane interviewing process, one that had challenging enough questions to show that you know what you are talking about - and when there was one lesser known method I wanted to use, but couldn't remember the syntax, they allowed me to look it up real quick. In the end, I was able to teach the interviewer about this method, and it helped me complete the task in a far more efficient manner.
Trick Photography Optical Illusions#
First and foremost, the article talks about flags in files, where your IDE of choice can probably autocomplete them (see http://emacswiki.org/emacs/DynamicAbbreviations for an example). Second, even on the commandline, bash_completion (http://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/html_node/Programmab...) has been available for a while now.
You are probably right but that just makes it more important that we all do it, whether a victim or a witness and especially if we are privileged. Privilege is power and while its existence is bad just as the ways in which it is so often used, I believe we can use it for good as well.
That's a pretty good post-mortem for any startup.
Way to be condescending. I collect 160,000 atmospheric measurements per day from smartphones and am working my ass off on projects to assist in gathering data to learn about our weather and climate.
I'm glad I have tickets to go see Chasing Ice already. If you don't, you should go watch the trailer.
The content was good, but the layout of the presentation was stupid.
Ask HN: Most scalable/cost effective method of implementing activity streams?
Instagram said they use a redis list and just trim it to keep the size down but what if you are following a ridiculous # of users? How do you know what is a good # to trim at and what if a user wants to go past your limit? Do you start them a second list to catch everything getting trimmed?

Is there any way to implement this a better way with postgres/hstore?

Does anyone know how twitter does it?
Agreed. We hear this a lot. Maybe I should revise the post to be more clear on this point... everyone wants to give this feedback, but it's an HR minefield.
dict is not a function or macro in common lisp, so the example is fictitious. in CL one would construct an A-list or a P-list (both cons-based ways of expressing a small map). see http://www.gigamonkeys.com/book/beyond-lists-other-uses-for-... for more info on that.

the need for (list ...) would depend on the definition of dict.
"The Windows tech hegemony is a graveyard. XNA. Silverlight. WPF. DirectX. Managed C++. C++/CLI. Managed DirectX."

-- http://ventspace.wordpress.com/2013/01/30/directxxna-phase-o...
InvoiceToMe: Easy way to make an invoice
Numb3rs is for wimps.

Real math nerds fondly recall -- and search for on YouTube -- old episodes of Mathnet, the cop show that made up the last 1/3 to 1/2 of PBS's Square One TV.

Yes, it's for kids, and the math that's there focuses on basic things like prime numbers and Fibonacci sequence. But it's brilliant, laced with humor, and you're likely to see more actual math being done in one 10-minute episode of Mathnet than in a season of Numb3rs.
As a sometimes job seeker: Screw hiring managers who don't give feedback. I want to know what I did wrong so I can improve.

Not giving feedback when people fail is a sure-fire way to make the whole ecosystem worse. In any situation.
I think most of the media entities decided individually that they are better off not covering this, for whatever reason that serves their masters.