skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I think the secret is to break down the distinction between computer operation and computer programming. If they're interested in computers and the stuff you can do with them a gentle way to get started programming is to find and use whatever scripting language whatever programs they already use have to automate stuff and make random creative hacks, rather than starting from "hello, world" and learning the fundamentals first.

For example:

Have them screw with the interface of their favorite websites: pick a greasemonkey script that already does anything on that site and change it to do something different.

Learn the macro/scripting interface of whatever productivity software they have some reason to use already and make it do something.

Find a game they like that has an active scripting or modding community, and fiddle with the game rules.

The idea is to make the mental leap that writing software is just another way of getting the computer to do what you want, and that there's one big continuum from poking buttons in a dialog box to amateur hour hacking to writing "proper" software. Eventually you'll have the ambition to do something that requires more than just plugging pieces together and making edits to stuff other people wrote, and that's when you'll be self-motivated to obtain the knowledge that will make you a more effective programmer.

I realize this is at a way more primitive level than most people think of as learning to program, but IMHO the CS 101 stuff where you learn a language and how to make simple programs from scratch is closer to the "middle" than the "beginning".
"Has done legal consulting work for Microsoft" == "paid shill"

I'd love to live on your planet and see what color the sky is...
I don't doubt that Florian is a shill, but those links you've posted don't prove anything.
The subject of Level 30 is discussed in great depth in "Ecstasy of Order." Without spoiling anything, let's just say Thor is the guy to watch. There is a bonus feature on the DVD that might interest you.
that's really interesting. i have a non-ccie question, though:

if it's sending packets on a dance through a virtual network, why does that have to use public addresses? would using a private network (eg 10.0.0.0) not have worked? why not? (and is it odd for people to still have unused /24 lying around?)
I am reasonably worried about being mugged at this point. The FBI has already tried to entrap me less than a year ago.

In fact, that's why I published this blog post. To protect myself.
So being correct, raising an interesting issue and discarding urban myths is smug now?
Haha, it's his fault for living in Canada! Canada sucks, move to Japan!
There are lots more immigrants that could be paying taxes if we just adjusted our policies a bit.
CSS3 working clock
I've basically just finished this process, described in the post, over the last few months.

Experienced with PHP, Ruby, and SQL, but zero JavaScript.

(1) - Tried to read Crockford's "The Good Parts", but was completely confused.

(2) - Read "Professional JavaScript for Web Developers, 3rd Edition", cover-to-cover, making sure I used and understood each point before continuing.

http://www.wrox.com/WileyCDA/WroxTitle/Professional-JavaScri...

(3) - Went back to "JavaScript - The Good Parts" and realized that "Professional JavaScript for Web Developers, 3rd Edition" had already covered everything in it, but explained so much more clearly.

(4) - Now I'm trying intermediate to advanced JavaScript books ("Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja", for example), and finding that "Professional JavaScript for Web Developers, 3rd Edition" covered most of their lessons, too.

The point?

If you want to learn JavaScript, (or recommend one book to someone else who wants to), whether you're an experienced programmer or not, get "Professional JavaScript for Web Developers, 3rd Edition". It's thorough and great.

Direct link to the publisher where you can get the DRM-free PDF:

http://www.wrox.com/WileyCDA/WroxTitle/Professional-JavaScri...
How do you know that about retail?
Interesting notions, but a few counterpoints:

+ 3-D printers aren't economical — Something like a drywall anchor takes a couple seconds to produce in a traditional injection molding process. It would likely take 15-30 minutes using an FDM 3-D printing process and even longer using a higher resolution SLA system.

+ Print-on-Demand hasn't taken off on books, why will it with physical goods? Print-on-Demand technology has been available for the better part of a decade, but Barnes & Noble and Borders never saw an opportunity to implement it. Again, this comes down to speed. For undifferentiated products, it will always be faster to mass produce.

+ Even taking the argument at face value that 3-D printing will help digitize inventory and create the same pressures that digital media did, I think more efficient mass production, rather than 3-D printing will be the likely case. Zara can produce limited runs of high fashion clothing and get them into malls all across the US in 2 weeks. Protomold makes low cost, small run injection molding accessible. We'll likely see more of this rather than fleets of MakerBots.

+ The problem with retail is the cost model of keeping store fronts open, not the way the products in it are produced. Even if we assumed there would be big box stores full of 3-D printers, they are still slow and do not have a Moore's Law like effect that will change that any time soon. If I ordered something at one of these 3-D printer stores, I'd have to wait hours to get my products. Why not just go straight to ecommerce at that point.

+ Producing Atoms is REALLY, REALLY hard. There are tens of thousands of different plastic formulations. Different additives, secondary processes, and assembly steps that go into high fit and finish products. Even the best 3-D printers can only handle a few materials — at most. There is no way to produce something like a pair of "Beats by Dre" headphones or a similarly complex electromechanical device using those systems. The simple things that can be produced would be more economical being mass produced and warehoused in a low cost location and shipped to customers rather than printed on demand.

Think about the difference in quality between a printer at home and one of the nice photosystems at a pro printer. Even then when dealing with paper stock and 4 colors of ink the difference is striking. Now increase the difficulty by several orders of magnitude.

3-D printers will have a huge impact, but more in the way open source programming languages did. They lower the bar to entry and let more people get involved with manufacturing, but will be limited utility tools, not everyday items — at least in the way this post posits.
I feel like Mailbox (that new iPhone app) provides EXACTLY this, except in a much more elegant package. Email as a to-do list is pretty brilliant.
CSIS aren't the most competent intelligence organization in the world.
I'm probably not wrong. The 2002-2003 AUMF resolutions provided more or less open-ended detention capabilities to the executive. The NDAA limited those to settings in which Al Qaeda was directly implicated. It's not my claim that the Obama administration lacks indefinite detention capability (every "wartime" administration has that); it's my claim that the NDAA is a bad example of overreach on the part of the executive.

Put differently: the opposition party in Congress at the time the 2012 NDAA was proposed was lobbying for a much broader capability. The administration had to spend political capital to limit the degrees of freedom they had.
24 but that's not a honest question. I have played and completed hundreds of old adventure games (almost all of them look pixelated) including Monkey Island 1, 2, 3 and 4 in their original graphics using a DOS emulator; the first two are the more pixelated and are far better than any other of the following but there is a reason why they decades later recreated the first one using less pixelated graphics. Those were the best for the engaging characters, puzzles and comic situations and it has little to do with the low resolution they have.
I was under the impression that you can set up an S3 bucket so that it behaves like this with no additional server.
This is an interesting mindset...I'm inclined to do the inverse, because of how easy it is for someone to steal a laptop.

While yes, a desktop can be breached (as it apparently was in this case), there's more surveillance options you have with which to secure its surroundings. And agents would have to get a warrant anyway.

If you're worried about the prospect of them warantlessly breaking in...I guess that the more likely danger is that if they are willing to resort to that, they are also willing to stage a robbery in which someone punches you in the face and makes off with the laptop. Or hire someone to spike your drink during a date.
It strains credulity that Florian, with his history of evasion and poor attitude towards disclosure for years, is not a shill.

I'll concede though, he all but admitted that he is a paid shill.
CA=TRUE with no nameConstrains is valid under the RFCs.

Whether or not one ought to rely upon a CA that would sell such a cert to a 3rd party is a question of trustworthiness which is (wisely) left out of scope for the RFCs.

Client app developers have a "root CA inclusion program" for this reason. It's more of a business process than a technical one. Mozilla's is probably the most publicly open and well-documented inclusion policy. I believe it also explicitly forbids the practice you describe.

http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/certs/policy/Inclus...

We consider verification of certificate signing requests to be acceptable if it meets or exceeds the following requirements:
all information that is supplied by the certificate subscriber must be verified by using an independent source of information or an alternative communication channel before it is included in the certificate; [...] for a certificate to be used for SSL-enabled servers, the CA takes reasonable measures to verify that the entity submitting the certificate signing request has registered the domain(s) referenced in the certificate or has been authorized by the domain registrant to act on the registrant's behalf;

This requirement clearly cannot be met by a root cert under which sub-CAs with no (or noncritical) name constraints are given to 3rd parties.
>Consider data on train positions in the UK. It's been locked up in various ways for a long time, or at least with restrictions that amount to non-commercial usage. So what you ask? Providing a live train-times service from the data costs money: I've been told it's upwards of 500 messages/second and there's a lot of problems you have to work around.

>Releasing the data behind it is starting to help people to find cheaper tickets, make a more truthful record of train punctuality than official figures, etc. Many companies will benefit financially from this (rather than the current monopoly) but the public will benefit.

That's the point of the entire post. If someone's making money off of the data, then they should pay for it. Taxpayers shouldn't be funding the release of the data just so companies can charge them to access it.
Lines form around the US for the Surface Pro launch (pics to prove it)
This is also a good joke.
Ask HN: How much value is there to obtaining a degree 10 years into ones career?
First, some background. I do not have a degree. Shortly after high school, I landed a lowly tech support job at a small ISP startup which quickly evolved into other things and finally when I moved on four years later, I was one of two head network engineers / developers / jack of all trades at the company.

I recently passed the 6 year mark at my current job: A generalist position at a household name credit card company that has involved everything from C# compact framework development to large enterprise application integration and everything in between.

I've been working on earning a CompSci through a well respected university that has committed to providing remote education. I started this endeavor with great excitement and always thought that it was a logical step to take to ensure future career success and marketability. Recently, I've been questioning the value of sacrificing so much free time, mental energy, and sleep when I've been quite successful in my career so far.

Now, on to my question and interest in HN's advice: Am I crazy for thinking that I need to sludge through another 3-4 years of half-time coursework? How have those of you without degrees fared with falling into the "or equivalent experience" category?
Just fix the new macbook connector. The L shape had a much better history of staying on, the new tile keeps coming off any time the book moves (it's too wide).
I was just complaining about this problem today. If I'm CCed on an email exchange and 4 or 5 messages go back and forth then the problem is solved, i still have 5 unread measages in my inbox. In reality, I should have zero messages because the problem has been resolved but SMTP doesn't allow for that.
Spying on and harassing activists has, for a long time, been a big part of what CSIS does. I personally know tech activists that have been spied on and harassed. The RCMP is also known for this.

Mainstream new story from a couple weeks ago in which activist orgs complained of CSIS harassment:

http://www.ctvnews.ca/activists-warn-against-csis-intimidati...
These photos are from the Seattle launch. So I am not sure how many of those are employees, MVPs or related but it does mean that it needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
Yeah, using a /30 per hop is a bit of a waste, but one /24 is still insignificant to the Internet as a whole, especially when it's in the middle of a parent allocation.

Presumably if Epik runs out of IP space in their /20, they'll just shut this down. It's not like some other company could use that /24.

Again, if ARIN/IANA really wanted to reclaim "wasted" space, they'd be looking at the holders of big blocks like /8-16, and asking them to justify usage, not one random /24 which is ultimately insignificant.
It would be nice if you could meet me for coffee and say this to my face, friend.

I am trying to protect myself and my open source project, which, by the way, has been audited countless times and has progressed greatly towards security. If you have a problem with me, then call me up and discuss it instead of stressing me out even more when I just discovered that the government is building a case against me.

If you don't like my work, file a bug report. Check out our documentation. Review our OTR implementation. Submit a pull request. Hack some code. Just don't say hurtful and untrue things like that in public. You can do better.
Surely all 2500 CSIS agents are busy harassing the other three high-profile 23 year old crypto hacktivists in Canada
Good. Publish everything.
While an amusing suggestion, I sincerely hope everyone realises that such a move would be ... incompatible with a long and healthy lifestyle. Both for Nadim and anyone foolish enough to do so.
By that logic, petit theft is fine since the police should be looking for people committing grand theft and the petit theft is "ultimately insignificant"

It's reasons like this why people now have to fill out forms justifying the need for additional IPv4 blocks.
It's a shame that people are still (incorrectly) using the term "class C" 15+ years since classless addressing has been address too. =)
Because you're sending udp packets to each hop, if it were a private network there would be no route to it.
They get clogged with snow & ice. I'm curious if a coating of this would let the snow and ice flow off the roof and gutters instead of freezing to it.
This is a push notification system - it turns the recipient's problem into the sender's. This is fine if communicating across a hierarchy or for a public address. It could be obnoxious, however, with peers, particularly those outside tech.

Consider, instead, a pull notification system. The first time a sender emails the recipient they are sent a link (also in the recipient's signature) to a page providing expected response times for various email forms along with the option to convert your already-sent email into a short-response form, e.g. yes/no.
don't know why you got downvoted, but yeah, I drive the most humdrum Honda civic imaginable. Other than tires, brakes and oil, the only thing I've had to fix was a $100 air mix sensor that broke after 10 years.

I do wish I drove a nicer car, but then I remember that extra trip to Europe or Asia I take every year instead and it more than makes up for it.
FreeBSD: A Faster Platform For Linux Gaming Than Linux? (2011)
> So if both sender and recipient are using this, they'll end up demanding increasing classifications from each other in an infinite loop?

Presumably the system would only kick in for threads of discussion initiated by others and not yourself. So if you send an email, any replies to it would behave as normal.
I need access permissions so that public can upload new files, but after file is uploaded it can't be modified.

Amazon permission system does not allow such a configuration.
But you don't really need a route TO it? Would it technically work to start sending replies back with private IP addresses in the middle of the traceroute? Or do most ISPs filter those even in the replies?

Edit: By the way, that wouldn't have worked for this hack anyways, since you wouldn't be able to control reverse DNS for the private IP addresses.
>i know the author (nadim) is in here and this is all a bit fantastic.

What aspect seems "fantastic" to you? Have you yourself been involved in activism?
Yep.

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/3313/imagekm.png

Give more power to benevolent senders. I've had similar thoughts.

I don't want to waste other people's time, but the current email protocol forces me to. There is no way to specify if your email is...

1. "Check this out sometime during the week, it's funny stuff, if you have time. You need a 24"+ screen and 10 mins, so don't even look at this email on your phone"

2. "I NEED A REPLY ASAP, ARE YOU THERE?"

It appears as a (1) on your phone and I have no power over that to make things easier for the recipient... (other than perhaps send an email at a specific time which is less likely to interrupt your work)
This is true. I was initially confused about your claim that they don't sell fresh milk, but I now understand what you mean, and you are correct. Fresh milk is not available to the majority of Amazon customers.

Which is really too bad, cause Amazon Fresh is pretty awesome.
In the article the writer references "Europeans" - I wonder if they are Western Europeans or otherwise?
They can't help it, friend. :-) It's what the human brain does.
Hackernews captivated by a schizophenic...
You can probably score a just out of lease 3 series BMW for what, $18k (i.e. a new mid-level civic)? Get it certified for maybe $22k? And drive it for 4 or 5 years, it'll still be worth maybe $10-12k? So really your out of pocket expense is only about $10k once you kick start it.

It's not a bad idea, and the 3 series are pretty dependable.
That'd have been an awesome trolling opportunity.
That's how structural unemployment works; as I recall economists are pretty sure it's a good thing. Unfortunately because its positive effects are general (everyone gets slightly better off) and the negative effects are local (a few people don't have careers any more), nobody else seems to see it that way.
And the old MS-DOS 6.0 source too.
> it turns the recipient's problem into the sender's.

I've read about a very similar phenomena over at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_economy.

"One way this might be implemented is by charging senders a small fee per e-mail sent, often referred to as a "Sender Bond." It might be close to free for an advertiser to send a single e-mail message to a single recipient, but sending that same e-mail to 1000 recipients would cost him 1000 times as much. A 2002 experiment with this kind of usage-based e-mail pricing found that it caused senders to spend more effort targeting their messages to recipients who would find them relevant, thus shifting the cost of deciding whether a given e-mail message is relevant from the recipient to the sender (Kraut 2002)."
i am in awe with the demonstration. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZsPc0h_mtM. i think anyone who has done any sort of clinical reasoning in the hospital would be at least a little impressed. the scary part is that such technologies can only improve, while even the most seasoned physician eventually have to face mental decline.
If he was backdoored by a 3/4-letter and he is not skilled[1] in malware analysis how likey do you think it is that he will recover the credentials? Do you think it is as easy as:

$ ls -l ~/.ssh
total 80
-rw-------+ 1 nadim staff 737 Aug 22 01:39 authorized_keys
-rw-------+ 1 nadim staff 35 Jan 5 21:32 config
-rw-------+ 1 nadim staff 3243 Aug 18 10:57 id_rsa
-rw-------+ 1 nadim staff 735 Aug 18 10:57 id_rsa.pub
-rw-------+ 1 nadim staff 3326 Feb 2 21:41 id_rsa_CSIS
-rw-------+ 1 nadim staff 749 Feb 2 21:41 id_rsa_CSIS.pub
-rw-------+ 1 nadim staff 3198 Feb 2 21:46 known_hosts

[1] I have no reason to think he does or does not posses this skill. I only mention it in the negative because it was not in his wikipedia bio.
Well, some people already give friends and family, at least, a different email address entirely. ("Personal email" vs. "work email".) The system as described seems more useful for the "work" version.

Then again, it doesn't fully accommodate the way I use my work email, personally. I'm on a number of mailing lists at work where I don't personally respond to most of the email --- but I read a lot of them anyway, in part to keep abreast of what's going on, and in part to be able to exercise my own judgment about whether I should jump in. That's an awkward fit for a workflow that assumes that every email calls for some kind of response.