skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I completely agree with Jacques that they should have been up front with him about the change, shortformblog suggests that they were with them, so perhaps the blog provider wasn't passing along the email? What ever, its annoying I'm sure to wake up and find you've gone commercial!

As a web site that gets quite a bit of traffic (blekko.com) It is interesting to see both sides of this conversation. As the 'ops' guy I'm always getting cold called/emailed from salespeople for services that will "drive traffic to your web site" and the business model is all very similar. Apparently it works well for these 'service providers.'

To illustrate, lets make up a company, we'll call it "megatraffic" or MT for short. They call me up and they say, "Chuck we can drive millions of page views your way, which you can monetize with this ad-provider network. We'll share revenue 50/50, how cool is that?"

Their other guy calls me up and says "Hey Chuck, we make your site visible to millions, for just a small price per click, we'll put a link to your site on the {hundreds/thousands/millions} of sites in our network."

So MT here sells both ends of the pie, they "become" a sort of ad network by charging folks who contribute links to the customer site. And then they also get 50% of the revenue when someone follows that link and then clicks on an ad at the landing page. That's a pretty sweet deal for them, kind of a lame deal for the patsy who is paying and paying. It is like affiliate marketing where you don't realize right away that you are an affiliate.

Then we read about (and I block from our search engine) on a daily basis organized groups of miscreants who then write code to click through these networks to shake loose the pennies and nickels and quarters that the revenue generates. Given Google's publicly reported ad revenue its easy to see how clever people can create multi-million dollar revenue streams with just a bit of programming, maybe a botnet or two, and a complicit traffic aggregator.

All that money just laying there. First you pick up a few pennies, then a couple of bucks, next thing you know you're working to squeeze every click you can off the page like HuffPo.
Ads is one thing, Links titled "Recommended content" something completely different. As the OP writes, the way Disqus presents its Ads make them seem like regular content endorsed by the site's editor. And THIS is the total no-go area Disqus just ventured into, without even taking the minimum precursions by defaulting to opt-in. Bye bye Disqus.
Value investing and venture capital are about as different as investment strategies could be. Value investors don't usually companies that don't pay regular dividend streams, most tech companies (let alone start-ups) never pay revenue.
Rewording of http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2277769/Icelands-bid...
The problem is the temptation for evil is too attractive (as seen by Microsoft's policy on ARM).

After all, the Microsofts and Apples of this world don't become big without being at least a little cut-throat.
How To Stay Organized Like a CEO
why is this article pulled to the left
Sure. If you can't stay on the Supercharger network, or can't charge your car where you're going, an electric vehicle is not suitable for your purpose, even if it is in other respects the best car ever built. The infrastructure just isn't there, yet.

But going from that to "absolutely terrible" reads as pretty hyperbolic, and I think that's what you're getting from "people".
According to some cannibal anecdotes, people taste like pigs. So the artificial meat product would be simply pig meat.

Soylent bacon.
Yep. And I think people who work in tech are more aware of the problems "bad" technology creates and are more likely to avoid it, even as the rest of society starts "coming online" in the sense that they have some kind of a personal web presence.
For those who do not understand Disqus Discovery feature
Disqus recently introduced revenue sharing opt-out ads feature and its awesome...
Why would draw any map that increases the size of Gary?
Competitive analysis template - build a winning product
Then license it to recover the costs.
There is no magic in Rails, it's just Ruby code. There will always be APIs that shouldn't be given untrusted data. When this happens anyway, calling it an "anti-pattern" does not mean you have perceived some kind of systemic fundamental flaw in the framework. That's just a transparently self-serving way for you to feel superior because after all you're a "serious developer".
So I read this article and immediately signed up for the service. "Hmm, looks great" I thought. Then I look at their helper libraries, "Better than Twilio!" I said. Then I examined their pricing, and it's cheaper than Twilio!

...Then I realized how their billing works: It's a prepaid model. And I'm so sad to say, this won't work for me. Any chance of invoice-billing coming soon?
For further historical perspective, general edification, and an ounce of insight into the motivation and fears of the people who might oppose your goals, read the science-fiction novel _That Hideous Strength_ by C. S. Lewis. In presenting the rise of a dystopia it provides a meaningful illustration of public perceptions of technology and progress, and historical anti-technology sentiment.

Moreover, if you like sci-fi, you may be interested to learn that the novel is in many ways the prototype version of _1984_ (Orwell himself wrote a book review; he had mixed feelings overall but had glowing praise for the dystopian aspects), just less modern. It's also the last dystopian sci-fi novel written before the atomic bomb (which permanently affected the genre.)

Orwell's book review is here: http://www.lewisiana.nl/orwell/
IOS 6.1 lock-screen bypass fumble highlights BYOD fragility
Why Conveying a Clear Vision for Your Startup Is Important
You can turn it off here:

http://*.disqus.com/admin/settings/?p=discovery
> Just out of curiosity, but what exactly did you think the arrangement between you and Disqus was?

Obviously he thought, and was correct about thinking, that it didn't include ads.

All the ex-post-facto justifications for the change boil down to something like "But didn't you realize that as an entity in a capitalistic society, the opposing party in your deal is always going to be seeking more revenue?" which is always true of every deal, can be used to justify any change whatsoever, and thus is a rather thin justification.
The whole premise of this (that America's culture is currently absorbed with technology) is flawed. Are we more enamored with technology now than at other times in history? I would argue that - for the American culture as a whole - we are not. But I can see why a tech blogger who lives in the echo chamber might think this.
Microsoft SyncToy
I was wondering about the same thing (your first two sentences—well put), but arrived at different conclusion. If my consciousness is the only frame of reference, then how can it cease to exist for me?
Infographic: Why Apple and Samsung could be losing billions of dollars a year
Here's a blackhat paper on the kill chain idea:

https://media.blackhat.com/bh-us-12/Briefings/Flynn/bh-us-12...

Other commenters have pointed out good resources. I particularly enjoyed reading the lockheed martin whitepaper, that comes up as the first google result for "lockheed martin kill chain", but i had to used the google cached copy as the link is now 404ing. Edit - its the same paper fname links below.
I didn't notice this happening on my blog either until a friend notified me. When I looked at my blog post, the ad space was just filled with my own blog posts, so I thought it was cool, since users will be referred to other articles I wrote. However, for everyone else, those slots were ads and links to blog posts outside my blog. I disabled the feature right away. I have my own ways of making money without Disqus helping out incognito, thank you very much.

My problem is not that they have this feature, and I don't really care whether they sent out an email or not. My problem is that it was opt-out, not opt-in, from the start, and they tried to deceive bloggers further by making sure we don't see the ads when we look at our own pages. I chose disqus over facebook comments b/c I can see facebook pulling something like this, but it's definitely disappointing to see from disqus.
We also have invoice billing. Feel free to reach out at hello@plivo.com and we will help you out.
Because the original author of the post is a moron.
It's called a screenshot. Even my mother knows how to make one – it's built into OS X, Windows, iOS, and Android. So really this is a step backwards from the "light the paper on fire" level of security 007 had back in the '60s.
Computers are fast. Go is just one of the ways to use them.
@jacquesm, in the case of a twitter button, or FB like button, those can usually be removed without significant impact to the overall user experience. A Disqus commenting engine is not as easily removed/replaced, especially given the potential loss of previously generated content. I guess it comes down whether the third party service is a core feature of your site/product.
At Moovweb, all we do is target elements on pages... and deliver miracles with it.
> they did provide notice

I can confirm they contact me as well. On 12/11/12, they sent me an email titled "Growing with Disqus". However,

1) Gmail auto-labeled it as "Promotions", so I didn't read it. Not disqus' fault, just saying.

2) The text is shady; never does it mention specifically that ads will be placed on your site, but dances around the issue before finally saying "if you'd rather not try this feature, you can always turn it off". I likely would not have understood that they were putting ads on my site even if I had given the email a quick read. The subject line sure doesn't help.

I don't mean that I'm outraged or surprised. Just confirming that I received the same email and examining it a bit.
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I find it amusing that people will leap to defend the new shiny geek toy -- even if practically no one here can afford it. IMO, Telsa is sinking under it's own PR weight, and Elon knows it. The logs don't contradict the reporting in any significant way. The gist is that, even for a non-"sports" car, the Tesla is... lackluster compared to the non-electric alternatives.

Now, whether the reporter is too dumb to own a non-hybrid electric car may be an issue, but most drivers don't know how a transmission works, or even how to change the oil -- so I don't think a failure to understand charge cycles & regenerative braking is all that damning.
There already has been some appreciation for the Amish approach (no joke) because despite appearances, the Amish aren't anti-tech and DO discuss and add new technologies to their culture, but the bar is just very high.

I would say this has been a trend since around the 50s when plastics were new and no one paid any attention to the consequences. Over time I think as a society we have become a little more cautious about unintended consequences, but there's a way to go.

I don't think anyone is (or should be) against new technology for counter-culture's sake. The issue is that the full consequences need to be taken into consideration, and I think that approach will certainly gain ground and eventually be considered common sense.
I forget the term, but there is a similar value assigned to users for marketing purposes which is sourced from a variety of systems. The higher the value, the more likely the person would be interested in converting/making a purchase. Something similar surely exists for security purposes. With that said, the last thing you mentioned must be used with great caution, as it could easily be exploited.
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Not even Google Analytics? It seems like everybody is using that stuff.

Incidentally, I agree with you.
I am only small time compared to all of these folks. However, I will share my brief story: I invented something somewhat nifty. It got lots of media attention. When the NYT wrote about it in their ideas-of-the-year mini-magazine, the reporter had definite ideas of what he wanted to say about it. He tried every way to coerce me into saying my device did this and that. Eventually, he got me to the point of saying something that wasn't strictly true about the device, but I conceded could possibly be true and I felt like this point about it didn't really matter. And so that's what was printed.

That set off a major revolution in my mind. I had already been through a few media lessons, such as appearing on numerous blogs and seeing all the different errors and distortions and being on Slashdot listening to all of the people argue authoritatively about things I knew were wrong because they were about my work. I was already skeptical of the media, having learned Chomsky/Zimmerman's "Media Mode." The NYT experience took the cake, though. It made me realize just how hard publishers are looking for material to make stories with. And that's just about a student-with-a-gadget end-of-year story. I can't imagine how much more distorted and intense it gets when millions of dollars of investor money are involved. Let the reader beware. Disclaimer: I do like the idea of electric cars, even though I am far from being able to afford one and I drive a gas one with average-to-decent mileage (93 Honda Accord).
It would be no big deal to check email in such an environment, but hard problems... uggh.

Do you allow employees to work at home (even go to the library) part of the day/week? This would mitigate things I'd guess.

Back to the point: It's well known (now) that interruptions destroy developer productivity.

"Human Task Switches Considered Harmful" http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000022.html

The original: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peopleware:_Productive_Projects...

Aimed at the boss: http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html
A company to keep an eye on!
That doesn't stop people from taking it as gospel, which could be very bad PR. Unjustified bad PR.
Does this feel backwards to anyone else? States with small populations have inflated sizes. States with large populations are tiny and thus look insignificant.
I think the main problem is this pervasive habit (not talking only about disqus here) of making controversial modifications (because hey, they must know that a significant part of their users won't like it) and making them the default. I don't think that the OP would have minded so much if the feature was turned off by default. It's like social networks changing their privacy options, and making everything public by default.. but with the option to revert to normal when/if you realize what changed.

As for the second point, the fact that the ad links are similar to all others: that really IS sneaky, however you look at it.
You agreed to their terms and conditions upon sign up. It says:

"We may, without prior notice, change the Service;"
The different product the parent mentioned is still ketchup. The scenario is replacing the ketchup in a Heinz bottle with ketchup from another brand, not selling "Heinz Cola" or something.
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I never got an email as well. Also looking at settings they have also started modifying your links to add affiliate ids. http://help.disqus.com/customer/portal/articles/851667-affil...

Both these were turned on by default. Terrible move. I understand that they have to monetize but turning these on by default is not cool.
Great news guys
original HN thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5217434
You should never send primary account numbers[0] over unencrypted protocol or to any system that will store it unencrypted.

While most email systems communicate over encrypted protocols, very few encrypt their data store.

For security's sake, please never send your SSN over email for any reason.

[0] Your SSN is your Primary Account Number for the United States.
Not really. After his stop he went up the FDR or West Side Highway to head to Conn. The highway traffic usually moves just fine.
I believe the Windows 8 certification _requires_ that the user not be able to disable secure boot on ARM.
While the journalist and the publication get the final say,
there's an agreement of what's going to be covered, and what's out of bounds.

No. There is not. There is the notion of "off the record" when talking to sources. However NYT never agrees to whats being covered in a PR sense.

Editorial policy is pretty clear on most things like that.

Whenever we visited Google's office and such we were forbidden to sign the standard NDA's at check-in. It was fun to watch the people at the front desk get flustered ("No one ever declines the NDA!")
Logically, if the converse is false, then the original statement is false, correct?

"If you are the customer, then you are not the product."

This is false (many contradictory examples show that you can be both customer and product), and so the original quote itself is false.
this is fantastic. to me this isn't so much about tesla, or hack shop journalism. it's about sensors and big data. which is really the future we are looking at more than anything. if you publish the data logs publicly as open information for every car they test, you wouldn't even need journalists.
Steve Blank: How to Build a Great Company, Step by Step (8/14/12)
It would be more interesting to see what's happening behind the scenes. Is the code open-source?
Method is the best CRM, I came across.
you can stop using their service if you dont like it.

I dont understand this sense of entitlement regarding free services.

And it is not like disqus did not warn its users , they did. Dont like it ? use something else.

> To see that happen without my explicit consent is something that is enough to turn me off from that particular service provider because I can apparently not trust them with the responsibility of not altering our relationship in a material way relative to the terms of service of the moment when I signed up for their service.

then stop using that service , what's the big deal ? did you pay for it ? no. So there is no binding contract between them and you.
How much does a patent process typically cost?
The preferred way in which I think plug-in services should work is that they leave older accounts in the state they were when they signed up under some set of terms-of-service and from the moment of changing the TOS can default new sign-ups to have the newer settings enabled.
This is the biggest I could find: http://gerrycanavan.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/electoral10-...
To be honest, I'm actually most interested in the origins of all of the proposed state names. Some are obvious, others less so.
Amen to this post! This is SPOT ON!
Garantia Data’s Goes GA & Changes the Way Developers Use Redis and Memcached
NoSQL cloud provider announces general availability and pricing of Redis Cloud and Memcached Cloud hosting services; company validates innovative approach with thousands of early-stage users and managed databases
Opera is pretty aggressive and intelligent with caching, which gives it a reputation of a memory hog on benchmarks, but it apparently scales back in resource-constrained environments. To my understanding, Opera caches not just the page code, but the parsed & loaded DOM tree of recent content. This makes for fast go-back times, as well as (sometimes) saving the page state on dynamic pages.

That "ought to be" part of the browser, not the renderer, since it's hanging on to content that the renderer is already done with. But I'm not familiar enough with either architecture to answer for certain.
Nice list.

If I am not mistaken, we started with the same Linux distribution.
I'm not claiming that Broder isn't a hatchet man and lied. If you'd taken the time to read, rather than going off like an crazy environmental zealot in every thread, you'd have seen that.

>"Better not make any progress then, or try anything new. You're right, let's keep polluting the atmosphere."

What are you going on about? No one is arguing anything of the sort. EVs just aren't the environmental saviour you want them to be. They have their own issues.

>"No, that's not Elon's argument. His argument is that the journalist lied."

Let me see if I can spell this out for you:

Broden said he followed the Tesla guidelines, like driving 54. He didn't. Elon busted him in that lie. But Elon didn't say those aren't the guidelines.

I'm saying those guidelines are ridiculous. Driving 11mph below the speed limit and with-lower-than-desired temperature settings, just so you can make your destination, is bad. Having to stop and charge for a whole HOUR, multiple times on a 600 mile trip, is bad.
You're thinking of the size weighted electoral college map.

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2012/

This map depicts how the USA might look today if the state boundaries were balanced for population. Redistricting of the states, if you will.
I can see how the 2 stories might square to some extent as you've described.

However I don't understand your part about regenerative braking. From everything I've read, regenerative braking very much is capable of adding charge to the batteries.
Love Pelican. Found it to be simplest "blog aware" generator for Python I could find. Because it keeps maturing, there's a ton of stuff you can do with it. But simply propping it up and starting a site, was amazingly easy.

`pelican-quickstart` and you are up and running.
If the military is using it, isn't it by definition not ahead of its time?
I'm a big fan of Asana! I actually just discovered it last week. Great article.
Not all jeans, even within a brand are created equal. Levi's quality varies greatly between product lines. The jeans they sell at Kohl's for $35 and the ones they sell at their own stores are completely different products. I own a couple pairs of Levi's Commuter jeans/pants and as a daily bike commuter in Portland they've definitely been worth the price difference. There's far more to clothing than how it looks.
Just noting that this article is from last August.
This. I've got a mobile device with 32GB of unused space, but Android wants to reload from the network? My laptop has 1TB, but Chrome wants to reload from the network when "restoring all tabs"? Look Chrome, I'll tell you when it's safe to refresh, mkay?
You want to know the real reason prices are so much higher in other countries? It has to do with historical exchange rates and companies not adjusting prices when the exchange rate improve in their favor.

Let's look back 10 years ago. Around 10 years ago AU$1 was worth about US$0.60. So, at the time if the US version sold for US$2500 you would need to sell the Australian version for about AU$4166 (before any tax difference) to make the same US$2500.

Now, fast forward 10 years. Over this period Australians have become used to paying about AU$4k for the product but in the background the exchange rate continued to improve in favor of the AU$, to the point where today were the two currencies are worth about the same (AU$ are actually worth slightly more now). BUT because Australians are used to paying the price, there has never been any incentive for Adobe to reduce the price. The same applies for video games, or just about anything else on the market.

Now, I'm not defending Adobe, but from a business perspective I can understand how this happened. You have an exchange rate that slowly creeps up over 10 years. You don't see sales dropping, so why reduce your price, right? This is now the predicament they're in, they kept the price steady and now they have to pay the price with media attention. So, what t

Had this been the other way, and the exchange rate declined for the AU$, you can be damn sure Adobe would have taken corrective price action.
> Keep in mind that this is an art project, not a serious proposal, so take it easy with the emails about the sacred soil of Texas.

(From the original source.)