skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I am currently in the process of patenting a technology for a business which I suppose will indirectly compete with Flattr.

To be quite honest, I admire how far they've gotten. Of the various micropayment and microtipping ventures, they've been able to steadily plug away. I gave them about as much odds of success as the many other companies that have come and gone. (How this bodes for my own ambitions is left as an exercise for the reader).

Naturally, I think that their model has critical economic and technical flaws that put me in a better position. But they're in the market making money and I'm on HN being all hand-wavy and mysterious (sorry: pre-patent secrecy).

If I could give them one piece of advice -- and it goes for everyone who's had a crack at this -- 10% isn't enough. The incidence of the micropayment/tipping service's share doesn't fall on the user, it falls on the websites. So you might as well pick a sustainable rate, rather than hobble your cashflow.
Where a full stop/period is preceded by a single letter you should treat it as an acronym rather than the end of a sentence (I can't think of a valid sentence ending that has a single letter in it ... )

I just noticed that you're splitting up m.o into separate sentences.
I wouldn't be so sure about that.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misuse_of_Drugs_Act_(Singapore...)

> The law creates a presumption of trafficking for certain threshold amounts, e.g. 30 grams of cannabis. It also creates a presumption that a person possesses drugs if he possesses the keys to a premises containing the drugs, and that "Any person found in or escaping from any place or premises which is proved or presumed to be used for the purpose of smoking or administering a controlled drug shall, until the contrary is proved, be presumed to have been smoking or administering a controlled drug in that place or premises."
Sonic Screwdrivers and Wifi-enabled Devices
Being a game developer is similar to being an astronaut or a pilot sometime ago. Just wait a bit and it will solve itself out.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=432589146833957&...
I find the quality of these packages to be quite low, in general. :/
In Conversation: Michael Pollan and Adam Platt
Is the small percentage of veteran developer really due to low retention rate? I am guessing it is more due to the industry not being as big 10 years ago. 20% of respondents with 10+ years could means the gaming industry gotten 5 times bigger 10 years ago.
Reading this headline while sitting at Newark Airport, I wholeheartedly agree. An easy proxy for airport quality seems to be cleanliness and comfort of the bathrooms. In the US they usually are too small, there is no privacy and they are frequently dirty.
Why Apple’s cursors are bad for the majority of computer users
As a computer user, I'm thoroughly tired of Adobe's products constant stream of security vulnerabilities. Flash, Adobe Reader, ColdFusion. I avoid their products mostly for this reason. Flash, which I can't avoid completely, I have set up to only run when I say so, which I only do for a couple websites I trust. And why should a static document reader be able to run arbitrary code completely eludes me.

Many companies should learn the lesson from Microsoft's huge shift years ago when they implemented the Trustworthy Computing Initiative. They have much larger targets (an operating system, a hypervisor, a database server, a full office suite, etc.) compared to a browser plugin or a document reader, and in my experience they're doing a far better job at keeping security at an acceptable level.

Comparing IIS+ASP.NET security versus some frameworks such as Rails (another huge source of vulnerable web applications) is also enlightening.
Ask HN: Becoming a programming tutor, any advice?
Hello,

I was thinking of offering my services as a programming tutor in my local area (Bristol, UK). I haven't quite worked all the details out yet, but I was wondering if any of you had any advice on how to go about it. I don't even know if there is any interest for it yet, but I plan to start small and do it in evenings and weekends and see what happens.

I think that I would mainly be targeting beginners of any age, but perhaps also university students. I would either teach Android development, or just a language (C, Java or Perl).

Has anyone here done something similar? Is there anything you wish you knew before you started?
You are totally right. In the 20th century, France committed ugly things as well. In my previous post, I was talking about the recent period but Algeria is a good example what should be avoid. It's still a sensitive topic here, even 50 years after. I think it makes lose credibility and damage the soul of a country when this kind of episode happen. It's what our countries should avoid.
It looks like there will be one standard way to take photos, and you'll register an Intent to handle what you want to do with those photos (see 'Add a cat to that'). Considering people will be wearing these things 23/7, it's not unreasonable that they wouldn't give arbitrary apps shutter control right away.
How CamelCase ruined my day and my dev environment
Adsense Hacking 101
A Case of Fraud at Rutgers
I already have plenty interesting work, where I work on a semi-flexitime arrangement (part time would lead to me getting bored), where I work from home 95% of the time, with the other 5% split between the office and a cafe.

So, I had to vote "more money".

Other factors that could potentially turn my head:

- Work that has meaning/world changing type impact.

- a better team (that said, my current one is pretty awesome)

- Outstanding benefits of some sort.

- Toys/hardware.

- Tequila (Bourbon also acceptable).
Not just Iran, there is a 5.3 quake in North East India along the Chinese border too:

http://www.google.org/publicalerts/alert?aid=91f35f62be0b2f3...
The next installment of the Facebook Home commercial...

A guy at a party staring at his phone
watching a guy at a party staring at his phone
watching a guy at a party staring at his phone
watching a guy at a party staring at his phone
watching a screaming goat.

All through the magic Facebook Home :)

According to this article, the commercials pushes an anti-social agenda. I agree for the most part. The commercial is a lot closer to reality than you think. We are so connected to our phones that we forgot how live without it.

Social networks could be a great thing. But, it should also be use as an amplifier of reality. I could go on an on about this topic, but I give up. People have their obsessions. Whether it is fast foods, TV, internet, sex, Honey Boo Boo Child, too much of anything is never a good thing.
I haven't got online statements going back far enough to check right now (will have to do it with paper copies when I get home if I can be bothered). You're probably right though :) I guess they either keep the passphrase in memory (someone enters it once on boot) or another possibility is they have a couple of billing windows each day where they batch through whatever charges/refunds have accumulated since the last run. Feasible I guess with 2 or 3 specially cleared staff members on rotation.
or make sure that your core business is in no way dependent on any free api that you cannot sign a legally binding agreement of privision (which is essentially a formal clarification of what you can and cannot do).

e.g., if you are writing an iOS app, make sure you also have a desktop (or web) and/or android version which could survive a takedown from the appstore.
Possibly because they got attention prior to the 2010 Football World Cup. Always good to see that some money goes to meaningful infrastructure projects.
I've always opted out, hence the "free massage" thing. They always half-heartedly try to intimidate you by not allowing you access to your things, and they go through the motions of a pat down. It depends on the employee, but it was definitely better than the scanner.
Ruby Doc is Down
Please go learn what this quote actually means (hint: it refers to speculation, not consumption).
Real Racing 2, un jeu de course automobile sous Mac OS X
It looks like the Mirror API allows you to register callbacks, like Android Intents, to handle events like 'position changed' or 'new photo'. They're really locking down user interaction on the device itself, probably due to processor power, and to keep the experience consistent. Not that I agree with them, but they definitely look afraid of getting a bad name if some devs produce crap - hence the very limited scope.
Seems to be down for everyone: http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/ruby-doc.org

Weird.
Is Twitter even a platform any more? They are going out of their way to limit and prevent 3rd party app's so they can distil down what Twitter is.. a status update service.

Beyond using Twitter for authentication I don't see why you would want to risk anything else on the Twitter API.
You need to cater to people who doesn't want to share the full sentence. Allowing for inline editing in the overlay section might be great, or allow for selection of a partial sentence instead.
After the upgrades done to them for the 2010 World Cup, they are pretty good.
That's what traders do all the time. The only difference here is the borrowing wasn't authorised and he fraudulently claimed it was. Oh and then it seems he committed a further fraud to attempt to mitigate the loss by forcing the price up or something.
Tips on Writing from David Ogilvy
I think most of the time it's never got anything to do with financial considerations, it's more just does anyone feel strongly enough about it to rewrite it in a fit of pique/on the sly/in a slow month and then on top of that have the power/influence/charm to push it through. No manager will ever say 'this non-essential system needs re-writing in a modern way'.

Rewrites where you're already intimate with the code base don't take that long for non-core stuff. I assume it's the web interface that's written in CF (which you can see from viewing the source in their signup and login pages). I guess you could argue it's core to their conversion process, but I mean their core skills are servers and their maintenance rather than web development so they probably actually haven't spent that many man hours on it.
In Portugal there is MBNet (https://www.mbnet.pt/), it is activated in ATMs, and will be bonded to whatever debit card you use to register.

If you have a VISA debit card, it will create virtual VISA credit cards, and if you have a MasterCard debit card, it will create virtual MasterCard credit cards.

It has an option of creating a virtual CC for only one transaction, with a value limit, and another option of creating a virtual CC that can be used several times, with a limit of up to 12 months, and a value limit as well.
Fuck Facebook and fuck smartphones, too.
Locations of every photo from International Space Station
Do you think suicide bombers think they are living in a time of peace? To them, it's war, formally declared or not.

Regarding the Japanese: I understand that it was a volunteer force. Where was the threat of being shot?

From wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamikaze#Recruitment

It was claimed by the Japanese forces at the time that there were many volunteers for the suicidal forces. Captain Motoharu Okamura commented that "there were so many volunteers for suicide missions that he referred to them as a swarm of bees," explaining: "Bees die after they have stung."[32] Okamura is credited with being the first to propose the kamikaze attacks. He had expressed his desire to lead a volunteer group of suicide attacks some four months before Admiral Takijiro Ohnishi, commander of the Japanese naval air forces in the Philippines, presented the idea to his staff. While Vice Admiral Shigeru Fukudome, commander of the second air fleet, was inspecting the 341st Air Group, Captain Okamura took the chance to express his ideas on crash-dive tactics. “In our present situation I firmly believe that the only way to swing the war in our favor is to resort to crash-dive attacks with our planes. There is no other way. There will be more than enough volunteers for this chance to save our country, and I would like to command such an operation. Provide me with 300 planes and I will turn the tide of war.”[33] When the volunteers arrived for duty in the corps there were twice as many persons than there were aircraft. "After the war, some commanders would express regret for allowing superfluous crews to accompany sorties, sometimes squeezing themselves aboard bombers and fighters so as to encourage the suicide pilots and, it seems, join in the exultation of sinking a large enemy vessel." Many of the kamikaze pilots believed their death would pay the debt they owed and show the love they had for their families, friends, and emperor. "So eager were many minimally trained pilots to take part in suicide missions that when their sorties were delayed or aborted, the pilots became deeply despondent. Many of those who were selected for a bodycrashing mission were described as being extraordinarily blissful immediately before their final sortie."[34]
Heathrow also has craptacular immigration and security handling and still managed to make the list. So there has to be more to it than that.
Why Your App Description Sucks
There's no augmented reality, but from the docs it looks like you can stream audio and video to and from a service, maintain awareness of the users location whether they're using the app or not, and push interactive notifications. About all it's missing is a HUD, which will no doubt come as soon as the batteries can handle it.
Chinese ship runs into protected reef — with illegal anteater meat.
Scala API Client for BTC-e Cryptocurrencies Broker
Ubuntu Button Tweaked to Meet 'Cultural & Aesthetic' Expectations
Podcast: Drop in laptop sales, app growth, alt smartphones, ALISON, and more
If I were designing the system given the constraints specified, it would look a lot more like sudo's timeout implementation, or one of the uncounted zillions of encrypted filesystem implementations over the years.

An encoded filesystem doesn't mean the sysadmin types in the passphrase every time something hits an "open()" call, its (usually) just once at boot time. Or sudo can be configured so you get to authenticate every hour not every time you run a command.

Also to be honest I've never had a problem with linode, combined with I've heard they've got pretty good support, so if there is a dude on duty at 3am he probably has nothing to do other than type in a password. So that would be an alternative, simple architecture. Now where it gets hard to justify is when there's enough traffic to pay a dude to sit there typing in the password all day, but they're apparently not that big.

(edited to add I hope they didn't actually use encfs and/or sudo, I was using them as an example of a user interface not as the final answer for how it would be implemented.)
You'd expect that from any community, but unfortunately, as much as you'd expect that, that much its not the case, regardless of the community type. Simply put, people are everywhere.
I stopped using eBay when they canceled my auction because I had included a link to the PDF manual (on the manufacturer's site) of the phone I was selling. This was around 2006 and I assumed their idiotic policies would quickly see them replaced by a better platform, but for some reason this has never happened.
Yes, I use debugger oftenly for GCC and I use GDB debugger for same.
You can find implementation and usage examples in my blog http://chepurnoy.org/blog/2013/04/scala-clients-for-btc-e-tr... . BTC-e com is #2 broker(after MTGox) for Bitcoin , #1 for Litecoin/Namecoin/some other cryptocurrencies. I have implemented both Trade and Public Data APIs. It's my first opensource released!
Not coming from a UNIX environment, I see... :-)
Direct link to the list -> http://www.worldairportawards.com/Awards_2013/top100.htm
»And that is the current state of the art in password protection.« It is not really state of the art; storing passwords in plain text or hashing them are just by far the most common solutions. I think something like the Secure Remote Password protocol [1] deserves the label state of the art much more although it is not widely deployed.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Remote_Password_protocol
I think the only thing that could somewhat restore the trust in Linode would be a third-party security audit from a reputable company.
It's a cool concept, but I can see everyone comparing it to RapGenius (several people in the thread already have). RapGenius has a bunch of features that seem to be missing here, you'll probably have to justify their absence.

The biggest problem I see, however, is the slideout pane from the right when you click an annotation. RG does this without taking up the whole reading area; it seems a bit silly to reproduce the whole sentence being annotated and cover up the rest of text for one heavily padded tweet. Personally I would find a two-mode interface more useful: hover to see a small dialog with the top/newest tweets and a summary of the annotation activity, and click to get a larger overlay if there's too many tweets for the small view.

Finally, I think using pg's essays might actually hurt you. I get that it's a gimmick, and the HN crowd might like it, but I think the man himself might be less flattered and more put off if it seems like you're trying to make up for technical shortcomings by flattering him.
These rankings are wrong - the nightmare that is Heathrow should not come ahead of Copenhagen, which is one of the most convenient and pleasant airports I have used.
I was addressing your comment about "take responsibly for what you put online". We need the ability to be anonymous because sometimes things that need to be said simply can't be said if you're not anonymous.
I think they got all of PA, MD, NJ and the DC area as it was close to 3 hours after the incident that they sent it out.
An excellent series of articles that were clear, concise, and entertaining.

The only cryptologic issue I take is that to some degree the analogy illustrates [rather than breaking down] the security for security's sake commonly argued in regard to passwords.

Imagine Alice decides to found a crossword puzzle startup. Password recovery is far more important than protecting passwords. The answer for 2A is not important enough to justify a computationally intensive salt and hash. She is responsible for entertaining customers, not running a bank.
a question:

any engineer would recognize the symptoms of what may be a systematic failure in a system. There was no mention in the article of studies fo studying the hr system from a sysatem perspective.

My thinking is that the drastic increase in applicants for any job posted acts as a feed back loop adjusting the system into chaos as hr personnel choose to reduce workload via reducing quality.

Is thee any studies somewhere where a team took on the task to study the problems as a system?

even my assumptions could be wrong..it would be nice to attack with some actual facts based on some science.
Just what I want in a framework. Thousands of libraries with functional overlap, each tested in a small number of real use cases and having a large number of undiscovered bugs, none of which is flexible enough to solve my problem or has a large community to maintain it.

In time, node users will realize the pain of abandoned library dependencies and the overhead of researching alternatives and grinding through bugs and functional gaps in poorly planned libraries.

I like node, but the library situation is a disaster. I'll take monolithic, well designed, tested, and popular over a huge choice of one off libraries any day.
Unless of course it's a double-bluff.
Same reason Apple doesn't allow in-app Bitcoin transactions, they can't monetize it. It's anticompetative- but that's their right, in this case.
I actually considered writing a series of article about zero-knowledge proofs. One day...
3/31/2013 is the backup they're reverting to, not when they got hacked though, right? (The email refers to "downtime over the last week", so I guess the hack happened around 6th April or later.
Entire books on a t-shirt
Did the seller try contacting the buyer explaining the situation and offer to reimburse for problems etc? This could have been the first step in solving the situation, in my opinion.
I don't understand where you are coming from here.

Why do you think companies can only do one thing at a time ? And where have you worked where software engineers are drafting press releases or conducting security audits ? And why shouldn't keeping customers (who have their own apps) informed be their top priority ?
I helped write that post a bit. What is sad is that the typical story is the big fish always push out or eat the smaller fish. We would love to offer Twitter a 50/50 split of our fee (or better) as a rev share, but it is doubtful they will take that offer. It seems like everyday now there is another story like this and that is very discouraging for the open web, something that Flattr was built to help support. If you believe in the open web, support it.
Online Memorial For Steve Jobs, As An Old-School Mac OS Theme
by-passing a websites authentication by SQL injection
> cracked and work's out of the box are two different things... practically and legally.

libdvdcss works out of the box and is completely legal in Europe. It's the Americans that stand to lose more by imposing DRM extensions on the internet. At least if they're part of HTML, the technology can be reverse engineered and made cross-platform. With the current mess we're stuck with having to run Silverlight DRM extensions in WINE. So as much as I hate DRM, I'd sooner see it part of an open and cross platform spec than have content locked to specific software that only runs on specific platforms.
Just one tip from someone experienced in tutoring/training others (non-technical skills): Be very patient.

Whatever you might think how easy something is, your view is blurred by years of experience. A beginner will take far longer than you expect him to take for any given task
I honestly don't know if they're doing it because of some undisclosed master plan, or just because someone is being pigheaded.

Either way, the publicity via HN should shake loose a better answer and I -- as a potential future competitor, hello, nice to meet you -- will be interested to see which one it is.
Maybe they're excited because it means that more people can use their service (and won't have to suffer the terrible experience of Silverlight). Just a thought.
Tangent - Can someone please explain to me what medium is? It seems like it's the new svbtl, but I'm not quite sure if it's a collection of individual blogs, a curated selection of posts or an open community platform.

Their home pages (https://medium.com) states "Sharing ideas and experiences moves humanity forward" which sounds really nice, but still tells me absolutely nothing about what the platform actually is/does.
Er, I suppose it's Y Combinator's site? The startup funding company?
Why do you consider them "archaic debt laws"

Someone takes on a debt using property as security, if they forfeit the security why should they be excused from the difference between the value of the security and the value of the debt?
Is a patent really necessary?
I use gmail, so everybody else must use it also ...
> why should a static document reader be able to run arbitrary code

Because PDF was never meant to be a static format, and Adobe Reader was never meant to be a static document reader.

However, since most PDFs are static anyway, I think it would be a very good idea for PDF reader softwares to treat every PDF as a static document by default, and only allow scripting after the user clicks Yes on a scary-looking warning.
Bringing a first world education to Bhutan with a Raspberry Pi
I'm happy to send you an invite, just email me petersontimr@gmail.com
Muswell Hill N2 | Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning
Show HN: More iOS 6 UIKit templates for Sketch, free download