skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
He writes as a man who is grateful to enjoy the freedom of outside life again. I posted the article to my Facebook wall with the tagline, "He really appreciates what he was missing."

Since the big comment subthread here is about the author's criminal history and what that means to society, I should probably comment on that issue too. I've lived in east Asia, and once upon a time, I thought that there was a generation of Americans who had all heard of the Opium Wars and understood the historical context of why several countries in that part of the world want nothing to do with their common people having access to most drugs. Harsh drug laws in some places--including the death penalty for what seems to Americans like dealing rather small amounts of drugs--is a reaction to a historical experience in which whole countries were ruined by foreign drug dealers (British imperialists trading in opium) and their local agents. I'm not personally in favor of the death penalty for all drug dealers, but I can empathize with (for example) a parent of a child who started using drugs who would want the child's dealer in prison for the rest of his life or even dead.

Of course we want to look to other countries for historical examples too. In Europe, where the historical experience was different, there has been some decriminalization, but very little "legalization" of drugs.

http://www.holland.com/us/tourism/article/dutch-drug-policy....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/03/dutch-dr...

http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/time-to-end-the-war-on...

I am tentatively convinced that a national drug policy that focuses mostly on keeping users from harming other people and on helping users to stop using is perhaps a better national drug policy than harsh criminal penalties for dealing in drugs--in countries that have already established a drug-using culture. But east Asia, with very harsh drug laws and a culture of limited use, is doing well in human progress,

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/15/singapore...

http://www.economist.com/news/21566430-where-be-born-2013-lo...

so that policy choice has to be put in the mix too in evaluating what will work well as the United State reforms a national drug policy that everyone seems to decry.
Some Optimizations Are No-Brainers
>For those who follow tl;dr religiously, the answer is: Yes it is.

You should have noted that that is not actually a tl;dr of the blog post linked to by the GP. In fact, that post comes to the opposite conclusion:

"[A] problem arose when Microsoft decided not to fully implement the Strict version of the standard in Office 2010. As published by Microsoft [...] and stated by Wikipedia [...]:

>Microsoft Office 2010 provides read support for ECMA-376, read/write support for ISO/IEC 29500 Transitional, and read support for ISO/IEC 29500 Strict.

What this means is that when you save a document in MS Office 2010 or prior in any of the ‘X’ formats, you are not saving them in the advertised OpenXML format. [...]"
How Desti Is Training Your iPad To Be Romantic And Fun
Sometimes the information portrayed does not represent the truth and lacks context.

Truth is not what most people fear. It's absence of truth and the assumption that something is true that can do the most damage.
Periods are supposed to be ignored in GMail addresses, so maybe this other person's address was very similar to the period-stripped version of yours.
My understanding is that Google strips full stops before comparing email addresses and accounts for equality, which is really annoying when people split their email addresses differently at different times, making them look distinct when they are actually the same.
Why is AICTE thinking that a company like Microsoft will give out server space for millions of students for free? Are they not aware of Microsoft's track record of feeding people with drugs until they become dependent on it? They did that with Windows, and now are trying to do that with online documents.

Is it not good enough that the same students who are handed out these "drugs" are the ones who have no clue about bash scripting or how to edit a .bashrc or how to create a new Rails project? (They don't know what Rails is either. They do know what ASP is though. ASP!) Or that all the "engineers" from AICTE colleges are worth doing is being a part of the army the US outsources small projects to?
Yes, I saw this post in the 'Newest' feed but decided not to click on it because it sounded like badly translated porn-spam. Luckily, others were less cynical and upvoted it.
Those are not curated while medium.com is "creating content is limited to a small list [of users]".
Why is this not the standard already. If you need at least 60 fps for gaming, you need as much for action packed movies.

The best gaming I had in my life was on 120hz horizontal refresh IBM P70, but then the crappy LCDs invaded and we were caped to the 60. Or even worse for consoles.
Thanks! I like these scales, how small the Earth is, how young humanity is.

But once someone starts preaching about how this means we are insignificant I lose interest quickly.

If we are the only sentient life in the universe, then we are extremely significant in the grand scheme of things. If there was/is a god or another alien civilization from another universe, they would certainly conclude that the evolution of sentient life is one of the top ten wonders of this universe.

I get tired of all this "insignificant" talk, its simply not true. Our minds are perhaps behind the wonder of life in the first place, but not that far behind, and life is one of the greatest things about our universe. How inanimate material started to think and move and do things. I think that is in no way insignificant, even if life only exists for a fraction of the time the universe will exist.
Love the loop back to here is today. Powerful.
No, I think "seem" as a qualifier places it perfectly well into the realm of an opinion, with the implied agreement that it can be debated.

You and the other comment mistake it for an absolute judgment, which would be problematic, but that's not what the OP was writing.
Hash collision between their internal IDs? I'll probably turn out to be something nutty like that.
Have you seen the photoshop image deblurring plugin?

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/max-2011-sneak-peeks/max-2011-snea...
This doesn't seem to actually do anything...
In PolyVox (http://www.volumesoffun.com/polyvox-about/) we provide RLE as one of the options for compressing volumes. In future versions we will also have deflate-type compression as an option. RLE is very good for 'Minecraft-style' volumes where there are few voxel values and large contiguous areas. For the mandelbulb (and medical scan output) it will be less effective since the raw data is smoothly varying
Copywriting is Design
Nicotine is, itself, pretty damned safe. There is currently no epidemiological evidence to support a direct link between nicotine and cancer. There are reasons to believe it can plausibly cause cancer from animal models, but there's no good reason to think that it is more carcinogenic than a boatload of other things.

The main reason that nicotine "feels" significantly likely to cause cancer is its association with tobacco. But there's already a perfectly adequate explanation for the carcinogenicity of tobacco. So it's important to resist the affect heuristic[0] which makes us tend to find all things associated with tobacco "cancery".

In addition, it's extremely doubtful that you'd get any nicotine second-hand from someone using an e-cigarette.

[0] http://lesswrong.com/lw/lg/the_affect_heuristic/
What Jaws Can Teach You About Your #Selfie
It's a good talk. He's very confident, has a good message, and really doesn't like the CCA. His argument seems spot on, but changing a 750 billion dollar won't be easy. He needs a few more incarcerated "disciples" to come good after following his program or methods, to learn behind bars and emerge from prison all knowing. Proof other than his own story is what's needed, because not all education is equal. You can call a dusty old library with crappy books "education" and get the green tick at "prison education audit time".
so i dont get it - a 3 paragraph long self-posted article about how the OP likes starbucks cause he likes to charge his battery there is on the front page?!
My Taiwanese friends frequently remind me of the historic Chinese practice of a doctor visiting the family regularly to keep health well. The doctor would receive weekly pay only while the family was well; once someone got sick, they stopped getting paid until the doctor helped them recover. This preventative practice reminds me a lot of what my Taiwanese friends speak about.

It seems the age-old cliche "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" applies here.
The solution isn't intended as a measure to resist intrusion, I agree 100% with you that using PKI as a form of two factor for hardening authentication is a great idea.

It's more of a secondary measure for forensics and incident response purposes when the intrusion resistance measures fail. If your credentials can be hacked for any reason(your key AND your password are compromised, for example), when those credentials are used you have a useful audit trail of when it happened and can possibly even get some early notification. If I hack your laptop and use your valid credentials to log in to a site, even if you log in just to disable the audit logging, there will at least be one entry of that happening somewhere. If the audit collection system supports some early notification, you can potentially change your credentials or notify the service before the hacker does something bad.
Funny how you present your view as fact and then complain about having to put up with myths...

http://yuzhikov.com/articles/BlurredImagesRestoration2.htm
Yes, truth does have that potential, or even more accurately, the mistakes made that truth reveals.

Humans make mistakes in judgment. Sometimes not revealing those mistakes (lying, if you will) let you grow through it. Someone might conceal a mistake for life, or reveal it after time has passed, or confess immediately. Unless there's a law enforcement agency trying to get at the truth, I think it's best left up to an individual how to deal with everyday mistakes.

And they are everyday mistakes, because that's our nature.

We're dealing with this issue already in our schools. It used to be if two kids fought in the halls, a teacher or principle would deal with it. Suspension at most, rarely expulsion. The school would almost never bring the matter to the attention of law enforcement except in rare cases. But it's against the law to fight, and they concealed it from law enforcement.

Now police are often stationed in schools. My kid's high school, and the middle school before that, has a dedicated officer. And he has said if he sees you breaking the law he'll arrest you. Do we need more kids contacting the justice system, for doing what kids do as they outgrow being kids? It's the truth, but is it right?

Do you ever spell check or read over what you've written before you submit writing? Shouldn't the computer stream everything as written, so everyone would know the truth about your spelling, grammar and judgment?

I look out the window and I see a lot of color. I'm really glad it's not all black and white.
Not at all, like nlativy says coffeshops are everywhere in Tokyo. Yes, most are smoky, but completely separated smoking areas and even completely non-smoking places are becoming more common. Also, some mom-and-pop coffeeshops have very good coffee, including a good variety of beans. For me, the main problem isn't quality, it's price. I don't want to pay 400~500 for a cup of coffee.

In any case, if you care at all about coffee why would you even consider Nescafe as an alternative, instead of good old brewed coffee?
It also bugs me when people say "at the turn of the century," since we just recently had one of those but the person is talking about the one previous.

/nitpick
That is great!, about time too :-)

I remember in the early 1980s when ephemeral (or generational) garbage collection started to be available in Lisp systems - this made a large improvement in run time performance. Good work!
What was before the universe?
I'm far from a diehard patriot but one thing I truly love about 'this american life' is the café sitting culture. On the daily I downright camp out at the many and diverse local cafés in Richmond, VA. As far as I can tell from my travel experience in a number of European countries, the long staying café visits I, and many of my peers enjoy, is somewhat unique to American culture. In some senses I think the 'Starbucks Experience' the OP is after is really the license to safely linger for extended lengths beyond what you'd feel comfortable doing in any other local, non-chain joint.

And for what it's worth, you won't catch me in a Starbucks.
How do you change the password for just one of your sites after said site is compromised?
Child well-being in rich countries ranked by country
Any benchmarks out there indicating performance with the new GC?
Why are we not already using the equivalent of an RSA token for authentication on the web? Of course, the physical token is replaced with a software app on your computer or mobile device. Is there something about the physical device that cannot be replicated in software?
Ask HN: Where Can I Learn Design Online?
I feel like there are an incredible amount of resources online where I can learn how to code and learn about almost every business practice necessary to run a startup. But where can I go to learn about design? I acknowledge that design requires a certain level of creativity that can't necessarily be 'taught' but are there online resources that can at least help me understand the aspects of a good logo, a good layout, etc...?
Korean Words for TOPIK Beginner 16
KDE's semantic desktop envisioned years ago is becoming reality
How  Microsoft Could Fix The PC (and Windows 8)
Building an iPhone App using jQuery Mobile
> In modern society it is implied, that person taking drugs is losing their free will

If that was really true, we wouldn't hold them criminally responsible for their actions.
There is a big difference in removing camera shake from a raw image file and removing a blur from a jpeg.
Indeed, happened to my very privacy sensitive colleague while setting up his new S3 (he had no prior G+ account, so he got a new one). This may depend on what type of account you have and what terms you have agreed to.
I heard a joke once that MacDonalds built a chain of free public restrooms in Moscow.
Three points were interesting to me:

1) The chart with the blip for the 1918 flu. If we reduce costs by closing facilities, how we cope with the next blip?

2) This is an area ripe for disruption, but regulatory capture seems to prevent this.

3) We should all be spending more time with our elders and noticing these sorts of issues, if for no other reason than it will improve their health.
Canada tightens restrictions on Bitcoin trading - Salon.com
HackDesign (http://hackdesign.org/) might be what you're looking for. It offers these weekly lessons, with interactive content, feedback, and the like.
It's like Chris Morris gave copy/paste the Brass Eye treatment.
Yeah, OP here, didn't think people would even click this .. but you always never know with HN.
It is a sad day on Hacker News when the majority of replies to my basic question are these nonsensical, defensive, attack replies, as if everyone needs to pick a side and wave a flag. Rar rar!
Drunk Guy at the Festival
I don't have a Nexus though, does it come pre-installed?

Not only does it come pre-installed but you also can't uninstall it.
Then you opted to allow automatic uploads. When you first opened Google+ (which is not installed by default), you were asked whether to automatically upload photos. You chose yes.

http://support.google.com/plus/answer/1304818
All true. But we technophiles are better served by downplaying this aspect of technology's advance.

A large fraction of people are utterly freaked out by the idea that they'll be obligated to adopt new technology just to keep up.

Better to give many chances for people to discover on their own that they really want to use a new technology for positive reasons, rather than out of fear.
This is important and greatly overlooked IMO.

By Law, Google (along with other Internet companies) have been required to be 'tap friendly', so that the government can read everyone's data (like email).

So when more and more people starts using Glass, the government will also want to tap into that. I am sure some will say that such ability will only be used to prevent crime, but we already know how well the government abuses power to their own enjoyment like it happened with the porn-scanners which pictures could never-never-never be saved...
The Perils of Hypothesis Testing ... Again
Implementing Windows Runtime interfaces in C#, C++/CX and C++/WRL
OP here. Honestly, hadn't seen it posted. On HN multiple times per day. Very surprised at the traction of the article, given it's a month old story. Whatever, it's a great narrative for people.
What?
You are confusing the warrant requirement, which is completely separate from the reasonableness of a search.

I'm not sure how you are coming up with what you think is th analysis, but every law school textbook, supreme court opinion, etc, will tell you that you start with whether the search was reasonable.

If the search was reasonable by law , there is no 4th amendment violation. Period.
Maybe you are confused because they often say these are not searches? For example, you will read that doing helicopter flyovers, even when looking in people's fields, is reasonable (which at the time, meant it wasn't a violation of the subject's reasonable expectation of privacy), and thus, not considered a search that is subject to the rest of the 4th amendment. This isn't because it's "not a search" in reality, it's because the 4th only protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, not all searches and seizures, and thus, for the rest of 4th amendment purposes, it's not a search.

If the search was not reasonable, it either has to fall into an exception, or requires a warrant.

Now, current jurisprudence considers most searches without a warrant unreasonable (subject to plain sight, automobile exceptions, etc), but that is irrelevant to the steps in the analysis.

You seem to be mixing a lot of the analysis and requirements around.
Go to dribbble.com or some other site where designers hang out and study the snapshots people upload. Pay attention to details.

What textures do they use?
What about spacing?
How do they mix fonts?
What colors do they mix?
How do they use perspective and lighting?
What's unique about the design?

Then try to design stuff yourself. I've found that doing is the best way to learn, and that's true for more than just design. Study great designers, make your own stuff, and you'll see your skill level gradually improve. I don't consider myself an expert designer but I know how to mix and match things to make a reasonably compelling design. This is how I learnt.

If you want to go beyond that point, and I may be talking beyond my qualifications now, I believe you should pick up the pen and paper and start working on your traditional drawing technique -- get the hang of value and form.
it is the same thing with being able to google really well.

I was about 1000% more efficient than my coworkers at new things, ways and information because I googled fast and found the information.
With out knowing, I some how got involved with carbon dating. I must have, I married a diamond.....

Two reactions to that, either: ahhhhh sweeeeeeet, or I feel sick, pass me a bucket. So, up vote for sweet, or down vote for bucket. :)

(Normally I like a Sunday rant. I feel different today)
Finding the Visual Studio Command Prompts in Visual Studio 2012
I'm not sure that's true. You can buy caffeine pill over the counter. Energy drinks surely have nothing to do with food and everything to do with delivering caffeine and other stimulants. You can put vodka in a vaporizer and get stupid drunk in seconds. In these cases you have to ask if it crosses the line into being a drug that can be regulated.

E-cig makers, at least, can argue that e-cigs are a form of harm reduction. Maybe energy drinks, too, if they keep you from falling asleep at the wheel, but that's more tenuous.
Op-ed piece on swimming pools vs. guns as the most dangerous weapon
Sure. You win Scoble. You just go ahead and book that flight or grab that table. I'll be here in my log cabin in the mountains, looking at the stars, and losing.
From the Vaupel article:

> If progress in reducing mortality continues at the same pace as it has over the past two centuries, which is a matter of debate, then in countries with high life expediencies most children born since the year 2000 will celebrate their 100th birthday — in the twenty-second century.

Um, color me very skeptical. My guess is there is a lot more disagreement with the startling hypothetical "if progress in reducing mortality continues at the same pace as it has over the past two centuries" then the single reference after "debate" would have you believe. (italics mine)
Telecom-equipped drones could revolutionize wireless market
Fortunately, someone put on a turtleneck and got this covered. On PBS, in 1980.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aOVItJHZEM
They actually have an example for a regular blurred jpeg at the end. And yes, a camera shake may big difference to a regular blur, but then again, an actual regular blur (so an unfocused lens instead of a moving lens) is less often the problem.
I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, but for me the most striking point was when it circled back to today. It was a reminder that in that grand scheme of things, there's some stuff you do control. Now, time to get that stuff I was planning to do done.
Mac uses the word "zoom", not "maximize". And of course the "zoom" functionality predates Windows entirely.
Please forgive me for going off-topic and for asking a personal question (and please don't answer if it's too personal), but how did the government inform your grandfather that his movement was restricted during WWII?
Did he receive some sort of notice from the FBI?

I'm sorry that our government chose to restrict the civil liberties of a very important member of his community during WWII on the basis of his ethnicity.

A cautionary tale for today's America.
If a separate website with a separate domain name is going to be created for every color palette (http://www.colourlovers.com/palettes), we might have to speed up the ipv6 migration.