skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Scientific Debugging or how to debug difficult bugs
Because you really need to understand how things work to debug them sometimes.
Personal example : flask-sqlalchemy binds the session lifecycle to the flask request lifecycle. 1 session <-> 1 request.

Now i've got celery tasks, and they're also using sqlalchemy, and all of the sudden, my celery tasks running on the same thread seem to keep the same session object for different tasks.

One solution (IIRC) was to create a new "fake" request context for each task, and then let sqlalchemy session bind to that fake request.

If i just plugged the flask-sqlalchemy module, i wouldn't have even known about session scopes, and would have looked at the celery bug with a blank stare.

Since flask is a micro framework it lets you customize those kind of things. But more importantly, it lets you LEARN about the issues in the first place. I think that's one of the major benefits of dealing with micro frameworks.
I did Space Camp a couple years after the movie came out. I'm still mad about getting stuck with being the Public Relations Officer in Ground Control on the shuttle mission at the end.
If you're comfortable, you're doing it wrong
I would have liked to see PyPy test for the sum function in the comparison.

Update:

Well this is interesting ;D

time python test.py

real	0m11.169s

user	0m11.141s

sys	0m0.022s

time pypy test.py

real	0m0.259s

user	0m0.239s

sys	0m0.018s

cat test.py
def python_sum(y):
N = len(y)
x = y[0]
for i in xrange(1,N):
x += y[i]
return x

python_sum(xrange(100000000))
I'm pretty sure that the distances are under 10 Km or 6 miles.
We called a sidecar for my 6'4" 250lb friend who was borderline blackout drunk, and were very amused when we had to help him into the Mazda Miata that arrived. Funny, but not ideal.
I've done the coffee shop thing and don't like it. The tables are small, the other people are loud and distracting, the music is often really annoying, and I end up drinking too much coffee.

I much prefer working from a quiet corner of the public library. The tables are larger (or you can get a private study carrel if you really need to focus), it's quiet, and I can browse the shelves when I need a break. As an added bonus, the wifi connection is often better (fewer people sharing)
> There are very few folks that can say they only drive 100 miles at any one time.

You mean, people who can say they will never drive more than 100 miles? Sure. But I also can't say I will _never_ need to transport my desk, bed and couch, but that doesn't mean I drive a U-Haul to work every day.

Most families in America have two cars. Keep the minivan and trade the sedan for an electric. You probably won't have to take the minivan out much. Or, if you want just one car, rent a giant Lexus SUV for trips. You'll still save money.
The point about green credits in interesting. I suspect you will find many people who argue that it should be considered a legitimate business strategy, and other who view it as an artificial market that could evaporate at any given time depending on the whims of congress.
I wasn't really sure what to expect, so I tried something that Google Maps gets correct: AOL in Palo Alto to Pier 39

I didn't feel like typing too much :) What service does it use?
The R18 e-tron sends the extra power to the front wheels (effectively making it a four wheel drive). I guess the rule was put in place to negate any advantage the R18 e-tron will have when cornering.

The other LMP hybrid is the Toyota TS030, their system applies the extra power at the rear only, and therefore Toyota can use the electric power at any speed (race reports of the 2012 24 hr of Le Mans said that the Toyota TS030 was eerily silent going down the pit road as it was running on pure electric power on pit stops).
I work from bed, that's the worst part of working from home.
The Sixty Million Dollar Decision
Select top 3 values from each group in a table with SQL
Your premise is demonstrably wrong

> Why is it hard? Because the founding idea of a single sandboxed standard for all platforms is unworkable in the real world. Not only does it mean all developers surrendering complete control to the people defining the standard (who also happen to be big players in many other related markets), it relies on the big players actually agreeing, which is often not in their interest.

The innovation in browsers and webapps is coming from the vendors each acting individually, and puling standards bodies along with them.

If you as a developer, are waiting around for them all to agree on any technology, before leveraging it, then you are just paralyzed. Develop against WebGL and asm.js now to get early mover advantages. If you wait for universal uptake, you'll never get anything done.
The reactions on the Flickr forums are heavily weighted against the redesign as well. There are lots of little problems I noticed (the links to fullscreen images on my feed would fullscreen a different image - fixed now), and hopefully they can run the problems down over the next few weeks. I'm equally aghast that their mobile website hasn't changed - come on guys. Overall, though, I really like it. I think it's a much more attractive public face.
Does anyone even see what car you arrive in to these things?
I think the web in 2013 has largely moved on from the notion that "everything must have a comment form below it".

It's definitely true that a lot of people don't put much energy into their comments, but when they do those comments can be very valuable. For example, I wrote a post about why physicians assistant or nursing school is a smarter choice for most people than med school (http://jseliger.wordpress.com/2012/10/20/why-you-should-beco...), and some of the comments are really good. Do I delete the dumbest? Yes. But the occasional really good comment outweighs the many really bad ones, at least in my experience.
Sure, but the extremely dismissive tone of "lol ugly" is not at all what I'd expect from a crowd interested in building great things.
Clearly not. We domesticated those plants thousands of years ago and they weren't enough to replace meat in most diets.

Maybe it's more a question of taste than health, but for whatever reason, animal protein has and always will be a major part of the human diet.
The MLB.com 404 error page
A new blooper-laden GIF shows up every time.
Writing as a competitive advantage
Most families in America have more than one car. In fact, 0 and 3 are the most popular numbers of cars to own! http://www.autospies.com/news/Study-Finds-Americans-Own-2-28... So EVs make a lot of sense as one of your cars, which you can use for commuting.
Completely agree with everything. That's also why I use readability ( https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/readability/oknpjj... ) which transforms the article I want to read into a very well designed and readable format. Just by pressing `.

In addition it has an Android app which is done very well. About 80% of the posts that I see here on HN, I simply safe for later and read at home in the garden with this app.
I wonder if Flickr API ToS is going to be updated. Last time I tried to integrate Flickr API, the rules were that you need special permission to use Flickr API for commercial use. I sent multiple emails and nothing happend.

Is this going to change?
Is this an advantage of Flask having modules over the single file Bottle framework, when apps evolve new features or use cases?
Here are some stats: 0.4-6.25%
http://ecomodder.com/wiki/index.php/Rear_wheel_skirts

It's highly dependent on speed.

Small gains can add up. I had a 75 minute commute for a while and ran some MPG experiments on my truck. Adding a wedge shaped tonneau cover, a chin spoiler, and inflating the tires more boosted my MPG from 18-26. It was ugly so I took them off and got distracted before I built them again.
It was much quieter and seemed to "roll" along at faster speeds.
How Lego Built The World's Biggest Star Wars Toy
Only in some jurisdictions. In most of the US, Software Engineer is not a regulated title. I believe Florida and Texas are the only exceptions.
Also a possibility.

Perhaps the people laid off were the most intelligent but least politically connected because they were focused on their work to the exclusion of water-cooler chatter.
I've been wondering why there hasn't been more energy piled on to fuel cell vehicles. They're EVs, but have far longer ranges and zero emissions. So far, only Honda's FCX is the fuel-cell vehicle on sale in the United States; there are no others.

It's very feasible; all you need to do is fill up with hydrogen, and considering hydrogen is so plentiful, it would be cheap, simple, and easy to generate infrastructure. Transport may be an issue due to the flammability of hydrogen, but there can and will be solutions to that.

Why bother with outdated Li batteries, when there are more efficient solutions out there?
Battle? What battle? This is an all-out flamewar reignited by the inventor of the format (of which he no longer has any control over).
Not the OP, but I'd say that for high temperatures it doesn't really matter if one uses Celsius or Kevin, and that's because 1 degree Celsius = 1 degree Kelvin. So, let's say that you have a reading of 800 Celsius, you just need to add ~ 270 to it if you want Kelvin. If I then get a second reading of 1200 Celsius I know for sure that it's 400 degrees higher compared to the first reading, no matter if I'm thinking Celsius or Kelvin.

For Fahrenheit things are not that straightforward
See: http://www.webcodeapp.com/documentation/beziers#RotatingBezi...

Also, we'll make rotations much more useful in future updates.
When your piece includes such stereotypical "unpopular high-schooler" catchprases as "Whatever. Their parties sound lame anyway," I think readers can be forgiven for inferring jealousy or insecurity.

I have about as much to do with Silicon Valley tech culture as I do with Tibetan monk culture (I have spoken to people in both, but am not involved in either), but even I couldn't help thinking that this sounds like a lot of sour grapes and unfulfilled schadenfreude.
This article makes no mention of spouse or kids, both of which can be major distractions. For adults, it's very hard to not see someone as "here" even though they are just down the hall; for kids - it's impossible. The compromise my wife and I have is that I take time during the day to help out around the house or run errands, but I make up the time at night.

Also, I pretty much have my headphones on all the time, which is not so different from when I worked in a real office.
This is the first time I have heard of Snow Fall - and no wonder - it's nothing new. A bunch of moving pictures and some text. I don't see how this is any different than sites with irritating flash video ads (or just video) on them - text plus video/moving pictures.

If I were someone at NYT, I would be flattered that someone took the time to replicate my stuff since it seems someone seems to think it's worth stealing/borrowing/copying/etc
Revealed: Apple’s “Offshore” Cash Isn’t Even Offshore
The success of these EVs may actually impact Tesla profitability: if Spark and LEAF sales take off in California, it means less of a market for the ZEV credits that Tesla sells. However, I doubt any mainstream manufacturer will have surplus ZEV credits to sell, like Tesla does--they'd have to sell more than 13% of their cars as electrics. Currently Nissan's sells only 2% of its cars as electric, worldwide.
Back-of-the-envelope, probably comparable to cutting and splitting firewood for heating.
It depends on why you watch F1. If you want to see the drivers constantly on the edge, kissing barriers, and interesting strategies Monaco is unbeatable. If the rain hits it's usually spectacular. If you want to see cars go fast and overtake quite easily then thanks to DRS and KERS every other race is better. I like both aspects of racing but I find Monaco even more special now that overtaking is so common in other races (due to DRS).
last update in 2009...

And I have tried uploading, its not convenient at all. I have switched to google+ auto backup cause, I don't care about super high resolution since I am not a photographer and my upload speed sucks, I don't have to worry about manually uploading (though its also possible and very convenient). I just set it and forget it, it works in the background. The UI is very very nice, probably the best out there at the moment.

If flickr continues to make minor tweaks and comes in par with google+ photo looks and if my upload speed ever improves then I might consider moving to flickr. I am still a paid flickr member since 2007.
i go for techno music to keep me focused on my work
In the case of the economist, it's pretty jarring to see a magazine normally full of facts and figures turn into a political hack job when it comes to covering US politics.

Bush comes into office with a balanced budget and a recession, passes a really big tax cut that brings us into deficits, they applaud. Passes an expensive an inefficient medicare expansion, they're silent.

Obama comes into office with a trillion dollar deficit and a near-depression on his hands, passes tax cuts and a stimulus bill while attacking healthcare costs, and he's "presiding over a spending problem". Nevermind that he's been cutting discretionary spending since 2010.

It's not that their biases don't align with mine -- it's that their biases are so transparently hacky that it destroys any credibility the rest of the magazine has.
Is Saul still involved at Makani? I haven't seen him mentioned in the news stories about the purchase and Makani is listed as one of the things he's done in the past on his website. The awesome things he could do at Google is one of the first things I thought of but haven't gotten any confirmation that he's going with the company.
The Connection Between VC and the Million Dollar Question
Every other article describing the nature of Bitcoin, if not all, mention how it is used to sell drugs online (Silk Road), transaction anonymity [as a facilitator of crime] and this one forgot to state how Bitcoin is apparently the preferred currency of dictators, as if oficial currencies are not being used, as i type this, and have been used over the ages to facilitate every crime in the book.

I think this is important because it may be transpiring a very bad image to the less informed, because i see Bitcoin as a tool, which will be used for wrong doing as any other. Wish i had the link to a recent article that bashed Bitcoin into oblivion.
It's already started: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230337920457747... Lawyers are being replaced by computers for doing pretrial document review. Currently only low-skill low-creativity jobs are being replaced, but that will expand over time.
>A parking lot is better than an empty lot.

Paving paradise, &c ;)
Charges weren't exactly dropped. She plead guilty in order to get into a diversion program and have her record sealed.
I had Disqus comments on my blog for a while. However, I noticed that the good discussions took place on Hacker News and Reddit.
I never thought about the peer-review aspect of this. Good point. Thank you for reminding me. :)
I've had lots of problems with the Mac uploader, fwiw. Huge CPU use, using less than 1/4 of my bandwidth, not adding to sets, uploading for a few minutes then simply stopping, uploading and then showing me dozens of errors that said a photo failed to upload (maybe one for each photo? I killed it before it had that chance) when in fact they did and were sitting in my photo stream...

The web uploader is way, way better in every way, and far faster, even with the problems I've had with it (if all photos aren't completely uploaded and processed, the 'upload' button tends to fail, but at least it fails atomically so I can just redo everything and not wonder what worked and what didn't).
Show HN: My first website, for my startup. To do pre-sales of VPS Instances.
Hi,

I don't know how to code, so my whole website is all text, and looks spartan.

But it includes the relevant content- shopping cart items & email waiting list.

Have a look & let me know what you think:
http://superspeedyservers.com/
What if natural resources are scarce?
That's still not a logical complement of what I said. I didn't say that only true ideas tend to spread quickly, or that they tend to spread more quickly than untrue ideas.
Hydrogen, being the smallest atom, tends to leak. For this and energy density reasons, the hydrogen must be cryogenically stored, at low temperature and high pressure. I don't think that nut has been cracked. Creating pure hydrogen cheaply and without CO2 emissions from the reformation process is also an unsolved problem, I think.
Interesting,I always expect the snub nose of these drags to add a lot of drag and keep expecting them to become more smooth and conical. But I'm sure these methods are more cost effective.
I didn't have the same takeaway. I believe his point is that SV is known for tech, and tech itself has been bountiful because it is free of so many market restrictions. Therefore SV has been able to thrive.

You cannot, for instance, buy a $10K CNC machine and start building production cars because you will find yourself mired in red tape for until you are completely broke and never ship a single unit. Because of that, Detroit, the place known for cars, never got to see any real innovation beyond what the established players could generate and eventually started to die out as a result. That is not a failing of Detroit, just a failing of the industry Detroit is known for.
Not everyone on HN lives in California.
Slow tests in your Rails app? Try a little isolation
that's really cool I never saw that before.
I agree - a thinly veiled slam against young adults and the changing nature of communications.

They're both somewhat in the wrong, yet the author should have been more mature in the approach as well as the blog post.
Clickable: http://superspeedyservers.com
You might be right. Another recent tweet from him: "All of our assets are still frozen without trial. Defending our case will cost USD 50M+. I want to fight to the end because we are innocent."
Ask HN: How do you test web UI/JavaScript?
We just set up QUnit, and it was kind of a difficult Google-fest to get working. On the UI side however, I haven't touched a UI framework since Selenium a while back.

What do you use to test UI/UX on the web?
Show HN: Tubalr is now on Android
Taskrabbit looks for more revenue with plans to shake up the temp industry
We have them at malls and at work here in Kitchener, Ontario. It's a small-ish town (200k people) in Canada, so if you're in a larger city in the USA I don't see why you wouldn't, too.
Id love to see / figure out their numbers.
Agree with most of his points. Unknowingly, my blog has followed the same kind of timeline. My current design is not quite minimal, but the content has nothing on the side, I don't have a huge header with a calendar and god knows what else. The worst thing I have is a single ad in the header, but this actually works quite well for content because usually the beginning of content will be at the upper-middle of your screen, where the eye is usually resting..

The one thing I disagree with is comments. Comments are hard to get right, but they're not replaceable by social media alone.
I vote for http://kickofflabs.com

I know both cofounders and have worked with them in the past. They're standup guys and provide great support too.
Because everything you said is wrong?

Honda FCX has range of only 170 miles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_FCX

And you don't start with a full tank every morning, like you do with a battery electric.

Telsa Model S? Over 200:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Model_S

Hydrogen in pure form is not available and must be refined from other sources (typically natural gas).

Fuel cells cost more than battery packs and require very expensive infrastructure to support them (since you can't charge at home, there have to be plenty of stations around).
Too big for its boot? IT industry in US makes more money than Entertainment Industry. IT industry is the top field in this country via the sheer amount of money we make. Yet we have very little influence in Washington. We are just a bunch of nerds and geeks. Download a public file that someone shouldn't have made world readable, you get prosecuted and jailed. Damn nerds! We have been bare feet for too long. We don't even have boots, let alone get too big for our boots. IT needs to lobby the hell out of DC, lobby/bribe, whatever they call it. The laws being passed should be passed on behalf of our industry, not to protect dying industries.
Hehe, going from A123 to B456 is hilariously uncreative. It serves the purpose though, it's quite easy to see the connection.
A pivot of cash
While I appreciate the promotion of contrarian thought and motivating people to think different, act different, dare to be different, these example do not look at all to me contrarian. At best one could argue, that they identify existing phenomenons that were repackaged into a scalable, investable product.

AirBnB: normal people would never be willing to rent out their place--or a single room in their place--to strangers.

B&Bs have been around forever. Roomsharing, Couchsurfing, etc. The idea has been around for a long time, just not as a scalable platform.

Tutorspree: Having a human being on the other end radically reduced the time needed to set up tutoring

Well sure, maybe it is by now "contrariant" for tech companies that a decent phone support can resolve problems quicker and is better for customer retention than online support ticket systems...

FlightCar: Travelers get a free car wash, and don't have to pay $18/day for airport parking.

I like the idea, but it seems to me just a frequent flier version of similar peer-to-peer car sharing systems (RelayRides, Getaround, etc).
The Wrap Cord: a better MacBook extension cord
Usually not. I haven't been going to red carpet things lately </sarcasm>
All what you need to know about working with text in PHP
Free ideas for Hacker News
From the very first paragraph:

"It'll first be available in California and Oregon in mid-June as a 2014 model, and at some future point, GM will roll it out in other states and countries."

Of course they only mention California incentives, since Californians will represent 91% of the potential market.
Why we're building Loom
As I mentioned elsewhere[0], I've had lots of problems with their Mac uploader. I'd heartily recommend sticking with the web upload until it's updated, or using some third party tool (if you have tons, this might be the best option - web is limited to 200 at a time, not resumable if something goes wrong).

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5758033
In practicality you can lease this car for free. Using $4+/gallon of gas and with daily commute I did the math (with the leaf, but this should even be a tad better) and the savings (gas price - electric charging bills) we would be saving about $200/month. And this is using our old Honda (which gives decent gas mileage ). Which makes this car free compared to a decent petroleum-based car.
I didn't realize this, but this is a Persona client library not a Persona server. Not sure why I confused them, but figure it was worth mentioning.
Absolutely give it a shot. I agree with only travelling on the weekends -- you don't want to scramble to find somewhere to work (that has Internet access!).

The most important aspect is being ready to work and actually doing the work when the time comes.

In fact, if you're remote, then I would be hesitant to tell them that you're travelling (unless you need to be on-call).