skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
> If he was a systems admin, there were undoubtedly other system admins around to keep an eye on each other.

Of course. The question is are sys-admins as effective at watching other sys-admins as they are at watching regular users? It seems reasonable that they are not, if only because sys-admins are more skilled than other users. Sys-admins likely also implicitly trust other sys-admins more than other users, not intentionally of course, but enough to bias their ability to see things.
Serialise and deserialise any Java object to Shared Preferences in Android
Warrantless metadata requests are legal in Australia
Ask HN: Backdoors everywhere?
Does the innumerable places that backdoors could be hiding scare anyone else?
- Compilers[1]
- Networking appliance firmware
- Operating systems
- Security-critical software (I'm looking at YOU, OpenSSL and OpenSSH)

Something else that is rather disturbing is the fact that each and every one of those could lead to the others

Malicious software updates through network appliances and bugged compilers are the less-thought-about two of that list, and they're all the more frightening.

A few have been caught in Sendmail[2], IRC servers[3] (no big surprises there), FTPds[4], the Linux kernel[5], etc.

How many (if any) does HN think slipped through the cracks?

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backdoor_%28computing%29#Reflections_on_Trusting_Trust
[2] http://www.securityfocus.com/news/1113
[3] https://lwn.net/Articles/392201/
[4] http://www.iss.net/security_center/reference/vuln/FTP_ProFTPD_Backdoor.htm
[5] http://www.securityfocus.com/news/7388
There is no reason why Go can't quickly catch up with Java. It's memory model is better suited to optimization vs. JVM.
I think if you look at all the comments I've made on this thread (I'm not asking you to, just saying), you'll see that I agree that there is data any American might want to hide in their telephone calls or emails. The issue is that NSA doesn't want that data, and that FISA was designed to prevent data from being used the way you say it could be.

Long-term storage of data is certainly a valid issue. Of course, under FISA, NSA is obliged to "destroy" all data they accidentally collect that can't be traced to a specific foreign intelligence purpose.
That's just a "for instance"; medical records are in theory better protected that most types of data, and I was pointing out a way it might be Hoovered up vs. of course it being specifically accessible through something such as a NSL.

A lot of this has to do with how this data can be abused, e.g. for political purposes; in this case, it's almost certainly nothing to worry about, but there are many cases where there are damn good reasons for privacy.
It's entirely possible on VirtualBox, but it requires you to have a similar processor to an existing Mac, and some additional wizardry. I can verify it works for some virtualization software through at least Snow Leopard...not sure about Lion and beyond (but probably).
Have you stayed there?
Startpage.com - the world's most private search engine
Actually I liked this: "We fought a revolution over issues like generalized warrants, where soldiers would go from house to house, searching anything they liked."

The traditional narrative that youngsters in the US are taught is that the revolution was fought over taxes, but if you closely read the declaration of independence, that's not really the bulk of the argument. Historically speaking, it was violations of personal freedoms and the "home is a man's castle" principles that rankled the colonists the most.
Speaking of ‘Palestinians’, meaning Muslims residing in historic Palestine, is anti-Semitic. There are Palestinian Jews, Christians, Muslims, atheists, etc. It’s about an area of origin, not a religion or a race. The label has been hijacked to create a false history of Muslims in the area. Please remember that Islam is a relatively young religion compared to Judaism and Christianity.
It's not an independent nation within Australia's borders. It's a bit of showmanship to turn a few bucks on merchandising.
I don't want to keep secrets of public works from any of you. The people in the govt are there to do things we chose to do for everyone.

If it's a problem to know where all the subs are and what they are doing in my name, then I have a problem.

I don't personally want the launch codes for the missiles, but I want to know who has them, what the policy is for using them, when they are used (each and every time), what was targeted, who was hurt, what the damage was, how much it cost to build them, keep them, use them, and dispose them.

The military serves at everyone's behest, not of their own accord.
The gradients are only problematic if interpreted as lighting. If merely decorative, no problem. Note that almost all of the gradients involve hue shifts.

The spacing of the balloons is actually clever. Balloons from one party are closer spaced than balloons from different parties. I prefer space around the text to space around the balloons.

I agree that the calculator et. al. Could be customizable. That aside, it's more or less the same controls as before but using more screen real estate rather than requiring flicking between screens. I think it's a serious improvement.
Thunderbolt was co-developed with Intel.
Ask HN: Why am I getting 402 Payment Required on HN?
I recently launched a Hacker News app for Windows Phone and now my API is getting 402 Payment Required from Hacker News. The API is using the exact same code as @cheeaun's http://node-hnapi.herokuapp.com. I merely cloned his API and deployed it to my own Heroku instance, to avoid using up his bandwidth.

Any idea why this is happening? I find it odd that Hacker News would be returning a 402 if they decided to block my app as opposed to 401/403.
"The American government, and its democracy, are flawed institutions. But our system offers legal options to disgruntled government employees and contractors. They can take advantage of federal whistle-blower laws; they can bring their complaints to Congress; they can try to protest within the institutions where they work. But Snowden did none of this."

So, when the system has rationalized these violations of basic rights to itself through legal gymnastics all in the name of security, Toobin suggests we turn to the system itself for relief? Either he doesn't understand the scope of the issue, or he's a shill for interested parties.

Honestly, though, I've never taken Toobin seriously.
If it's happening, it's a bug.
Bug #1 (liberation) “Microsoft has a majority market share”
Canada's WAFU Inc. Closes First Ever United States Equity Crowdfunding Round
If it's a problem to know where all the subs are and what they are doing in my name, then I have a problem.

I'm glad you aren't in the Department of Defense, then.

The military serves at everyone's behest, not of their own accord.

This is a false dichotomy.
Why exactly do we still need nuclear subs?

I'm not trying to be a troll, or funny. What threat is currently best dealt with by deploying ICBMs in nuclear subs? And why is the money better spent on that than on any other alternative use?
Please note that I didn't say "Play", I said "app store" and my parent said "app store equivalent". Amazon Appstore falls under both umbrellas.
It can only be places that inspire them near their offices, so expect a good stream of Californian and Chinese names. Probably mostly Chinese given that most of the sweatshops are there.
It looks like http://www.magma.com/expressbox-3t http://www.sonnettech.com/product/echoexpresschassis.html http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Thunderbolt/PCIe_Chassis/Merc...
Honestly, I'm at a loss for words. I feel like I'm stuck in a life imitating art moment (with Orwell painting the picture).
I sometimes imagine what the US political system would look if all elected positions were "nonpartisan". What if voters had to listen to what politicians were actually saying without the blinders of "Red Team" or "Blue Team"?
Apple's app store review "process" is complete bullshit, but this kind of weather app already exists for iOS and Android, and has for a couple years or more.

I've installed probably 4 or 5 of them between the two platforms, all with beautiful high-def animations, etc. (and uninstalled all of them, since I find the simpler WeatherBug to be more than adequate for me).
Yup, I've run OSX as a vmWare guest on Windows. It's possible and it works.
What was closed about Windows was the source code for the kernel as well as libraries and APIs. As a very strong supporter of Free Software, this was a huge part of what I railed (and still rail) against.

In terms of the ability to run random bits of code on it, Windows was highly open. Perhaps too open when you take into account not only malware, viruses, and spyware, but the various crapware/bloatware OEMs would pile onto their Windows preloads.

Arguably some Linux distros, with their comprehensive archives, though with rules for what could or couldn't be installed (based on licensing requirements) were more "locked down", though in truth you're more than open to install third party from sources, as binaries, or any other means you care. In practice, I prefer sticking largely to my distro's own archives and installation tools, precisely because the software is both more vetted and generally behaves far better.

So, no, your criticism really isn't valid.
Why Jony Ive Is Flattening iOS 7
The IMEI is more then just the device make/model. It's more akin to a MAC address. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mobile_Station_Eq...

Which is essentially like having a device finger print that's authenticated by VZW's towers. It's essentially their unique key to map data too, removing much the anonymity. Additionally Verizon knows which accounts have what IMEI's activated at any given time.
Personally, I don't really like the hue shift. It's kind of jarring in my mind, since I am used to using gradients more subtly.

I never really thought about the spacing between balloons in a group message between different people (is that how it works?), and if that's so, then I guess that makes sense. Though, the spacing still is odd looking to me-- maybe I'm just claustrophobic.
yeah. i think same model as tinder, ie each person has to opt in.
Interesting that Siri, doesn't know what Google is?? Looks like Bing is going to make some traction amongst search engines.
Yeah, it's a bit amusing isn't it, that everybody these days equates "Ayn Rand" and "Libertarians" as though her philosophy and libertarianism were one and the same... Certainly many libertarians find Rand inspirational (I do, for one) but as you say, she was no fan of libertarians at all.
I gave your rhetorical question a real answer; it's clear you expected none. Now you're responding like an 18th-century royalist might to someone citing the precedent of Athenian democracy. I've had enough of this exchange.
Reliability is still the problem for me. On iPhone, I frequently find download speeds ridiculously slow (on WiFi and LTE), and sometimes songs won't load at all. On iTunes on Windows 7, I frequently have auth issues, where it will gray out all or most of my library and require me to locate the files locally in order to play them. For the latter, the only fix I've found is to sign in and out and/or reconnect iTunes Match.
> Just out of curiosity, what is it about your relative's blood test that you don't want the NSA to know about?

This is the wrong question. The right question is, "what is it about your relative's blood test that you don't want the NSA, or anybody else in the government, or any contractor or lobbyist the government is persuaded to share this data with, now or at any point in the future, essentially in perpetuity, to know about?"

And the answer is, of course, "I don't know".

I don't know if Obamacare will die an ugly death and insurance companies will successfully lobby for absolutely anything establishing genetic prior conditions.

I don't know if, in 50 years, the government will decide to, say, demonize Jews and go hunting for Ashkenazi DNA indicators in their databases and go after the families they can find with them.

I don't know if a genetic predisposition to homosexuality, haemophaelia, a positive test for AIDs or herpes or ginger hair will one day be used against me or my descendants by some future mob.

And that's why privacy is important.
Frankly, outside of a keynote with an audience expecting to be impressed, I doubt a weather app would get a thunderous reception.

At the end of the day, that is just a weather app with cool graphic and the guy reviewing apps probably sees a shit ton of those per week. It would take something significant or sufficiently unconventional for him to start a buzz inside Apple.

(BTW: not criticising the guy, he is a dedicated developer and Apple let him down. But let's keep stuff in perspective)
Looking forward to seeing https://news.layervault.com/ doing code reviews.
China and Russia.
I don't know why you're getting downvoted, this is an objective trend that you're pointing out and it's a legitimate basis to use for predicting the style of any future Apple device. A company's product launches aren't discrete probabilistic events like tosses of a coin -- they tend to follow patterns...

[Edit]: Man, I didn't even say I supported/cared about this manufacturing aspect (hint: I don't) and I'm already getting downvoted... Considering all the controversial things I've said on this site that hadn't earned me a negative score before, this doesn't exactly shed a positive light on Apple proponents. It's OK to not care about a certain aspect/political issue, but the guy's argument was a sound one, at least give him/her that much.
I don't think that's double tapping, I think it's just not picking up taps properly while the items are still in motion due to the momentum in the scroll. The first time he seems to be able to single tap.
128 very expensive GB.
Defcon 19: Adam Baldwin - Pillaging DVCS Repos For Fun And Profit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tq8tUDKUH0
The thing about nuclear terrorism is that it has nothing to do with terrorism and everything to do with capturing loose nukes. Al Qaeda isn't going to build a nuclear bomb. States can barely manage it. Which means as long as you keep the nukes locked up you don't have to worry about what Al Qaeda would do if they got one.

Also, given that the most rational reason to steal a nuclear weapon is to sell it, it goes a long way to just be the highest bidder. And Uncle Sam is going to outbid Al Qaeda every day of the week. There is a reason that terrorists have never detonated a nuclear weapon.
> Given the current trends it's overwhelmingly likely that someone will eventually be detained, harassed or put on a no-fly list due to past comments on HN.

This is sarcastic, right?
I wish them luck. Personally, I think they're going to have a very hard time pulling this off. I'll be keeping a close eye them though since I know the couple.

No cheating Austin and Beccy ;)
I agree the spacing could be adjusted a hair. I don't care for several of the gradients either, but I don't see them as lighting so mich as someone's idea of decoration. Note that the non gradient icons are mainly white or black backgrounds.
Rdio lets you sync songs / albums locally onto your mobile device and then doesn't require a connection to play them. Not sure if other services have similar features.
To be fair (and I am by no means a Rand Paul fan) this argument it tu quoque. Yes, the quote you have given suggests hypocrisy. The core argument of NSA/CIA overreach is still a sound one, though.
It's pretty simple to use.

Saving objects:
Animal animal = new Animal("Lassie", "Dog");
DroidPrefs.instance(context).put("key", animal).apply();

Loading objects:
Animal animal = DroidPrefs.instance(context).get("key", Animal.class);
If only we could get great quality text on all OSX retina display's now.. All my apps lag behind with blurry text on my macbook pro
I think just attach files full of random noise to emails.
No, but I've heard stories.
"Nothing to hide" fails by the simple application of time. What qualifies as worthy of hiding or not changes over time, sometimes drastically and suddenly. By the time this happens, it's too late to undo whatever you did that was considered perfectly appropriate at the time, and as unfair as it may be to blame someone for that, people WILL go after them for it. It happens every time.

Will this happen to you? Maybe, maybe not. Unless you can foretell the future, the only safe way to go is to assume that it will.
As opposed to the Generic Blue Square icons Apple used for everything previously?

iOS < 7 had totally non-distinctive icons for Safari, Mail, App Store, Weather and Stocks. I don't think a lack of distinction compared to previous editions is a valid complaint here.
Thank you so much for pointing this out, apparently a lot of people missed this point. The topic of this discussion shouldn't be setting out to prove that the OP was not the first to bring this kind of app to the table, but rather how (un)justified it was to be rejected.
Apple's iOS 7: The iPhone and iPad are changing everything ... again
Thus far it seems like Mr. Snowden has taken the utmost precaution in maintaining OPSEC while releasing these documents. I wouldn't be surprised if he was long gone from Hong Kong days ago or never there to begin with.
Do you support the violent overthrow of the government? Many people would die.
logged into HN for the first time in a _long_ while just to up this.
That was my first thought. It looks like a first attempt by someone trying to learn Flat UI. For some reason, it just looks a bit to kludgy for me.
Not really; strict constitutionalists can still say that the government should never infringe on amendments 1...8,10, and if it can intrude even less (ie. add more rights) then that's great. In fact, I think that was the whole point of writing the constitution that way.
NSA just a cover up for S.H.I.E.L.D. the international espionage agency watching all of us around the world. :(
It seems that readers are misunderstanding what bothers me about this mess. If we are this upset about it, we should be pushing to reform the Patriot Act (etc.) not down voting my comment about the lack of privacy in social networds. We should be making our Google, Facebook, Tweeter, etc. accounts safer, by demanding security and privacy and by ourselves taking steps to achieve that privacy.
You can get VMWare Workstation to run Mountain Lion if you have Intel hardware. It's a bit harder for other hardware.

It ran pretty well last time I ran it, good enough for iOS testing.
They're not even related...
re:preserving format: it does not, unfortunately. Anything non-mp3 is transcoded to 320kbs mp3, and the original copy is not stored.

Any metadata that doesn't fit into their system is also lost in the process.
Fair enough. Writing is actually kind of hard, and we should have some leeway in word choice and in forming our narratives without being constantly accused of egoism.

My wife is a designer, and her job involves lots of rigor even if her role is classified as creative (10% creativity, 90% perspiration!). I'm willing to give a pass to anyone who says a professional design involved "deep intellectual rigor" even if the design has yet to be evaluated by the marketplace.
Don't even have to leave the building to buy hashish.
Ask: what are the biggest problems being solved by companies in the valley?
I don't think this is the solution at all. There needs to be transparency and changes to the law. With the current laws you may be required to decrypt and provide that sensitive data anyway or you may face some penalties.
Mysterious Monument Found Beneath the Sea of Galilee
J. Edgar Hoovered?
Http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/android-poised-take-over-world
Emerging markets are just about ready for an infusion of smartphones and tablets, and Android appears to have a head-start on its competitors.
Or iTerm 2.
I wonder how classical music compares to pop songs of today in terms of educational and musical value. Is there even a way to measure this?
Come back when the government stops ordering service providers to provide information and insert intercept technologies whether or not they want to and whether or not you've contracted with them not to.
Nuclear submarines typically refer to submarines that are nuclear powered, not submarines that carry nuclear missiles. Although some submarines do carry ICBMs.
The two main arguments in this article are that Snowden isn't a hero because he hasn't released any information that everyone didn't already know, and that Snowden isn't a hero because what he did was a crime. The former is ludicrous; the latter is the whole freaking point and the reason people call him a hero.
You enjoy secret wars in your name, cool. That's not what I would call a functional society.

It's not a dichotomy, let alone a false one. Please explain your objection.
This is why you use open source software.
This is more what surprises me--the lack of some slow, calculated migration off of PHP and to something like Node, almost anything JVM based, etc (since yeah, a full rewrite of any codebase is almost always crazy).

I'm in a similar legacy Java boat at my own work and doing quite a bit of the "okay, what small piece can we handle" at a time style replacement.
Are those really not dealt with via ICBMs? Why do we need the capacity to destroy them 20x over within 25 minutes when 1x with 3 hours notice would suffice? It seems like the downside risk of rogue actors or accidents causing a nuclear holocaust far outweighs the benefits of additional weapons at the margin.
The icon backgrounds now look largely redundant. Apple could have done better by getting rid of the backgrounds altogether like Android.
To be fair, this is the first time Apple's tried flat UI :P
What argument would you present which would be intended to persuade me to tell someone?
All of the articles are about Apple's proprietary lock-in and difficulty in making your own repairs. This definitely looks like more proprietary form factors and parts to me - I think it's safe to say this will be a definite downgrade in terms of an iFixit score.
I think some people get tired of repeated comments by geek-liberal activists coming out of the woodwork to attack Apple, when, in reality, very few people share their particular perspective. "Ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system!"
Show HN: Rooster - An SMS service that messages you the forecast every morning
I'm certain that the US government is able to easily track someone traveling on their own legitimate passport. So that kind of ruse makes no sense.

It's sort of a shame he didn't travel to the EU, as I suspect he'd get better support from most countries and would be able to travel in the EU without a passport.
Astronaut Chris Hadfield retires
In the world outside of the NSA news cycle....
It's unfortunate that he believes the government should control a woman's uterus, which is an even more serious invasion of privacy and more likely to cause harm than this data collection.
There are an absurd number of things that it makes sense for the government to keep from the public and not divesting that information but keeping the people who have that information accountable is what elections are for.

You want to know what officers are working under cover in the police force? Who are informants on terrorist organizations working against the state? The home phone numbers and addresses of all public employees? Their emergency contact numbers? Medical histories relevant to their jobs? One can go on and on.

Demanding better of elected officials makes sense, crippling the capacity of government to do kinds of work that it has to do does not.
Sad story, but I think it's being blown out of scale. In the comments on his post, he linked to the app's teaser site: http://www.horizonapp.com

I really don't see how this app could "confidently" stand up to the new Weather.app
I can't stop the local government from looking at my data if it wants to. I can stop the US government from looking at it. Wich is more trustworth isn't a relevant question.
Wiretap: big ears of Ottawa (FR - Google Translate)