skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I don't agree on the credibility part. In my opinion they quite often write sensational judgemental stories, at least on local topics.

Also they rarely indicate their sources. Same with this article. No source, nothing.

If a viral story (though there's no direct mention of Prism, the NSA etc, the 'related articles' are all about this and it's clear that it's the same topic) was their aim: Mission accomplished. Not only the massive traffic from HN, but also more than 3 times as many Facebook shares for this article as the next-most-shared-one.

There are some critical comments on the site, which are blocked and removed quickly by the moderators (have seen this a couple of times now).
Show HN: Scan machines and automatically generate Puppet recipes
A 50"? How close do you sit to that? I have a 27" Dell which is a beautiful monitor and a couple of 24" monitors - but I'd probably just get 2 or 3 x 24" next time, I find the 27 a bit big, 50" I'd find overwhelming.
I fail to see how you managed to make a connection to "Ayn Rand-ish libertarianism" and why you think many people in government believe in it. Don't libertarians dislike government?
It's probably the most harassing airport in Europe. I haven't been to all airports but I've been to many (>50) and Shiphol was the worst. Still better than the US though, if you're an EU citizen at least.
ECHELON is a global communications interception system, created by the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to routinely and indiscriminately monitor and record all forms of electronic communications worldwide both military and civilian and overseen by the National Security Agency. Designed during the cold-war, ECHELON primarily intercepts worldwide non-military communications, including those from governments, organizations, businesses and individuals. It could intercept practically any communication between countries anywhere in the world. The project ECHELON receiving system thieves this streams of millions of communications every hours to massive rez of computers. These computers decrypt messages when necessary, than when required utilize optical character recognition or advanced voice recognition techniques to extract words from each message. Every message captured is analysed for keywords or phrases found in the ECHELON dictionary. Keywords include all the names, places, code words or subjects that might be of interest. There are second search lists for each member country. Messages acquired at any of the receiving posts, containing requested keywords are automatically past on to intelligence organizations requesting those keywords. Those messages are flagged for further analysis. ...and ray of receiving stations collect all international communications carried by approximately 20 INTELSAT satellites. The INTELSATs are used by telephone companies of most countries. Thou they carry primarily civilian traffic, they also carry diplomatic and governmental communications. These INTELSATs are positioned in the stationary orbit around the equator and carry tens of thousands of simultaneous phone-calls, faxes and e-mails.
Anyone have a pulse of Congress to know if "PRISM" has become politically toxic enough to warrant change? I'm guessing that if PRISM has SOPA level public distain that real change can happen. If the majority of Americans are shrugging at this, any announced changes may be superficial.
Because not everyone is running a server cabinet filled to the brim with high performance kit and a gigabit internet connection. A lot of small companies have limited resources and limited experience and it turns out that peer level file sharing is the easiest way to do what they need, which is share files between themselves.
As Bruce Schneier points out in his book Beyond Fear humans are very bad at assessing risk accurately. Ask yourself how scared are you of terrorist attacks vs. heart disease.

Notice how the government is putting much more money into the terrorist attack threat then the heart disease threat?

Here are some of the reasons why people are so bad and assessing risk: http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/08/five_neglects_...

(note finding the actual risk of death by heart disease vs terrorist attack is left to the reader...you might be surprised)
Change! There's a masterful political campaign centerpiece if I ever saw one. Obama's recent comments re: PRISM: "I'm not against change". How vacuous.
Agreed - having read up a bit on how it works I have to say that its a pretty neat trick.
Running great on Chrome 28.0.1500.36 beta, Linux 3.8.13 with AMD catalyst version 12.6.
Also working in Firefox 21.0, albeit with about half the fps.
Legalistically speaking, he hasn't broken a single promise
Made in this speech.
I'm not really sure why you've been down-voted for this?

I agree - I can't imagine a scenario whereby these large scale systems are switched off. Even if we are told they have been switched off or the data destroyed, how would we (as everyday folk) ever verify this?
This lawyer is a known figure in Norway and not some guy looking for his fifteen minutes of fame. He has defended people on terrorism charges in Norway before, and gotten them acquitted on those charges (while other lesser charges still stuck).

On his twitter, he claims that the US embassy doesn't know why his visa was revoked, only that "Homeland security's computers" are telling them it's revoked.

This is then connected to NSA leak by journalists. He is still waiting for a proper explanation from the US embassy.
Yes, most of the confusion is the author's misunderstanding of how arrays work in JS, combined with his tool not showing everything he put into the array.

You're correct that arrays are objects, which means they consist key/value pairs. Keys must be strings; values can be anything. So when you say `a[0] = 3;`, JS converts that to `a["0"] = 3;` and stores `{ "0": 3 }`.

So all those "funny" examples the author provides are just variants on converting an expression to a string. For example, `a[typeof a] = 4` is equivalent to `a["object"] = 4` (or `a.object = 4`) because `typeof a` is "object".

There's one wrinkle on this, though: objects and arrays aren't exactly the same thing. Arrays are a special kind of object, as far as JS is concerned. JS maintains a special "length" property for arrays. It doesn't do that for other objects.

(The same applies to JS functions and Regexes. They're objects, but they're special kinds of objects that can do things regular objects can't.)
NSA and GCHQ are but 2 on a long list of government intelligence agencies with exceptionally skilled individuals. It is madness to believe that even if you moved to a fully neutral location [if you can find one] you wouldn't be compromised for the information you store, through agents/moles/whatever or otherwise.
Please don't let us peasonts separate the wheat from the chaff on HN.

That's the fundamental premise of this site. If you aren't satisfied with the content then browse /newest and upvote and comment on the content that appeals to you.
No it hasn't. And they'll have to budge, or go out. Too much money has been put (It's the tax-payers money) and value gained (doesn't it sound like finding terrorists this way is as bad as finding the next superstar for Hollywood?) is near-negligible in contrast to the value eroded: trust that's been destroyed - particularly in Internet companies - both inside and outside of US. Think again.

> Our only choice is to accept this and live in the knowledge that we are always being watched, or go as dark as the modern world currently permits without hindering day to day life.

You sound low here, but if the above were true then it'd mean that people are willing to live under a dictator too. That's simply untrue.
You could apply the same logic to Obama's tenure as president, but we all know he can resign any time.
What annoys me is that just watching the various government agencies, IRS, NSA, FBI, and others, is that there is a pattern of not telling the public the truth, they lie to Congress as well.

How is it that our own government agencies can lie to Congress with near impunity? It is like disrespect has become second nature to government. They do not respect us nor do they respect other agencies within the same.

Too big to fail, too big to jail, applies to government now.
Virtual Screenshot Manager - Searches and Manages all your screenshot at 1 place
I actually mostly read the stories directly in my email client, and only then I may now and then check the commenst on specific stories. Like tptacek said, reading all comments is a good recipe for hypertension and since HN has become more or less very prone to flamewars et all.
I know nothing about Persona. I have never used, and I have not read anything about it. But that much is clear to me: the communication between you and the Persona provider can happen very much over an encrypted channel, but the data in the Provider is not encrypted with a key which you only know. The Persona provider has the data in the open (except passwords, which are hashed)

This whole fiasco has shown a weakness in the system which was there all the time, but little acknowledged: it is not about encrypting communications anymore. The eavesdropping risk is well understood and there are technologies available to get rid of it (SSL, SSH tunnels, whatever). But now we need to encrypt the data everywhere. Nobody can be trusted with the data anymore because the government can be accessing that data, and they do not need to eavesdrop: they just need to send a letter and implicitly threaten with litigation and imprisonment to obtain whatever data they want.

This makes the technological solutions much more challenging, and some services can probably not be provided. How does Facebook provide services to their users if the data they have must be encrypted and they can not access it? How to share with friends photos if they are encrypted? Maybe creating ad-hoc group passwords to share data? I do not know, it is difficult.
Working with Struts application using Tiles
and the Iraqi government... no, forget it.
If

var a = [1, 2, 3]
a == a

Returned false, it would by screwy. In this case the == operator behaves like the `is` operator in Python when comparing lists.
la résistance
How many American people does the USA kill a day/month/year?

Drone attacks happen in the US too, but I think kills using the electric chair also count. I believe that these figures reveal the face behind the mask of the friendly Government.
PEigthP - A Lisp interpreter written in PHP
Eyes-on: Oculus Rift VR headset ramps up the resolution | PCWorld
I like how they ask you to send your SSN via e-mail. I mean, electronic e-mail.
Eh, quite the opposite actually. Even pre-ICS Android made me feel like I could actually do something with the OS. I could completely change the way it looked by simply downloading a new homescreen from the store. iOS feels like being locked in jail, in comparison.
I think you should be even more outraged about the fact that Congress doesn't really seem to care that they lied to them. Because if that continues, then we have a pretty big problem here.

Where are all the impeachments and swift punishments from Congress? By not punishing them, it just makes it ok for the next guy to do it.
"Most can’t afford to write two separate interfaces. (It’s a terrible idea anyway.)"

Why? If the newcomers can afford to write an interface for iOS7, the established players also can. If there is money in it for newcomers, there is money in it for established players too. This article assumes that established players are dumb. They will estimate how users adopt iOS7 over time, and act accordingly.
First of all, the only thing that makes this story interesting is whether or not the officers had access to the _private_ FB messages, as compared to her public profile.
Her being sent back for lying about her intentions to work was a correct decision.
As it is, the story (I'm reading the native German version) is very vague on the Facebook issue. I find it rather unlikely that immigration officials are sitting at every point of entry into the US with a massive folder of facebook printouts of everyone arriving on a plane. I'm almost certain there's more to this story (like, maybe she applied for a Student or Work Visa, which was refused for some reason, and then again applied as a tourist immediately after, which caused her to be flagged). Without that info, and without knowing what kind of data they actually got from Facebook, this whole discussion is moot.
By the way, he was Econtalk this monday: http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/06/schneier_on_pow.htm...

My favorite part: "We don't say that pigs kill more people than terrorists every year."
lol, it sounds as a joke until you realize it could work
try http://ecosia.org or http://startpage.com or http://duckduckgo.com or http://blekko.com

I often visit ecosia and hope I could do more than that to recover & save the rain forest.

Keep in mind that bing.com is the same as google.com regarding surveillance.
The US did sign this as a treaty. But yes that is why in Europe most of these rights were signed into law as the European Convention on Human Rights, which adds a court to enforce them. They did remove some like the right to democracy, bizarrely.
A New FDA for the Age of Personalized, Molecular Medicine
Am I reading this right:

"Unplayable videos on smartphone devices. Many websites embed videos in a way that works well on desktops but is unplayable on smartphone devices. For example, if content requires Adobe Flash, it won't be playable on an iPhone or on Android versions 4.1 and higher"

So if your site has flash content and no mobile friendly version you're penalized, well isn't this in essence saying you're being penalized to use flash because almost no one who uses flash has a non-flash version. I don't use flash, but a lot of sites do. Yes it's more for media but where and how exactly is that line drawn....

PS: I think it's a good idea to penalize search results that redirects to the home page for mobile users. You find what you're looking for in google, then can only go to the landing page and good luck fr there. It's just silly.
I totally agree that yet another article about Elon Musk, "silver bullet workflow" and "new stuff that compiles to Javascript and then to JVM" are much more important for any startup founder than events that can shape what the digital landscape and the internet will look like in the next 20 years.
The global influence of iOS 7’s design language
> Everybody's happy except democracy.

I could just up-vote you anonymously but I would rather say in person that this quotation tickles me pink and that I am going to steal it.
"De Telegraaf" may not be a reliable source, but even members of parliament are asking questions. Apparently the Dutch government is preparing a massive internet interception program. See: https://www.bof.nl/2013/06/10/nederlandse-overheid-broedt-op.... Sorry, but Google Translate does not translate HTTPS urls.
I think you underestimate the number of Americans who get their news from the Internet. That video was everywhere. I saw and heard a number of mainstream reports that sampled from it directly as well.

Sure, a majority of Americans won't have seen it, but a majority don't give a crap about this kind of thing at all. I would say that for most people who were paying attention, the video had an impact.
Hahahaha that almost took me a second... nice! :D
> not change for the sake of change (a la Windows 8).

Congratulations on your award for Most Stupid Remark on HN, fanboy division

> the new OS looks great

The old OS looked great. Even if you didn't like it, it showed an immense amount of taste. Designers are complaining because the new version, very obviously, doesn't.
Show HN: Readable source diffs and code cross-referencing
“I don’t desire to enable the Bradley Manning argument that these were released recklessly and unreviewed,”
By the way, I could never figure out how some sites disable zoom on the iphone? Anyone know?

(I'd love to write a bookmarklet to re-enable zoom)
Reminds me of this image: http://i.imgur.com/nAyRx6i.jpg
The only one problem is that you can clear or modify your browser history - whereas the NSA keeps everything. So that makes things a little more difficult :P
FOIAing the NSA: What you can get, what you can't and where to start
But the fact is that they haven't upgraded, regardless of whether that's due to unwillingness or due to unavailability. Willingness to upgrade doesn't matter if you can't upgrade; you're still stuck on the old version.
Tell me a way to delete my data on facebook, afaik there isn't one. Not even the way of going through the law and legal system. I live in europe, but even that doesn't help.

I considered using an exploit to remove some data, but that would shot in my head. And it's patched now anyway
What purpose do comments as these serve to you? Encourage other people to be sheep? Such a small minded attitude to have, if you ask me. And insulting to all the people throughout history that time after time have sought to bring change, successfully and unsuccessfully. We all have pessimistic attitudes, but to make pointless comments like these, to me, it's like pollution; better to be a leader, no matter how small or insignificant a person is in the large scheme of things. Anything can change, nothing can be fully predicted, this much is proven throughout history. It starts by not accepting the status quo.
Testing a photocopier a million times
Most agencies will accept this as a valid "digital signature":

Signed,
/Michael Morisy/
Michael Morisy

For verification purposes,they ask for information like your SSN, place of birth, DOB, etc.
Edward Snowden could remain in Hong Kong for years, legal experts say
XBox One: renting everything, forever
AFAIK the impetus is mostly on the various graphics chip vendors to make sure that their OpenGL implementations are consistent, just as it is on browser developers to implement web standards correctly.
I'd have a look at the <meta viewport=""> tag.
Feels like Obama Bin Laden ... hope they don't kill me for the perfection :-)
Yeah, unless he has an accident, Litvinenko-style.
I guess in the end it should not cost more than an Ipad:
http://buy-google-glass.com
I'm not sure the process should be too swift. Otherwise agreed, though.
The NSA is exempt from disclosing investigative files on individuals, even if they have information on you. Here is a typical rejection letter if you want to see:

https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/aar...
You guys can down vote me all you want. Doesn't change the fact that US visa applications are at all time highs.

As far as the tech industry goes, when it comes to the people you meet, the experiences, the talent, the cutting edge of technology there is no better place to be, then anyone of the many tech hubs in the US.

At the end of the day leading a satisfying and fulfilling life, has as much to do with a person's mindset, as it has to do with the opportunities available or the person's environment.

But ofcourse, for some people looking past their own shortcomings and finding excuses or faults with a country, a religion, the NSA, Obama, their parents, their boss and god knows what else comes very easy. And if these people want to leave the US and make room for the millions who want get in I am all for that.
<meta name="viewport" content="initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=no" /> or <meta name="viewport" content="initial-scale=1.0, maximum-scale=1.0 />
Facebook ads: good for likes, bad for sales
I'm being pragmatic. I would loved to be proved wrong, but history shows us otherwise.
How many men will fall before we find the source of the corruption is in fact the paradox of democracy itself.

To have a democracy, you must first enable everyone to be in a fair system. To enable a fair system you have to have certain conditions. To have certain conditions, any conditions, you have to have authority. To have authority, you must not have democracy.
You could do much better by getting rid of the HUD entirely and embedding just a camera lens/sensor, which can be really small, into some normal glasses ... for spy pictures you don't need perfect composition ... 😓
I wish to goto cali. Well, I bet there are many many people who would love to have a "bay area" only channel.

Similar people like each other.
When this issue came out, I was really hoping that the people will rise and big changes will finally happen. But now I realize that it was just wishful thinking. For any real big positive changes to occur, there first needs to be a change at the root level, and by that I mean the way people think. The government doing this is a big problem, sure. But the majority of people don't even care, and that I think is a much bigger problem.
The Brilliance of Wireframe Mode in TYPO3 Neos
I can't believe no one has posted the (in)famous WAT ruby/javascript presentation:
https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/talks/wat

It describes many ridiculous things in javascript such as empty array + empty array == empty string, etc. It is also great for a good laugh to anyone who has ever written javascript or ruby.
Was this Patent granted? Is that what the Publication Date specifies? I really hope not, it's very generic and poorly written.
"I'm just not that impressed with Apple finally cribbing off the jailbreak community, and I sincerely hope that the future of iOS is not endless tweaking held up as some paramount of interaction design."

I see the jailbreak tweaks as the alpha version of features that will one day make it into the main source. People who are not afraid to test things out play with and refine the tweaks until they're ready to be official.

I love the fact that at least eight tweaks have been integrated into the main source!
More Censorship: Irish ISP's order to block The Pirate Bay
I actually prefer the mobile versions that let you set font size on mobile. For example, when zoomed out in HN comments to a level where I don't need to scroll horizontally, the text is impossible to read on low DPI devices like my 3GS. HN would benefit from this. But I hate not being able to zoom. Perfect example, wikipedia. If sites offered a version like the iOS Safari reader gives you, they would be a plus. Unfortunately, most get it wrong.
Apache Nutch 2.2 (opensource crawling engine) released
In my opinion, the situation is much worse now because government can now openly use those tools without having to bear the cost of revealing their capabilities. Before PRISM came to light, they wouldn't have dared to use it for an IRS investigation because they would have ran the risk of revealing their spying activities. Now that everyone knows, they don't run this risk anymore.
I think Alex Jones just acts like that because he's trying to rile up the rubes as part of his act. Or cause he's crazy, but I tend to think his shtick is a moneymaking act.
Beta Test IndieBundl.es
New music platform! Help us beta test and get new music and free stuff. Seriously, can't lose.

www.indiebundl.es
Originally the article (at least when i read earlier today) did contain advice about app popups etc

EDIT: seems it was a different, but very similar article - https://developers.google.com/webmasters/smartphone-sites/co...
Exactly. Isn't the FISA court part of why this is so legal while at the same time being so unnerving?
Sprite Kit – Based on Cocos 2D?
It's amazing how he refers to the Boston Marathon bombing, when that happened despite having NSA monitoring and despite the FBI having warnings from Russia and from informants of the Joint Terrorism Task Force about one of the brothers.

"We can't find the needle. I know, let's stack more hay on top, that'll help!"
Given how much he has pissed them off, I am sure it will be a graphic one ...
Ask HN: Which SSL?
We're going to be releasing a mobile app soon, which will connect to our API hosted on AWS using Beanstalk.

We'll need SSL for the API, main website and admin panel.

I'm not sure which SSL certificate we should get, and if we should get multiple certificates or a wildcard certificate.

I saw a SSL service posted on HN recently - https://getssl.me/en - Would the Comodo WildCard SSL do?

Thanks