skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I'm saying that it's a bad basis for society to assume people behave efficiently (in a socio-economical context) without the right incentives. And I don't mean to make that sound like there's an ogre whipping them.

Suggested reading: Freakonomics :-)
Understanding that this is in jest, but similar sentiments cause real issues in STEM fields, as well as in society at large. Please consider exactly what you're saying before posting.
A series of towers that could suspend a magnetic accelerator about 300 miles long above the bulk of the atmosphere would be almost equivalent to a Space Elevator. (A space elevator transfers angular momentum from the Earth's rotation into the orbital velocity of the cargo. Most of the work needed to attain orbit is involved in the lateral acceleration, not in gaining altitude.) It would be about as heavy as one, though.
Still nowhere near as bad as Rogers' outrageous prices in Canada. $60/mo for 500MB of data? No thanks!
I pointed out in another comment, that companies could give away free stuff to the top comment authors for their product as an incentive. The problem with monetary rewards is that I don't want to have to manage that, since this is a side project and is not meant to be a startup (for now, at least :)
A price worth "sacrificing your good name" for?

If people had higher standards, the cost of being unethical would be higher - hence fewer people would be unethical. A virtuous circle.
According to the keynote, Apple found that only 1% of users were using the ExpressCard slot.
Is that a guess, or do you have empirical data to back it up?
Tom Wolfe wrote a book called "A Man in Full" that had a very similar character. He said that the formerly wealthy hang on to their private jets harder than anything else. They even went as far as creating fake airline stubs for debt collection meetings to act like they were flying commercial. Quite entertaining.
Why has no one stepped forward to take credit for downing the plane with a bomb? Isn't that the MO for terrorist organizations?

Accidents happen, unfortunately. Sometimes planes crash. Our technology isn't perfect, and all we can hope for now are useful lessons to be learned from the crash itself.
In which a brotherhood gathers
It's so sad that we can still say "at least it's not as bad as Canada!"

We're becoming an embarrassment, but at least people like Michael Geist are fighting:

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4037/125/
Boeing tests its wings to breaking by bending them behind the back of the plane until they are pointed up at ridiculous angles. The kind of force that would break the wings of a modern jetliner would also break the necks of a large number of the passengers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe9PVaFGl3o

EDIT: I stand corrected. As pointed out below, that huge deflection doesn't represent neck-breaking forces. But imagining the force of an updraft that can accelerate an airliner upwards at 2G's -- that's still a heck of a lot of power.
Of course it's going to be bigger than all the browsers combined. They have to include all the browsers plus extra software to contrast and compare the output.
I was talking to someone from the UK Libertarian Party -- http://www.lpuk.org/ -- the other day. He broadly agreed with me that the UKLP cared about the rich and didn't care about the poor.

I regard myself as a left libertarian -- I think the government needs to get off people's backs, that people are usually better at making decisions for themselves than faceless bureaucracies are, that the people should control the government and not the other way round.

I also think government should govern for the benefit of everyone, not just the rich, and that the government's attitude to the poor shouldn't be "tough shit".
only thing that really grabbed me was the new camera. touch to focus is cooooool
With the 8gb 3G phones selling new for $99 bucks, you're going to be in a tough spot. When the 3G came out, a bunch of people at my office got rid of our old iPhones by unlocking them first. Every single one we sold went to someone on T-Mobile.
Agreed. As a miserable Verizon customer, I would love me an unlocked iPhone 3G.
Well, I'd like to withhold judgment on how bad it is until we know what AT&T will charge for bandwidth now that tethering will be an option. I know as soon as I can get an iPhone that works on T-Mobile or Verizon I'm pretty much gone.
Very cool, simple implementation of pubsub with webhooks. The DoS issue is something to consider, but keep in mind there are plenty of other ways to DoS, probably more efficient ways. Auth is a big topic in webhooks right now.

The allow file idea is interesting, but we've been talking about it on the webhooks list (as well as the GetPingd list). The pubsubhubbub guys are also thinking about it (since they haven't addressed it either yet).
People in these lines of work generally aren't in it purely for the money. The money is an important part, as it legitimizes them as the victor, but generally there's an appetite for risk and excitement.
If I was a terrorist org, I wouldn't take credit. The new modus operandi is stealth mode, the days of TV shows about terror are over.

Terror to create havoc on the world economy and air traveling will be the first hit.

Expect more "accidents" in the future.
Given Twitter's quality of service (which is admittedly getting better, but still pretty bad), I can't see how using it for anything but purely informational messages would be a good idea.

It frankly seems downright dangerous for people to start depending on their Twitter feeds for critical information, particularly if the organizations disseminating that information start relying on Twitter rather than maintaining their own more fault-tolerant infrastructures (like weather-alert radio or the Emergency Broadcast System). I hope and suspect that Portland OEM is smarter than that, but it seems like it could be dangerously tempting for a budget-constrained agency to try and outsource broadcasting to a totally inappropriate medium.
Yeah, I'm SICK of AT&T. For the first time I'm going to be buying an iPhone that actually will have less feature support than the U.S. carrier!
On whose network?
Good point. Of course, they'd have the money to get some people in there with a clue. :-)
Now that the online store is back up, I see what they've done with the MacBooks. I thought they were going to discontinue the old white MacBook soon, but instead they've renamed the new one to make it a Pro. And now there's a 15" Pro with integrated graphics only, like the regular MacBooks.
The only extra thing I was expecting was a higher res screen. I guess they decided that would be too disruptive to the developers.
I'm not sure what you mean by "implicit variable names". If it's that you don't need to declare variables before you use them, use can use 'use strict' to avoid that. If you're referring to how things like cmp takes a block with $a and $b variables, it saves you having to extract values from arguments for this block which should be really short.
In 2006, the world's four largest spenders of R&D were the United States (US$343 billion), the EU (US$231 billion), China (US$136 billion), and Japan (US$130 billion).

So the US spends almost 50% more on R&D than the entire EU, and more than 150% more than each of the next two on the list. Sounds like perhaps someone has some bias of their own. If you have some data, throw it up.

Source: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/49/45/24236156.pdf
Technophilia
Everybody who wants a cut of the business -- that's the whole point.

Right now, the carriers have too much control and that doesn't serve the customers.

Think of it like iTunes for phones: There's lots of music companies but customers really just want access to music.
While taking control of the aircraft might be easier, I'd imagine that you'd be a lot easier to track via radar. That's not to mention that the Air Force is probably going to assume you're a terrorist and I doubt you're going to outrun any fighter jets.

Edit: I was referring to outright theft above, not repoing.
It's an informed opinion.

The map is not the territory.
> Thanks, Max. How about a follow-up article about Hacker News?

And be sure to mention that all we talk about is erlang innards. :-)
+1 vote for pubsubhubbub
Growing Organs in the Lab
The Practical Pedal (lo-fi utility biking 'zine) had an article about the past, present and future of electric bikes, and also rolled their own with available technology.

http://practicalpedal.com/fall2007/fall2007.pdf
Guess Arpanet was a huge mistake because it was government funded.
"Apple also introduced a handy new feature called "Find My iPhone," designed to help iPhone owners who have misplaced their device. Lose the device under the sofa, and users will now be able to send the phone a message ordering it to make a sound. If the device has been stolen, it will now be possible to send an iPhone a command to erase its memory, so that sensitive information is not compromised. "

I smell a security risk.
In fact, it looks worse. Previously, Apple had high end portable machines for the true power users among us. I've had two generations of Apple Intel laptops because I wanted an easy to maintain Unix system. This announcement makes me very disappointed as it appears that Apple is unifying the two sectors in order to cut costs. The hardware quality is still probably superior to most competitors, but this isn't the bleeding edge kind of stuff I expect from top of the line Apple hardware.
Go check out the fine print where AT&T wants $400 from you to break the contract on your existing 3G and buy the 3GS.
An alternative view: http://xkcd.com/256/
http://pimobility.com/index.html

Also for a ton of links: http://www.electric-bikes.com/bikes/index.html
Are the 8gb 3Gs selling without a contract for $99? I doubt it, since that's cheaper than a touch. When I got my 3G, I sold my 8GB v1 for $250, presumably to someone who was going to unlock it.
So while you are napping, eating or watching a movie on that flight to LAX, you should know the plane you are flying is cruising along at the ratty edge of its capabilities. Why? Money. The higher an airliner flies, the better gas mileage it gets.

As libertarian I prefer an airline which will charge me premium for flying more expensive but safer routes.

However, as a realist I realize that the barrier to entry for airlines is very high and competition is sub-optimal.

So I'd settle for a government mandate of how high commercial airlines can fly.
I did the DIY thing with my Marin San Rafael bike. I purchased the bionx 250 from nycewheels (don't recommend them for their patchy customer service - missed most of last year's riding season thanks to them). My commute is about 12 miles each way with some big hills. Getting the kit allows me to easily do the commute both ways in a day. It left me pretty dead before.

Was it worth it? To me, yes. Riding the bike is FUN. If you miss the strenuous workouts do what I did Saturday, and turn the motor off for all or part of your ride.

The bionx 250 maxes out at about 17 mph for me. It really makes a huge difference on the hills. With my battery enclosed in one of those nylon 'trunks' you can't even really tell it is an electric bike without looking closely. But this thing is a couple years old now and I'm sure isn't state of the art anymore. If I was buying today I'd definitely look at the non-kit, pre-built options. I spent hours getting everything the way I wanted it--enjoyable hours for me, at least.
3. Leverage. Buying a house is the only way normal
people can invest a huge amount of money on margin.

That's a reason against it, not in favour.

Would you borrow 300k so as to invest in a fixed term bond on residential real estate with hefty exit penalties?

The cult of home ownership puts a respectable shine on brazen gambling practices. :)
Does Apple sell a CDMA-based iPhone anywhere in the world?
The presser's going out tomorrow, but hey, you're on HN - we'll take your listing: http://www.dawdle.com/search.php/1/1/Platform=iPhone
FYI, doesn't work in Chrome (3.x). Good concept though.
Palm Pre, Who? Recession, What? Meet The $99 iPhone.
One More Thing...

Existing 3G Customers will have to pay $599 and $699 plus extend your contract 2 more years.
That's a bit of a jump. How'd you go from "As a libertarian..." to "So I'd settle for a government mandate" in 3 lines?
if a terrorist group does not claim it, the world would not know it was a bomb (per your assumption) and that fear would not translate to the population....therefore your theory dies
From the very last paragraph of the same article (which originates from CNN, incidentally):

> Although none of the other flights are known to have reported weather problems en route, aviation experts said weather can change suddenly and vary over short distances, so one plane might experience conditions far worse than another.
Indeedy,and I believe some are available. However the bike in question is only $900, which is really quite competitive. If you don't mind looking French, they also make a scooter-format velo (like a small scooter but with pedals, which is even cheaper). http://www.pacificebike.com/bk1.html
Is this confirmed? There wasn't a penalty on iPhone 2G -> 3G upgrades, and the keynote mentioned the $199 price was for new and qualifying customers.
An unhealthy egg and bacon breakfast with a Bloody Mary on top and then sleep for forty minutes after lunch break.
Whatever it is, I doubt you'll be paying $50 for 2MB/mo.
Interesting quote: "Fair enough: All people are experts on their own preferences". I have mostly found this to not be the case. Most people have preferences, but mostly don't know why. People are, however, entitled to their own preferences.

PS:It's "Jakob"
Terrorist organizations use terror to promote a cause. If you're just making people generally a little nervous, you're not doing a good job of advancing an agenda.
Just had an idea, create a service, like a google/reader for different twitter accounts you create. then create one for technology, news, friends + family etc... a feature would be of course to have a few pre made profiles you could start out with and edit

-
Yes, see http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=613071, especially gojomo's comment.
I don't know about that... it looks like they are bringing the older non-metal macbook back to prominence. And they are moving the metal 13" to the macbook pro line, which is where it always belonged anyway. The 13" model straddled the line ever since they went unibody with it. Now they are firmly picking a side.
It's confirmed. Presumably 2G customers qualify for upgrades to the 3GS though.

edit: It is now confirmed that 2G users qualify for upgrades to the 3GS at the subsidized prices.
That's great until the virtual carrier switches network and many customers can't get a signal anymore.
No, sadly. All GSM. :(
"AT&T customers who want to upgrade from another phone or replace an iPhone 3G, the price with a new two-year agreement is $499 (8GB), $599 (16GB), or $699 (32GB)."

http://www.apple.com/iphone/buy
Which is the bigger risk? To have somebody else steal your information without you being able to stop them? Or to have somebody destroy information on your own device, which you've likely had to load onto that device via a machine under your control anyways?
No, but neither do you and that was my point. I'm not saying you are wrong; I'm saying there is no reason to believe you are right.

It's pretty hard to quantify technological development. Other commenters provide some financial arguments, but is there a reason to believe that the number of innovative/creative/breakthrough technologies being developed depends on the amount of money spent on research? I don't think so: the way that money is distributed is all important and can turn the table entirely. The US may well be interested in spending a few billion on hardening the steel on their tanks a bit further. It's definitely R&D, but it's unlikely something groundbreaking will come of it.

The answer to the question 'where else are technologies being produced like this' is: everywhere. The question is: how much? We are interested in something like the aggregate 'technological improvement' times 'impact on society' or something. If anyone has numbers on that, I will gladly concede victory to whoever turns out to be at the top.
Cool video. I wonder how much of an engineering/structural difference there is between the heavier 777 and the Airbus A330-200 that crashed.
I understand why people want the card slot, but the number of people who actually used it must be miniscule (which was apparently confirmed in the keynote). Hell, I've been using powerbooks and macbook pros for a decade for video, audio and programming, and I have been working mobile full time for years, and I still have never used the slot. I know musicians and video guys who have, but that was years ago, before widespread decent quality usb/firewire audio and video devices. Sure some people want it, but this isn't a big deal for the vast majority of users.

Honestly, I find it incredibly strange that people still make the pro/consumer distinction. It's been a while now that even low end computers have been more than enough for most people, even most "pro" users. There are plenty of people out there working full time on low-end macbooks (though, in that case, often hooked up to a larger display). At this point, the ONLY reason I've been buying macbook pros rather than low-end macbooks is the screen size.
True. Too bad about the tabloid-style typography and literary style, which does serve a purpose of highlighting the takeaways but also gives it an air of sensationalism.
"In our discussion group example,

"100% of the designers who provided external data were right, whereas

"25% of the designers who relied on their personal opinion were right.

"Most strikingly, 75% of guessers were wrong. You'd be better off tossing a coin than asking advice of these people."

A very important point. Confident guessing can send more convincing than data-based hypothesizing, even when it is flat wrong. This is why I appreciate any participant here on HN who can provide data to back up statements, and why I also appreciate comments that ask for data--yes, including from me--if a statement is first made without data.
The government should fund code development? How would individual programmers pitch their projects to the government? Not all code that's created, even if it's free, is ever useful to anybody. Figuring out how to "turn code into consumer value" is a very hard problem, as I'm sure any entrepreneur would tell you. And it's sort of a backwards way of looking at how software, and the people that make it, can benefit themselves and society best. First, there needs to a problem. Then, you solve it.

Anyways, I think the kind of thing you're talking about already exists in a more general way - government contracts. The government decides they have a problem, comes up with a list of specifications, and bidding on the proposed solution is open. The most qualified company that solves the problem for the least amount of money or in the shortest amount of time wins. (At least, that's how it's supposed to work.)

Many contractors that develop for the government, and bid on these contracts, already use FOSS because it gives them a competitive edge when bidding. For instance, some versions of the FBCB2, a communications system for humvees and other military vehicles, run on Red Hat: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBCB2 and http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:LLwHBOS8JmYJ:www.cjmtk.c...

I think that academia and savvy businesses are really where it's at with open source. As bad as academic bureaucracy can be, government bureaucracy is in my experience much, much worse.

So, all things considered, I'd think that even if the government had a direct interest in improving open source software, the best way to do it is through more funding for education - get more people to school, and get more people programming.
A one person company is also an indication of the person not being able to do the next step, being a manager and a team builder.
Want an iPhone 3G S? Already have an iPhone 3G? Be prepared to pay $700
get one where you can sleep how and when you want.

Just don't take it to far. A coworker of mine grew a habit to rest himself flat onto the table in a free meeting room for a 30-60 minute afternoon nap. That was good for many chuckles because we had a loft office with glass-walls.

Then came the day where the investor meeting was scheduled in conf-room C...
It's funny it doesn't mention UK in the title. When I first read it I was a little confused. Here in the US channel 4 could be completely different even 10 miles apart.
Do you really go through >500mb/mo on your phone?
something buggy going on at inc website, article wont load and now the site wont load at all. the PG effect?
Every carrier should have FindMyPhone!
As usual, this confuses the direction of causation, because the people with higher education came from richer families in the first place.

Here are some links about the issue. The overall picture in the past decade has been that high-ability, low-income students are at a clear disadvantage in the college admission process compared to low-ability, high-income students. (The links below are in approximate chronological order of publication, from oldest to newest.) Is anything changing recently about this?

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_27/b3840045_...

http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ffp0621.pdf

http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ff0615S.pdf

http://www.tcf.org/Publications/Education/carnrose.pdf

http://www.tcf.org/Publications/Education/kahlenberg-affacti...

http://harvardmagazine.com/2005/05/a-thumb-on-the-scale.html

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200511/financial-aid-leveragi...

http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=510012

http://www.equaleducation.org/commentary.asp?opedid=1240

http://www.jkcf.org/assets/files/0000/0084/Achievement_Trap....

http://www.reason.com/news/show/123910.html

http://www.ihep.org/publications/publications-detail.cfm?id=...

http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2008/11...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hkBGMsvJKR...
It would be cheaper for the government to throw weekly block parties nationwide than subsidize homeownership to the extent it currently does. (I haven't done the math on that, but you get the point.) Government policies that try to achieve a certain effect via indirect means have all sorts of undesirable side effects. If we want to improve neighborhood cohesion, we should find a more direct way of doing that.
ICSI Netalyzr: Debug your Internet
For me, the biggest problem with biking anywhere worth going is sharing the road with cars, and thus the possibility of getting hit by a car (something I saw almost happen a few days ago.)
I also feel I'm on the side of trying not to make superficial generalizations.

Acknowledged, based on your thoughtful further reply, for which you have my thanks and upvote.
I fully agree on this point, I've been on the 500mb plan for over 6 months now and I never past 500mb. Sure now there's supposed to be tethering, but that's a hole different story.
Unfortunately, the iPhone SDK is hard-coded to the existing screen size in a lot of ways. For example, most apps contain a Default.png that is displayed while the app is loading, which is exactly 320x480 pixels in size.

It's just a matter of time before Apple releases an iPhone-like device with a different screen size, but when they do, it will be a painful transition.
Yeah, Apple skipped through that part of the presentation REEEAAALLLY fast. Guess they don't want to be the ones to give the bad news.
The CV template at http://biosun1.harvard.edu/~paciorek/computing/Latex_templat... was doing the rounds a while ago (see http://biosun1.harvard.edu/~paciorek/cv/cv.html for the example).

Personally, I like the look of http://stefano.italians.nl/archives/5.
You'll understand after you learn it.