skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
The following youtube video is a decent intro on binaural beats - make sure you listen with headphones. Also, everything after the 5:55 mark starts becoming an infomercial so you can stop there. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCfUbFjin00
I don't think they work at all, especially because there are no studies proving binaural beats to be good for anything (except making money?). The only blind study Wikipedia cites was published in the "Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine", which isn't really a journal at all.

Edit: Found this study [1] looking at binaural beats and changes in EEG: "Analysis of changes in broad-band and narrow-band amplitudes, and frequency showed no effect of binaural beat frequency eliciting a frequency following effect in the EEG". This study is (conveniently) not cited in the Wikipedia-article.

[1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016787601...
> "...captured using intelligence generated from..." is another of those trick phrases.
> It doesn't clearly imply that without the program they wouldn't have captured those terrorists.

Those are excellent points, and I wish they were raised more often. I'd like to add one more: How many of those captured were terrorists only thanks to your own government setting them up for the task first? In other words, how much of this was the result of "manufactured terrorism", ála FBI? (ref: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/terror-factory-f... and the earlier article linked from the story.)

After all, the actors in those programs still needed to communicate. Judging by the two articles the subjects weren't particularly bright either, so they probably would not have known how to protect their communications. Thus they were bound to generate material that would be scooped up the NSA programs. The fact that the plots were not only known in advance, but planned by your own government officials simply ensured that they would know with perfect accuracy where to look and what to look for.

A naked figure of "300 terrorists captured" is therefore meaningless, just like you said. Without a futher breakdown, the figure just feels like marketing.

As an odd side note - this makes manufactured terrorism look a bit like astroturfing. A scary thought.
Similar question and answer on another site: http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1jfufh/the_entir...
Russia's anti-internet piracy law faces backlash
it's funny.

The people in identical business suits used to be the IBM nerds that were made fun of in the 80s for being out of touch with emerging tech. Now it's a bunch of spies you're afraid of.

I had the same image in my head as you did though.
Is HTML5 Canvas also another kind of Flash? Is your objection that NaCl is not a DOM manipulation API?
Again, I must insist that folk can only take this view because they have not studied law.

Law's complexity is not by design. Much of case law and legislation is about refactoring existing principles into something simpler.

The complexity of law is emergent from the problem domain. It doesn't require a conspiracy against the public to be that way. It merely requires the existence of a sufficiently large and diverse public.
I think the difference is in the perception that entrepreneurs create jobs while freelancers work for themselves. Clearly a bit of both here though.
Bug report -

On the first launch, if I quickly press the Setting button (bottom-right) it starts the flip animation and still shows the handwritten overlay explaining where to tap for manual focus and all whatnot. After the animation is complete, the overlay is still shown, so it looks like a mess. And it's also not obvious how to get the overlay back, because I haven't seen what it actually said.

Congrats on the TC cover and a very nice app. Get rich! :)

(edit) A nitpick - "Warm-up", not "Warmup"

(edit) Report Usage = On. Seriously? Who on Earth in their sane mind would actually want this, except for you? Next thing you tell me is that you have some "app analytics" library linked in and it's always on. Please don't be evil.

(edit) The same goes for "Send Crash Reports = Always". It should be "Ask". Respect your users and they will help.
I wonder if the bias towards or against freelancers is dependent upon your geographic location...

Living in the SF Bay Area as someone who regularly bounces back and forth between freelancing and working full-time as a co-founder or lead tech of a startup, I didn't find any difference in attitude or reaction if I said "I'm working at a startup" vs. "I'm a full time freelancer."

LOL, in fact, the reaction tended to be either "oh yeah? me too!" or "oh yeah? so is my brother / sister / mother / daughter / father / son / dog / cat / etc."

Looking at the OP's footer, looks like he's in NYC... so I wonder if the bias there is a bit different?
Isn't this public knowledge? "Oh no! 'Hackers' have my oh-so-sacred email address! Yeah, that thing on all of my sites, business cards, dozens of whois records, resumes, speaker decks, the Dominoes online ordering system, and so on... What shall I ever do?"

I'd seriously question their talent if they weren't able to find it.
There's still much innovation left in image signal processing... and fortunately much interest in taking good photos!

This reminds me of research into superresolution, an area that's "super interesting" :-) as well.

The guys who started Occipital (360 Panorama), I believe, tried to dabble in that with ClearCam many years ago... but I honestly don't know much about it. Anyone from Occipital here on HN?
I considered clicking just to see if it was a rickroll.
Sure, but this particular test tells you nothing.
You need one where the "line diff" has identified the wrong set of changes (IE it has decided two sets of text look close enough that one is really a change into the other, even though that's not what historically happened).
Everyone in the tech startup scene belongs to the same social hierarchy, where certain behaviors are rewarded and others punished, with success measured in successful rounds raised and big exits.

Freelancers are inherently part of the ecosystem, but they don't fit neatly into the hierarchy, much like senior engineers in large companies who have no interest in management.

Insurance agents and mortgage brokers belong to a different social group, so they're accorded "other" status and not measured by the same metrics.
What's the breakthrough? My GoPro can take 120 photos per second.

Futhermore, what happens if you point this at a device that can affect each pixel on the phone's image sensor 20 times a second? Is all the information preserved? If so, this is an interesting hardware hack. If not, this is an interesting shell game. But I don't see how it's a scientific breakthrough.

(It sure is good for sales when TechCrunch prints your press release verbatim, though!)
I think that giving 2013 figure would imply they are still using it. They want to give as little information as possible
They can't be any worse than abusing the C preprocessor to implement templates for C code (a sin I committed in college).
Because it wasn't 'removed', rather it wasn't 'created'. You seem to be missing that supporting this feature is extra work and not 'built in' to the way the project is constructed. The author didn't sit there and say, well, fuck the wheel, I'll just throw in a line of code here to disable it, just to piss people off.
They are, however, good at sounding cool.
See also the coolest auditory illusion I know of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepard_tone
Reddit is Censoring News about the NSA and XKeyscore
Practical Data Science with R, deal of the day Aug 1 2013
The New Drive Jacket
Buy White Satin Drive Jacket from Angeljackets. Buy it today with free shipping and best bargain price.

http://www.angeljackets.com/products/Drive-Jacket.html
HN is not an aggregation site?
What exactly is ironic in this instance? It's not like the post was making a server recommendation.
Amazing work, and the living photo thing could be a hit.

Out of curiosity and a bit unrelated, I've been craving for real raw capture on the iPhone (before bayer interpolation, white balance, noise removal). Is it possible?
I wrote https://github.com/gabrielrotbart/gatling ages ago. It integrates visual testing into normal Rspec specs. Focusing on specific elements rather than full pages, makes it more stable.

Maybe it's time to revive it.
If you have to watch the video for 15-30 minutes, I think it's not the persuasion aspect but probably loading different sites in an iframe to defraud advertisers: http://www.behind-the-enemy-lines.com/2011/03/uncovering-adv...
Cool thanks for the insight! As oppose to others who just down voted me...
Writing software well (or even reading well existing software ... which is a must, when someone needs to learn, or just maintain old code), seems to require a combination of cognitive skills.
That combination can be detected, even when a person has no previous programming experience: http://www.eis.mdx.ac.uk/research/PhDArea/saeed/
.

From the linked homepage:

>> We (Saeed Dehnadi, Richard Bornat) have discovered a test
>> which divides programming sheep from non-programming goats.
>> This test predicts ability to program with very high accuracy
>> before the subjects have ever seen a program or a programming language.

Edit: added the note about reading software.
Do not tap on the glass; programmers scare easily.
Question and Answer with Trent Dyrsmid
*Note the above links to an MP4.

The 2013 Keynote is now on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvVIZ4OyGnQ&t=5m

-- Alexander begins at 5 minutes in

-- no slides visible in video

-- 'heckling' @ 39minutes in)

-- TLDR: One cropped screenshot of 'telephone metadata', assurances of internal audits, a thumbup from a Senate sub-committee.

Slides: https://media.blackhat.com/us-13/us-13-Alexander-keynote.pdf
August Hacker Sprint
Thanks for the suggestions:

1. Looks like a race condition for the settings button tap. Does it happen if you wait a second before pressing the settings button?

2. You can re-enable the tutorial (overlay) screens from the bottom of the settings menu.

3. On the usage/reports, I hear you. I won't give you bullshit on "standard industry practices" here, but I will say that I had to hack a well-known closed-source library to give you that opt-out from usage reporting. I really do value your privacy. (I've already requested the library developer fix it, and will try and write a blog post on how other developers can provide a kill switch, too.)

4. The default is there because many people don't like to configure apps, they just use them as-is. In that light, the default configuration is the one I felt was best for general use.
How to Create Top of Mind Awareness with a Newsletter Campaign
I filled out their application online, and they accepted me (though they oddly didn't interview me, while all of the other interns were interviewed). It probably helped that I had been fairly involved with one of the issues they worked on.
Incorrect (former NSA system administrator here). We're "read on" to special compartments beyond the scope of our need to know due to the nature of our work. It would be quite difficult for me to correct an issue if I was unable to see and/or duplicate that issue.
As a freelance worker, I find this interesting... it seems like a big gap between "I only have to make enough off this to make my time work out for me" and " I have to make enough off this to make a profit off someone else's time". I don' think that the second works out very well for where I am in life, but it seems to be where most of the people I work with find themselves.

IME, generally startups aren't looking for agencies, because they have at least enough knowledge to hire individuals rather than agencies or turn-key solutions.
Hi there, Pitchpigeon founder here.

Just an FYI, you don't have to buy a pitchpigeon credit to participate. Hackers can just participate informally by committing to launch something by the end of the month, and keeping people updated via the hashtag #hackersprint - the point of this sprint is to get motivated into finishing your product, by seeing the momentum of others!

Lets see if some interesting projects come out of it!
Totally agree - for me it seems that I can build capital in my business / personal brand as a freelancer that I can't in a job.
An infrared light for active infrared illumination could appear dark red, but probably wouldn't on a military drone. It would probably filter out all visible frequencies.

Thanks for your account, these things will show up again if they are actively used. There's no question that such an aircraft could be built, I've been thinking about it myself. (Strong aviation interest).
Discuss on HN: The NSA Leaks Make Everyone Less Safe, Here's Why
The NSA leaks have been defended by the NSA itself, politicians, and some members of the public as a measure to keep us safe.

This is a patently false statement. These programs have proven 100% beyond any doubt that every human on the planet is less safe.

There is no safety from a system where you have no ability to freely dissent, disagree, discuss, or discover the ideas and thoughts of others that may be in opposition to the currently ruling power structure.

The NSA in specific, the USG in general has completely eliminated the ability for any American citizen to feel safe in their articles and effects:

>The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The NSA's dragnet eliminates any and all security of person (conversations, location by phone), papers (email, browsing), effects (files, downloads, contacts, accounts) and the ability to query anything is an entirely unreasonable search.

The NSA has eliminated the spirit and soul of what America is.

There is simply no justification for the level to which the 'system' has evolved in response to "the war on terror".

It's time to stand up against the encroachment and expression of the terror-intelligence state.

Today, I am proposing a call to action to protest, peacefully, but relentlessly, against the state of the United States Government, and its agents in the NSA with complete civil disobedience. Refuse to accept their lawful authority over you, your person and your life given that they are not upholding the basis on which this country is built; the U.S. Constitution.

Please discuss.
Jollyplot - simple happiness and productivity tracker
It's funny, here I was futzing around to make emacs part of my PD workflow... Thanks for the link, I hadn't heard of it before.
Part of the reason is that most contractors in tech are less qualified than full time employees and will never pass full interview loop.
90 percent of them dont seem to have much effect, but i found a few that seemed to put me in a super deep sleep... like an audio mind massage. pretty sure it was a 3hz delta state, with out any weird static noises mixed in. i find those static sounds somewhat annoying, but did find a pleasant one with nature sounds mixed in there.
I knew that sounded familiar!

"In The Dark Knight and the follow up The Dark Knight Rises a Shepard tone was used to create the sound of the 'Batpod' - a motorcycle that the filmmakers didn't want to change gear and tone abruptly but to constantly ascend."
Follow up: The board game mentioned in the headline has been picked up by Cryptozoic Entertainment.

http://www.cryptozoic.com/articles/cryptozoic-saves-doom-cam...

Brings up the interesting question of how to handle KS projects that don't raise enough money to ship.
The UAE has banned some of the aps. Thats what finally got me to try them out.
What's the point of a 1,000-year jail sentence?
Out of curiosity, what kind of educational background do you have if you don't mind the question? As a highschool dropout it interests me. :)
>The way you get better at X is to do it. For pretty much >all X.

A bit off topic, but one of the few X where this does not hold is marriage. Statistically, first marriages are more likely to succeed than any subsequent marriage.
"Ask" should be the default, I have to insist.

Just tried the actual functionality and it gives the machine gun sound effect, showing a counter going up to 50-60, then I release the button, the blue stripe around the button shrinks back, it adds a photo to the bottom-left area, but when I tap it, there are just 3 frames. What am I missing? Is it adaptively trimming bad frames (I am shooting in a low light conditions)?

(edit) Just tried again and this time after I release the shot button, it showed a big circle overlay with the "JPEG" in the middle that counted up to 100% and the resulting photo had the right amount frames. It didn't do that on the first try. It's either a bug ... or you are missing a helpful hint that explains what's going on :)
SpeakerBlast - Turns Every Device With A Speaker Into A Bose Surround Sound
"Most"? Do you have statistics?
Steve Gibson talks about XKeyscore on Security Now (video)
Sounds good. But I've also heard that there are template based algorithms, which would seem to be advantageous for implementing window corner recognition in a variety of operating systems. Basically, I'd just need some images from screenshots. That plus some edge detection would get me most of the way there.
It may not be possible, even for Apple.

If you have a look at the data sheets, for example [1], you'll see YCbCr or RGB output formats being listed.

I guess it would make sense for as much signal processing to be done as early in the chain in the interests of lowering power consumption. (Less data to transfer over a serial bus into more circuitry, at the very least.)

[1] http://www.ovt.com/products/sensor.php?id=134

(Sony also make the sensors for Apple, apparently.)
"Actually, I run a small agency."
Thank you for saying what I'm sure a lot of us were thinking.
tbh, I see it as (possibly) a better java applet. with better OpenGL support, so "real" games are actually feasible, and not even that hard.

Chrome is positioning itself very, very strongly as a platform, not just a browser, and this is a necessary part of that. I'm not a fan of this ever-widening set of things browsers have to do (separate from each other / external libs / etc) since it just raises the bar for any competitors, but I must admit it is nicer for the user than all the past attempts.
I have found a "happy place" for me in programming _very_ small systems – most powerfully from a personal satisfaction/joy point of view, stuff without an OS. Arduino, Teensy, bare ATmega168s and ATtinys – coded in either the Arduino "java-alike" language, bare (no libraries) C, or actual raw assembler. Current projects include hacking on the Ardupilot quadcopter control code, a data logger for my coffee grinder (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigiain/6722839301/) and an Arduino driving a pair of cameras on pan tilt mounts to feed into some Processing/OpenCV code.

I find once I jump up to a RaspberryPi/BeagleBoard scale device with a whole Linux OS onboard, it starts to seem a little too much like "work".

From a "making things" perspective, I get _heaps_ of inspiration from the Arduino forums, my local hackerspace (both in-person at the space, as well as via the mailing list), and my local DorkBot group (again, both meetings and mailing list).

What works for me might not be what you need – but if you've got a drive to code and make stuff, tinkering on the borders of the tech and art worlds is fun…
Watching Videos Offline - An Effective Way to Avoid Android Trojans and Malwares
Digiarty concludes the best ways to prevent Android smartphones and tablets from Trojan and malware for Android security. It suggests offline video watching to avoid avoid Android Trojan and Malware.
Hortensius: an irssi plugin for app.net
I only said one third of that. I also said that I don't think you're as restricted with intranet web apps as you are with public web apps, but I could be wrong...

Anyway - you can lie if you want to and I certainly won't judge you - but I didn't say you should lie or be a pirate. I said ignore the license. Big difference. (From your original post, it sounded to me like you probably don't have shareholders. Do you?)

Are you aware that vast numbers of small, medium and even larger size businesses are running SQL Server without the proper licenses? Are you also aware that Microsoft knowingly allows this to happen with a wink and a nod? Just like Windows and Office...until XP/2003 when they turned to activation. They didn't do that for SQL Server or many of their other products as far as I can remember. Could happen, but we'll see...

So yeah, advising you to do what millions of other business do too - I have no problem with that. (I also have no problem bribing the locals if that's the normal course of business. Don't think of me as immoral - I'm a realist. Big businesses squeeze everybody in one way or another, so if you can get away with it - it's great advice. The risk goes up the larger your company gets, obviously...)

Also, SQL Server 2012 is 100% backwards compatible with 2008 R2. So Express 2012 would definitely work (Microsoft is legendary for their backwards compatibility. Just sayin'.)

What kind of business are you running 200 Macs for anyway?
I've following this project for a few months now. Most of it really sounds to good to be true, so I waiting for someone to use it in a big application where reliability is important. Is there anyone using it in production for a big application? Would love to hear about it.
Why Michael Dell wants to change the buyout voting rules so badly, in one chart.
Of course! I carry index cards with me and write things down as they occurred to me. Eventually they end up in Tinderbox, a Macintosh-only application (www.eastgate.com). It takes some learning, but it is very versatile!
Wow, this addresses quite a number of my concerns with aging CPU architectures, specifically with throwaway registers for fundamentally low-latency operations like chaining ALU functions.
I'd love to make the jump from "just" web development to some proper embedded development. Any pointers?
As a freelancer, I really appreciated this article. While I know what a startup is, in my actual working experience, a "startup" is often some variant of "the SaaS thing my best client's worst employee wanted us to switch to last month." Otherwise we'd be using the proper name of the business without any regard for whether they are a startup or a farming collective or a couple of floating brains in a sealed chamber.

I have also had experiences where I say "I'm a freelancer" and watch peoples' mouths drop open. They think I'm basically Peter Parker without the Spiderman, living on the cheap without a single concern for the future. The truth is a bit of an improvement on that. I pay for monthly consults with a former SV tech executive & INTJ engineer, who helps my inner INTJ learn and grow into a better salesman, marketer, team leader, and negotiator. While most of my stuff is building web things for people, I get a variety of work from traditional illustration to music to 3D modeling. I support a wife and three kids, and we take vacations regularly. I'm not wealthy by any stretch, but people who visit my rental say it's pretty big for NorCal and I get to work in a backyard office with a nice skylight. And every one of my big clients has an IT guy who actually trusts me with their web stuff. Having worked in IT in the past, that's a big deal to me.

Someday maybe I'll do something different, but I've been freelancing full-time for almost ten years now, and I've never had a bad year or even a hard year. I don't miss free bagels & juice or XM radio and I definitely don't miss anything that looks like it came from the food section of an office supply store. I don't distrust startups, but I have absolutely no reason to be interested in working for one.
There's a really easy fix for this. Say you're a Consultant instead