skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Are Spammers Going to Kill US Toll-Free Phone Service?
I've noticed a huge surge in these silent calls to my toll-free number in the US, some spammer's way of making money from the dial around compensation fee (which appears to be unique to the US). At the current rate, it will cost me around $1200 extra per year, and I'm dropping my toll-free line as fast as I can (in about a year to switch my customer base and potential sales leads) before this scam becomes more widespread and the frequency increases even more. Will this mark the end of toll-free service, or does anyone have a way to identify and stop the dial around compensation fee from ever getting collected?

The spammers are using an enormous phone bank of hundreds of phone numbers, so there is no way I can black list them before they rotate numbers and effectively make an infinite list of numbers. My toll-free line is how new customers call me, so I can't white list callers. Simply making a connection for a few seconds inserts the dial around compensation fee to my monthly bill, so it is ineffective to just hang up. The toll-free service provider and the phone company are uninterested in helping me solve this problem.

This seems a pretty effective way to practically kill toll-free service in the US, for all but the most major customers of toll-free lines that can absorb this kind of scam as the cost of doing business. I can afford $1200 over a year, but the way dial around compensation is set up, there is nearly no limit to the abuse that can be dished out; it can conceivably increase an order of magnitude and I would still be paying the fees.
So much effort was poured into just redesigning, repackaging basic apps on the surface. I think some of them look and exhibit functional behavior straightforwardly worse than before:

- Smaller fonts and less obvious icons on the weather app

- Less info on the world clock without the digital time text, which helps grasp the time at a glance especially when you're looking at several zones.

- Smaller direction character font on the compass (why would anyone do that? It's like 40% of what it used to be and is only a single char!)

- Less contrast across the entire interface with all white text; harder to discern differences.

... and at best a neutral change across the others. I haven't yet installed it myself, but the screenshots look disappointing. I am not dismissing the idea of removing skeumorphisms, but this particular implementation/execution seems like a step in the direction of less refined for Apple.

I have seen very few screenshots so far that made me say "oh that's so much better, wow". Several did make me say "Gosh, why would you reduce the font size there?!?! Why would you make the icon much less obvious?"

Just to note that I am not trying to be negative - I am certain with this much solid engineering talent, there will be features we'll love.

I hope I'm proven wrong once the OS is officially out and we're hooked in the following few weeks.
I've noticed a huge surge in these silent calls to my toll-free number in the US, some spammer's way of making money from the dial around compensation fee (which appears to be unique to the US). At the current rate, it will cost me around $1200 extra per year, and I'm dropping my toll-free line as fast as I can (in about a year to switch my customer base and potential sales leads) before this scam becomes more widespread and the frequency increases even more. Will this mark the end of toll-free service, or does anyone have a way to identify and stop the dial around compensation fee from ever getting collected?

The spammers are using an enormous phone bank of hundreds of phone numbers, so there is no way I can black list them before they rotate numbers and effectively make an infinite list of numbers. My toll-free line is how new customers call me, so I can't white list callers. Simply making a connection for a few seconds inserts the dial around compensation fee to my monthly bill, so it is ineffective to just hang up. The toll-free service provider and the phone company are uninterested in helping me solve this problem.

This seems a pretty effective way to practically kill toll-free service in the US, for all but the most major customers of toll-free lines that can absorb this kind of scam as the cost of doing business. I can afford $1200 over a year, but the way dial around compensation is set up, there is nearly no limit to the abuse that can be dished out; it can conceivably increase an order of magnitude and I would still be paying the fees.
The difference between a company and a Ponzi scheme is that the company is actually creating some value. It is converting capital into resources, priorities and processes that generate more capital than it gets. At some point it can't convert capital into more capital, so it's better to pay a dividend -- but even if it never does this, it's not a Ponzi scheme if value is being created.

A Ponzi scheme never generates more cash than it gets -- it only simulates profits.
Face unlock is a gimmicky BS feature. It used to be fooled even by an image, and it can fail easily in low light or such.

But the most important thing is that it's a BS procedure, to have to look into the camera and get it to capture your face. Not the natural way to hold the phone when casually unlocking it (I, for example, as lots of people, do it casually at an angle to my face).

Putting your finger on the home button, on the other hand, is something you have to do anyway to open it, and you can even do it while the phone's getting out of your pocket.

Don't Android manufactures/users defending this see these OBVIOUS flaws?
Even more interesting is what they're launching. The link doesn't say.. but today is the scheduled date for the launch of Cygnus 1 -- a demo flight of an unmanned resupply vehicle to the ISS -- on top of an Antares rocket (only the 2nd time it has been launched)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cygnus_spacecraft

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cygnus_1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antares_(rocket)
Ellen Superfan Pays Tribute In Macklemore Cover
This is possible now in F1 through the use of the "KERS" system, which uses in wheel (I think)electric motors, they can also use a "DRS" system, which temporarily reduces downforce via an adjustable rear wing.

The problem with both technologies is that they're artificially limited and their use is subject to convoluted regulations. In the end, Vettel always wins anyway.

I love F1, but I would love to see a truly forward looking series with active aerodynamics and suspension, and where teams can develop and use their own tires, this kind of "unlimited" racing, on the same amazing circuits and with the same level of drivers would be truly exciting. Driver safety and minimum weight limit regulations, (and of course rules against oil slicks and the like) would be enough to keep the sport sane, but also encourage a more diverse and interesting set of solutions from the teams.

I understand that F1 is not this series, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't love to see the same drivers in some more interesting machines duking it out around Monte Carlo.
This is exactly what we do at our team too -- we're developer centric and as developers, we love using Github and Github issues (+ pull-requests) for everything (including PM and HR)

One thing we do miss are certain features from Trello-like tools that give a nice overview of your issues and facilitate PM, so we built a Chrome/FF extension to fill in those gaps (http://zenhub.io)

Disclaimer: I work at Axiom Zen
Former Android Open Source Boss Jean-Baptiste Quéru Takes Job At Yahoo
damn, i was expecting a coffescript like ruby.
Neither one is more correct in isolation as they mean different things.
Affiliate page ?
Who build this page ? Put some Information about you / your company on the site.
Not like a vanity mirror.

I, for one, open the phone and look at it a slight angle, not with the camera centered on my face as if I'm about to take a selfie.
Feedly for Developers : Invitation to Innovate | Building Feedly
>>threatening to resign if congress won't bend on this

I don't think this is nearly the threat you seem to think it is. It doesn't seem likely that the Republican House would worry too much about him resigning.

>>playing hardball in return on every other subject.

He's arguably already done this in letting Pelosi and Reid drive the Congressional Democrat agenda. Both are much more partisan hard-ballers than he is, and both have a lot of experience strong-arming the legislature (see: getting ObamaCare passed).

These are just observations of a politically disinterested observer, not endorsements of either side.
Yes... you can have type inference as well (if you wish[1][2]). I guess the philosophy is to use it if you need it but otherwise you might prefer to stick to the dynamic part.

----

[1] http://docs.racket-lang.org/ts-guide/quick.html

[2] http://docs.racket-lang.org/ts-guide/more.html#(part._.Type_...
Actually I did read it, several times actually trying to tease out the angst from the fiction.

The author, Adam, is angry, that much is clear. And he writes that he is angry at people who write pieces like the HuffPo one [1] which is "full of crap". That piece, basically labels people of a certain age (by calling them 'Gen Y') and then disparages them as being unrealistic in their expectations and their self image.

So what can we infer from that? Well first, if this was a single instance then it probably wouldn't be emotional for Adam; Second, if the complaints that the HuffPo piece was disparaging weren't complaints that Adam had been espousing he would have ignored it, and third he chose not to argue the merits, rather to argue the presentation and author.

Now, my opinion here is that the HuffPo article was a hit piece aimed right at Adam to generate rage views. And the HuffPo author tapped into that mid-life angst about how the world isn't what you imagined it would be, and twisted as hard as he dared to maximize the rage views. As for the 'weirdly contrived generational categories' every group of people gets exposed to the world (or made aware of it) around 15 - 25. And the 'big themes' in that time period become influential in their lives. These categories are self creating.

What I was trying to point out was that the anger over life not being what one hoped it isn't unique to any generation, the Economist article mentioned in this thread talks a bit about that.

So to address your second point, awareness about debt and underemployment and life-long renting. One can be aware, and care, and still have perspective.

And then you said, "I didn't sign up for the economic situation we're in, and I feel that our fiscally irresponsible government is to blame." This is where you have to choose. (And this is why, for me, 35 was pretty painful) You have to choose to either be a victim or to not be a victim. Do you look for 'blame' or do you look for 'fixes'. The Marketplace episode pissed you off because it was wrong, you can either show them how it was wrong or you can whine about it.

For me, when I hit 35 was when it sunk in that there wasn't any "they" anymore, there weren't grown-ups which were going to fix things. That was up to me, being one of the grown ups, I had to start fixing things. And I was irritated in the mess the previous generation had left behind.

[1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wait-but-why/generation-y-unha...
this is the second launch of the Antares rocket

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antares_(rocket)
I would assume the issue is that most Information System degrees are unaccredited. There are only 36 IS programs accredited in the US.
The Science Behind Ear Boners
You're just a couple of years late.
iOS 7 changes the backgrounding model, which has been a giant point of contention since the app store was introduced, and also has a brand new facelift. It was also one of the main differentiators aside from data sharing between apps between iOS and android. It is not a trivial update technologically or a small update from a marketing and direction standpoint.

It is also the first major OS update under Ive and Cook's direction.

The phones are a minor update, as to be expected like every S release.
Blast Off Orbital Sciences Cygnus Headed to ISS
Scripted playback of 3D movies
Stop making fun of other people's music choices
stealing a sub-par product is no fun.
This whole 'deathbed' theory has always seemed entirely bunk to me. At 35, my values and thought processes are almost entirely different to what I /thought/ they would be when I was 20, and so any decisions I'd made at 20 to please the 35-year-old 'me' would almost certainly have missed the mark.

The idea that at 35 I can predict what will or won't please my 80-year-old self is preposterous. The best thing I can do for that guy is make sure he has the resources available to do what makes him happy.
- Weather app: Some fonts are smaller, some are larger, but you get a great looking animation that shows the current weather. In my opinion the app is much prettier than before, and more useful since you can see, for example, whether you need to bring a raincoat immediately.

- Clock: Try tapping on the clocks: http://d.pr/i/yrmI

- About less contrast: You can turn on bolder fonts in the interface.

I really, really like iOS 7. Especially on the iPhone, somehow on iPad I had more of a meh reaction, and I installed it there first. But going back to my iPhone with iOS 6 made me realize how dated that OS looks and feels.

Forgetting the looks, all the little new features and improvements are great, like all the new Safari stuff, command center and the improved app switcher. Apple says there are 200 new features and I definitely believe them.
Github goes down far too frequently to consider using the non-enterprise version for everything.

The realtime collaboration on Google docs is also mega useful for weekly meetings and something that Github's wikis doesn't match.
Sure, and people will make the argument that taking the bus is much cheaper than taking a limousine, when comparing methods of transportation. However, people aren't generally comparing pricing between limousine company A and city of X public transit, and wondering why one is so much more expensive than the other. They're going to compare limousine company A with limousine company B instead. If all you need is public transit, then by all means use that method of transportation, but there are times when a limousine service may be called for.

Likewise, if all you need is an unmanaged dedicated server, and not a managed server then great. Yes, it's going to be much cheaper than a managed hosting company, as it doesn't include server management. Just as a car rental doesn't include a chauffeur. But if you're honestly shopping around, you should be comparing one unmanaged dedicated server provider to other unmanaged dedicated server providers. And you may not, but I would also make the distinction between budget unmanaged providers and premium unmanaged providers. There's little point in comparing OVH to SoftLayer. Just because OVH is much cheaper doesn't mean SoftLayer offers poor value, not that I'm arguing it doesn't. OVH's network has limited transit options, has frequent congestion issues, and much higher latency transport links. They also use desktop grade hardware, which are much more prone to failure. Anyone heavily involved in the hosting industry is well aware not to host anything mission critical on OVH's service, and those that do are well aware of the risks involved.
I don't get that reference. Care to explain?
Fun programming in Roy with Turtle Graphics
Ah yes I remember, they use a modified NK-33/34 and once the stockpile runs out the Antares rocket has no obvious engine replacement.

EDIT: I hope I don't sound negative, I am probably too starry eyed for SpaceX and their merlin engines. I geek out how they built almost everything themselves.
& in a few days patched.
YOU HAVE INTERNET ON A PLANE IN THE AIR TRAVELLING HUNDREDS OF MILES PER HOUR! What more do you want?
This looks like it dups a paying customer's IP and MAC addresses. Does that work if both devices are running at the same time? I was under the impression TCP didn't like that.
Why I'm An Entrepreneur
What is proper etiquette for responsible disclosure?

Hacker: "I'm publishing on the 15th."

Vendor: "We'd like to see your post first"

Hacker: "Ok, here you go"

15th comes and goes

Hacker: "Hey any response?"

Hacker: "Ok its the 18th... I'm publishing"

Is this how this usually works? Or how it should work?
Rolling your own multi-host Meteor js environment
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6399091
No, I'm saying something more subtle than that, which is why I used four sentences instead of three words.
What is the difference between Performance and Scalability?
Down for the Count: A Look at NuFlick’s Demise
You know, I wouldn't pay for $29/mo for one of these -- but it'd be pretty obvious to pay (some number larger than $29)/mo for a combination of these. I think it's just that I'd have to sign up and keep track of so many individual little services that bothers me.

Whereas, if someone was selling a service that provided pre-scaled (so not Slashdottable) status pages, blogs, docs, wikis, CDNs, etc., and also maybe private git hosting and a CI server -- that'd basically be "you host the webapp, we do the rest", and I could imagine going for that. (Especially since the "you host the webapp" part is exactly where a PaaS slots in.)
I remember the 15 Year old me. I was an extremely introvert guy participating in school debate competitions for the first time. While I was speaking in front of the audience, my legs (hidden behind the dais) would be shaking (the first few times). Somehow, I learnt to control my fear of public speaking and manage to put my points across.

Courage (faking courage) is probably the strength to do a thing well without letting the fear of failing paralyzing you.
Have personally used over half the list - love that they're making this available for people with some great offers.
> High speed interconnects are not worth the extra cost. They just compensate for poor programming.

Sorry, that's complete rubbish. Some problems just can't be made embarrassingly parallel or near so. You might be able to swap a problem for a similarish problem with better characteristics, but that's not the same as being a "poor programmer" since you're now using a different model rather than optimizing the implementation of the existing one. You still haven't explained how I do a parallel FFT without high speed interconnects -- I suspect the answer is "don't". I've tried running the stuff I do (DFT) over a 10GigE network on my cluster and it ran at about 10% of the speed of an Infiniband-enabled calculation. There are methods for getting better scaling, but they all (as I said) involve rather crass approximations which you don't always want to do. Those methods will probably increasingly be used more on large supercomputers due to their superior scaling characteristics, even with their nice high-speed interconnects, but you're still making a sacrifice in accuracy.

It might be possible to get good low-communication scaling for some models, as you were in the case of your sampling system (which typically parallelizes nicely, but only if the individual sampling jobs can fit on a single node), but you can't extrapolate that to assume that everyone can. As I said, exchanging a poorly-scaling model for a different, non-equivalent well-scaling model is a scientific question with tradeoffs, not a programming one.
Criteo files for $190 mln U.S. IPO
woohoO!
Every time I read these stories I wish this would also be possible in Europe.
>While they may have implemented Touch ID really well, it's still just yet another way of unlocking the device. Strategically it has little benefit to Apple.

No, it's not.

It has two properties that are very important:

1) It's very secure (not like Face unlock, which could be fooled by a photograph or fail to work depening on poor lighting etc).

2) It's very natural (you already press the home button to open the phone anyway, you don't need good light, you don't need to hold it so that the camera centers your face etc). So people will use it, unlike Face unlock which is usually discarded.

Why are both of those things important? Because it means it can be used a authentication mechanism for buying stuff. In fact, Apple has already integrated it with iTunes IIRC.

BOOM, you don't even have to add your Apple ID password anymore!

Add Bluetooth 4, Passbook, camera for scanning codes and stuff, and half a billion iTunes accounts, and you have an "mobile payments" winner.
Any cool hack ideas to work on this weekend?
Similar database of jquery plugins http://jquer.in/
Stratospheric sulfate aerosols (geoengineering)
Well, this is awkward. Take a tool where I'd define two of its key points as being clean and simple (to look at and use), then charge money to add two fairly random features that mess up the look.
LoopBack - a private, open source mBaaS based on Node.js
Faster internet, of course.
What I find interesting about America is the LACK of a Siberia equivalent incarceration system. In other words, why not just make these people disappear? probably because America is so absolutely in love with war profiteering that every single prisoner is politically valuable. I've got $164 million reasons/year why they are still incarcerated. At this point I don't see how anyone could argue that corporate lobbying isn't at the crux of all this.
I have a hard time figuring out if it's a parody or if it's for real.
I bet my arm that in a Many World Interpretation of Quantum mechanics, those apparent non-localities have not, in fact, have been violated.

We can have a classical analogy to this. Put a blue ball and a red ball in a black box. Shake the box. Without looking, take a ball from the box and put it in a black safe. That way, you should have no idea which ball in in the safe.

Now send the black box to your colleagues on Mars, along with a copy of your experimental protocol. Let them open the box. And, lo and behold, the instant they see the ball, they know which colour your ball is, despite the fact you're separated by several light-minutes. As if information travelled faster than light —no, scrap that, instantaneously.

Quite underwhelming, isn't it? Well, the EPR though (and actual) experiments work on similar principles: there is a common cause. When 2 particles are entangled, it means they share information. When you send those particles away in opposite directions, they carry this information with them, at Slower Than Light speed. Then we perform some experiment on one of the two particles, and we know instantly how some other experiment is likely to turn out with the other particle.

It's that mundane. It only gets confusing when you talk of "probabilities", instead of talking of the square of complex amplitudes… which are a bit different from actual probabilities. In the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, we tend to think of the universe as unique, and the laws of physics have some fundamental randomness in them. The Many World interpretation is simpler: no randomness, just a universe that splits in multiple blobs that eventually cease to interact with each other (The split is not instantaneous: it propagates at the speed of light at most).

So, when you perform that experiment with the first particle, you're not telling the second one how to behave. You merely learn which universe you are living in.

---

Now, find a reliably replicated experiment where information was transmitted faster than light, and I will be choking through sheer astonishment.
We need options that are legal and likely to work.

The prison is illegal, or at the very least extra-legal. Obama promised to shut it down, and reneged on that promise. Please do continue to make excuses for him, but don't try to pretend Obama cares at all about his campaign promises, international law, or shutting down Guantanamo bay. He has shown no interest in any of those things.
IH8Sn0w Confirms iOS 6.1.3/6.1.4 Jailbreak