skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
It is not so much the specifics of the BART strike described in the article that I find relevant, as it is the general attitude displayed by the “lucky elite class of tech workers”. [1] There is certain mix of privilege, arrogance and ignorance reflected in the idea that all it would take to implement Obamacare is to give 20 start-ups $15M each, and the problem would be solved. Voila, a quick, easy and financially viable technical solution! Sadly, the problems runs much deeper than just the technology (see other comments reflecting on procedural and political issues hampering development, changing requirements, unrealistic expectations and so on), and to ignore the systematic issues is naive.

[1] Quoted from the linked article
FWIW, I disagree; having seen a candidate interview for a senior position at my last company who couldn't code in an interview at all, I think it's worth three minutes on a basic question to make sure they really do have some ability. I don't believe you can have "10-15 years C++" on your CV and not be able to code something basic.

I don't agree about DRY; the whole point is that the data has not been adequately provided until you see it. You do see people with apparently great CVs who are unable to demonstrate the skills in person.
Repaving a road just for this is probably not economical.

But roads need to be repaved regularly anyway and, depending on the used system, my guess would be that the cost for also installing charging equipment would be dwarfed by the overall cost of maintenance. The same applies to newly built roads.
Java 7 NIO.2 Series
void strcpy(char *x, char *y) { while(*x++ = *y++); }

In this example, why does the loop terminate? Is it because the null terminator counted as a false?
Yeah, fizzbuzz is a filter guys. Yes, you can read their code repos and do in depth interviews, but you shouldn't waste your time until they can do something as simple as fizzbuzz. You will be truly surprised how many just don't pass that filter and are literally wasting your time.

To reiterate: necessary, but not sufficient.
It is strange reading that about Yeezus, Kanye made Yeezus with a number of other musicians (the full list, according to Wiki: 88-Keys, Ackee Juice Rockers, Arca, Benji B, Carlos Broady, Brodinski, Ben Bronfman, Evian Christ, Eric Danchild, Daft Punk, Mike Dean, Dom Solo, Jack Donoghue, Gesaffelstein, Noah Goldstein, Lunice, Lupe Fiasco, Hudson Mohawke, No ID, Che Pope, Rick Rubin, S1, Travis Scott, and Sham Joseph).

So, when he's praising the horns line, the piano line, or the complex electronic effects, it's not Kanye who's responsible for all of that, it's Daft Punk, it's Mike Dean, or Mohawke.

Anyway, I'm getting unnecessarily off-topic here. So to get back: Lou Reed was undeniably an innovator like no other, a true hacker. He knew how to play a mean guitar (jazz, blues, rock'n'roll and a whole lot else), he wrote great poetry. The greatest thing that's said about him is, indeed, as another commenter already has said: "Only about 3000 people bought Velvet Underground albums, but all of them started a band."

My two favorite songs of his: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffr0opfm6I4 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wNknGIKkoA
https://sourceware.org/git/?p=glibc.git;a=blob;f=string/strc...
Honest mistake, I always assumed that area was Los Altos. Three cities intersect somewhere around there. However, the point wasn't about the city, but rather the state of the building and how it's changed.
Oh I'd disable that so fast. It'll mess up gaming latency in a heartbeat.
Urk, I left out "possibly" in front of shivved, follow the link and I'm much less certain, and in fact still lean towards my initial opinion which you've fleshed out/reminded me more about.

Still, suppose this was the one decision that sinks Obamacare....

Well, that's 20/20 ... erm, forcasting???

And, yeah, Sebelius was a known disaster when picked (I live right across the border from Kansas); I mean, she let the state run out of money one month (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Sebelius#Tax_revenue_c...), rather a surprise as I remember. I strongly suspect she follows in the usual Obama Administration pattern Cabinet members being figureheads and cheerleaders instead of true executives, which we'll likely be about to guess about when she testifies this week.

Reid ... I'll just go with a Wall Street Journal writer's description of his coming across like a "slightly overeager undertaker" ^_^.
lol americas stupid-low petrol prices catch up with them faster than expected.

This seems like a crazy attempt to use tech to confuse people and trick them into paying higher tax. Tax which could/should come by the far more simple means of fuel tax. They should just suck it up and give their constituents some tough love.
> Why not just have little capsules that you can get a high dose rush from that essentially is minimally enveloped nicotine?

They have these too. Look for the '4mg nicotine mini lozenge' made by Nicorette and generic by many companies. Unfortunately they're expensive and you need to use 2 or 3 (8-12mg) to really get effect from it. Also, they are slightly irritating to the mouth at times (but much less so than nicotine gum or any tobacco).

> The whole e-cig thing is trying to re-build the signalling [...]

That's an interesting point. I think you're right on that for the companies like Njoy and Blu, which are imitating the feel of real cigarettes. They're tapping into the smokers' rebellious psyche but interestingly, it's because those smokers are generally too self-conscious to use an e-cig with a giant battery and refillable tank that looks odd. Essentially, smokers feel (perhaps rightly) that smoking is accepted on some level, but people definitely do find it strange seeing someone inhale from a giant piece of metal that many might assume is some kind of hard drug.

However, as a result of their design concerns (to look like a real cigarette... or 'analog cig' as many say) they've sacrificed on tech specs and also on price. It's much more cost effective and also an overall better experience to buy an e-cig with a large battery and refillable tanks to hold the liquid. But Blu and others do not offer this. Compare their $7.99 e-cig that is equivalent to 20 cigarettes to the $7.99 10ml bottle of e-liquid for refillable e-cigs which will last at least a week (probably equivalent to 200 cigarettes), and batteries that last upwards of 1-2 days between charges. Some Blue e-cigs aren't re-chargeable and the ones that are run of out charge after a few hours of use. Also, Blu does not deliver the amount of nicotine to the user that a refillable tank + large battery can (which is bad b/c then smokers don't feel satisfied).

So, if smokers can find the self-confidence to vape on the most effective device (regardless of its appearance) then they'll save lots of money, get a better nicotine experience, and thus be much less likely to return to smoking.
I've wondered the same. And the answer is a delusional, "I'll figure it out when I get there."
Hey there- cofounder of coursefork here.

Other types of media are very important to successful teaching, so they're very important to us. We're rolling out updates soon that will support not just other media types but nested organization of courses so you can have multiple sessions. All part of refining that alpha :)
> If Android is not freedom what is iOS then?

Who cares? The article writes about Android. Just because iOS i even less free does not make Android better.
Use Transmission, it fits the bill and is a more mature implementation.

Also has a nicer GUI as far as I'm concerned(although I no longer use the GUI frontend).
Agreed, but I was unpleasantly surprised when the first senior applicant couldn't solve FizzBuzz. And the one after. And another one. Since then FizzBuzz like basic tasks are part of every interview we conduct, not just for entry level positions. The only difference is the degree of simplicity.
RIP.

The Velvet Underground/Lou Reed's music really helped me during a hard part of my life.
Does anyone who have this (or any of the other similar systems) know if you the other people go out with your public IP or not?

If so, comcast/bt/bezeq has just killed all association between ip and identity (not that there was much to begin with, but there was)
Thanks for the feedback asciimo -- there are definitely some tough UX challenges with this type of app. Some comments:

0) you should only get one dialog with the link above, and that's the dialog that shows the new levels
1) the avalanche of dialogs at the beginning are the "lesson" for each level. They basically introduce the concept and describe how to solve the level -- sorry maybe it's not clear that every lesson comprises of "slides + solve"
2) the goal graph only disappears if you click it -- you can bring it back with "show goal" (which is a command in your history when the level starts)
3) you can view just the objective again with "objective"
4) when the goal graph comes up, you can still type into the console. it just might be a hard to see the results of your commands (this is the biggest issue and I haven't found a way to resolve it... :-/

Anyways, let me know if you have ideas on how to make the app more usable / newcomer friendly. It's hard for me because I don't have a pair of fresh eyes...
These are people who have never (will never?) write any actual working code. Through a combination of lying on their resume/bullshitting interviews/hiding away during the actual job they've managed to get by. They are a small percentage of all "Programmers", but a large percentage of people looking for jobs (because they are more likely to be unemployed, more likely to fail an interview, and their best way to get a job is to try as many interviews as they can get).

I'd never be insulted by Fizzbuzz questions, it takes maybe a minute to solve and you can move from there to more interesting questions very easily. If Fizzbuzz is the closest thing to a time waste during the interview process, you're in pretty good shape.
This isn't a celebrity death. It's Lou Reed. Music Hacker.
If there is one thing around hiring programmers that I wish had more discussion, it's the notion from the interviewer's goal of "trying to understand how one thinks about a problem." Frankly, I don't think we're very good at it. And for good reason -- it's really hard.

My personal experience has been that most of us in the industry aren't well equipped to make that determination reliably among each other. The most successful interviewees I've ever seen are those with excellent pattern recognition and recall. Only a few of those are decent programmers (not even excellent.) But they're all very talented in describing ways of thinking.

In spite of information at hand, I rarely see those in hiring roles ever go away from "does this person think about this the way I do?" It is a very subjective task, so I don't fault those in these positions for following that process. But I think there's a perception in "understanding how a person thinks about a problem" that is flawed.
"They're good quality notebooks."

After having used their notebooks for a few years I can't help but feel, like the parent, that when it comes to Moleskine their popularity can be attributed more to brand recognition than quality. The paper they use is pretty substandard which causes ink to dry slower than other paper and if you use fountain pens you have to contend with considerable amounts of feathering and bleed-through. Based on experience Clairefontaine paper seems to be far superior and their notebooks make for a cheaper option if you don't need leather binding[0]. The Rhodia Webnotebooks[1] would be in the same product category as Moleskine notebooks except the former again has better quality paper.

[0] http://www.gouletpens.com/Clairefontaine_s/56.htm

[1] http://www.gouletpens.com/Rhodia_Webnotebooks_s/54.htm

P.S. I'm not affiliated with any of these manufacturers or Goulet Pens.
Think of it this way: they aren't trying to offend you - they're trying to show you that they're keeping all the other idiots who can't do FizzBuzz from joining the team.

FizzBuzz is a necessary but not sufficient standard for acceptable technical skill.

As a hiring manager, I'm not just amazed by how many people can't do FizzBuzz, but by how many people haven't even heard of it before I ask it.
They are just notebooks. But so far they are the only notebook I have been able to keep in my arse pocket for months on end without it falling apart. Most other notebooks start shedding pages after a few weeks of being exposed to heavy sweating in the summer, and the general wear and tear of bending every which way when you're walking and sitting down.

Moleskine handles it like a champ.

I also really like the form factor. Especially for the big soft cover moleskines. I'm not sure exactly why, but the dimensions are just perfect for me and I haven't been able to find anything else that's similar.
I think the CBO has already projected a lowering of the future "cost curve". I guess we'll have to see how it actually plays out.
I suspect the same people who complain about being asked fizzbuzz are the same people who complain about getting their ID checked when they buy alcohol.

I can implement fizzbuzz in < 30 seconds in half a dozen languages (in vim, maybe < 60 seconds on paper/whiteboard). I don't really take offense to being asked to blow 30 seconds; I understand where the interviewer is coming from the same way I understand where a cashier asking for my ID is coming from.
I agree wholeheartedly, The Velvet Underground has always been one of my favorite bands and has shaped my musical taste. It was the band that made me look into punk, glam rock, new wave, and psychobilly.

My favorite song is ‘Beginning to see the light’.
TL;DR - Better paper quality (that you can feel when you write) and greater durability than cheaper notebooks. That's why I've been buying them for years now.
Font renders differently on iPad (monospaced) vs Mac Book (your screenshot) for me.
Never said that it isn't useful.
Of course, there are no adverse environmental effects from manufacturing tablets, circuit boards, etc.
> So we probably shouldn’t discuss NSA surveillance ever again here on HN, right?

I CAN ONLY DREAM.
also www.sharelatex.com is almost the same and there is an open source project called flylatex that is trying to provide something similar: http://alabidan.me/2012/07/31/flylatex-a-real-time-collabora... This is not the github link because people always want screenshots, but has a link to it.
REST APIs and restaurants [Take II]
I've never participated much but people say that if you get some practice there, algorithm heavy interviews go a lot smoother.
Exactly, since C strings are just pointers to raw memory you usually assume that either the user passes the length explicitly to you or that they're \0-terminated.
There is something I don't understand. You can add other project code to your own project, but how do you use that other code? In the .NET world where I live you can reference an Interface and let runtime fill that interface in (with a proper dependency injection method).

For example you know you want an Interface of MailSender that has the method .SendEmail() and it gets filled with SMTPMailer which has SMTPMailer.SendEmail()

Is this thing similar to that concept but in build-time? How do you know the interface/usage beforehand?
The Model S uses only 10% more energy than a Leaf to travel one mile. So, no.
Google Webfont Effects - Back to the 90's
a blog post of mine: http://www.elangocheran.com/blog/2012/03/the-newbies-guide-l...

and a workshop that I did: https://github.com/echeran/intro-clj-pres
You realize the hypothecation is a bad thing

No, I don't. That strikes me as an opinion that's honestly debatable and strongly influenced by one's value system, especially with regard to what roles a government should and should not play in a society rather than an objective fact.

That said, I wasn't necessarily arguing that fuel taxes should only be used to pay for roads nor that roads should only be paid for using fuel taxes. Several people quoted in the article do make claims that are more or less equivalent to "driving should be taxed enough to pay for the roads" then go on to claim that mileage-based rather than fuel-based taxes are a better way to do so. I'm saying that claim is dubious.
Europe's flight from futility
Lou Reed, Rock ’n’ Roll Pioneer, Dies at 71
Just put a pantograph on top like electric trains.
They have to ensure that the strings are \0 terminated, so why not? C is definitely pre-condition-or-else.
Some of us are in social circles where almost everyone smokes.
DMCA takedown on GPL-copyrighted code
Reminds me a little of this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6599075
Reasons I pick Android over iOS:

- Google does not have a war against rooters. They try to close exploits but any pure google android phone can be rooted with no effort.

- Android allows almost ANY application to be installed on non-rooted devices. Exception is applications which require root, which won't function.

- Android allows for things like Humble Bundle, which is impossible on iOS.

- Android allows me to chose any email client I want with full support of cross-application features. Any browser I want. Any instant messaging program I want. Any chat program I want. Etc.

IDK that feels pretty good to me.
it's a clever and cute double entendre :)
You are probably right (and this is one of the reasons why as a language C and C++ can really blow up in your face).
well, why don't you flip it around. how would you like it if you were a developer who, as part of his duties, had to interview potential hires and HR keeps sending you people who are unable to even solve FizzBuzz? Or, worse yet if they actually hire people who are unable to handle FizzBuzz and now you have them sucking up all of your time along with bits of your soul?

You don't see any value of FizzBuzz because you are only thinking about it from one limited perspective.
Exactly. I'm sure it's because they won't have one ready for the holiday season, less because they aren't working on one. It would be foolish not to at least have their hands in the 4k display game with their vertical integration strategy.
Your gut feeling will simply let you realize when something doesn't line up with your predefined societal, cultural, familial and personal beliefs.

You do realise that this is exactly what our ethical and moral systems are based on, right?

Ethics does not exist in a vacuum. It is a function of our societal, cultural, familial and personal beliefs.

Ultimately, no matter what rational argument you might make to yourself for (let's use an extreme example) killing an innocent person, taking their stuff, raping their daughters, hanging their sons, burning their village and drinking wine in their skull, you will feel that that's wrong, and you will avoid doing so if you can. Even if you were magically transported in some kind of viking environment where this is perfectly reasonable behaviour according to everyone around you, your moral compass, which comes from those beliefs that you have accrued and which largely define who you are, would (I hope) make you feel very bad about doing this, and it would take an enormous effort (or a deranged mind) to slip from the relatively civilised present into such an environment without any difficulty.

Certainly there are people whose moral compass is totally fucked. Sociopaths/psychopaths come to mind. However, I am operating from the assumption that I am not one of those people. I can prove that to myself through simple observation of my life.

There are certainly biases in the intuitive shortcut for ethics. As I pointed out before, it doesn't work well when the topic is very emotional (which I guess you could say surveillance can be for some). Also, as you rightly point out, it is not very adaptable to change. This merely means that when faced with a new situation, if you're not used to evolving your morals with the times, you need to make an extra effort to do so. By now, when faced with new things I tend to react first conservatively (I am but human), but then quickly by accepting that there are many good things in the world that I'm not aware of, and that difference or unfamiliarity are no reason to condemn.

Intuition is a really powerful tool. I strongly encourage you to test its uses and limits for yourself, and see how you can get this amazing tool to work for you, rather than ignoring it and relying purely on analytical thinking that can be explained to others.
“The very thing that could make them effective is also their greatest danger,” said Dr. Tim McAfee, director of Office on Smoking and Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It's exactly this kind of thinking that started and perpetuates the pernicious war on drugs. It's the root of the (proven false) "gateway drug" phenomenon.

The "thing" by the way is the fact that they don't do any harm. How absurd and ridiculous ..
It is an immediate indicator that they're hiring off the street. That might be good---you're very competitive---but it also may mean that hiring is pretty out of touch from dev communities.
IIRC the MO for raiding nonviolent criminals is first to find and kill any dogs in the residence, so it really just depends where the barking is coming from.
> but the idea that Android as we know it is open-source and the ultimate freedom is absurd.

Nobody claimed that Android was the ultimate freedom, but it's the most free mobile operating system that is successful in the market place.

Free software extremists like the author of that article can simply never be satisfied.
Even if it's not the entire android experience. I can still read it, and use it's lessons to write my programs. VS iOS. Yes where is the iOS kernel source code on the internets?
Yeah, definitely. The whole point would be to have a completely open hardware design and software library so that people can build off of it.
Be Skeptical of the 10x Engineer
You might find the blog post http://skalrant.blogspot.com/2013/05/build-systems.html interesting. It argues that a declarative style is not suitable for many software development projects. Coming from the author who is also the author of an ML like language it makes for a good read. Declarative is surely elegant, but not always easy to work with under specific and not uncommon situations.

Note, however, it touches on an orthogonal aspect of build systems. I think Repobuild's main thrust is in standardizing and assisting modularization whereas the post linked in this comment has a different focus, it argues for a non-declarative, fixed-point based style.
Good point. More dependency from cloud applications; more support for closed source; cause clouds are the new way to help corporations to hide their code away

Who cares about the layout of a button and some images in a page (as theres little value in this code) if the real brain in applications will be closed behind the clouds?!

We need more devices that can run independently, with open source code and preferably in a distributed and autonomous way..

Clouds are anti-hacker and anti-opensource; if a user platform help this trend to grow(as FirefoxOS do), it helps for more closed- source and hidden secrets.. completely against the hacker spirit of collaboration and openess
This post would have been more useful if it had included copies of the text of the DMCA takedown notices (both received and sent), if possible.
Trim is not needed if the disc directly gets delete commands, while wear leveling is actually a problem of spinning-optimized filesystems and can be solved easier if the external representation is a key-value store of immutable objects.