skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Many valid points, which are often either ignored, or deflected with the argument that "men might be better at X, or women better at Y, but that's only because the way society educates little boys vs little girls".

However, I think the real reason there are fewer women in tech is simply that it can be a boring, solitary, highly detail-oriented and even a socially confrontational job, ideal for "loners" perhaps.

People seem attracted to and revere other people who demonstrate leadership, charisma, social grace, and so on, and actual tech jobs aren't a place where those qualities are most highly valued or the best environment to nurture them.

Aside from the exciting and highly social "Startup, VC, Marketing" side of the industry, and of course the good salaries currently enjoyed by engineers, tech has a fairly low social status.

I say this as a programmer myself, but I acknowledge it's still considered (and in some ways, is) a job for unsociable loners. For whatever reason, women seem to be more socially inclined, or at least very much more attuned to the sociability aspect of social status, and tech is therefore not generally an attractive proposition.
Livestock can utilize food sources that we can't (pigs are the greatest food recyclers ever created), and they can graze in wastelands that we otherwise find difficult to make productive.

India is primarily vegetarian ONLY because they have lots of land in which to grow things. Most other regions do not have so much grow-worthy land, and require a mix of farming and livestock to sustain their populations.
That's completely off-topic in a conversation that is obviously about large-scale ranches. Do those Tibetans use antibiotics to promote growth?
I'm surprised you recommend Amarok as a foobar2k user. Amarok is closer to iTunes than it is foobar2k.

Linux users: look for Audacious or DeaDBeeF. They are the best Linux alternatives to foobar2k.
Support for this was added a couple years ago: https://github.com/tomahawk-player/tomahawk/commit/5cd9e4962...

I think you ought to file a bug, because it's supposed to work.
We should change the word "lobbying" to "bribing" and then it would make more sense to the average person.
Well, I was talking about Europe, mainly, and I assume in most countries of the developed word this was very much the same. I don't think Inuits have very much to do with the industrial production of meat we have nowadays, do they ?
The infamous HN DDoS strikes again
It's pretty doubtful that a reduction in livestock would lead to a food shortage. The amount of resources it takes to produce a calorie of meat is vastly larger than to produce a calorie of plant-based food.
All I see is a signup form and some meta links.
you don't even need tonidoplug for it. If you have an old PC or Linux box and you can mount your NAS containing your music, you can just install the free version of Tonido Desktop and stream all of it.
Nowadays the most appropriate type available to describe your data is a non-standard type that's specific to the RDBMS you're using, often as not. With SQL databases, you can generally only pick one of the following:

1. Any kind of expectation of hassle-free migration to a different RDBMS.

2. Benefiting from much of anything that's happened in any dialect of SQL since about the time Windows 3.1 hit the market.

Personally, I generally prefer #2, because #1 is kind of a myth anyway. For example, PosgtgreSQL's VARCHAR type has different semantics from Oracle's: One supports Unicode and the other doesn't.
I find having the list in full is great, because they need to be named and shamed, too. Each and every one of them deserves a negative business impact for signing it.
All my iTunes Match content came from my computer, can be copied to my computer, and can be backed up independently.

There's no reason that The Cloud and Owning Your Files has to be a binary choice. The Cloud can be a great compliment to your local file storage, rather than a replacement for it.

Another example: store your music in Dropbox, which clones it to all your devices (where applicable), and then use Tunebox (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tunebox-dropbox-music-player...) as your frontend. Now you have a 'cloud' music service where you control the content, someone else handles the distribution, and everything is cloned locally on all your machines (for your other players to use). Then you can trivially back up your music files from Dropbox to a local backup (or a third-party backup service if all you want is some form of company-independent redundancy.
This is a project with some friends. We've been struggling for a while now and can't seem to attract users. Any feedback is deeply appreciated.
Lua Fun, a high-performance functional programming library designed for LuaJIT
Thank you Winamp for the good times.

I wouldn't call it an end of an era though, I feel like Winamp's era ended several years ago.

Now the only program Windows users still use in this day of age that I can't understand is shareware WinRAR. Seriously. (Who hasn't been using 7-Zip for years?)
I have Ghostery installed at work, but for some reason it didn't block it. Maybe I had it disabled or something...

However, here at home (where I also have Ghostery), it did block Disqus -- however, the very large panel is still visible. So, the annoyance of having a large part of the view taken up by useless space is still there.
Since it appears to be down, here is Google's cached version: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:cQY-Ft3...
The site didn't load for me, but I found their YouTube[1] channel to have a gander. They remind me a lot of the microcars[2] of the 40s and 50s, the most famous of which would be BMW's Isetta[3]. In terms of style, however, I the Elio reminds me a bit of the Messerschmitt KR200[4].

[1] https://www.youtube.com/user/eliomotors

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcar

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isetta

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_KR200
I guess they are resorting to selling apparels to make up some revenue.

Who knows, in 10 years, Microsoft may becoming the next Gap.

</snarky>
Actually, I believe the Inuit don't practice animal husbandry either; they mainly get their food from the ocean (mostly as meat).
Ask HN: Tax deductible donations to individuals?
I have this crazy idea to help those in deep financial need caused by unplanned life events such as a severe medical diagnosis, death, or major accident.

I found myself in this situation last year when my Mom passed away and left no life insurance, no savings, and no assets. We had some that supported us in helping to pay for it to the tune of several thousand dollars. Sadly those donations of support weren't tax deductible.

There have been several people I know that have run into similar situations and setup online giving portals for people to donate to. I have given willingly to help those in need, but found the fees to be rather annoying.

I have this idea that I am working on that I would love your feedback on.

Imagine an online crowdfunding site where you can choose to help fund individuals in need. These can be your friends, neighbors, relatives or complete strangers whose story you connect with. The organization would be setup as a 501(c)3 organization so all contributions are fully tax deductible. Families receive 97% of all contributions. Organizational expenses would be covered by donations directly to the organization.

Some basic assumptions...
* People care about helping people they know that are in need.
* Individuals that give care about transparency and knowing how their donations are spent.
* Legalities of course.

Would you find value in such an organization?
How are they doing p2p USD payments? Is it bank account directly to bank account?
Tell Google: Stop Reading Our Email to Spam Us
Perfect! Thank you, I'll actually go and kick the tires now :)
Give Mediamonkey a try.. syncs with iPods too
As commented:

This post could only come from someone sitting comfortably in a position of considerable privilege and unawareness.

If you’re going to completely ignore issues of societal pressures, open misogyny in technology industries and a thousand other subtle (and not so subtle) ways that a fundamentally patriarchal society maintains the status quo, then you gain no insight at all. A thousand studies will tell you the outcome of this system of oppression – but you’ll interpret is “gender differences” because you are blind to oppression that you have never been subject too.

The sad thing is that you’ve now added another nail, unaware of the damage that you do to the humans around you. Congratulations, you’ve helped to solidify your position on top of the heap.
They've done it the last few times I've been overseas. Just part of the normal "let's make sure people don't get confused and don't board the wrong plane" kind of thing.
> As the PG docs say, there is virtually no performance difference at all between all three

Btw, there is a clear [though infrequent] case where using CHAR(X) vs. VARCHAR(X) may cause huge performance penalty with iron platter HDD. CHAR(X) will always contribute X to the row length (even if data value is Y < X, so VARCHAR(X) with such value would contribute Y) thus making it more probable to have your row TOAST-ed ( i.e. have parts of row stored separately in separate table) thus causing a noticeable (when only few rows are accessed) extra disk head lookup on non-cached data. Similar to C/LOB in-row limit exceeding on other databases.
Naysayers: This product is not for you. It is for the interviewer's benefit. You are not the one paying for it so your "depression" due to tools such as this is almost a non issue.

If you don't want to do a technical interview such as codepair, then don't. I'm sure there will be other candidates who wouldn't mind.

Now the question as to whether or not this is effective in gauging the actual resourcefulness of a potential employee - that is a little less certain. I'm sure their are other factors beside one's ability to answer coding problems that play into the overall ability of a potential employee.
Introducing the new Flow
Any targeted attack is likely to succeed given the (apparent) money and talent behind Stuxnet. Many of the exploits were zero-day anyway; I see no reason why they couldn't have used zero-day linux exploits instead.

I do agree, though, Windows is a desktop machine OS and has a vastly larger exploitation surface area.
Well, a technical interview that's lacking in actual hands-on coding perhaps. The reason we do actual whiteboarding now is to weed out those types (and it's done wonders in that aspect).
Too bad no one learns a thing about arithmetic, because we're all required to take it.

Seriously, I don't actually give a flying fig about the feedback and evaluation mechanisms. I care about raising skill in this kind of thinking capability in as many people as possible. That is, taught with the cultural vigor we give to skills such as literacy. I also don't mean "some kind of random class with this label slapped on it". At the time, we very clearly meant the instruction quality that we had just experienced.
Basically, the only thing sent to the server are mouse clicks and keystrokes, which should make cheating difficult. In the past, people have used macros or programming to flood the server with mouse / key input, which caused performance issues. I now rate limit input, so if too much is sent too quickly it is just thrown away.
TOMS founder on turning the one-for-one charity model into a platform
I like that this is being discussed more. Some related thoughts:

- I personally find the numbers low; there is a glut of startups out there partially due to engineers realizing that they are more than often underpaid in terms of equity.

- Employers and VCs should realize that a hyper-motivated engineer is worth N engineers. Not juts in terms of effort, but engineering quality, reduction in politics/a more meritocratic culture, morale, etc.

- Heavily invested engineers will be retained; recruiting and skill-retention are huge resource consumers.
IIRC, in most US elections, "write ins" are only valid if they are not only for a real person, but a real person who meets the legal qualifications for the position and has officially filed as a write-in candidate. So, yeah, they'd be spoiled ballots.
You can just right click the overlay, click Inspect Element, then delete the div that contains the overlay.
>Natural rights, except as a rhetorical device to claim the moral high ground in arguments about what decisions the State should make in terms of imposing coercive power on behalf of one or the other conflicting claimants in a class of actual or hypothetical disputes, don't actually have any direct bearing on, really, anything

And where, precisely, does the State come from? From where does it come by its power? What is the State? If there was no community, would a state still exist? Sort of; each of us would retain individual sovereignty, and most likely, begin to group together again for security of both our persons and our property.

The idea of the state of nature and natural rights is not to create said rights, but instead to illuminate the rights each of us already possesses.

>whether or not they relate to an entity in which you claim a property right

I don't know what this means. My point was pretty simple; if I pick a bunch of apples and you try to take them from me, I can say 'those are mine' and hit you. In effect, I am thereby claiming property and enforcing my right to said property through force.

>many of those who believe in the existence of "natural rights" also believe that a fundamental distinguishing feature of "natural rights" is that they are inalienable -- that is, they cannot be transferred or surrendered.

It's not that controversial. Only some natural rights are inalienable, not all. The right to enter into the state of war, for example, is both a natural right and one which a person may give up to the state or community.
Me too, but apparently it's true. At least for the US.

"Antibiotics can also be found in vegetables and fruits. The U.S. Department of Agriculture funded a study to test this. Scientists took manure from animals that were given antibiotics. They grew different plants in the manure and then tested its leaves. What they found was alarming:

1. The antibiotic was present in fruits, vegetables as well as the vegetable leaves.

2. The amount of antibiotic in the plant was directly related to the amount in the soil.

3. The plants absorbed antibiotics in the soil as it grew.

4. Crops that grow underground might absorb even more antibiotics from the soil. Examples of such crops include potatoes, radishes, and carrots."

http://www.consumer-health.com/services/cons_take66.php
Hope the new CEO puts an end to this nonsense and invests the money into improving Bing instead.
> I have trouble finding any candidates I can believe in.

If the issue is important enough to enough people, why aren't any of them becoming candidates?
Example: Everyone on the terrorist watchlist gets a face photo associated with the name. Then run face detection software in the booth and don't let the traveler out if it matches.

That is a pretty straightforward next step from what is there now. I am not sure how likely it is, but if you claim you can't possibly think of abuses, then you just aren't thinking very hard.
Ugh, I hate those comments. Reminds me too much of forum cruft. Or that xda-developers video. If you see that crap cropping up, please flag it; they're easy enough to get rid of.

As you say, there's a bit of a "man with a hammer" problem with folks who've gained access to the tooling without really learning how (or when) to use it. I'm working on some better guidance there, but it can be hard to redirect that impulse. If you have any good suggestions, don't hesitate to ping me in The Tavern (http://chat.meta.stackoverflow.com/rooms/89/tavern-on-the-me...). "@Shog9" should actually do something there ;-)
I'm struggling to understand how anyone could possibly be aware that there was a threat to the ozone layer, but also think that it magically solved itself. The catalyst action of CFCs is not remotely controversial, no more than the IR absorption spectrum of CO2.

Whether it's environmental disasters or internet social media activities, there's an interesting bias towards thinking that the status quo is stable, just because it's been that way for a few years. Stuff changes. Take a step back and actually look at the whole picture.
jdoliner just walked over to me and told me how he was laughing along with everyone else at this guy who posted on the first HN bitcoin post until he realized it was him.
Like this post regarding Hacker School.
Robotic SharkCam
Check your twitter. Once you follow me back I have the perfect song for you
Ask HN: Do you couchsurf?
Myself and a friend are looking to Couchsurf in Paris, so that we can attend dotJS 2013 and it made me wonder, how many of you HNers are also couch surfers? If so, what have your experiences been like?
Oh Lord. Their videos could use some work. Not trying to diminish their work though. I'm really happy that multiple companies are tackling the affordable, fuel efficient, car void.

I found this piece that discusses their financial viability.
http://cleantechnica.com/2013/08/19/paul-elio-motors-release...
Similar to Watsi? http://ycombinator.com/watsi.html
Thanks for responding. I fully agree with your comment -- as I said, I too think many people are sometimes put off by the apparent complexity of machine learning, and demystifying how it works is a great thing.
Unfortunately there's always a risk that a "hey, maybe this isn't so hard after all" might turns into a "wow, that was easy". While I think the former is great, the latter is dangerous because machine learning is often used to make decisions (sometimes crucial, for example when dealing with financial transactions), so I would argue more care should be taken than if we were talking about general purpose programming: if you trust an algorithm with making important business decisions, then you better have an intimate knowledge of how it works.

While I again agree with the underlying sentiment, I was just a bit disappointed that it seems to invite the reader to be satisfied of himself rather than motivate him to dig deeper. Nothing a future blog post can't solve though!
Three New Types of AngelList Syndicates I Hope to See
And this is not gonna top up on 4chan. This is why I like it better here.
Is it a one person car?
The kind of traffic generated by Hacker News is way more than you need to kill a standard WordPress setup.
Node.js modifies globals is the issue and does other seriously interesting things[1].

[1] https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/nodejs/FuOB3151rPQ
I thought this was a joke but it looks like you can actually add these to your shopping cart.

These items seem mean-spirited and I'm not sure what its supposed to accomplish.

I like how they use the Chrome logo in a bunch of places. Not like the IE brand set developer productivity back 10 years or anything. Not to mention resources lost to dealing with IE 6/7/8.
Ng's coursera class is really dumbed down and although he gives a nice intuitive explanation of the basics, it's nowhere near as hard as his actual Stanford class (or any other ml class from a good engineering school).
Michael,

I know from reading your posts over the years that you have been screwed over as an employee, but I wonder if your perspective is skewed by that experience. Realistically, if people want market-clearing salaries there aren't exactly a huge pool of companies that can afford to hire them. You're basically looking at series A by default, and the founders who can grow businesses to that level are quite rare.

It may be that investors/founders can't tell the difference between luck and skill, so that compensation gets unhinged from what is rationally in the long-term interests of the company. But if employees are really that much better at assessing the difference shouldn't their rational choice be working for a riskier business where they can get meaningful equity? Or just starting their own company?
i kind of hate to put myself at risk of overturning at 80mph on mild windy day on mild turn on 280 just because 3 wheeler (motorcycle) is easier (read cheaper) to certify than 4 wheeler (car). Of course that is also because i can afford to pay additional money of "car price", and i'd probably thought differently if i couldn't.

Not saying that such a vehicle don't have its place. Though i have hard time imagining it. If not highway - than cities - European cities are well populated either by small 4-wheel cars or just scooters. Doesn't seem like there is niche for car size 3 wheeler without full benefits of a car.
Memory is indeed the our biggest concern. We now allocate 50MB of memory to every R session..
The "coincidence or crisis" line is unneeded. The stat following it, how people feel, doesn't help to answer the question. A scientific fact would have been more fitting.
I've heard some good things about it. I'll give it a try. Winamp is timeless because it's so simple and powerful. I loved the play next queue. If I felt like a few songs I could throw them on the temporary queue without interrupting what was going on. Great for playing music for others too.
You lost me at "Indian Pale Ale"
the "anticipated 5-star" safety rating doesn't feel very comforting...
Kout, the first 4 years
Currently, meat serves the important function of regulating the supply of cereals. When there is overproduction, the grain producers can still sell for meat producers, not going out of business. Where the production reduces, meat producers sell thiner (and sometimes younger) animals, freeing more grains for human consumption.

Left alone, grain consumption is extremely inelastic, and production is extremely variable - not a good combination. But yes, it's not that hard to create other mechanisms for regulating that market, even world wide.
Good luck, I guess. P2P payments are a lousy business because cash, checks and splitting tactics work fine and no one wants to pay a fee for settling up with a friend.
The U.S. devotes 80 million acres to corn production, corn that is mostly used as animal feed:

http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/crops/corn/background.aspx

(ethanol has shifted that mostly some, yay!)
Why should I put my money where my mouth is when I can just write a few angry posts on HN. My congressperson reads HN right?

Seriously, people need to understand that unless you are reasonably famous, people care way less about what you say than what you do. That means money. Don't give it to people and companies you don't like. Give it to people and companies you do like.

Oh and for the love of god, don't argue for silly "campaign finance" laws that restrict our ability to donate to politicians. I guarantee these large companies with armies of lawyers and lobbyists will be way more adept at finding loopholes than we the average people will be. It silences us way more than them.
Christianity is secular humanism.

I'm occult.

not_in_kansas_anymore act job I_got_your_back Zzzzzzzz in_a_galaxy_far_far_away
grumble stoked I'll_ask_nicely you're_in_big_trouble phasors_on_stun
ROFLMAO ha King_Midas desert what_have_you_done_for_me_lately
no_way_dude it's_hopeless Enough et_tu I_give_up repeat_after_me
crazy

A Christian would certainly call me occult. All Christians would call me occult. I am not what they are. I would say they are atheist secular humanists.

I like Ouija boards, they call it they devil, but if they thought about it, it doesn't register. They have mental blocks placed there by shepherds. They are sheep, really. Jedi mind-tricked. Devil board, but real? They don't stop to think if it's real and how that might be used. They think it's bogus, but they have mental dissonance -- they are unresolved on Ouija boards -- devil but... real? don't get that far in thought.
Clearly, this is an evil plot to make peoples' schemas break entertainingly in case they ever try to move to MySQL :)