skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
It isn't the same thing. For example, if you owned gold through eGold (fairly common place back in the day) you'd still be waiting to get your money back after the feds raided it. Sure they held the physical gold in Dubai somewhere, but the US government shut it down and they ultimately control what you can and cannot transfer for all electronic forms of gold.
The Ben Franklin quote is apropos here: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither."

While it's wildly misquoted on the interblags, you can't read out the word "essential." The point of the quote isn't that no trade-offs between freedom and safety are appropriate, but rather that we shouldn't trade away those freedoms that are "essential." It is debatable whether monitoring of the internet, a technology that didn't even exist for most of American history, is a trading off "essential" liberty, or whether its an "inessential" liberty.

Ben Franklin, like the other framers, realized that freedom versus security was a trade-off. Remember, the Constitution itself was a reaction to the Articles of Confederation, which created a government that turned out to be too weak to protect peoples' safety, both from external threats (Indians, European powers) and internal threats (domestic insurgents). The Constitution draw the safety versus freedom line a little closer to "safety" by creating a more powerful, more centralized federal government.

This balancing is also why the 4th amendment uses the wiggle word "unreasonable." Searches and seizures are okay, just not "unreasonable" ones. Well how do you decide what is "reasonable" versus "unreasonable?" You figure out how to appropriately trade-off freedom versus security! If the founding fathers didn't intend for us to engage in such balancing, they would've left out the word "unreasonable." No searches and seizures, even if necessary to solve a murder or kidnapping. After all, that would maximize freedom at some cost to security.
CheapCast supports Tab Casting
> Octave, in my opinion, should be relegated to (trying to) run legacy Matlab code, while Julia or Numpy should be the first choice for any new code.

Octave dev here. I agree.

Every time I have to implement yet another idiocy of the Matlab language, I die a little inside. It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it.
I might be surrounded by idiots but I think I'm the only one in my entourage who read the instructions (I've told my friends numerous amount of time "What? You're not suppose to take more than 4g per day!").

Seriously? If they can't even be bothered to read the instructions on medicine (or anything they put in their body) then they have problems and need more help. Or need to learn to read.
> all library functions being in the global scope

Ever used C?

> lack of sane naming conventions for those things

Absolutely annoying but also fairly minimal. Mostly an issue in the string & array functions.

> terrible type conversions

Weak typing has to coerce somehow. Javascript is equally "terrible" at times.

> unsafe libraries

Such as? All the major libraries are thread-safe that I'm aware of

> starting php with every request

PHP exists outside of the web, and even in the web environment, you can run it as fastcgi since inception as a persistent daemon and php-fpm is the standard daemon now as well.

> being able to drop raw php right into html templates

I view that as a feature (which is often abused by beginners)
That is the funniest argument I ever read. Ignorance is bliss as they say.
I don't mean to drag this on forever, but I read the comment differently- as I said in the reply linked below. In short, that person isn't being intellectually dishonest. But the organizations who did know better and are pretending otherwise are.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6796335
As a geologist, the most astounding part of this is that humans have become a (and in some cases, "the") major player in a lot of natural processes. That's the basis for calling the industrialized era the Anthropocene.

Humans are now the primary "shapers" of the earth (e.g. [1]).

We likely move more sediment than natural processes. More than glaciers. More than rivers.

For me, that's simply mind-blowing.

[1] Hooke, R. L. (1994). On the efficacy of humans as geomorphic agents. GSA Today, 4(9), 217.
Nobody is denying that there is potentially a lot of value in 23andMe's genetic reporting.

The point is, like all other medical tests before them, they need to go through the proper regulatory channels to ensure their safety and validity. It decidedly should not be "up to the people to decide" because we know that society at-large is not informed enough to make these decisions.

What makes 23andme different from all of the other medical tests and technology out there?!
And they still lost... what?
Every time I read about our patent system the blood drains from my face, how do we fix such a broken system?
Framing the conversation as freedom vs safety is dangerous because it ignores the issue of government power.

The danger of mass surveillance is not due to some abstract need for privacy, but rather because of the immense power the government has. The founding fathers acutely understood the dangers of government overreach, and the constitution of the USA was designed to keep it in check. However these days, the very principles that the country was founded on are used as a shield to lull the well-fed and entertained population into a false sense of security about the benevolence of the government. Ironically people in oppressive third-world regimes would hold no such illusions, but in the English-speaking world we get "meh, what do I have to hide?". The insidious thing about this is that history's lessons on the subject can not be cited without sounding like a crackpot.
By extension, then, wiretaps are just fine, by anybody. All that data, entering and leaving your house, is not in your house, so it's fair game. So is opening mail (if it's in the post office it's not under your control, right?) Your car? It's on the street, so what if we attached GPS devices.

Those microphones and cameras in public places are there for your protection. We'll never abuse that, trust us. Oh never never never.

("Hey, this guy voted Replubricatic last election, stick him on the list, too. Hey, he gave money to my opponent!")
I wonder if running an anti-patent troll marketing campaign in Marshall would help fix this. Educate the population about the problem.
Offtopic: Is there any way to read QR codes via JavaScript? Something like ZBar?
yes that's perfectly right. But the value of the currency should then become indexed to the cost of securing the ledger over the long run. At this point I would think that's it not the case for btc. IMHO developing ASICs for SHA256 hashing is not a grand development for humanity; it's an expected capitalist response to the fact the the p2p system is valuable. It's a capitalistic proof of the bitcoin protocol.

But as a ledger gets bigger it gets more expensive to secure and harder to use; at one point the best economic alternative is to start a new one, based on the same principle, but not the same POW. And then start a new one. So the value resides in the p2p protocol not the currency itself which is a temporary corollary store that exists while the network is growing.
Thanks a lot for the links! Btw., the VexCL author is also active in the ViennaCL community.

Atm., I want to re-implement some of the functionality of Theano but in C++. Esp. I also want to implement deep neural networks. And I want my code in a way so that I can easily switch between different calculation backends later on, like using the CPU or multiple CPUs (hopefully with vector processing), or some GPUs (e.g. via OpenCL) or even some multiple-machine cluster.

I found many libs doing one of this very well but only very few libs which supports multiple backends like ViennaCL. For example, Boost.Compute only supports OpenCL but not the CPU. VexCL, as far as I understand, also does not support CPU calculations.

In what state is Aura? And would it be a good fit for my needs?
Right, forgot to add 6. It's early... Fixed.
Extending Backbone with Marionette's CollectionView
This is actually the same answer: when they finally learn enough to fix the documentation, there is no longer any personal benefit to doing so.
I think its fair to say that it shines for numerical computation, but you can perform other tasks with Julia with ease.

For example, the idea of writing some number-crunching as a webservice with MATLAB or Octave is not an option, but with Julia is totally possible (and has been done more than once already) - and it builds on strong foundations (e.g. libuv). Heres an example (disclaimer: my own site) http://iaindunning.com/2013/sudoku-as-a-service.html
Agreed, the same fallacy is used by brainwashed soldiers and other people to defend wars. They say we wouldn't have the GPS, the Internet, canned food, etc., and that we shouldn't complain, and that it's ironic that we do it using the Internet.
Of course we are in the midst of a mass extinction. This is not controversial.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternary_extinction_event
It may indeed be a strange choice, but I think there are many reasons for why one might try Julia beyond the speed aspect. The main one for me (and I think the language designs also state something to this effect) is the language wide paradigm of multiple dispatch on parametric types. Coming originally from a C/Fortran old school numerical computing background, it seems to me that many of the best numerical software (your lapacks,fftws, and whatnot) eventually end up at a point where you have a flat collection of a bunch of foo functions with some protocol over the function suffixes and signatures, so that you can can get at an optimized foo_* at the bottom level with a uniform interface through a top level foo at the level of granularity of basic fooness as understood by end users. Julia formalizes this structure, which is I think part of how it achieves speed, but more importantly allows people to focus on programming to the essential abstraction and adding in methods to optimize or specialize after the fact.
jimktrains2 if the gov decides that bitcoin should be made illegal, most people won't bother with it. And if you can't use it locally what value does it have at that point? Gold you can at least bury in your backyard and hope that if not you, then your grandchildren will get something out of it.
It's not your house, it's the bank's house. That's what a mortgage is.
You're a doctor without a primary care provider? Why/what?
MediaWiki is such an astoundingly fugly piece of software.
And of course as technology advances, both actual composition and what can and cannot be usefully recycled will change.
I agree. At it's PHP is just a template language. There are many great PHP MVC framworks that have evolved over the years to incorporate many "best practices". The choice should be up to the developer depending on the project.
The same issue occurs in politics. "Right" and "left" as generic terms are pretty useless. I could be left wing when it comes to state welfare or healthcare but right wing when it comes to personal taxation.
I do love and use AngularJS, but finding solutions to problems I have with it seriously the most frustrating experience I've had with any language. It can be a real pain going from Ruby on Rails development, for which there is always a gem or a couple-line fix for a given problem, to AngularJS. Sometimes I find a solution by cobbling together StackOverflow answers, sometimes random Google Groups posts and JS fiddles, but I never find the answer in the AngularJS docs. I use the official documentation only as a reference when I already know what I'm doing and only forgot the name of some property.
/sarcastic-mode: and for what reason? For the 3 people that still use QR? :P
Then I am wrong.
How can you say that Bitcoin is more expensive than gold? I'm not sure how you'd even compare them.
Even in the UK the truth is a valid defense against a libel case. The main difference is that the burden of proof is put on the alleged libeller, who has to prove s/he hasn't committed libel, rather than on the person who has supposedly been libelled.
I was discussing a somewhat related subject yesterday, on an in-company product development workshop.

For a DropBox-like product, feeling safe you won't lose your files is the baseline. If you cannot reliably ensure the files won't get randomly deleted, you don't have a product. Once you have a product, the value you add gets increasingly more subtle - better metadata capture, nicer ways to organize your files, an outstanding slideshow or music app - and what determines your ultimate success may feel completely random and totally unrelated to the original way you defined your product.

It would be interesting if we could measure luck based on previous YC batches.
I have a feeling we're going to find out in the next few years. Let's hope the Supreme Court shows wisdom the voters don't seem to have and that the Justices don't wimp out with very narrow decisions.
cleverrun uses data from Run Keeper? I'm assuming it can pull in information from my Garmin somehow?
You must be new here? This is one of the most 'un'-conspiracy crowds you'll ever read from.
Why do you think inflation would go up? I have never understood this argument. It seems to me as likely for the price of consumer goods to go down as for them to go up in such a scenario. Or you may see no movement at all.
I'm not a beginner in running. Been running for more than two years but I find it hard to run 10k/day unless I don't have a job and don't go to work. I do the same I run on MWF and lift TThSat and that routine is ok for me. But running everyday is different.
POY: the nucleus group of Aaron Swartz, Edward Snowden, and someone we should not forget to thank, Assange. Where, pray tell, would we be without them?
Sorry for spreading misinformation. When I heard her speak some years ago, I could have sworn I heard the person who introduced her say she was the only scientist in congress. Perhaps they were wrong, perhaps I heard or remembered wrong.
Not bad at all..
I see what you did there.

I wonder what's wrong with me, it took me three times to understand what was the weird stench coming from this sentence. I then understood than 'minor citzen' thing you did. Well played, almost got me.
Actually the ability to mix PHP and "HTML" is the only reason I still use PHP occasionally. Sometimes, I have a plain-text file, and would like to use variables or simple loops in it. The best way to do this is PHP!

For example, say I want to plot a couple of data columns with gnuplot (an open source plotting program) into several images. I can write a PHP script "myplot.plt.php" that generates a gnuplot script (untested):

set terminal png enhanced
<?php
for ($i = 2; $i <= 4; $i++) {
$outputfile = "plot$i.png"
echo <<EOT
set output "$outputfile"
plot "data.txt" u 1:$i
EOT;
}
?>

and then invoke it from gnuplot with

load "< php myplot.plt.php"

This is a stupid example, but it gets really powerful when you dynamically calculate labels, element positions, etc.. PHP may be a crappy language for web development, but it is a really nice macro language, and has really powerful string processing features, making it ideal for this kind of hack.
I know that. The article said they have 6 graceful years after expiration. My question is can they renew it?
We try to not implement some of the biggest Matlab weirdness whenever possible:

http://wiki.octave.org/FAQ#How_is_Octave_different_from_Matl...

Sadly, this is not possible very frequently.
Installing Debian testing On GPT HDDs ( 2TB) From A Grml Live Linux
There's one for HTML5 https://github.com/LazarSoft/jsqrcode . I haven't really tried it though.
Agreed - its always a sinking feeling to see code attached to a paper and see that its MATLAB or, even worse, MATLAB+some toolkit/addon. Of course, still better than seeing a paper without ANY code...
The Death and Life of Great Internet Cities
Congratulations! RubyMine is improving significantly each release. I'm especially thankful for the support of leading-edge Ruby, Rails, and now Stylus too.
He's on the list now, so now my comment looks like I'm questioning why he's there. I am not. He wasn't there when I first posted that (or, I've lost my mind)
I think this is generally true, but only up to a point. Someone who is weak can become stronger, but our maximal fitness levels are largely genetic.

This is, of course, not a useful thing to point out to someone who is weak (or an introvert). I am a firm believer in two things: Carol Dweck's idea of the "growth mindset", and that our energy is best spent on things we can control and not on things we cannot. Introverts can train themselves to have social interactions drain them less. They may never be loquacious, but good enough is good enough.
I was hoping to vote for CowboyNeal.
Net names .bike and .guru available
People like predictability and the illusion of security. I've had conversations about the Snowden stuff that ended with the other conversant saying that they would always choose security every time, and if the government wanted watch everything they did then all the better.

Their entire worldview seemed to be framed on a false choice though - you can either have security and safety or you can be free of government intrusion. I fundamentally disagree with this, total government intrusion and surveillance is not security, nor is it safety, you simply move the danger from 'terrorists' to 'government agents'. Either way (to steal a line from the libertarians) men with guns and bombs might show up and ruin or end your life.
Agree that Paypal is pretty darn quick. I personally have issues with zip codes because I live abroad and always forget which zip code my credit card is on, but I agree that isn't typical.

The advantage is clearest when it is your first transaction, so not when using PayPal or Google Wallet. Because I live abroad (Rwanda) I have more hassle with credit cards than you might, specifically they are always getting flagged for fraud because I'm not where they expect. Yes, this isn't an issue if you live in the states at a permanent address.

> I bet you that it's insanely easier to get CC than bitcoin in a lot of "developing countries", and average people from developing countries, which I assume have lower than most income, should really avoid bitcoin due to the price fluctuation. In theory it's great, in practice... not so much.

Not sure why you are using quotes, but you are wrong on this one, at least in East Africa where I live. Getting a credit card is pretty annoying and expensive in Rwanda. The vast majority of people do not have bank accounts, much less credit.

I wouldn't suggest Bitcoin as a store of value, but I do think there is potential as a form of payment in these markets. IE, buying $15 of bitcoins (which yes, can be had in various ways here) to register the domain and spending it the same day. That is indeed easier than getting a credit card here.
> It's also got a bad wrap for being the language of choice for people who do not wish to learn any other language or anything about computer science or computers.

That explains why its infamous for spaghetti code.
Beating Amazon's System
Luckily some of those things are improving. The SBOE just voted in real science textbooks and our asshole governor isn't running again.
You described that nicely. I didn't realize there was such a split, but I'm definitely of the former group. Ugh, I just want to write my own cool stuff and understand it. If I wanted to write and understand the inner workings of AngularJS, that's what I'd be doing.
Why should Bitcoin have a monopoly? If Satoshi2 comes up with another process, similar but differing only in the mining computation, my Bitcoin2's should be equal in value, or at least at guaranteed at an exchange rate based on compute intensity required.

I assert that they would not be my Bitcoin2's would be worth less. This highlights the observation that literally all of bitcoins value comes from confidence that the network of willing participants is permanent and robust. This makes it different than gold -- gold is gold, whereas one crypto-currency is entirely different than another crypto-currency. This also makes it different than other fiat currencies whose network of participants is compelled by law.
It could, but the title says they have done it, which they haven't.
Good link in your links:

As I see it, BitCoins do qualify as money when they are used as currency — which they actually are — because they are present goods, the same way that software or an mp3 file are also a present goods. And they are useful as currency because they have good properties as a medium of exchange: They are scarce, homogeneus, difficult to fake, easy to identify (this could be improved), easy to transport, divisible, etc. The perceived utilitiy of these properties is what makes Bitcoins valuable. Purchasing power is a consequence of utility, not the opposite.

It would make the BitCoins value more stable if they could be used for a non monetary purpose. Maybe some cryptographic application? I think that it would be a good idea for the BitCoin community to research for a non monetary utility for the BitCoins.

As long as BitCoins don´t have a non monetary utility, Mises followers are correct when they say that if BitCoins loses its currency status, then their value would drop to zero, the question is, how much value would also lose silver or gold if they were not used as currency or store of value anymore? BitCoins are not risk-free, as nothing in life is risk-free. It´s a matter of choice.

Gold has been valuable for over 4.000 years, Bitcoins? 4, and that's already longer than the Tulip Mania ;-) We'll see how it works out but it sure is interesting.

http://eleconomistaprudente.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/bitcoin...
Hey the footer is difficult to read on my Android phone. Nice work tho.
I don't believe this is necessarily a bug. All code will break under some extremes and nowhere are the requirements specified for what this code is supposed to be able to handle. Without requirements, you can't "prove" it correct (or incorrect for that matter).
In chrome, I get a blank page. Works in Safari, though.
Snowden currently winning: http://hn-poll-rank.herokuapp.com/rank?post=6801294
Looks nice and i intended to download it. But $ 4,99 is a bit high for such a small app without the possibility to testdrive it.
Not saying it is a good idea - just wanted to provide a local context for extremism that a lot of people would likely appreciate having blocked.
Here's a link to an open source implementation of this concept that allows you to browse the whole site including comments:

http://www.guidefreitas.com/hacker-news-menu-tab-app

I've been using this for a bit and it's pretty neat. Also not required to use the Mac App Store to install it.
I was put off when it seemed that the language doesn't support vectorization the way that Matlab does

Yea, coming from matlab it just feels so wrong to write out loops by hand. Fortunately it seems some people are working on trying to solve that here: https://github.com/lindahua/Devectorize.jl
This is a RubyMotion Mac app open sourced here https://github.com/MohawkApps/Hacker-Bar
I'm finding a lot of my information without even needing to visit a page. A bit like Google's info-boxes, I can get quick answers to a lot of things without hassle.

The one area it could be a bit better is for some things that are slightly esoteric or articles that are very new. I just search with "!g" added to the query and get those via redirect (of course, that does negate privacy a bit since results are from Google).
getting excited about docker and lxc in general..
The links feature will make deploying sites a million times easier.