skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
So far, i only read about 35% of the content. I think what makes it unique is the language that it used is quite casual and it gives a lot of example per cases. It emphasized a lot about validating your assumptions. All in all, i highly recommended it too.
No reason to get your panties in a twist, it was 'linked-in', then 'xing', now it's twitter. Given the balloon like nature of these fads I give it another year or so and it will be gone again, or at least greatly reduced.

Every product - twitter too - has a lifecycle, there are 'boom' periods and there is an inevitable bust. See the hula-hoop, click-clack, tamagochi and a whole bunch of other items for real world analogies.
Interesting numbers. Mine paint a different picture. One of my sites is running 45.79% IE users, of which 26.06% is IE6. Boils down to 11.9% IE6 of the total. Two of my other sites are actually down to 8% and 7%. All sites support IE6...

Lies, damned lies and statistics. His numbers are meaningless unless you run his site, and therefore the conclusions he draws from them are as well.
CPU
An interesting way of looking at how a CPU works
Iain M. Banks' Transition to be free podcast
There's nothing wrong with leaving SSH open on a web server - provided it's locked down. How that gets locked down is down to the risk appetite of those responsible.
Not necessarily. What about exploiting VPN clients? http://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-09-024/

There's also the configuration to consider. Using PSK or aggressive mode for VPNs can be considered bad but are you really going to deploy a full RADIUS solution just to access a web server?

Compare this to using public key based auth on SSH, I know which one I'd rather have for a web server.
It's a version of the Argument by Generalization: you show that one of the arguments is fallacious and generalize that everything the other has said must be fallacious. The generalization might be merely implied, by not responding to other arguments.

BTW, you are aware that 'cites an obscure logical fallacy in order to sound more intelligent' is something between an ad hominem and a red herring, because you draw attention to the supposed, morally questionable, intentions of the other, rather than face the fallacy head on?
Yes, those poor children, scarred for life because they saw some genitals.

Americans at the dutch beaches invariably are absolutely shocked when I take them there on a visit. There is more casual nudity there (and these are the 'regular' beaches) than on the average porn site.

Being a 'sex offender' for something like this completely degrades the term, it is supposed to be reserved for sexual predators that make a career out of stalking the defenseless, not for an act of stupidity or sillyness.
Concerning 'taxation is theft': you are redefining theft. Theft is, by the definition everyone uses in practice, something immoral. Something that we don't want and that should be punished. If taxation is positive-sum, even to the victim, then it cannot possibly be theft. By asserting that 'taxation is theft', you muddle the discussion, because the point in question is whether taxation is immoral.
Nobody reading their docs means nobody knowing about their project.
Getting Comfortable With People Who Make You Uncomfortable
Ah, so I need to re-route another port. Thanks.
"...and not into maths" is editorializing on part of the article. The campaign posters themselves doesn't even mention math.
"Money Stamping – grab a stamper from your local office supply store and stamp a funny phrase along with your website address on it. Have a make money online blog? Stamp something like “Learn how to make thousands of these online: sitehere”."

My recollection is that it is illegal to deface currency. I believe some of the other suggestions are also illegal. Just because people do it all the time doesn't mean you won't be the one that gets caught in the crossfire when there is a crackdown because people have had enough. When I think of "guerrilla marketing", I think of breaking social convention, not breaking the law.
On linux I have the following script bound to F19 on my apple keyboard:

#!/bin/sh
grabc | tr -d '\n' | xclip

No GUI, just drops the picked color into the clipboard. Has worked well enough for me.
I don't quite understand. What if there is an exploit for OpenVPN?
These have been linked and passed around on the internet for a long time. They just ripped them off the Internet. For an ad campaign that is celebrating creativity, it actually has none.
A Short Talk about Richard Feynman by Stephen Wolfram (2005)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexicurity FTW.
Not very surprising.

If you intend to be a responsible citizen in India, you need a licensed Beretta Pistol.
I'm not holding my breath. Looking at the pace of progress in the browser world I would say it's a safe bet that at least another 5 years will pass before @font-face becomes a serious option for public sites...
dupe: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=661223
My iPhone has bluetooth and I can't have a keyboard and mouse when I want them.

I don't want to underestimate how annoying companies can be when they put their minds to it.
I'm currently looking at kohana - I use Zend FW now (been doing a long time without any of the established frameworks, only my own set of tools). Can you elaborate a bit why Kohana instead of Zend? Even if I end up using Kohana, there are several things in Zend I will keep - PDF for example.
90% of China's billionaires are kids of high-ranking officials
The news is from 2006, but it's a reminder following a recent scandal and but it's also a reminder of the difficulties outsiders (both inside and outside of the country) face in trying to become successful in China.
Yeast Infection After Sex - Why It Happens
If you're at home, running OpenBSD on your own computer, then security can be inconvenient as you want it. But if you run security for a business, you have to balance confidentiality and integrity with availability (and sometimes some other concerns). Shell access from the internet could be important to availability--obviously, this was the wrong way to do it, but it wasn't a wrong objective.
Private healthcare FTW. You have a better chance of surviving cancer in the US than in Denmark.

http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2008/07/cancer-survival-rates.ht...

US healthcare is not a pure market based system, though. The regulations make it very expensive.

- an expat Dane
I highly recommend it too. The advice and method concrete enough but not too specific. It tells you a bit what to do, why and how. Since it's iterate process its gets better by time and goes well with agile development.

At first your goal is to define your assumptions, test them with potential customers and gather facts. Next integrate the facts into your product development. Continue verifying your product and business with customers, start your sales and go-to-market activities. Last, if you're successful, scale your company.

I read a lot business literature and Steve Blank's book is exceptional in way that it makes sense and offers you a path to walk on. For quick reference see http://www.slideshare.net/venturehacks/customer-development-... and http://steveblank.com/
The problem with health care is no amount of money will ever be enough.

It's one of those areas where you can spend and spend and spend and you will still be far away from satisfying the needs we have.

The Danish model that I grew up with is ok, but don't expect treatment that are even half that of a good American hospital.

Put on top of that the fact that we are "discovering" (or inventing) more and more sickness that we can then threat which people expect the hospital to take care of.

Perhaps the real trick is to tax those treatments that are extremely both important and expensive and let the insurance companies take care of the milder forms of sickness. That way if technology makes what used to be expensive treatments easy and cheap they can be pushed into the private market.

Don't know, it's a tough nut to crack.
The Dangers of Working 24/7
Straw man and ad hominem are obviously the big hitters here. A good way to find examples is to search for, say: "ad hominem fuck" or "straw man asshole". The extra profanity term helps narrow the search to discussions which are particularly heated.
First, a VPN would best be used as an additional layer of security for the whole network, not as a shell for one particular box. Second, a group very publically announced, by hacking imageshack, that they were going after full-disclosure security blogs. A little later, they warned that they had an ssh 0-day. The prudent thing for a full-disclosure security blog to do would be to put some additional security around their internet-facing ssh.
"There are, however, no examples of successful health care based on the principles of the free market, for one simple reason: in health care, the free market just doesn’t work. And people who say that the market is the answer are flying in the face of both theory and overwhelming evidence."

I'm quite curious where it has even been attempted (I'm assuming that Krugman is aware that it's difficult to prove a negative). There are submarkets where markets are being tried - prescription eye glasses for instance.

There are all types of insurance that cover complicated risks as well - this doesn't mean they are uninsurable (excess of loss coverage on any variety of things). But I think Krugman's biggest failings is in making a convincing argument that all healthcare is necessarily expensive. Back to the prescription eyeglass example - where the competition between opticians, optometrists and ophthalmologists have made costs rise considerably less than healthcare costs as a whole. Further, if you look at the innovations in ambulatory care centers, there have been dramatic reductions in costs.

Finally, let's also be reasonable about government run healthcare that has its own set of issues with spiraling costs and often lower standards of care. As a Canadian, you often see the effects of rationing - ie people wait. People die in the waiting line. The system is still quite expensive and is set to become even more so given demographics. It is however an interesting debate - where I worry though is given the US is the dominant innovator in healthcare, will the tinkerings to how and what incentives are offered dramatically reduce innovation? Despite being an obviously imperfect system (which one is perfect for that matter?), most Americans at least say they are satisfied with their own healthcare insurance. Are these really then acceptable tradeoffs to move to a largely government run system - especially given the level of competence we have seen them run the recent stimulus packages?
Pedal power for Kenya's mobiles
... so? the ads have something to do with maths, don't they?
Theft means taking someone's property without their consent. If we had a system by which taxation had some sort of optional element (e.g. it's up to you but if you don't pay you can't vote) then we could debate the morality of taxation. But from the perspective of the taxed, under the present system, there is no moral element - it's simply beyond your control.
It may be that no amount of money will ever be enough, but that money can be spent well or it can be spent badly. Doctors can prescribe an unnecessary procedure because they're paid for it or because they fear malpractice claims. Or they can prescribe an expensive drug or surgery with a high chance of saving your life. In America, we don't do a very efficient job of spending our health care dollars. In Denmark (where I'm living now), you may or may not get treatment as good as in an American hospital (you should try some of the public ones before you judge). At least you get the treatment you need regardless of your ability to pay, and without bankrupting you in the process.
"I expect to see "follow me on twitter here" at the end of his articles. He earned it."

That's a bit over the top. Lot's of people have used that phrase before that article. What's next, a land grab for variations of "follow me on Twitter" phrases? Trademarks for article endings?

I like people to read my blog to follow me on Twitter, not because I care for a high follower count, but because I care for relevant relationships on Twitter. Someone who reads my blog is much more likely to be relevant than someone who just searched my Twitter stream for random phrases.
I'm always torn when I see simple introductions into programming like this. One one hand, I like the idea of a free, good resource and a gentle introduction for those who need it, and on the other hand, I fear that some people really shouldn't be exposed to programming in the first place, and too gentle an introduction leaves them with an unwarranted feeling that they actually know what they're doing. On the gripping hand, I've been known to have my moments of being an elitist bastard, so bear with me here.
Given the amounts that are spent both by public and private actors, you should qualify your statement. Clearly, vast amounts are being inefficiently spent through Medicare. The question though is that if government isn't already good at spending the money through medicare, what makes anyone think that if you give them the whole system to run, it will be any better?
Hey, I'm not suggesting "it gets in the way of a healthy work-life balance". Going out for drinks or to networking events is often a part of work. A lot of business success depends on who you meet, and how you get on with them, rather than how well you build your product. If you're totally anti-social, you'll probably miss out on a lot of potential business contacts that could make or break your business, no matter how good your product is.
Yeah, the timestamp right there next to BPC is 07-25
The Watchmen, about Kevin Poulsen, is a great read, especially when he wins a red Porsche 944 (a car I've been intending to buy just because of this book).
I know I will be downvoted but anyone else had this association?
http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/2051/ss208.png
At least with a custom app you can filter the database and only show cases that seem relevant to you.

While I don't care atm, to be very honest, if I had little children running around outside, I would probably take a look at that database.

I am sorry for the humiliation these people go through. I consider their predicament a disease and I truly feel sorry for them. However, as long as we can not cure that illness (and we can't afaik), the safety of my children and relatives comes first. I believe the point of laws and crime deterrents should not be to "even out the guilt", it should be to prevent crimes from happening (Edit: that's of course a broad generalization, a balance has to be found between preventing crimes and overly restrictive laws. Hopefully the experts on psychology etc. can find the appropriate judgement).

(Note: obviously I don't talk about urinating in public and kissing your sweetheart when you were 17).
Challenges In Dieting And Weight Loss
Majority of the women throughout the world wish to have a flat stomach and a trim body structure. But very few of them take this wish seriously and work towards it. It is not about succeeding in becoming thin but the discussion is about the efforts that are taken to attain that goal. Most of us just think and leave the thought alone to rest. They read different articles and information about dieting, fitness and weight loss. They have them well equipped with knowledge about various weight loss plans. They also understand that it is dieting that would truly help in reducing weight.
Private health care can coexist with a system of Universal Health Care Coverage. Yes, the Canadian system is almost entirely run by the government, but there is no reason that the US most copy the Canadian system. In Australia, 40% of hospital services are delivered by privately run hospitals.
Entrepreneur hopes to revolutionize video games
I actually support the opposite model. Public heath care funding for generic drugs / cheep new drugs and basic heath care. Private insurance for extremely expensive drugs, experimental or high risk treatments, and life support once you are brain dead.

The first 20% of heath care spending goes increasingly far. The last 20% is pure waste. The problem is people want to try and help the old live forever so medicare is a black hole that will suck this country dry. Unfortunately I don't think we are going to have a cap on spending if you have less than a 20% chance of being alive in one year.

PS: Want to make heath care cheaper pay for the first 100$ of any drug / month if and only if it has zero advertising.
From what I've read, Facebook has a completely different vision of search than Google - and possible competitor in a number of areas. They want you to be able to query your contacts as you would in "real life". A more humanistic search versus Google's algorithmic one.
Things You Can Do With Google | TechJaws: Internet Security and SEO
What makes you think insurance companies spend money efficiently?

For one thing, they tend to have much higher administrative costs than publicly run health care programs. See, for example, Wikipedia's article on health care in the US: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_the_United_State... or this blog post by Ezra Klein: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/07/administ...

There are also all the reasons cited in Krugman's post.

Then there's the fact that the U.S. spends about twice as much on health care as any other developed nation and gets results that aren't clearly better overall. Is it a coincidence that we have the largest component of private spending?

If the insurance companies aren't already good at spending money on health care, what makes anyone think that if you give them the whole system to run, it will be any better?
Medicare is more effective than private inshurance on a treatment per incoming heal care dollar. The problem is the focus is on end of life treatment which is the most expensive. 50% of all heath care is paid for by the US Government / taxpayers the other half is a mix of out of pocket and private insurance.
A rejoinder/rebuttal by another prominent economist - http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2009/07/trust.html
Some of these tips are really good (using a CDN, caching on basically every layer, using YSlow), but does the author really believe using FPGAs and ASICs for websites is really practical? I've yet to see one real-world report of people using FPGAs to speed up sites. Hell, I haven't even seen any academic proof of concepts focusing on the merits of FPGAs in the web environment.

That's not to say that FPGA's won't be useful (they could potentially be helpful for real-time ranking and the like), it just seems out of character to mention something like that on a website scalability site. Grain of salt, and all that.
I think this quote should have been a headline as opposed to an easily missable list item

'80-90% of the end-user response time is spent on the
frontend, so it makes sense to concentrate efforts there
before heroically rewriting the backend.'
killing people = murder, but if the government does it it is no longer murder.

Theft, murder and whole pile of other 'bad' things are legal when the entity that defines what is legal and what is not does it.

That entity can be changed, that is why you have the vote so in the long run we all collectively determine what is legal and what is not.

That's oversimplified but it shows you that tax is legal and theft is not legal so therefore they can't be equivalent.
Myspace monetized pretty well, actually: profitable when they were bought out, and then really profitable thanks to the Google ad deal.

In fact, I'd bet that there was only a brief period during which more than a tiny minority of people expected them to make more money than they eventually made.
Yes, but that is just within their own little garden. Google has declared the internet their garden, that's a completely different story. It turns them into a major player instead of into a large niche.

If facebook were to die tomorrow I doubt there would be any big disturbances in the force (and twitter wouldn't even be noticed, except for some deflation of some egos). If google would die tomorrow morning the internet as we know it would grind to a halt. Search now drives the majority of traffic, plenty of people don't even know how to properly use the url bar any longer and it won't be long before it becomes optional and the search box is your main avenue to the web.
First, research about the 'video deficit' isn't new, this science has been around for at least ten years, probably much longer.

Second, while there is evidence that eye contact is necessary for children under one to recognize phonemes, and that eye contact has an effect on extroversion and other elements of temperament, there is (AFAIK) no evidence that it has any affect on children's ability to acquire academic skills of the sort taught in school.
Are you saying that if you had a young son/daughter, and their walk-to-school route when straight past a sex offenders house you wouldn't consider taking another route? Theres something like an 8% rearrest rate for treated and ~15% rearrest rate for untreated offenders. That's a risk I wouldn't knowingly take.
"Not very surprising.

If you intend to be a responsible citizen in India, you need a licensed Beretta Pistol."

This is completely untrue. ( I am Indian and live in India). In India, like in the UK, it is the rare civilian who has a gun, with the badlands of Bihar and some parts of Uttar Pradesh being exceptions. How did you conclude that "being a responsible citizen you need a pistol?"!!
"Private insurance for extremely expensive drugs, experimental or high risk treatments, and life support once you are brain dead."

But isn't this exactly the problem in the model?

Most people can't afford the high risk expensive treatments so you are basically just bankrupting them.

The expensive treatment is the treatment that we "really" need, but also that which is without reach for most of us.

By keeping the expensive treatment in the public domain as long as the private sector hasn't found a way to commodify it. So that people in general have access to it, seems to be a fair way of doing it.

If only the rich can afford treatments that are expensive you could might as well keep the old system.
You are kind of missing the point. A public system is fine (I live in one), but I'm not using public if I can afford to go private. It's the best of both systems: if you can't afford private treatment, you are guaranteed some treatment. If you can, you pay through the nose for it, or pay for medical insurance anyway.

Nothing will change for those who are well off, but for those at the bottom it will be great.
5 html elements you probably never use but should
I think you are thinking too small. For most small sites I agree that frameworks are overkill but once you get past that they become nearly essential to maintaining your code.

Running a web app with even over 10KLOC without some sort of framework in place sounds like a receipt for disaster. Also frameworks do not mean you have to have code generate all your queries or stick another templating language over php.

If you've never had to write or maintain a complex web application than I can understand your position but once you do I'm certain you'll change your mind.

Also saying web development is easy compared to other fields shows a lack of understanding of the complexity of large web based applications. I've worked in a number of fields and I now focus on web development and for the most part they were all about the same complexity.