skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Elizer, I'm going to respond to you not because I disagree with what you said, but because you stated concisely the view that's opposite the one I hold, and I figure it might be neat to provide the foil view.

I don't hold my mind's current state sacrosanct. That is to say, I respect my mind incredibly, but I don't have any belief that says my mind was built the way it was for a reason, or that there's something wrong with experimenting with it. That doesn't mean I abuse it incredibly, but I'm fine with drugs and find the infrequent experiences I have with them to be worth the negligible cost they have on my mind.

I won't say "drugs are good" because I think it's stupid to assign a moral value to drugs either way. Hence, the idea that the brain should be preserved and altering chemicals avoided isn't one that I find offensive in the least. But it's worth pointing out the beneficial effects they can have on you. For one thing, realizing the limits of your perception can be fascinating. Weed doesn't have that effect on me so much, but alcohol and salvia both certainly made me realize things I wouldn't have realized otherwise. Alcohol's emotional effects certainly taught me that our moods are tenuous and that we shouldn't equate our emotional states to any sort of logical truth about the world.

Regarding weed and dulled intelligence - yes, I feel like that sometimes. I feel like that without using weed. Right now I'm in an emotive state where I feel like I'm going to grow fat and die without ever moving. Weed has nothing to do with those downer feelings. Since I first took weed, though, last February, I wrote a novel, designed a handful of web sites that I'm proud of, finished a few projects, etc., and I did it in between infrequent weed hits. It's worth pointing out that many great artists were users - Miles Davis and heroin most famously - and that using drugs doesn't instantly make you less creative. It might make you creative in a different way, but creativity is not something which can be gained and lost. It is a potential that we all have regardless of intelligence. Think of it more as a muscle than as a trait.

We're affected by chemicals no matter how we live. You live your life according to a mixture of fats, proteins, carbohydrates, and nutrients. In my mind, worrying too much about weed is like worrying about eating fats - it's certainly possible that if you take too much, there'll be adverse effects, but assuming that a single contact with a substance will change you forever is silly.

Regarding the initial question, though, hacking on weed probably won't work too well. Weed affects the sort of focus you'd need. (For certain other activities, however, like playing music, weed can help. It's not a black-and-white all-or-nothing deal.)

My advice would be to try it, since you can't really be hurt trying, but if you decide not to then all power to you.
Will do. (I'll probably wrap libixp.)
I think the problems are mostly centered on obvious ripoffs. EX: Massive corn subsidies, and high sugar tariffs.
anonymously for obvious reasons:

Echoing someone above, I'm fairly sure smoking weed has dulled the edge of my intelligence more or less permanently. On the other hand, I think it's probably made me a much nicer, well-rounded, and balanced person. I've no regrets.

But I never found it expanded my mind - just made me relaxed and happy. Personally, I find hallucinogens/entheogens much more conducive to hack-like tasks.
I don't see where you contradict anything I've said.

Well, a reply doesn't have to be a contradiction, but I didn't (and don't) agree with your implied assumptions. One being:

"they're a public company, so they're just trying to maximize their profits". It's a sorta-meaningless universal excuse

That's kind of like saying that gravity is a universal excuse for rocks falling on your head. They aren't excuses, they're physical/economic realities.

"Public corporations" are institutions in which decisions are made by individuals not just a contractually obliged to maximize shareholder value (meaning they'll be fired if they don't), but also a legal obligation to do so (meaning they can be sued and go to jail). Add to that the extraordinary competition for those positions and the over-abundance of people willing to take those jobs, and you'll get very simple behavior - profit maximization.

If I may, allow me (humbly) point out the fallacy in your thinking - you're personifying corporations. But they're nothing like people - they're economic entities defined and reacting to laws, just as moths are defined by physical laws.

Just a moth doesn't "know" any better than to fly towards light, corporations can't "know" any better than to maximize shareholder value. I don't mean that as a criticism of corporations, but rather of the ways in which their legal environment (copyright laws in particular) drives them to maximize those profits. Also worth criticizing: the ways in which the legal environment allows them to affect (via lobbying) it in ways which hurt the public good.
I'm young and not originally from the US so he's a man I know of solely due to reputation. Various people always speaking of him with great esteem. I always (and continue to) wonder(ed) what about him made him so notable.
Not any more apparently - the content is gone from their blog, link results in (literally) nothing being returned.
Nicely sums up the impending storm that is about to hit TechCruch over its handling of the stolen Twitter documents.

It takes a long time to build credibility. It can be blown in a day. Where trust is concerned, once broken, it is not easy to mend.

The author calls it an error in judgment but it is hard to escape the conclusion that there was a malevolent form of opportunism at work here.

That is what will cause revulsion over TC's actions, and it has already started with quite a fury, as alluded to by the author.
I also prefer low-contrast. Especially for a site that's primarily docs which you'll be reading a lot. Keep eyestrain to a minimum.
Which redirects me to popsci.com which redirects me back to popsci.com.au in an endless cycle. Ugh.
I don't smoke regularly anymore. I find that abstaining from pot helps me concentrate on a project in the long haul, and I'm currently working on a fun side project. Marijuana seems to give a short initial peak of motivation/enthusiasm for any project, but overall appears to be a net negative in productivity (esp since the the "low" tail is so long).

I had experimented with long periods of continuous canabis usage (at low doses, never bong rips) both before and after college. I can't say for certain, but I think it had the following effects:

- more introspection - i was better able to understand my own thought processes.
- shorter attention span - my attention would wander easily, and i would often dive deep into (often insigificant) problems.
- more creativity / exploration
- unpredictable and possibly net negative motivation / enthusiasm

I think, having experienced being stupid for extended periods of time, I am better able to structure and document my code. (documentation and consistent code structure / principle of least surprise become essential when you're stupid).
Geeze, you weren't kidding. 9.05M according to Safari.
I disagree. The purpose of android may be specifically so google can own more of your time and link more closely with your digital life. On iPhone & Blackberry, there are default services. You'll get a .mac address and sign into itunes, on blackberry there is that somewhat useless messenger, and I think a few other things.
On the phone, google can be the connection to your contacts, they'll own search, push their voice and look-up services, etc. etc. Lots of things they can do on the phone, and there are some interesting and unexpected business models that come from that.
I recently read that google-4-1-1 is using the huge number of calls for voice recognition technology (understanding speech, not keying in on a specific persons voice). They need the voices in order to improve the technology, and then they can license that tech. I believe that came from the book 'what would google do'.
Worth it for meeting people. The talks are uneven. Sometimes wildly uneven. The main point of DEF CON is for people to get in touch face to face, maybe pick up some new interesting contacts. If you want "training" then this is not really the right place.

So if you like meeting new people, if you have a few people you know already who are going to hang out with, and if you can tolerate the occasional talk that just doesn't do it for you, it's worth it. If you're going alone and you don't feel like trying to meet some interesting strangers, it probably is not worth it. (Either way is fine!)
I think its more about the massive amounts of texturing and polygon data that needs to fly back and forth between the nodes and your master. GigE is definitely the way to go.

Getting all of your data to your EC2's might be a deal breaker.
Since harm is cumulative, the more harmful behaviours I already partake in, the less desirable it is for me to add more, no?
it is perfectly technologically feasible for iTunes to let you re-download songs if you lose them

They have let me do this once before.
He was called the most trusted man in America. For a long time he was the most famous anchor on television, back when TV was how most people got their news. He had a stalwart reputation, which is rare among anchors (especially compared to the current batch).
Really cool, thanks. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.

Not quite ready for prime time yet, though. Crashes on this MBP - well, kind of runs, but error messages everywhere and something spinning uselessly at about 50% CPU. Still, works :D

And another interesting thing is this "Sammy" JS framework, which I hadn't seen before. I'll definitely be checking that out further; you had me at "Sinatra for jQuery" ...
Activating Google Voice Account From Outside USA
Apple will actually let you do that, they just don't advertise the fact.
Warehousing Services from Fort
Warehousing services provided by Fort Storage, contract distribution warehousing support services.
I don't buy the part about how the Kindle needs our support. Sure, I can buy the hardware, that's nice. But it's useless to me without content (no, a shitty web browser doesn't count, and I'm not swimming in book PDFs). So I need to buy books, unless I want an expensive plastic brick, but these books have DRM on them that's more restrictive than I'm willing to accept.

How would buying those books send the right message? The way it sounds to me is "hey, take my books away any time you like, that's cool."

I mean, if you're happy with the Kindle DRM, sure, buy one. But if I'm not, how is it (even marginally) in my interest for me to buy one?
Family Tree Magazine - 10 Best Web Sites
10 Best Web Sites for Storing and Sharing - The leading family history magazine for researching Genealogy. Helping to discover, preserve, and celebrate family history - 10 Best Web Sites for Storing and Sharing
Haypress Creek supercomputer: 360 cores running at 700 Mips
Well the worst thing is it seems like there doesn't even need to be a legal basis! Everything's under a "license", no-one owns anything. What's to stop a newspaper company retroactively editing the news? Their news? Hell the system is in place for that already. Most news syndication uses Atom or similar, that has support for "updates".

We might be giving away more than we bargained for when we replace paper for mutable digitalia. We need to at least think about how we can address this systemic risk.
My start up (unannounced) is 68 KB (89 KB uncompressed)
My home page is 2 KB (3 KB uncompressed)
If it has DRM I will pirate it so I can get the DRM free version. If it has no copy protection I will buy it in the store.

I support companies that recognize property rights.
I'm just trying to figure out why. What did he do to earn such trust? Watching the news reports coming in I'm learning. Sad that it has to come to this but am I correct in saying that the way he reported about the war in Vietnam had a lot to do with it?
Simple fact. If there is DRM of any kind, you do not own it. Period.
Agreed, pot is a psychoactive drug and it does affect everyone in a unique way. In fact, all drugs are going to play with everyone's brains in unique ways. Personally, I don't hack while high, I've never found it helpful. Others will have a different experience, because their brains are wired differently than mine.

If you've wanted to experiment with drugs and aren't sure how to start, here are a few tips that have helped me. (For those of you headed to Burning Man, this could be useful!)

One: read up or talk to someone about the effects a drug might have on you. (Google 'erowid'.) Make sure it's something you can tolerate and want to do. Allow yourself to be prepared for it's effects. Psychedelics like LSD or mushrooms can be an overwhelming experience. Don't be scared; just be prepared. Drugs last a finite amount of time and then you are back to exactly who you are now.

Two: make sure that wherever you get the drugs from, it's as reputable as possible. For instance, in Amsterdam, it's popular to test Ecstasy after purchase and prior to consumption.

Three: initially take drugs with a experienced guide. A guide They will help with dosage and proper consumptive techniques. They will be able to help you if things are getting intense or if you need to talk.

Four: Never, ever try drugs at a random party around people you don't know. And never allow peer pressure to push you into trying something you don't want to do. (You'll know you are around the right people to experiment with, because you'll never be pressured. They will understand.)

Five: don't do drugs when you are at an emotional low in your life. This is how addictions occur. People find that life inside the drug "bubble" is better than real world. I know people who have played with heroin and are not addicts.

Six: Don't overdo it. Take it slow. It can take time for you to experience the subtleness of many drugs. And most importantly, have fun. You might be surprised just how many of the people around you regularly experiment.

If you are opposed to drugs, don't do them. But I would suggest trying to keep an open mind to what they can offer you, which is primarily a shift in consciousness. You get to see the world in a slightly different way and for some, it can be life-altering. Many people have had profound experiences (including myself) by experimenting with a variety of drugs. And I didn't start until my late '20s, because I was one of those "freaked out by the thought of drugs" people.

Final tip: if you really want to play, here's the perfect way to do it: go to a concert, take a friend and share a joint together. (Obviously, it should be legal to smoke pot where you live.) I think you might be surprised by the way you experience the show. I'm willing to wager you'll never watch a show again without being stoned.
"The Aye's have it". Dumbing down reversed. ;)
Twittergate: Don't Believe The Hate by Travis Kalanick
Who cares? Honestly, does it matter? If you bought a car and it turned out it was stolen and the police took it without giving you anything in return, would you say "Ok, no prob, I wouldn't want a stolen car! Thanks!" Of course not.

Amazon should pay back the cost of the book AND give free access to a legal version to anyone who bought the other one.
His point is that Amazon's not the company we should be pissed off at right now.

If they want to provide us with their Kindle store, which 99% of the time is excellent and wonderful (I just got the Kindle iPhone app and I love that it syncs with my Kindle and with the web reader), they have to deal with publishers that are antique and ignorant and full of themselves. Think the RIAA is tyrannical? The publishing industry is ten times worse.

It sucks that Amazon had to do this, but given a choice between a terrific store that's subject to the whims of publishers and no store at all, I'll take the terrific store, and hope that my Shakespeare and Austen remain intact.

Amazon is one of the few companies that I trust almost wholeheartedly. I don't think they're fuck-something-up-proof, but I believe firmly that the company as a whole cares about its users and about giving them the best experience possible, even when it's at cost to them. I've never had a bad experience with Amazon, whether it was as a customer or as a seller. I understand the kneejerk impulse here, which is to call Amazon an Evil Big Corporation, but I find it sad that a decade of building trust can be so quickly thrown out the door.
carbohydrates are all nothing but sugar, they do nothing for you. Grains are particularly bad because they not only don't provide anything but sugar but they also prevent the absorption of minerals(in the link he explicitly calls out oat meal but others do it as well). Studies show that cutting out grain(note some grains are ok mostly freshly processed grains are bad. Sour dough is OK) will make your teeth immune to tooth decay and any cavities you have will heal themselves.

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009/03/reversing-toot...
I don't know. I was born way after he retired. But this is what I know of him from reputation alone.
PS - Sony's reader supports publishers' DRM-content rights [1] just as well as Kindle, apart from the parts that can't be technically enforced by the lack of always-tethered-ness.

The rule in the e-readers market is clear: do anything it takes to get content for your device.

1. Yes, they are rights protected by copyright law.
If true, this is poor customer relations - they should have said that upfront, rather than just implying that the publisher changed their minds. And really, they should have just compensated the publisher and left the customers alone, since it was their mistake, not the customers'.
It is worth mentioning that the upvotes are not in agreement of you being stupid, but rather the fact that you are humble/mature enough to admit you were wrong.

A good trait.
What an irrelevant article. There are two major points:

1) Amazon did something stupid.

Changing the adjective is clever, but it's still an outrageous act. They went on YOUR machine and they DELETED something YOU PURCHASED. You BOUGHT IT. There is nothing more to say here.

2) Apple had the same problem with DRM and bent over backwards to accommodate labels. Now we're all happy.

Apple never DELETED files straight from people's computers. They never took the step of taking away what you bought. There is absolutely no comparison here.

The blogger also pleads for people to target the publisher. As if I can only be outraged at one company! I'll target both, thank you very much.
Actually the body goes in to starvation mode and starts destroying muscle to lower energy consumption not to mention the fact that going on a diet lowers blood sugar so you feel tired and stop consuming as much energy.
Anatomy of Security Disasters (and why there's worse to come) - Ranum
Hm. I live in Canada, and they are expressly banned: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/advisories-avis/_2009/2...
I don't think I'll ever understand the psyche of the typical American school-goer. From outside at least and from what we see on films, they seem to be leading quite colorful lives!

My own school-life in India was fairly monochromatic. Being a studious type was actually considered a plus, both by your family and your peers. Entering into anything like a romance was blasphemous and took place only in the movies where they had all the time in the world to run around trees in pairs. The overwhelming mad rush was to ace the board exams, state engineering exams, and the JEE and land myself into a decent university. And get the hell out of India if possible.
MIT project: tracking trash in NY & Seattle with tiny cell phones
Menu fonts too small. JavaScript warnings are a pain in the neck. Drop-down box on the right doesn't fit in its alloted space on my computer. No attempt at a fluid layout. Obnoxious and unexpected title bar that stays with you no matter where you scroll. Utterly insufficient tables of content for the length of the pages (see Special Variables). I find the code samples too small as well. But um... other than that I like it.
An old girlfriend, when we broke up, told me the one thing she will be grateful to me for is I got her to quit smoking. She breathed better, smelled things better and food tasted better.
Database Security: DB2 vs MySQL
Finally someone figured it out.
It's a blast, a bunch of hackers getting together to have fun. It really depends on what you want to get out of it.
No. I'm curious about trying them, and might have a smoke some time in the future to see what nicotine feels like, but I have an aversion to things that are physically addictive.
Nope, secondhand as a kid was enough to make me swear it off.
I think it would be nice of them, though I don't think it's quite as imperative as you suggest.

Amazon needs to have a method of preventing people from illegally selling books they have no rights to.
Desperately need guidance
Hello my name is Sarah Lilly. I was wondering if I could seek some guidance from you. I am in college currently in video production http://www.pstcc.edu/departments/mdt/vpt_about.htm
I am concerned about being employed after I graduate. I have two options I can receive a Bachelors in Visual Communication http://www.cci.utk.edu/jem/program_tracks.html
Or I can double major in one of the other programs http://www.pstcc.edu/departments/mdt/mdt_home.htm
In your professional opinion what would be the best direction to go. Thank you, for any help.

Respectfully,
Sarah Lilly
Are you really sure that the same people have both views? I have generally gotten the impression here that a lot of people are health conscious, or at least knowledgeable about diet and health.

At least in all the exercise/sleep submissions I have been reading, a lot of posts are on the benefits of getting
enough sleep and exercise.
In my mind, nothing is more imperative than customer service.
Same thing. In the 7th grade, I was incredulous when they said that food calories were calculated by burning food and seeing how much it heats up water. Absolutely ridiculous. Simple proof: Kerosene is jack-full of calories.
That's because Apple never sold an mp3 it didn't have the right to sell. Amazon did, it realized it did, and it refunded people with an apology.

Think of it like a doctor selling you a medicine, then calling you up and saying, "Oops, I wasn't authorized to give you those pills. I need them back, and I'll refund you entirely."

There's a difference between removing an e-book and refunding it.
Drugs last a finite amount of time and then you are back to exactly who you are now.

To the contrary, the best evidence shows that some drugs can cause permanent (or at least very long-lasting) changes in brain chemistry or brain structure.
Evidence for the biographical statement in your post?
My girlfriend hated it, so I quit. Only a smoker for 5 months or so... so it wasn't entirely too hard.

I have to admit I miss it... It's definitely a social lubricant. It helps when working too, to take a break for a smoke. It's also nice to have a cig after a good meal.

So, I guess I'm glad that I quit but I can certainly relate. And there's nothing I hate more than the whiney people that complain to smokers that they're ruining the earth. Sometimes people are far too quick to judge a person based on whether or not they have a smoking habit.
Moths that Jam a Bat's Sonar