skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
You don't believe the state has a legitimate interest in making sure that schools actually teach what they claim to?
Distributed Storage on the Premises
Show HN: Automate your everyday tasks with Leto
As a developer, this sounds to me like a nightmare scenario. There is nothing more meritocratic than software development. It's the results that count. Once we start allowing regulation and systematic barriers to entry, it will be bad for everyone. I personally do not see the law as a model to aspire to along any number of dimensions.
Yahoo says email accounts hacked, passwords stolen
So what do you think the solution should be. Can government employees pretend to represent the government when they haven't actually been authorized to?
You will get an email from my professional email address in a few mins ...
My wife applied to one of those "Coding Academies" to learn basic web development. They had a phone screening interview and they asked my wife to write HTML and CSS code!
Then later they replied that she is no qualified for the course. While their website had no indication that you need to know any programming language or specific computer related background, they rejected my wife.
I was suspicious that this might be a racist discrimination so I look around to see who regulates them. Guess who? No one!

I'm glad that they are facing mandatory regulation. Also I think the way they try to teach computer science is wrong. You can't be a good Rails developer in 6 months if you don't know basic computer science.

My wife no is going to San Jose state university and leaning boring Operation System basics and Assembly. But that's the right way of starting you career in computer science world.
Schools within the big expensive areas (NYC, SF) seem to boast an average salary of around $75+K...this is for graduates who may have not done any programming before they started the session.

And then there are the intensive programs that say they can get you $100K when you graduate. But these involve students who have already programmed (either through school or professionally) but in another language. IMO, a seasoned Python or Java developer who spends 10 weeks intensively learning Rails/iOS (and going beyond the curriculum, if the curriculum is also aimed at beginners) is probably worth $100K in the NY/SF area.

http://www.airforcetimes.com/article/20130426/NEWS/304260032
http://www.businessinsider.com/flatiron-school-coding-progra...
http://www.quora.com/Kush-Patel-1/answers/Flatiron-School
California Orders Coding Bootcamps to Stop Enrollment and Issue Refunds
I realize you're not saying anything about the effectiveness, but regulation hasn't seemed to stop diploma mills.
Apple Execs met with the FDA about medical tech
A group of senior Apple executives met with directors from the Food and Drug Administration last month to discuss mobile medical applications.
Civil law only offers the possibility of redress, not protection.
This is too bad. As a graduate of a similar bootcamp program who is currently working as a Jr. Developer it makes me really sad to see this kind of interference from the Government. As with everything else in life, situations that sound "too good to be true" usually are, and consumers need to exercise due diligence before giving people money they aren't comfortable losing.

I hope the schools are able to work this out because my Bootcamp absolutely changed my life.
If you're interested in this, please also check out https://echoplex.us :)
A visualization explaining a Marching Squares algorithm as it executes
Why is our drinking water so dirty?

Oh yeah. It isn't.

Regulation can solve many more ills than it can cause.
Seriously, can she bring back the old/stable yahoo mail back first?
The new my-yahoo page is no better, been a yahoo user for 10+ years suddenly the yahoo services becomes so much worse since she became CEO.
sigh.
Oh, no! Not a $50,000 fine! It's not like they are raking in $400k every 3-4 months. If they want to really hurt them they should fine the school $50k every time they use the word "cohort."
They had a search engine for a while.
> 100% of them ask for outrageous salaries for not actually having any professional experience. I think the bootcamps spend a decent amount of their time setting high expectations and how to ask for a large amount of money.

Yep. That's a higher percentage than what I'd expect, but it still seems pretty natural. Bootcamps literally sell the idea.

This, incidentally, is part of the reason why there's regulation.
Where do we stand on benchmarking the D-Wave 2?
Would you expect a Starbucks barista, when speaking in an off-hours context, to speak for Starbucks? "I work at starbucks, but I don't think their coffee is particularly good

Don't you agree that a Starbucks barista saying "Our coffee is not good" is a different matter from John Doe saying "Starbucks coffee is not good"?
The Notable Nook Movie Preview Blog
The Notable Nook Movie Preview Blog is a place to see the latest movie previews, complete with a movie description and credits. Check some out and get psyched for a movie
I wasn't being completely serious, but whenever I hear government trying to get its dirty hands to something not yet regulated, it disgusts me. Regulation robs consumers and prevents innovation and competition, while making politicians rich. That's all there is to it. The side-effect of protecting consumers is unreliable and questionable in 99% of cases.
It's the "get high-paying jobs on graduation" aspect of these programs that's never quite gelled for me. I can think of very few jobs I'd be solidly qualified for after a few months of training, no matter how intense the training. Engineering seems no different, and maybe even harder than most. People should be enrolling in bootcamps to learn the basics, not to get some sort of shortcut to a theoretically sexy job -- the true sexiness of which is entirely unknown unless and until they've actually tried it.

If these programs were/are feeding internships, awesome. That's a different story. And on that note, I see no reason why big tech companies can't create their own coding academies, or partner with bootcamps on more structured working internships and externships. The bootcamp --> full-time job connection doesn't make a ton of sense. But bootcamp --> internship --> job makes more sense.

There are a lot of smart, hard-working people out there who, for one reason or another, just never got a deep exposure to computers in childhood, high school, or college. (Reliable childhood access to a decent-quality computer, much less programming resources, is not as common as we might expect.) Giving them a shot at learning is a noble and justifiable endeavor. Not all of them will enjoy it, and not all of them will make it through. But a lot of them might. They need to be going into it with the right expectations, though.
This is an interesting idea - Yandex isn't great in English but I'd guess with time they could get there if they focused, their raw tech is probably superior to Bing and they've been working on the problem for a long time.
No. There are a lot of things I care about in a registrar but it being a non-profit is not one of those things.

I care how it handles my domains, policy and all that jazz, particularly in cases of hacks, take downs, etc...

I care about customer service.

I care about some options it offers that is and can genuinely be useful.

I care about what it does right or wrong.

Basically things that affect me and my domains/businesses.
> "They had a phone screening interview and they asked my wife to write HTML and CSS code! Then later they replied that she is no qualified for the course. While their website had no indication that you need to know any programming language or specific computer related background, they rejected my wife. I was suspicious that this might be a racist discrimination so I look around to see who regulates them. Guess who? No one!"

Barely more charitable explanation: rejecting people who are not already familiar with the subject matter might be how they 'manage' such high success rates.
"Curveball" seems an apt name - trying to SPIN hard enough to get someplace new...
Is it safe to add coinbase(Bitcoin) to your Mint.com account?
Mint integrated coinbase (Bitcoin). Is it safe to do?

Looks like with the API key from Coinbase they can buy and sell your bitcoins.
Yes, how marketable something is governs how much you get at the moment.

How rewarding it is governs whether people endure the difficulty. This is what matters in the long run.

And overall success happens in the long run.
So we've had a couple ask for $130k that went to HackReactor. Found it interesting that they both asked for the exact same number. We also had a couple from 2 different Chicago bootcamps asking for nearly 100k.

I do not live in Silicon Valley or NYC or Chicago. I live in Utah. Average household income is under $60k.
I'm sorry that your wife had a bad experience, but your statement "that's the right way of starting [your] career in computer science" is ridiculous. There are many paths my friend.
WxPython: How to Catch All Exceptions
I wonder what is so magical about government that only it can determine whether something is safe or not. I'm pretty sure private consumer protection companies would do a much better job for less money.
The Notable Nook Self Improvement Blog
a blog dedicated to self improvement
"Grown-ups don't look like grown-ups on the inside either. Outside, they're big and thoughtless and they always know what they're doing. Inside, they look just like they always have. Like they did when they were your age. Truth is, there aren't any grown-ups. Not one, in the whole wide world." Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane
"also requires a group who actually cares about the issue strongly enough to do something"

True but what I am guessing is that many people simply lemming along with something and don't fully develop their own opinion. Or they will read something that someone says and without any further thought decide to support without vetting any of the facts. We see examples of this on HN where multiple knowledgeable people often chime in to debunk some blog post as being less than factually correct.
if firing the employee is not prosecuting them, what is?

Well, how about something like:

pros·e·cute (verb) law : to hold a trial against a person who is accused of a crime to see if that person is guilty

-- Merriam-Webster
New 'Jeopardy' Champion Is A Game Theory Devotee
If you want to make Internet service a regulated monopoly or a municipality provided service, there will be no incentive to upgrade to new technology when it becomes available. That is the virtue of competition. Competitors can differentiate their offerings based on price and features. Competitors will install faster networks in order to win market share. Competitors will find ways to reduce costs so they can offer service at lower prices to gain market share. You don't have any of that if the municipality owns the network.
You have not shown that our drinking water is not, in fact, dirty. Nor have you shown that it is any cleaner than it would be in the absence of the regulations you seem so proud of.
I use skype for two things:

- chat

- videochat

I never just use audio chat. I video chat even with my coworkers.
I guess I have a more in-between view, in that I'm sympathetic to the anarchists (with reservations), but less sympathetic to the profiteers, many of whom are simply hucksters. I think the trick with government is directing more of its energies against the hucksters than the good guys. Tricky to do, but then also tricky to the do with market forces, which often reward fraud and parasitism. Not always, of course! But I also can't really buy into "government is always oppressing the innovators", since the innovators are often innovating more in the realm of how to separate people from their money...
That "maybe" is a definite "definitely". I would not be surprised it using video would make it 5.5MB.
Update from usatoday http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/01/31/california-com... "

> He added, however, that the stern language in the cease-and-desist letters was designed primarily to get the operators' attention and that it was unlikely the bureau would be moving to shut them down as long as they made a good-faith effort to come into compliance.

> "We are trying to get them to become licensed," Heimerich said, adding that the agency has not received any complaints about the boot camps and learned about them from a staff investigator who saw them mentioned on a technology blog. "So if they are doing that, they fall to the bottom or close to the bottom of our enforcement priorities because there are many more serious threats to student consumers."
Programming is not really a young field.
Besides, laws ARE indeed becoming more complicated whereas programming languages don't.
Also I think the way they try to teach computer science is wrong. You can't be a good Rails developer in 6 months if you don't know basic computer science.

So...you're suggesting they should pre-screen people, say, on the phone, to make sure they know the basics of computer science?
As some of you know, 255 is a typical vchar max in database lingo, so when the game score goes above that (which a football game never would), then other parts of the database are obviously getting overwritten with scoring information causing all kinds of messed up problems. The game is essentially glitching out.
I tip my fedora to you sir.
The attack on lawyers and bankers was unfair. At their best, they are serving others. Service is as important a virtue as any, and it is one that is learned. Children aren't born servers; they are born takers. Serving others, deferring to others, is a sign of maturity. There are virtues in maturity, just as there are in youth. Service, wisdom, patience. These are just as important as imagination, creativity, craft. All are rays of light, all manifest them according to their particular inclination. The important thing is to shine brightly in whatever path one is on.
The Meme Merchants
Ask HN: What happened to the python.org redesign?
former lover

Hell hath no fury...
As a self taught developer, I love how open programming is.

Also, I don't see how licensing could keep anyone from being a (successful) self taught programmer. Would they outlaw text editors for all but the accredited?

Don't forget, you can still represent yourself in court.
31 Employees Have Left Clinkle – The Stealth Startup That Raised $25 Million
Regulation is capable of solving common use problems like clean water and air -- a fact that is really a necessary evil.

But why does this mean it should be able to shut down programming schools?
> a seasoned Python or Java developer who spends 10 weeks intensively learning Rails/iOS (and going beyond the curriculum, if the curriculum is also aimed at beginners) is probably worth $100K in the NY/SF area.

That's it?

Man, I'm suddenly feeling better about my higher salary in relatively less expensive LA.
I disagree. Regulation can be beneficial in many cases, even if it drives up the barrier to entry a little. Certification for big projects, specifically public projects, is important, and exists in most fields (including ours, the US government requires contractors to be a certain CMMI level).

Codifying certain requirements in law is not a terrible decision, going too far can be.
Is this a rhetorical question or do you actually want to know? The way you've phrased the question makes it seem like you've already decided what your opinion is.

BPPE requires programs like these to assess $0.50 per $1,000 charged to students who are California residents. These assessments go into a state-wide "Student Tuition Recovery Fund," which is used to mitigate economic harm to the student in a variety of situations where the school might refuse or be unable to, e.g., the school closes mid-class. See http://www.bppe.ca.gov/lawsregs/regs.shtml#76020 for the full list.

Programs like this charge students $10k-$20k, so we're talking $5-$10 assessed per student. This is like a very lightweight version of a surety bond.

There are other fixed and variable costs related to complying, but (AFAIK) this is the only money that flows into the state's pockets.
Building rich web UIs with knockout.js
How would a private consumer protection company enforce anything?
Mandatum, if you see this, you're hellbanned. Since I can't reply to your comment about many apps like this not working in Firefox, this particular tool does work for me in the latest build.

I agree that many cutting-edge browser apps work in Chrome and not Firefox. Is it a case of browser specific syntax that people default to webkit for?
And this is why a single example can never be used for a blanket statement.
You don't believe the state has a legitimate interest in making sure that schools actually teach what they claim to?

No. Caveat emptor. The State should only get involved in the case of outright fraud - you pay your money, and they don't actually run the class, or the class is taught by a 6th grader or something.

Outside of that, we should just let the market operate. Firms that don't deliver on their promises won't be around long.
I solved that beautifully - I am always online 24/7 - no crap like DND away and similar. So people just learned that answering is optional from me no matter of the status...
Chrome on Android Exploit Writeup From Mobile Pwn2Own Autumn 2013
So since your wife didn't join a coding academy, lets ban all of them.
And how eager are those responding to this comment to use their analytic understanding of the world to apologize for and rationalize the position of government or other heavyweight institutions? Cookies all around for being so smart - while you give away your power to institutions that don't give one fuck about you. All I can imagine are a line of poindexters pushing their glasses up on their nose, saying, "Well, actually, an informed reading of the constitution reveals that you are a peon, which is actually as it should be..."
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/115883/drugs-drinking-wat...
> The point is that these things are faults of leaders, not necessarily ideologies, because you find them in every system.

While you find them in every system, you find them more frequently in totalitarian ones.

> Furthermore, socialism is inevitable. Just look at the world today- distinctly more socialist than it was 100 years ago.

Yes, but less socialist than 50 years ago, which suggests it's an ebb and flow type of deal, rather than some death march toward communism.

> My parents have lived in both communism and capitalism and believe a mixed society is probably the best.

My parents have lived in both communism and capitalism and believe capitalism is best.
Yes I dislike the use of 'annotations'.

Would it not be better to catch the recoverable error that "function foo (integer $a)" gives, then use your error handler to check that $a is an integer?
The state is not even notionally regulating for the benefit of tech companies, but for the benefit of consumers, so raising the fact that tech companies will do evaluations is a complete non sequitur.
Maybe. You've never heard of a practicing lawyer who never went to law school. But you have heard of talented engineers who never went to college.

The difference with software is that your work will always stand for itself, because the barrier to creating anything is so low. Unless you have to be credentialed to access an IDE and compiler, you'll always be able to learn and improve.
Specifications must be presented by a properly accredited government sponsor for the formal specification submission to the House of Specifications. Any changes to the specification will be voted on during one of the three days during the week in which the gathering is in session. Upon agreement by the House, the amended specification will be presented to the Deliberative Committee on Specifications,during which time the honorable Speaker of the Deliberative Committee on Specifications will query the members for additional amendments. If the specification is amended, it will be returned to the House for further deliberation and promoted again to the Committee. Upon agreement by the Committee, the specification will be published in the Specification Czars vestibule for community exposure for at least thirty days.

All that for a to do list app :)
> My wife no is going to San Jose state university and leaning boring Operation System basics and Assembly. But that's the right way of starting you career in computer science world.

Disagree. Without proper context, low level system implementation details are pretty dry and uninteresting.

There's certainly a level of abstraction that's too high for beginners (rails, I'm looking at you). However, there's also a level of abstraction that is far too low.
I meet university graduates on a regular basis that have come through regulated programmes of education and paid plenty of money -- no, sorry, borrowed plenty of money -- to gain an accredited degree.

I wholly believe in the quality of the subject matter in the books they read and written on the board in the lectures they maybe attended.

Whether it absorbed, was digested and can now be readily applied is a different matter entirely. Regulation is not a guarantee of quality and if people want to sign up for code schools then good luck to them - they're the buyer so "caveat emptor" and let them assess whether the code school is providing what it has promised.

Bright people are who I would hire. And bright people don't need state regulation.
Drugs in water
Most of retailers have pretty broad privacy policies already

http://www.target.com/spot/privacy-policy#InformationShared
Ahh, and that's the point. It wouldn't need to. Because no one should enforce anything. It would only inform. Consumers must have a choice. When you start banning businesses from operating, you have countless possibilities for corruption and you remove choice from consumers, treating them as mindless idiots incapable of making an informed choice. And if you think they are, then they also shouldn't be allowed to vote.
I highly doubt that it's racial discrimination, but I'm not going to back that sentiment with 100% certainty, because you never know. However, the whole concept of a "coding bootcamp", literally they're bootcamps that can be mentally exhausting. They're going to try to expose you to an intense array of information in a short period of time, from the basics (HTML/CSS, JS) to intermediate/advanced subjects/languages (Ruby, Python, PHP, etc.). So it's not farfetched for them to reject applicants who would struggle to keep up if they don't know the basics.

And another thing, they're not trying to teach CS. CS is a discipline all its own. Code bootcamps focus on web development, so you can have the practical knowledge and skill for entry level web development positions.
> Serving others, deferring to others, is a sign of maturity.

Why?

I feel like "maturity" is such a nebulous thing. Like "professionalism", it seems to function as a proxy for anything that serves the point that the user is trying to make.
Ask HN: App Store developers -- do you prefer Paid or Free+IAP?
I'm creating a simple app for an under-addressed App Store niche (more as a way to learn iOS development than anything else) and I've spent the past few weeks going back and forth between going paid (likely $2.99) or free+IAP (it's essentially modular content, so I'd be giving around half the content away for free and then groups of additional content for $.99-$1.99). I've read a lot about free+IAP being the way to go but a surprising amount of top-grossing Apps that aren't Games/Social are paid-up-front.
So then let's fix the legal system, not ban a perfectly reasonable enterprise.