skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
"the cloud" please make it go away, it's totally the next buzzword to replace 'web 2.0'
Judge orders cybersquatter to pay Verizon $33m
Statistical Slumps
No need to worry about arguing semantics, I'm learning here. As I've said, I'm what you'd call an applied computer scientist. While I've got a good handle on tractability, dynamic programming, and the like, sometimes I miss the formalisms of the terminology.

In some formulation of protein folding that is NP-complete, your statement (require[s] trying all possible conformations) is tantamount to P!=NP. So I'm guessing you don't have a proof of that. ;)

Haha, ok, yes. You've got me there. Actually, that also clears up a few issues I was having with the original article. I tend to confound tractability and NP-complete. If I follow you now, an algorithm that can fold a protein to lowest energy is the solution. If that solution can be shown to be correct without trying all possible conformations, then it is P. If the only way to verify it correct would be to explore all fold space, then it would be NP and and P!=NP.

In other words, my original assertion that protein folding is not, strictly speaking, NP relates to the fact that nature does not try all possible conformations. We could write an NP solution that does, but this is not what happens in reality. So, either nature is solving a slightly different problem (it doesn't worry about finding the global energy minimum exactly), or P=NP and the "algorithm" (in this sense a combination of physical laws) used by nature solves the same problem as our NP search of all conformation space.
Boiled eggs, fried eggs, poached eggs, or scrambled eggs.
Free is the key to a successful online company. Google, Facebook, Myspace and Youtube are the top web giants that prove this. When giving something away for free that consumers demand equals traffic. High traffic increases the value of ad space on a site. Google understands this very well and this why they have never attempted to sell any software or features they develope. I'm sure google spend a lot of time and money creating and perfect their free software that programers sell for hundreds of dollars. The internet is the only place were one can profit from giving away their product free. This is why old business models and rules do not apply to Online companies.
These are great questions. Here's my take:

1. I have a responsibility to all my readers, users, writers, to take care of them and look after them. Because of Timmy's age, there's an extra layer there.

2. I'm not qualified to judge whether I should or shouldn't believe Timmy when he says he enjoys what he's doing and how he's spending his time based on his situation. If his mom thought he should shut down the blog, it would happen in a heartbeat and we'd all be ok with that. He's a kid.

3. Autism or no autism, when I was a teenager, I would have killed to be "exploited" by older people who truly appreciated and enjoyed my work and wanted to help get it in front of more people.

This is a very important topic. Thanks for bringing it up.
Off topic, but:

There are hundreds more little tweaks. In all, Apple says that more than 90 percent of Leopard’s 1,000 software chunks were revised or polished. Many are listed at bit.ly/U1DzS

bit.ly/U1DzS > http://www.apple.com/macosx/refinements/enhancements-refinem...

That's a NYTimes fail, in my book.
A look instide the infrastructure of Facebook
Regardless, you have to look at both options, because they both have their positives. It really depends on the person no matter what. One could be college educated and know the books, and have no business savvy, and have no experience or knowledge of developing a startup. And at the same time, someone could be a experienced hacker, and web programmer but not educated at all, and have not business savvy, and have no idea of how to take their talent to the next level with their own startup. Personally, your best bet is to hire or invest in the person that has both. Not only is educated, but has great business savvy, and experience in building a web startup. Neither a college education, nor experience can stand alone and be as potent as if they are to work together. Clearly it has been proven that you do not need a degree, such as the success of Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg, and that you dont need to be a hacker, or have great experience or business savvy, such as George W. Bush. But why not have both in someone like Donald Trump? College or no college. Both sides hold significant value. It just depends on the candidate your reviewing, and what they bring to the table.
I think that the problem comes when he withdraws too far into his own little 'wordpress+police scanner' world. Much in the same way that people with heavy addictions (even WoW addictions) can withdraw from everything else. There is a line, don't pretend that there isn't one. It's just not at either extreme of the spectrum.
Can someone explain what it does mean? Every time I download a Windows update and it asks me to pick from one of 10 options to download, I get angry. How am I supposed to know what bit of Windows I'm using?
For what it's worth, I voted this one down because... well, I don't really like to see six-paragraph comments whose only purpose is to whine about the voting on another comment. It does not, as they say, add much to the discussion.
A liberal arts education seems worthwhile, but also quite possible to pursue without a status-seeking payment of $50k per year for a degree. What exactly are you paying for- most of the great books are free with your library card.
I will be thrilled if Flash stopped causing Safari to crash.

I'd be even more thrilled if Flash didn't make the CPU fans roar like a jet engine.
Microsoft apologizes for changing race in photo
Google let the cat out of the bag. And now TWC is going to try to beat them to the punch.
Experiencing muscle spasms?
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SAT Scores Fall as Gap Widens; Asians Gain
A defining characteristic of academia is publication. Everything an academic discovers should be revealed to the public as soon as possible, and genuine questions should be answered thoroughly. This ideal isn't 100% lived up to, but it is the socially acknowledged goal and practice generally comes pretty close.

This is where MSR is something different. Work there is published if and only if it is in Microsoft's interest to do so. Often a bare outline is published: enough to impress people but not enough for an outsider to duplicate the work. This isn't academia.

Xerox PARC and Bell Labs back in their respective days did function like academia.
Perhaps this would be better as an Ask HN:

What kind of IT restrictions (if any) do startups here impose as they grow beyond founders?
"MS can't ruin it for everyone this time."

I think you underestimate them.
"Asianizing?" I go to UCI (second year is coming up) and I'm not familiar by what you mean by that. Sure we have a sizable Asian population here, but the UCI system does have a climate of freedom though not as much as UC Berkeley, maybe that's a good thing.
As a completely biased view of someone who's no longer in either academia or industry, industrial research, at least in HCI, is a funny place. Sometimes, I get the feeling that the major academic research labs try too hard to be universities to their own detriment. There's a pretty steady flow between universities and research labs, moreso than between product groups and research labs. I feel like the industry researchers I meet seem more concerned about impressing their academic peers than their bosses.

It seems like research in other fields of computer science are tied more closely to practical applications: Systems, Compilers, Distributed Computation etc. but it's rare to find that kind of work in HCI.
This was my fave:

it's just me and the keyboard tonight...
Then I think of you and it's alright.
UPS: Tracking Information
Ya, could someone explain how this algorithm works?
To clarify, it's free outgoing messages, if you're using a GV client to send them. Incoming messages to a GV number will forward to your phone(s) at whatever rate you're being charged.

Or you could prohibit GV from sending the phone texts, but then you'd have to go online to check for incoming messages.
I'd be thrilled if Flash played back video without jumping and jittering.
Yea, but if you look at the guy's resume of places he's worked you'd think that he'd have picked up some proofreading skills along the way... 'It will be have?'
Free local calls through your connected phones, meaning if you're on a cell phone, you still use minutes. International calls aren't billed at international rates through your carrier, since you're really only calling Google locally. Google is then dialing internationally and getting you a cheaper rate, but you're still using minutes.
One thing about the post that seems a little odd is that it talks about an alternate view of wealth creation - some company that presumably could never IPO though is still valuable - yet ends on a note which yields to the assumption that a company is not a success unless it becomes an Apple or HP type behemoth.
That is a very responsible take on the situation. With regards to #2, I would encourage you to read the 5:17 PM entry here and reflect carefully on it. If you feel unqualified to judge its import, hum a few bars to one of the mental health professionals in your Rolodex.

http://www.windycitizen.com/blogs/avondale-logan-square-crim...
I'm sorry, am I not seeing it? Where's the fail
There are rhyming dictionaries, but also just parsing the pronunciation indicators of a traditional dictionary for matching end-sounds would work -- and allow matching syllable counts as well. Wiktionary includes pronunciation guides in 'IPA' symbols:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet

There's also 'soundex' encoding of names/words...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soundex
I think you have the HIPAA encryption requirement backwards --- from experience --- but your argument still stands.
I assume it just looks it up in a rhyming dictionary.
What 64-bit means?

This is a good start:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/64-bit#Architectural_implicatio...

The most obvious improvement is that 64-bit programs can address more memory -- more than 4 gigabytes of virtual memory in the same process. The less obvious bit that sometimes makes things faster is that when an x86_64 CPU is running in 64-bit mode it has access to more registers (basically the ultra-mega-low-latency memory for numbers and memory addresses and stuff that everything computed must pass through).

However, since pointers to blocks of memory are twice as large on 64-bit programs and many programs use lots of them, 64-bit programs usually use more memory, which means that there are more cache (the slightly less, but still ultra-low-latency memory that's between the registers and usual memory) "misses" -- i.e. things have to be grabbed more often from main memory, which relative to registers and cache is slow ... meaning that it eats some of the performance benefits of the extra registers.

In a nutshell, 64-bit programs are different. They're not "faster". The difference in bit-width really isn't something that makes a lot of sense if you don't know how CPUs work and can't be reduced to "faster".
Here is another "Camper Bike" but with a different design. You could actually stay a night in it for $10.

http://daviswiki.org/Human_Powered_Housing_Project
Email me, and I'll give you an answer.
Very aware of those bits. They're not so uncommon. Frankly, it's one of the reasons why people respond to him I think. He's putting his thoughts out there pretty publicly.

Whether or not his mother is reading as closely, I can't say for certain, but it is something his readers and fellow bloggers keep track of.
No brakes?
What wonderful imagery.
Let me summarize: The author works at MSR and is annoyed that he or she is seen as being inferior to "real" academics in the university system.

The author points out that he or she is as much of a scholar as any professor, but I'd argue this could (and should) be extended even to people who are not called researchers.

The general problem here concerning a group of people with special state-granted privileges is not new.
It sounds broken from an regular perspective, because regular people either don't get involved in thinking very hard about crime and probabilities, or if they do, they get a gun or some other form of protection to put themselves more at ease. Thinking about crime happning right at this moment, in your very own neighbourhood all day, but feeling like you're an ineffectual shut-in nerd who wouldn't even be able to use a gun if his caring mother would let him have one, would drive anyone to paranoia, I think—myself included.
Definitely. Very useful to be able to focus on recent data if possible too rather than the success of companies in the 80s.
If you're going to get a liberal arts education and are self-motivated and dislike cancerous bureaucracy, St. John's Annapolis is a great place to do it. Committed faculty and students make all the difference.
bit.ly/U1DzS
I agree. The "Hell" in "Hell yeah." emits the passion the person has for what they are say yes to. Whether pitching an idea or asking for a girl's phone number we all want to hear some level of passion in the yes. A simple "Yes." is very close to a "Maybe" but "Hell yeah" says "I agree and I'm am just as paaionate as you are about it."
I wasn't moved to downvote, but there are at least three claims that I think are misguided and a bit distasteful.

But most of the rest is junk unless your goal is to be a moderately salaried reasonably secure employee.

This seems to imply that there is something wrong with wanting to be a "moderately salaried reasonably secure employee". That's actually more or less what most people want, and our society and educational system, despite its problems, still does a remarkably good job of making that happen.

High school and college never have and can't teach you what you need to be perform on the highest levels.

College (and graduate school) isn't going help you perform at the highest levels in things the 100m sprint, or in car salesmanship, or how to hustle. But academia is still the best currently evolved system for training people to do research in disciplines like computer science or sociology.

Third, both of your posts imply that the only measure of value - of self, and to society - is wealth. It isn't news to anyone that academia isn't the optimal, shortest-path to make a lot of money. That's not why people do it.

Finally, you're making sweeping claims about the value of college and the entire educational system, when the original post was about a much more focussed issue of corporate basic research vs. academic research.
Fred Cohen is part of the whole "Virus Bulletin" dead ender scene; see Pete Szor's book for a more modern example of the same CS backwater.

My problem with malware "research" isn't the patent medicine industry it's spawned, but rather the very poor CS work done in it. Look at the last 5 years of vulnerability research and where it's taken distributed systems research, compiler-theoretic research, and just basic systems research; compare to "virologists".

I'm arguing that no matter what you opinion about what the difference between a "virus" and a "worm" is, this whole tangent has nothing to do with OS X.

I'm happy to converse about either the shallowness of Fred Cohen-brand virus research or about OS X security, but what you're seeing is me trying to tack us back to OS X.
How to multiply numbers in a column in MySQL
The fail is the fact that they used a link-obscurer/shortener for no benefit to me. Even the text around it doesn't give me any hint that I will be going to apple.com. The location isn't extraordinarily long, so it wouldn't have necessarily damaged the page layout, and they could have easily coded the link inside the text 'Apple's website', which would have given me a lot more information, and helped me in my decision to explore that link.

Finally, the link isn't even clickable to me. I had to copy it into the address bar.

I don't believe link-shorteners are inherently evil or destroying the internet, but seriously, why use them in an article like this? How does it help anyone (me, specifically)?
You know looking over this blog, I think I have to agree with patio11. This is the sort of thing that could end very badly.
Why should an IT person get to decide what sites are non-productive? Ridiculous.

Generally you will find that suck policies come from HR and IT people aren't particularly enthusiastic about them either.
Good point. There is a fat middle where value can be created in between bootstrapped and behemoth.

I think he only brought it up as a sort of "this is an example of widely accepted success that could be getting lost because of this system."

Maybe not the best lynchpin to hang it all on, though.
I work for a software startup that has grown to about 30 people. Last month we had a "security week" where the entire engineering team worked on. As usual, we audited our own product and wrote some code to make things more secure. But we also found that our internal desktops were one of our biggest -- and most unprotected -- attack vectors.

In response to that, a couple of our engineers developed an IT policy for corporate computers. These are laid out as relatively straightforward requirements, like "you must not use IE 6", or "you must edit the registry and change the default timeout of the Beezlebop service."

These prescriptions were written up as corporate security policy, although employees are trusted and no one is policing it. If you have a legitimate business need to ignore a policy, like needing IE 6 around for testing, then no one's going to stop you. But be smart about it and don't use that browser to download warez.

I like the free and unrestricted nature of working for a startup, but I completely understand the rationale for these policies. Everything they recommended was due to known security holes and known vulnerabilities in default installations. It's irresponsible NOT to fix these holes. If our security was compromised because of a long-known Windows attack, it would make us look awfully stupid.
I was surprised that MySQL lacked a Product() aggregate function with its GROUP BY.

After much searching I came to this little nugget:

"exp(sum(log(coalesce(the field you want to multiply,1)))

The coalesce() function is there to guard against trying to calculate the
logarithm of a null value and may be optional depending on your
circumstances."

MySQL is full of hacks.
I meant mostly at the high school level. Particularly in the "high end" school districts. Loads of home work, drills, competitive test taking ... because, you know, the Chinese/Koreans are all "way ahead" and score so well in international competitive examinations. I would ignore those examinations (frankly I would ignore the spelling bee too!) but newspapers love such stuff, and scare the middle-class with "we are falling behind the Asians".

College hasn't gone Asian-style yet in the US.

The reason I bring that up is that due to the way the Indian IT sector works, we don't get the best test takers (they are grabbed by the big brand name service companies). So we get people who generally did't do well in various kinds of tests. I count that as a blessing :-)
Probably coaster brakes. Turn the pedals backward a bit, and it stops the wheel, as found on kids bikes and beach cruisers and the like.

There's also some sort of cable running down the center from the front to back...but I can't really determine what that's for. Unlikely to be gears, though.
In my first draft before I submitted I had oppression in scare quotes but decided against them to make the message more like what I imagine the defenders would like it to be.
Streaming Models both Old and New
A liberal education is great, but you don't need to attend an obsolete, inflexible university and pay through the nose to get one.

Ask yourself this question: If, after you finish your college program, you will not receive proof of having obtained a degree, would you still pay tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars for your "education"? I suspect, for most people, the answer is no.

So we have two functions here:

1) Education
2) Credentialing

We should think about them individually instead of just pretending they're the same.
I really don't know how to answer your first question without sounding a little rude so you'll have to forgive that but the bottom line is if the IT dept. gets to pick which sites are productive it's because the company has entrusted them to do so and the company owns the equipment so it's their right to control how it's used. Though a good IT dept. will listen to individual employees and allow sites they might not normally allow if there's a good reason.

On Gmail the question was "why were they banning Gmail" not was his personal use of gmail a violation so the point still stands (though I'll admit I read it wrong)

Finally, if your security gets circumvented than your security is flawed. Any IT department that chooses not to implement security on the argument that it will inevitably get circumvented probably needs to re-evaluate how they're handling things.
I honestly don't know what you mean by this but I'd be curious to hear an elaboration
I completely agree and also think that one of the main reason behind US success has been the "can do" and "hacker" culture and freedom to express yourself. I also think that if more of this culture gets hold in India(instead of rat race for degrees and titles), we can see lot more product based companies (instead of service based) being setup in india. There is no shortage brain power in India, it's the creativity and hacker ethics that needs ramp up. I am really proud of the fact that you have established a product based company(successful one) being run from India.
> Except employers?

Yes expect employers, who are generally bound by laws such as the Equal Opportunity Act which prohibits such types of discrimination.

Consumers are under no such obligations.

> ...except you're not doing that, you're trying to argue that they're not being jackasses.

And I already said, we just aren't going to agree about this, so what's you point this time?
I wrote about this a few days ago..

Sign That You’re A Good Programmer: http://www.nilkanth.com/2009/08/08/sign-that-youre-a-good-pr...
I thought he was going to interface the calculator to work with google's calculator. Checking your e-mails is cool too I guess.
Even going down hills would not be much fun... if you hit a curve with any speed at all, off the side of the road you go. Also, any good side winds look like they'd push the thing around.
I was thinking something similar. You could have police scanners placed around different cities to get everything. I didn't know whether voice recognition could parse the output though, it's not really my field.