skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I'm still not convinced by those examples. My reasoning is opportunity cost.

If you have to learn to code to write some software, and then write it yourself, you will generally be less efficient at it than contracting someone else to do so. Furthermore, the contractor has a chance of potentially reselling the software to other clients (thus increasing efficiency even more), which you do not.

If it was cheaper for your father to write his own software in this case, then to me this indicates one of several things:
1. That he had already learned to code for some other reason (possibly a hobby).
2. That there was no opportunity cost because his business was operating way below capacity. If this is the case, his time is best spent fixing that problem first.
3. That there is an under-developed market for software services.

Your fathers' example also ignores some potential problems. A novice rolling their own DB code is likely to make novice mistakes, increasing the chance of (expensive) data loss or corruption.

I remain unconvinced that for a busy non-software specialist (such as a physical therapist, a welder, and many other professions) writing any software more complicated than a spreadsheet formula or macro is worth the opportunity cost. That doesn't mean that these people will never configure existing software, or write small scripts in DSLs, but I don't consider that 'knowing how to code' any more than I consider being able to remove one of my own teeth 'knowing how to dentist'.
And the software is probably no worse than average quality for an appliance.
> German and Dutch governments, perhaps from fear of elitism, try to ensure that all universities are roughly equal in quality. The downside is that none are especially good.

http://paulgraham.com/america.html
See my reply to gwern above.
"many of our more tedious jobs won't need humans to do them"

We live in such a warped society here in North America.

Whatever happened to pride in craftsmanship, pride in an honest day's work, pride in contributing to the community?

I bet there will be (perhaps google will lead with this) driverless taxis soon, because after all "who wants to drive a taxi around all day?". Go to Japan. Get in a Japanese taxi. You will see someone who takes the utmost pride in their appearance, their interaction with the customer, the state of the car, the ride, etc etc. It is an experience, to say the least. I believe there is value in that... both to the community and to the individual.

Somehow in North America we have convinced ourselves that some jobs are "beneath us" (and I'm not just talking about taxi driving here). It's puzzling to me and it doesn't have to be that way.
Is LinkedIn In Danger of Becoming BuzzFeed for People With Ties?
One reason I dread Google doc shares
You do realize what you did in Ruby that took you a couple of hours to learn could have been done with grep in one line?
Thank you, Alex, for the excellent digest service.
I worked as bartender,eventecnician, MTB Guide, Skiing Instructor and a lot of other part time jpns. Before I started study with 27 and finished something like a year a ago. Working in software industry is a DREAM, you get a safe job, good money and good working time. Yes good working time compared to eventec it is insanly good. I financed my studys also with part time jobs in the beginning and soon (2 semester) could start programming for a local company, I needed to learn C# which just heard of in a GUI course and boy I was working hard, everything I couldn't do in the company I did at home, this brought me in the got position I am in today and that't what I would suggest to students. Learn, work, learn harder, work harder. Learn what 1 dollar or euro is worth. My role model Henry Rollins http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbnFJVgBcw0
Programming is not going to be as lucrative a few years from now. As soon as interest rates rise in a few years the startup boom will cool down a bit and the influx of new programmers will really depress the earning potential of the field.
In my experience the important things are:

1. Do they proactively do the tedious stuff when things aren't exciting? Passion waxes and wanes and good co-founders dig deep and push through the bottoms of the motivation cycle.

2. Would you feel comfortable with the, representing YOU if you were not around?

3. How quickly can you find a comfortable and systematic way to constructively criticize one another?

There are more specific details, but these are the non-negotiables
world's biggest supersonic parachute = LDSD. NASA preps to test new tech
It's not arbitrary, though. Like all values, they are derived from an exchange. And to be fair, Apple's popularity is not only as a status symbol. For many people they provide a well-priced combination of features, sometimes extremely well-priced. A MacBook Air by any other company costs at least 50% more. If anything, your comment illustrates that Apple is saddled by their old reputation as having overpriced offerings, despite shifts of focus in their marketing campaigns.
Keep an eye on graduation rates. Enrollment numbers mean nothing for your concern. How many people do you think can meet a min GPA after completing core physics, math, and CS classes?
Would that also be a suitable response to "Capital in the 21st Century"? If not, why not?
It's just the same now with CS. We lost 75% of CS prospects in the first semester, almost all of them due to Calculus (although I think some of them came in with the malformed idea that programming was just like video games).

I kept in contact with some of the folks who dropped out or switched majors - they're working at convenience stores and the like.
This is the laziest of criticisms. Don't like someone's argument? Don't even bother reading through, let's check who sponsored the study, or maybe the author is a hypocrite, or at least cheats on his wife, and anyway, it's racist.

You could just as easily dismiss Piketty: Oh, he's just some French lefty (cheese eating...), of course he'll conclude that inequality is the problem and we need to tax wealth.
To be honest, the work never seemed rigorous enough in the first place to go about finding 'fatal flaws' in it.
I said its a lot like learning a foreign language. So learning a foreign language when young would likely help you learn to program when older. Your case only helps to prove my point.
> my Mac isn't your canvas on which to ruin platform consistency.

So, you already have the solution: Safari. That is the the platform recommended, platform consistent solution you seek. It exists. With that being the case, what harm is there in other software accepting that just because Apple does it doesn't mean it's always the right solution? Even Apple can't settle on a standard font to use across all it's solutions. And using Apple as the gold standard assumes they never make or don't still have glaring UI/UX problems to overcome.

Put away your arrogance. Not all software needs to meet your exacting standards. Heck, even Apple disagrees with you!
I recommend reading what Paul Krugman has to say on the FT piece:

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/24/is-piketty-all-w...
Google, Y!, FB and MS say gov has no right to suppress data request disclosures
That sounds like an awful waste of 20 years' worth of skills and experience. I never saw this "check out at 35-40 and do something else" advice given in other specialized and relevant professions, but I can see how it may fit in the context of a jobs bubble where the industry can't sustain all the gold-rushers for their entire working life.
For Android:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.dsandler.a...

For iOS:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/procreate-sketch-paint-creat...

Pressure sensitive stylus:
http://www.adonit.net/jot/touch/

From what I know all iPads and Android tablets have pressure sensitive apps and touch screens and you can buy a stylus that supports it as well.

My son draws for school on both the iPad and Nook. We don't seem to have any issues nor do we need Photoshop and other expensive software.

There are attachable bluetooth keyboards for Android and iPad tablets that work better than the Surface ones. I don't know why people seem to think that only Surface has an attachable keyboard and stand?

I mean these features were standard and options standard with iOS and Android before the Surface tablets marketed them as exclusive to the Surface series only.

For iPad devices go to an Apple store.

For Android tablets some of the mobile carriers might be able to demo them for you.

Don't take my word for it, what my son and I like might not meet your standards. Look for yourself, but don't think that only the Surface has those features.
U.S. may act to keep Chinese hackers out of Def Con hacker event
This happened to me. It was related to work stuff, but also there were some things that made it worse (I'm transgender, and I hadn't started my transition at the time).

* It got so bad that twice I day I'd think I was having a heart attack.

* I wasn't sleeping (like not even a little bit) (I watched like all of Colombo during this time)

* Couldn't walk home without freaking out all the time (that person is staring at me, do they hate me, I don't even know them, are they following me, etc)

In the end I quit my job, and moved town, so I was lots closer to friends. This got me about half way to being normal. Later started my transition, which got rid of /so/ many issues, and got me more or less the rest of the way.

Looking back I wonder how I managed to live with my mind being that messed up.

A lot of people recommend getting medical help. However, just a warning, GPs (in the UK at least) aren't all brilliant with mental health. I got medical help for what I thought was heart attacks, and while my GP suggested it may be stress, they never recommended a therapist. (I have since been told that if you ask, you will get one though, I didn't really know to ask.)

The reason I wanted to post was to point out how it can creep up on you. I certainly didn't notice becoming more and more stressed out, I felt normal. It just felt like life was harder.

So watch out for the things you read in these posts, and be sure know that this can happen to you too.
That is not my impression at all. I'm still waiting for my copy, but if you read the reviews they in general laud it as solid academic work.
You're confused about what equality means. When a group has less power, they have more to risk.

You are staunchly defending the status quo, and insisting that all change is the responsibility of women.
Everything is Broken
I'm not convinced that Piketty had an agenda in writing the book. It's unambiguous that the FT editor did.
Actually when Microsoft had Windows XP based tablets in 2002 they worked better than these Surface tablets. I don't know how they got changed and how they aren't as good as the ones in 2002 that had slower processors and less RAM etc.

I've been using tablets since the early 1990's when Toshiba had the Windows 3.1 based pen tablets using MS-DOS 5.0 with the option for MS-OS/2 1.21 if you wanted it.
i'd do a small throw-away project with the person before you attempt anything. if you can complete the project, then tackle something bigger. it's like training camp before full-season play.
The 'critical period' hypothesis is not the only theory and I don't believe its a useful one.

I think you're misinformed if you think brain development can be said to taper off in any way over 18 years. There is pretty clear evidence that it happens in distinct stages.

I think the real mechanism is that learning symbolic logic early causes a type of confidence that adults without find hard to acquire. Of course, my opinion doesn't really count here since my Karma is negative one now.
TL;DR: Guns don't kill people. I hate men.
Already a thread on the front page about this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7793675
Actually blocking WiFi channels is done through the 802.11d information element in WiFi beacons which specify what the country the access point is in.
It's a pity if the discussion would be reduced to nitpicking though, rather than a real discussion about the books real scientific merits and its consequences for how we want to build our societies.
The Nimble Cargo Scooter: A Kick-Powered Hauler
This is true, but in a male dominated environment, there are usually men who have more power than women and if they don't use at least some of their power to support the cause of equality, they are supporting the status quo.
Good point. And, the beer drinking is often at conferences too. The getting laid part...eh...well... Go to college kids! It's important and you will learn all kinds of great things.
> I’m pleased that I was a Heartbleed hipster, dissing OpenSSL before it was cool (i.e. ten days before Heartbleed emerged into the light) but I don’t pretend to be a security expert.

When did it become appropriate to diss open source software without the expertise to create something better, and why does he think this is brag-worthy?
> It sucks that a conventional programming career generally ends at age 35-40

I think this is a myth. I'm 39. I've yet to see any sign that experienced engineers who keep their skills up to date have any issue at all. We just hired someone I estimate is in their late 50's.
>credit-fillers that students have to take in order to graduate. This structure works out well for everyone: the university ensures that students are getting a well-rounded education (as opposed to a trade-school degree)

Do you really think the irrelevant classes are necessary at this level though? The student has had all of elementary through high school to be exposed to the broad subject range. By the time you enter university you should know what you're doing. None of my credit filler requirements have been especially enlightening or broadening; mostly just annoying. A Greek and Roman history class I took was interesting to me at least, but I don't see much value forcing another CS student to take it. If I have to take one more English class I might just drop out and start my own company.

Do you really think universities believe in the "rounded education" goal, or do they just know that making you take more classes gets them more money?
I've always told the soon to enter the job force something - "Pick two things, one is your passion, you should always follow it, the other is a practical skill you can always use to pay the bills - so yeah, go to school for game design, but pay close attention to those IT classes too, and you'll always have a job."
APISpark adds Swagger-as-a-Service functionality
Somehow in North America we have convinced ourselves that some jobs are "beneath us"...

I'm sorry, but there are kinds of labor that are "beneath" human beings. We don't yet live in a world where people don't have to do those things, but that doesn't change one whit the fact that some basic, minimum level of human dignity, and some of the kinds of work humans have to do are fundamentally incompatible.
Probably. But longer term software is only going to become increasingly important. Some refugees from the start up implosion (if there is one) will move on to other careers in other fields. Some will adjust and keep right on developing whatever comes next. There may be a bubble right now. But, it has a grain of truth to it. And that is... computing is changing the world.
"Shortest path to a high-paying job."

Big student loan needs to get paid somehow. Too many desperate programmers in the world is a bad scenario, IMO.
I've seen spreadsheets that would put your average application programmer to shame. Don't knock excel, it's one of the pillars propping up MS. I can see windows die but excel will be around for a long long time to come.
I had the same issues with Google Docs, but now I always share documents as "public if you have the link," and send out a link. I have yet to regret trusting people to keep documents as private as I request.

I also just email people URLs to hangouts, instead of going through any Google UI. That also works without fail.
I hate to break it to you but ancient cultures used OTP systems for thousands of years before this guy supposedly invented it. The ancient Egyptians for example would create a pad, use it to encrypt a secret with a numeric shift cypher, then break the pad into multiple pieces each of which would be guarded in a different temple. This has been proven and there are other examples in the ancient world.
[Disclaimer I'm a father of one of the founders].

This device enables you to transport heavy goods down a road, over a sidewalk and through buildings.

In the process, you can kick your way into being healthy.

All the while riding through life in a way that is simply exhilarating...
Would love to be able to sync via Dropbox (disclaimer: I work on Platform at Dropbox)
The Universal Library
But the green card lottery was shortly after commercial speech was allowed on the Internet, and everything went downhill after that. Even the WWW feels sub-optimal if you want to find information.
What Bayesianism taught me
But the playing is essential! Without the playing you'd never get past first base. If I wouldn't actually enjoy this stuff I would have stopped doing it long ago.
The robust beauty of improper linear models in decision making
"That sounds like an awful waste of 20 years' worth of skills and experience."

Indeed. But then again, what can you say about a field where "senior" is commonly added to titles after 5 or so years?

If you're a programmer in the US and below the age of 40, I sincerely hope you investigate this before you find yourself only able to get consulting work. Or perhaps embedded, there are those who respect grey hairs in that field. Or government work; that's likely to be only attractive if you get a job requiring a serious security clearance, e.g. TS/SCI or Q, from an organization that's willing to have to mark time or whatever while you get it, then of course stay in jobs requiring a high clearance.

But this has been going on since at least the '90s, it has nothing to do with jobs bubbles, heck, it was strong at the height of the dot.com bubble, when I had my personal epiphany on it (was 35 in 1996), it's age discrimination. Or partly wage discrimination, young people, and/or those on H-1B and L-1 visas are cheaper, more malleable, etc. Google has provided one of the more notorious examples, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Reid_(computer_scientist...
If you write ruby and want TCO put this at the top of your .rb file:

RubyVM::InstructionSequence.compile_option = {
:tailcall_optimization => true,
:trace_instruction => false
}
So now i want to take snaps of my meals with a medium format camera.
Only 2 sentences? No wonder I don't remember it at all.
Beacon – PayPal
That's one of the reasons I use Firefox for my personal account(s) and chrome for work.
Almost never have to deal with this issue. Periodically, I do need to switch on the personal side (I have 4-5 different google accounts), but i have lastpass remember it all in the browser which makes it pretty painless.
Not really. I recall Elon Musk saying in an interview that SpaceX doesn't patent anything. The really innovative R&D is not easy to copy.
This is another example of a field where coding is relevant to the job. Many current scientific methods involve heavy use of computers for things like simulation, complex calculation, or control of custom built equipment.

I still maintain there are many professions where coding is almost completely irrelevant. Some scientists use general purpose programming languages as part of their work. No (for example) physical therapist does this as part of their work.

Many people on this board also seem to underestimate just how difficult it can be to learn to code for many people who have skills in other areas. People who are studying science are probably the type who are good at coding. If you want to see how difficult coding is for many, just look at the drop-out rates in Computer Science 1.

The general argument that I am responding to is that coding is comparable to literacy. I argue that both in need and applicability, it simply is not. If you are illiterate, the number one thing you can generally do to improve your life is learn to read. I argue that unlike literacy, there are many professions where learning how to code provides less benefit than spending that effort learning or doing something else.
sure I agree with you there... but I guess my point is that our threshold for being "beneath" us is presently way too high (at least in north america)
If that was the criticism, yes, it would be lazy.

But if you listen, there was no "this was poor because it was in ft". It was more like

Person1: "that seemed like a poor piece"
Person2: "It's not surprising it was poor, ft is often biased"

No one claimed that appearing in ft proved anything.
>CS entry level classes traditionally fell into the latter category. Demand has resulted in students treating them as part of the former.

I was in a funny position with this. In university, I had taken the engineering "Intro to C" class as a first year student, but when I switched to a math major, I had to take the intro level CS classes.

Now, the first year CS classes are required for math, physics and chemistry majors at my school so you'd expect the syllabus to take that into account. The class was almost entirely built around working with the Java API and object hierarchies and writing bloated Java programs to perform simple tasks. It was a huge waste of time, and I didn't have much time to spend on a freshman level general ed requirement. I like to think my whining was one of the reasons why the math department finally made the push to offer a scientific programming course for the rest of the science departments.

I don't mean to bash my school's CS department, either. I took some higher level Systems Programming and Algorithms courses and thought they were fantastic. They just treated their intro courses like software engineering weed-out courses, when other departments required them as general ed courses.
WebCrypto API to recommend only unsafe elliptic curves?
Don't stop there. Architecture = putting thoughts in a "virtual building" form. Therefore everyone should learn how to design their own house.
Seriously, you're making quite the jump putting writing on the same level as programming.
Americans involved in defcon possibly do not want to cross borders. I pity the border agent who powers the wrong defcon-bound machine in order to extract information. Lets hope they have excellent airgapping and sandboxing etc.

I guess the Euro conferences would welcome Chinese hackers.
> Whatever happened to pride in craftsmanship, pride in an honest day's work, pride in contributing to the community?

I'd say there's often better ways to contribute to a community than by selling something. Help your sick neighbor walk the dog or start a study circle and learn how to grow vegetables and take care hens.

I'd like to see a society where we pursue our dreams, even if the dream life isn't an accelerating career.

Since 1930 productivity in my home country Sweden has increased fivefold, mainly due to technical achievements. Does that mean that we work 20% of the time we did then? No it does not. Wealth has increased of course since the 1930s, and perhaps we want a higher material standard.

But also consider than since the 1970s productivity in Sweden has doubled. Does that mean we work 4 hour days instead of 8 hour days now? No, of course not. Instead, since the 1970s we work 100 hours more each year.

As a society i feel that we should be using the technical achievements to give us more time for the things and the people that we love. Is that too much to ask for?