skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
As far as I know, No. I think the reason is not beacause there are more bright people in Software (would love to think that though :)) but that they have less choices.

How often do you hear a mechanical engineer leaving work to start a new company or doing a 'Mechanical' start up and selling to for big money?.

I think when you have few options and when people you identify with are doing what you are doing, these feelings of not contributing/not doing anything else are less.
"The quote is from Conan the Barbarian:"

You think? ;-)

And where did Robert E Howard get it from? Ole Genghiz said this a looong time ago. Look it up.
"One might ask then, are these people fools to work so hard even after all that stack of cash?"

I think the problem is that they might be millionaires on paper, but they don't have cash. Having a $1.5 million house and a $80K car doesn't mean you're rich...it means you have a mountain of debt to pay off.

Now, go ask someone whose house is paid off and who has a million dollars in the bank if he feels rich.
Standard response from anyone: Backup everything, just in case

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CrazyPrepared
I don't think anyone can tell you when to be creative. You need to decide. If you want to do so for years on end because you have the gift to, more power to ya.
Voice-to-text deal could spur new mobile services
Languages are just a little bit more complex than hammers and screwdrivers (especially C++!). This means that people usually know a few and stick with them, which makes sense. Why learn Erlang if your concurrency needs are not so great that you can kind of get by in Java or Tcl or whatever? Why learn Ruby if you know Python? Sure, some of us like to, for fun, but my guess is that most working programmers have a limited set of languages, and try and use those before going out and learning a new one just because it might provide some benefits for some particular problem. And, truth be told, that's not a stupid approach given the time involved to learn a new language well.

Also, I think people want to attract others to their tool of choice due to the positive network externalities involved.
We've all been guilty of laziness at one time or another. But there are definitely some BURST periods of time (weeks/months) where I'm super productive, versus quasi-productive or outright unproductive.
Doesn't this suggest a need for a more convenient search feature so we can avoid dups? Sure, you could go to google and search:

linus torvalds c++:news.ycombinator.com

and you'd have found the previous threads, but that's just inconvenient enough that I bet people don't do it as often as they could/should.
This is a downside for media sites which use ad networks running low-quality, unvetted ad programs.
MonoTouch for iPhone - C# bindings for native APIs
Man, this article demonstrates one thing I love about Linus, he will just step out of the gate and start swinging. "YOU are full of bullshit."

Priceless.
You should certainly backup your data. While the engineers at Amazon are certainly among the smartest, they are not infallible. Things do fail from time to time.

I lost 1TB of data several months ago due to some backend issues with EBS and S3. Fortunately for me, it was just a backup of a backup of a backup. ;-)
I do this every time I'm buying things with negotiable prices. My trick is to not use any eye contact until negotiation time. The surprise throws most people off their game enough to give you an advantage. Plus, it is kind of fun watching someone talk themself out of money. FYI, it doesn't work every time, typically there will be an awkward silence and I'll have to throw out an offer.
The Zune HD can "play games"
Here's an article on adding rivers to procedurally generated terrain - http://www.gamedev.net/reference/programming/features/random.... Searches for "procedurally generated [roads/rivers/waterways/etc] seemed to be the most promising.
It's also worth pointing out that this might have been more of a failure of EBS (elastic block storage, an abstraction over S3) than with native S3 buckets.

Ultimately, my EBS device become unusable by any operating system, and Amazon support stated that the data was lost due to several backend systems failing.
Mint made referral fees on every offer they made "You can make 3% more a year by switching to ING Direct, etc". They made plenty of money, and all they needed was scale (which they proved they could do). The brilliance was that the offers were aligned with the user's wants/desires/needs and were super well qualified so Mint could charge more per referral.

They weren't created to flip - it was a solid business.
What kind of scale of terrain are you looking for? Continent maps or battlefield scale?

I got some stuff I rolled here
http://flywheel.be/examples/

All random generated. But probably not what you're looking for.
Thanks for the recommendation, looks damn interesting. I hope folks don't think I'm proposing to do nothing. Keep active in all the areas you can manage. But when it comes to producing your finest work, the inspirational energy will keep you going. "Fire when you see the whites of their eyes".
Yes, Sometimes the software tools you use can mess up. I lost many production EC2 images because of this unfixed bug in elasticfox:

http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid...

(basically if you have similarly named images, they'll all get deleted with the "Delete AMI parts and deregister" feature)
Using Ultrasound Technology to Enable Touchable Holograms
Well, the name of the site is "the defeated spirit"...so maybe it's that on purpose...
Perhaps rotating your activities is a better suggestion, than simply putting one of them off. I'm wondering if everyone that comments is reading the post?
Compressed might
You're right: I was oversimplifying things somewhat, but I still maintain that languages are tools, not the toolbox.

To use your examples: why learn Erlang? Well, if your concurrency needs are great enough, Erlang is a great fit! If not, maybe consider another language? You pick the best and most appropriate tool for the job. Sometimes you can nail something in using your shoe, but more often than not, the best tool is a hammer.

Why learn Ruby if you know Python? Perhaps you have a project that could be taken to market significantly faster if you use Rails? Perhaps you can use Django? It really _is_ a question of the right tool: and sometimes that tool is Ruby and sometimes it's Python and sometimes it's Java (never COBOL :)).

You could probably make a strong case for any language out there. But you should make sure you're choosing the right one for your task: square pegs and square holes.
Python API for Flickr Services
To be fair, plenty of people can do that.
I agree with boss possibilities (you could be on a project that dead ends after a time).

I definitely believe in the cyclic nature of our passion driven energy, that's why I wrote the post. Wait till your ready (of course keep working as long as you're interested), but don't expect to produce a masterpiece every time you sit down.
The Automatic Rule-Based Time Tracker
More details here

http://troy.yort.com/anatomy-of-a-malware-ad-on-nytimes-com
So is this yet another reason to keep your web app basically free for the masses..?

$170 million in 2 years seems like reason enough for me.. but as Inaka points out: their execution was brilliant. So if you do have a brilliant app maybe you should keep it free.
I'm afraid I'm an Emacs guy :-p
How to share web databases
http://www.eudict.com/?lang=lateng&word=victus&go=Se...
Linus - I'm a bastard Speech (2000)
"It's made more horrible by the fact that a lot
of substandard programmers use it"

Indeed. It often boils down to the quality of the programmer rather than the quality of the language. Community is everything.

"Quite frankly, even if the choice of C were to do nothing but keep the C++ programmers out, that in itself would be a huge reason to use C."

Even as a C++ fan myself, I can't argue with that.

"anybody who tells me that STL and especially Boost are stable and portable is just so full of BS that it's not even funny"

Not in my experience. But the Linux kernel has stability and portability demands far beyond nearly anything else out there. So he's probably right. For his domain of experience: the kernel.

"inefficient abstracted programming models where two years down the road you notice that some abstraction wasn't very efficient, but now all your code depends on all the nice object models around it, and you cannot fix it without rewriting your app."

He's not arguing against C++, he's arguing against abstraction. It's the silliest part of his essay.

"So I'm sorry, but for something like git, where efficiency was a primary objective, the "advantages" of C++ is just a huge mistake. The fact that we also piss off people who cannot see that is just a big additional advantage."

Good god. He sees C as appropriate for something like git? Sure, I'd use it too if my programming team was expert in C and nothing else. That doesn't say anything about the appropriateness of the language.

"If you want a VCS that is written in C++, go play with Monotone. Really. They use a "real database". They use "nice object-oriented libraries". They use "nice C++ abstractions". And quite frankly, as a result of all
these design decisions that sound so appealing to some CS people, the end result is a horrible and unmaintainable mess."

He's probably right. There's something about the real language fanatics that often limits their rational planning facilities. They make poor project implementors, even though their language expertise makes them good programmers in the trenches. My guess (not ever having heard of Monotone) is that this is what went wrong with the project.

Then again, as a git user, I have one critique of Torvalds' C project: doesn't anyone working on the project have any conception of usability? Git is way too easy to use improperly and often hard to use correctly. It feels like it was coded by a bunch of C-language kernel-hackers. Which it was.
I'd appreciate comments as to why you think so after reading.
YOU are full of bullshit.
I have never seen a documented case of S3 losing data. Please provide references.

I have recommended to some customers that they back up S3 data to the S3 service running in another region. The new export service also provides a way to get physical copies of your data but, depending on how much data you have, it might not be practical.
Classic examples of innovation
I find living is inspirational. Going for a walk, chatting online, etc.
Spelling reform is never going to happen, so this is not something to worry about.

It might evolve and change over time, but a directed reform will not happen.

There is just too much inertia in the form of written material, and people who learned a certain spelling to ever change it.

And there is no one with enough authority to force it.
My rough feeling is that most people are better off picking a general-purpose language and sticking with it for most of what they do, rather than trying to "optimize" by picking the 'best' language for each task. The learning and the context switching, and even the decision process are probably worse overall than using the generic language, even if it is not the best one.
I think C++ bashing is getting old. It's like Microsoft bashing: everybody does it but 99% don't really know what they are talking about.
This is fake, isn't it?
Great comments chimariko. I hope much of the HackerNews feedback gets back (by disqus) under the original post. Even within great disagreements there's a helluva lot of value added.
google erosion simulation algorithms (or derivations)- some brilliant stuff mostly developed for geography simulations that would make absolutely amazing terrains.
Unlike most other webapps mint has a very lucrative revenue stream. They're able to offer you alternative financial services targeted towards you based on the information they have about your current financial products. I'm sure the financial companies offering their products on mint pay more than your average ad or click through.Most webapps don't have this sort of opportunity.
Sort of, but engineering is more measurable. If you can reduce a component's defect rate, then the company will likely go with your new idea. If you can't reduce a defect rate, then you won't have any lingering feelings that your way would have been better.

Engineers also tend not to have blogs to rant about this stuff, so if they do have anguish they don't publicize it. It's all kind of a generalization though, so YMMV.
No, just old.
> "anybody who tells me that STL and especially Boost are stable and portable is just so full of BS that it's not even funny"

Ironically, STL and Boost are much more portable than Git.
Well there seems to be many interpretations of what procrastination actually is, but who is to say the "recharging of batteries" is procrastination and not the actual process of one continuing the organization/development of their tasks through the brain unconsciously. The type of "brain-charging" procrastination you are implying is different in the sense that the individual is usually motivated to accomplish a certain task or goal and is just taking a break to regain his "senses", while the type of procrastination I was referring to was a consistent lack of desire to work on certain tasks. Both types of procrastination may be similar in the minds of some, but provide very drastic consequences when compared side-by-side objectively.
The site felt very slow for me.
I am pretty sure that Linus knows what he is talking about
"4. Whistle blow while you work..."

I believe that the root of all innovation is allowing the people to speak. This is the end user, but even more importantly the employees. The reason that I believe this to be the case is because there are countless studies which prove that employees who have the ability to contribute will take an ownership stake in the company, combine this with a small equity position, and your innovation will indeed become a reality!
This looks like the thing Leonard Cohen mocked in "First We Take Manhattan":

And I thank you for those items that you sent me
The monkey and the plywood violin
I practiced every night, now I'm ready
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

http://nickolai.tumblr.com/post/146013703/first-we-take-manh...
Every geek's dream: Buy a Dinosaur
There will always be someone who hasn't seen it before. And if you don't take time into account you'll end up with a bunch of articles that appeal to the general audience and end up on the frontpage every month. For me thats pretty annoying.
What a hilarious abuse of the nice folks at GitHub and GAE! I guess it's the natural progression of those GitHub blogs that have been cropping up...

I'm not saying I won't try it--but I'll feel bad.
If someone puts a gun to my head and demands I produce my most elegant and thoughtful work, there's a damn good chance he's going to be disappointed. You can't force it. I'm not suggestion doing absolutely nothing with your time, but instead allow yourself some time to think things over.
Working for a startup can mean a lot more than that if you're not trapped in a mental state of idealism and arrogance. The last startup I was apart of failed (partly due to technical ego), but as a whole it was my real life MBA; a great experience and contributed significantly to personal growth.

Certainly not my place to judge you but if you're so sick and tired of working for someone else — what are you waiting on? If you think working for a startup is challenging, try being the founder of one. Most people can't cut it outside of ~12-24 months.
I watched the Jill Bolte TED talk and was pretty interested in the story of her stroke but I couldn't get past all of the "we're all made of energy" rhetoric. I was interested in her experience but not the conclusions she drew from them.

I was also somewhat surprised the TED crowd stood up at the end. My theory is that they will do that for anyone who tells an emotional tale instead of a cerebral one.
I was more referring to the parent comment and all the people that upvoted his comment and the submission.
keep multiple snapshots so that you can recover files after you delete them yourself.

#!/bin/sh

AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=<>

AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=<>

BUCKET=<>

DIR=<>

S3SYNC=/usr/bin/s3sync.rb

DAYS_TO_KEEP_BACKUPS=30

# colons in path confuse s3sync

DATE=$(date +%F_%H-%M-%S)

NEWEST=$(/bin/ls -r $DIR | grep -v current | head -1)

# copy the newest copy of files into a new directory, creating hardlinks instead of duplicate files

cp -al $DIR/$NEWEST/ $DIR/$DATE/

# sync the s3 bucket against the new directory

$S3SYNC --recursive --make-dirs --delete --no-md5 -v $BUCKET: $DIR/$DATE/ 2>&1 | grep -v 'Could not change owner'

# update the "current" symlink link

test -e $DIR/current && rm $DIR/current

ln -sf $DIR/$DATE $DIR/current

# remove snapshots older than DAYS_TO_KEEP_BACKUPS days

find $DIR -maxdepth 1 -type d -mtime +$DAYS_TO_KEEP_BACKUPS -print0 | xargs -0 --no-run-if-empty rm -rv
"recharging of batteries" is a great example of the type of procrastination I was writing about.
http://developer.amazonwebservices.com/connect/thread.jspa?t...

http://developer.amazonwebservices.com/connect/thread.jspa?t...

Do you need more or do you think that is enough like that ?

We've been here before by the way:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=528541
He's not arguing against C++, he's arguing against abstraction. It's the silliest part of his essay.

No; as the snippet you quoted already makes clear, he's arguing against inefficient abstraction, which I take to mean abstraction that introduces bottlenecks into a program and is hard to change without rewriting the program. That is a very real problem and not silly at all.
With every decision comes a CHOICE that will either take us in the direction of our ideal life, or potentially down a path that is completely undesirable. And what dictates our next step is something that I like to refer to as your P.O.P, or in other words, your POWER of PERSPECTIVE! Successful people are able to "POP out of it," faster then those who achieve moderate success...
Good god. He sees C as appropriate for something like git? Sure, I'd use it too if my programming team was expert in C and nothing else. That doesn't say anything about the appropriateness of the language.

Considering one of the primary goals of Git was to be faster than greased Jesus with a tailwind, yeah, C's an appropriate choice. Trading more expert programmer hours for fewer CPU cycles is something C does very well.
Very good! Any means of accepting more languages to work with?
When to be creative: Right now. Not later. Later will never come. I'll be creative later is the excuse we make for not just putting our heads down and creating what we want to create.

Here's an example of what I mean:

Ask any writer who has written a book how they did it. They will answer by telling you they did it by sitting down and writing, day after day, until the book was finished.

Now ask anyone who wants to be a writer but has not written a book why they haven't done it. Their answers will all be different in detail, but will reduce to the same thing: they did not sit down and write, day after day, until the book is was finished.
Yodlee will work with UK accounts, for whatever reason (perhaps legal?) Mint still haven't added UK support.
"C++ has its place."

I think that's the whole point of his response. For GIT, C++ is a terrible choice. I think he's pretty explicit about this:

"So I'm sorry, but for something like git, where efficiency was a primary
objective, the "advantages" of C++ is just a huge mistake."
It's not about someone telling you when to be creative, it's that you can take charge of the creative process through intentional practice. The best authors don't wait around hoping they'll have a breakthrough, they sit down every morning and work.
And Frances Allen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_E._Allen thinks that C is a terrible language. What is clear about c++ is that there are certainly many subsets of the whole thing that are useful. If you do STL programming and forget the classes, you can get good performance.

It seems that Linus resists many avenues of investigation that might in the long run benefit kernel architecture.
I've been espousing this view for months. As much as we hate it, Windows "just works", and if you have a serviceable Linux box on your LAN, all it takes is a few PuTTY shells and you're in business. Keep a cmd.exe window open to pscp things that you're working on locally (like web graphics, for example), and things are pretty seamless.
I doubt it. This is basically an op-ed. From what looks to be the original article: "Zephyr Teachout is an associate law professor at Fordham University, a writer, and an online entrepreneur."

http://www.thebigmoney.com/articles/diploma-mill/2009/09/08/...

There's a slight chance that there's education involved in her "online entrepreneurship," in which case you're probably right.
... from a teacher at open university, apparently.

I'm sure I'm biased as a college drop out myself, but I've never been impressed by abstract ('learn how to help society!', etc) type reasons to go to college.
I'm not sure I'd call $170m a great exit considering they were last valued at $140m. Generally VCs are looking for much more than a 20% ROI. I'd love to know if there were some special terms that make the VCs get more than their share here. Otherwise you'd think that either Mint was in trouble and needed this, or there was something else going on.
I'm using the Pygments library, I will keep it updated so that all new languages are supported by the app.

You can even write your own lexer, it will be greatly appreciated by all Pygments users: http://pygments.org/docs/lexerdevelopment/
As far as lists of N things go, this was pretty interesting.
But the question is is this advantage worth the ever-increasing tuition prices for most students? Before there wasn't a choice, now we'll see what the market effect of the competition of different education models will result in.
"Also, I think people want to attract others to their tool of choice due to the positive network externalities involved."

This is huge point. I've wasted so much time in my life fighting about what technology to use on a project- with people that aren't actually going to be writing any code on the project. Why do people care SO MUCH about what technology is used on project- even when it's a project they are NOT ON? Positive network externalities sums it up pretty well.

The crazy thing programming is that it defines people's mental models around problems. The common chestnut of Java programmers using iterative techniques in SQL stored procedures, as opposed to set based operations is borne out in reality. The different mental models associated with different languages make it hard to switch too often.
Yes, besides procrastination, the "recharging of batteries" can be applied to the term "rest", which is required by all human beings to a certain degree in order to function normally and become productive members of society.
Where Google Is Really Big: India and China
linux just works too. i can't remember the last time i had to deal with any of the garbage mentioned in the original article. it's still missing some apps (in my case i need photoshop and aftereffects), is that what you mean? that certainly is a problem.... one that is getting solved piece by piece. i see nothing but steady progress towards the linux desktop and lots of fundamental reasons that create pressure for it, eg the low price of hardware.

ChromeOS may finally bring about the "year of the desktop".