skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Linguistics would offer a near unparalleled way to tell. Linguistic specialists are used by the police in the UK to locate where hostage takers (or ransom makers) come from.

IIRC there's 3 categories they can tell on average; where you grew up, where you lived and where you've lived recently. Basically if you grew up in London, lived in Manchester and have lived in Scotland for a half-year or so, they'll know. When compared to police records of hardened criminals this can usually help them narrow it down to a handful of people, sometimes when a persons accents are so strong (IE you can locate a specific area of each city) it can basically get you the person you're dealing with. It then gives negotiators the upper hand, because they know who they're dealing with and their behaviours from previous crimes before they've even opened negotiations.

If linguistic specialists can work this well for accents inside the UK, I'm sure they'll be able to tell if you're lying when you say you grew up in Somalia to Somali parents, but you're accents indicating you're from Kenya or Ethiopia. It might not be useful all the time, but it could certainly help add credence to someone's story and potentially help a refugee with legitimate claim through faster.

I doubt you'd be able to narrow down regionality through linguistics like you can in the UK. British accents are usually so strong that they're like prime colours in language, I've got friends here in Canada who immigrated here when they were infants, but they've still got a British accent in there. When you're dealing with adults, the accent is as clear as day even when they've been in Canada for decades.
I've been thinking about this for some time. Microsoft these days is pilloried (rightly IMHO) for being closed and proprietary; but the reason DOS originally won is that it had the cheapest, most open and permissive licence - i.e. it was the closest (at the time) to free software.

It was this openness that earned Microsoft its market monopoly on the OS and consequent positive network externalities - benefits that the company has leveraged to maintain its dominance of the desktop for two decades.

So what I'm proposing is this: perhaps the FSF did well during the reign of Microsoft not as a foil to the big, evil monopolistic corporation, but rather because the FSF is the logical conclusion of the very strategy Microsoft itself has used to establish and maintain its market share.
Experiment: Paying for performance works (for teachers in india)
I think this is probably too biased, as messages from users with a close match percentage are highlighted in your "inbox". The data might not be good enough to discern between "replied to message because it was highlighted" and "replied to message becuase match % was high".

(Personally, I have a feeling that "pretty profile picture" is more influential than "high match %". But of course, it's very hard to measure what one considers physically attractive.)
a maintenance nightmare finding someone who can think at the same high level.

Bring someone in to mentor 2 or 3 others. Have them act as a software toolsmith for the others. Also have in the plan the transition to the rest of the group.

Software tool-smithing is often very interesting work, which lets your uber-programmer stay an arms length away from the boring corporate programming. However, you still get to benefit from his high-level skill. Also, the transition to others, if done right, focus his intellect in the direction of "how to make things understandable."
You can try the EU job mobility site.
http://ec.europa.eu/eures/home.jsp?lang=en
I've been migrating data from a NoSQL database into PostgreSQL for the past few weeks. Now data occupies about half the size on disk. And queries are up by a factor of 100. Especially the advanced ones. Note however, that I have a pretty good understanding of SQL, so I know how to optimize the queries.

One powerful aspect of SQL is that the database can optimize the query. Some NoSQL databases enforces you to write joins manually in code. Unless you really know what you are doing and spend hours on it, the query will be slow. This is exactly what I see with many of our queries. Relational databases is not the answer to everything, but I would prefer to start with one rather than a NoSQL variant. You can always migrate when things begin to get too slow (ie, when you get mad success - which you probably never do anyway)
As long as customers continue to pay for the OS on those "dumb clients", it's still a win for Microsoft.
> Disclaimer: I used to work at Ask.com so I might not be all that objective.

You're probably not, but IMO you're right. As long as you're making money, you're not a failure. When you owe money and have no hope of turning it around, that's when you're a real failure.
"GPL is way too dogmatic, and given the fact that most free software actually is written by people with a paycheck"

I don't think anyone, even Stallman, thinks making money from free software is a bad thing.

I worked at a company (that you've heard of) who basically ran their business on Free Software saving them God knows how much time, money and effort. The CEO announced one day (in public) that he didn't like the GPL as it was business unfriendly. He made no effort to hide the fact that he wanted to take code written by others (often for fun) and convert it to profit without giving _anything_ back. The GPL is a wonderful license.

I don't understand your mysql example. It sounds like the GPL did its job in that case.
How To: Copy the Entire iTunes Catalogue in 25 Seconds
I make $20 an hour to code ... And that's in NYC.

No offense, but unless you are a grad student and this is your stipend, you are horribly underpaid. The problem is not unions, the problem is where you have chosen to work.
.hn top level domain
"NoSQL" is a completely meaningless expression. Please stop using it.
Health Insurance Quotes
Sorry for the pedantry, but doesn't expecting the terms to relate to things in a different context go against the very nature of jargon?

Jargon is "technical terminology unique to a particular subject." [wiktionary.org]

I imagine that when one is discussing OTs and how they relate to the federation protocol, these terms would be very useful. Sure, you could talk about nodes and edges in a graph, but there are many graphs of many types in any large system. These terms refer to specific kinds of nodes in a very specific kind of graph.
Russia has succession rights to USSR, while SFRY was dissolved without successor.
Well ... I was never ...rotated at a speed dating event, but yes women are more selective. This has roots in evolution. When I choose the wrong girl my mistake might cause me losing some time. When a woman chooses the wrong man, she might be left holding the baby for years.
The Barriers to Touch
A few hurdles need to be overcome before the keyboard and mouse can be replaced by the purely touch-based inputs.
Of course, what the article doesn't clearly convey is that there are many many more companies who can advertise on the internet compared to those who can afford to advertise on TV - the cost differential is huge, so it's not surprising that internet advertising revenues would eventually outgrow it.

What would make interesting reading is a study on the companies who _do_ advertise on TV and to see how much of their TV budget has been trimmed (if at all) and what they spend on internet advertising instead.
http://hn.hn/ , sadly not Hacker News!
> A nice feature would be, "negative points because". So that I can learn from it.

My hunch is that your comment was too short.
YUI 3 Is Out
> Some NoSQL databases enforces you to write joins manually in code. Unless you really know what you are doing and spend hours on it, the query will be slow.

Most (?) encourage denormalization instead of joins-in-code.

> This is exactly what I see with many of our queries. Relational databases is not the answer to everything, but I would prefer to start with one rather than a NoSQL variant.

For most application domains, I agree -- but there are plenty of companies that have essentially outgrown the relational approach already.

/committer on Cassandra as well as SQLAlchemy
actually because of the response of muslim women to jews being more positive than to ath/agn, I think Jewish men overall come out on top.

Combine that with Jewish men who ARE atheists, which is a good number of em, and you've got a super-match. Which all goes to prove what my mother always told me; "I love you."
I've been migrating data from a NoSQL database

That's like saying "I live in a capitalist nation and capitalism is not what it's cracked up to be."

NoSQL is an ideology, and anyone you hear who uses that term is an ideologue. Please name the "NoSQL" you have been using and name the specific problems you have had with it so we can discuss matters more concretely.

Just as RDBMS users prefer one above all else, so do "NoSQL" users. I have seen my fair share of them and I thought a good chunk of them where "crap" (where crap means "does not fit my mental model of the solution"; mainly because I am too naive to study the field better and appreciate what the tools are capable of, so I dismiss anything that doesn't entirely model CL's Elephant.)

Last week I rolled out my own Memcached "replacement" in Common Lisp and I was spitting in bradfitz's general direction, that looney bloat monger! Yeah, my "memcached" replacement is an in-process memoizer for all the DB accessing functions. It worked until the server instance was overloaded and the load-balancer forked a second instance: then I had a problem. I wish I could suck-back all the spit I have sent in brad's general direction.
I don't think that the people who use CouchDB (or similar non-traditional data stores) are really worried about "tranferable knowledge". They're just interested in solving a problem they think the NoSQL group of technologies can help them with.
Do you mean because they offer poor support, or because there's usually large volumes of data involved, or both?

Cassandra, for instance, provides an easy snapshot API, and you can back up the snapshots using whatever infrastructure you'd normally use to back up TB of data. (If you don't have such an infrastructure, yeah, that's a problem, but not Cassandra's fault. :)

Edit: I should point out that since Cassandra supports multiple data center replication already, I'm having trouble picturing a scenario where you want to do anything w/ the snapshots besides just leave them on the Cassandra nodes themselves (plan extra HDD capacity as necessary depending on how long you want to keep them). But some such scenarios probably do exist.
I've found that taking steps to get people involved with my plans makes me more likely to achieve them. I'll definitely be sharing initial versions of my app with the community here.
yc.hn seems to be available... =)
Only if Tito played ball with the Kremlin .. a trace of his legacy might still be in sight.
> NoSQL is an ideology, and anyone you hear who uses that term is an ideologue.

You're sounding a little ideologue-ish yourself. :)

NoSQL is a term of limited use since there is such a huge variety of non-relational database technologies, but that doesn't mean using it makes you an ideologue any more than someone using the term "dynamic languages," which is similarly broad.
How to find any watch online, even swiss made watches
I'm not sure why that would be better. If they are going to go about changing it, they might as well use the codes for the present countries.
Interesting that this appears on HN right next to an article preaching the value of conciseness:
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=850857

Ironically, that article itself fell into the TLDR category for me.
Head-On Crash Test of 2009 and 1959 Cars (video)
anyone know of registrars selling these?

edit: nevermind, gandi.net (my preferred registrar) has them.
Depending on the cost, this might be an attractive alternative to buying a Kindle by using this iTablet with the app, Kindle for iPhone.
"New York Yankees" - OneRiot.com
Nope: minimum length is 3, except for hn.hn.
Database taxonomy
Being ironic or not getting the joke?
I know that I'm horribly underpaid, but I took it because I was in a tight spot. I'll be moving out to California eventually.
Using Multiple Database Models in a Single Application
Intuitively the cost to a guy in pre-societal times of getting a girl pregnant was negligible compared to the cost of a girl getting pregnant and as such women should be more selective.

The effect that societal influence may have had on this (the guy gets a bad reputation hurting his future chances at offspring) is something to consider but I'd doubt it's anywhere close.

Having said all that, the article does try to dispell all this by reasoning that the partner "being approached" is more selective, and that societal conditioning has led to this being the woman.

I would counter that when someone approaches in a dating scene (as in the study) they are immediately demonstrating lower value ("I have come to prove myself"). The person sitting has also established this little space as their domain, and gets to assess the value of the person coming to them. This allows for the results of the study, but also explains, in conjunction with the first theory above, why on average, even during the study, women are more selective.
Misfired e-mail was never viewed by Gmail user
Is the recession causing a baby boom?
For Denmark:

http://www.version2job.dk/jobs/default.asp
Apple is not going to make a dedicated remote control.

Touchscreens alone simply don't work on a remote. People aren't very good at looking at a TV, then focusing on a screen close to them. That is somewhat the brilliance of their existing remote. You can learn where the buttons are within a minute of using it. They can add features and not have to worry about putting a button on the remote, virtual or physical.

There are plenty of applications to turn your iphone into a remote control if one really wants a touchscreen remote. It can be quite handy to see your favorite TV station icons. But when the phone rings how do you press mute?
KAAAAAAAAAA.HN!!!!!!
$ echo "174.132.225.106 hn.hn" >> /etc/hosts # :-)
The Recession's Silver Lining
Win a Free CharlieCard for 1 Year - MassDOT Developers Challenge and Conference
Check out the MassDOT Developers Page -- Great resources for Developes: http://bit.ly/ibwdY

MassDOT Developers Conference
MassDOT will be hosting a Developers Conference, free and open to the public, at the Tang Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on November 14th, 2009. For Full conference details please click here: http://bit.ly/2vxvA0

MassDOT Developer's Challenge
On September 28, 2009 EOT announced the 2009 MassDOT Developers Challenge. The Challenge inspires developers to create both applications and data visualizations, to submit them to MassDOT, and to release them to the public. The two top submissions will receive a CharlieCard valid for one-year of free travel on the MBTA, in addition to recognition at the MassDOT Developers Conference.

Visualization Challenge: The Visualization Challenge calls on developers to use data release through the MassDOT Developers site to show "A day in the life of the MBTA." The data released includes all CharlieCard "taps" on average weekdays in the summer and fall. For the full data, click here: http://bit.ly/ibwdY.

Application Challenge: The Application Challenge calls on developers to create applications for release to the public that will make the MBTA easier for customers to navigate. Applications will be judged on the quality of design, usability, and convenience.

The first-place winners in each category will each receive a CharlieCard valid for one year of travel on the MBTA's rapid-transit and bus system.

The deadline for submissions is November 9, 2009.

For full details and all Developer resources please visit: http://bit.ly/ibwdY
That was the most boring thing I've read all day, just more hype for his book?
The best evidence against astrology I've heard came from my college astronomy professor. Basically, due to the precession of the earth on its axis, the constellations are visible at completely different times than they were when astrology was invented. So even if it wasn't BS back then, it sure is now.

http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/your-astronomical-sig...
This was covered at LessWrong and the headline turned out to be false.

http://lesswrong.com/lw/127/an_interesting_speed_dating_stud...

See this comment from ciphergoth:

It doesn't result in a reversal of the normal results, exactly. Male sitters appear to be about as selective as female sitters, but male rotaters are much less selective than female rotaters.

And this comment from me in response:

Wow, this stuff is pretty awful. I just read the paper to verify your claim, and the paper turned out to be not any better than the NYT article: mostly composed of PC fluff about "social construction" and how "Western civilization" is this and that. The only informative part is the figure on the last page of the PDF (buried after the references, no less!) which confirms your conclusion completely, but the text doesn't even hint at it anywhere.

PDF link to the study: http://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/eli-finkel/documents/Ro... .
Ad-hoc querying affects all distributed databases, which includes dynomite, hbase, and hypertable as well as voldemort and cassandra. Also all key-oriented databases, which include Tokyo Tyrant and redis. And some others like CouchDB (where computing a new view via map-reduce is basically equivalent to doing a query via hadoop against another system, so I don't consider that real ad-hoc query support).

Really the list of databases that do provide ad-hoc queries is much shorter. Neo4j (graph db), mongodb (single-master "document-oriented" db), the xml databases, probably some other minor projects.

TFA also mentions data export as a "dark side" but for projects that lack this it's really just a "nobody's needed it enough to write it yet" thing. So that's less interesting IMO than talking about ad hoc queries which is usually more of an architectural limitation.
Essential Web Apps for Freelancers
Using Bash To Output To Screen And File At The Same Time
I was home schooled and raised around a variety of people of all ages. I do not have handicapped social skills simply because I didn't interact on a daily basis with my peers, most of the time I was forced to interact with adults.
Aw, man - I thought I'd coined "polyglot persistence." Darn InfoQ article from July (referenced in this article)!
Rails Plugins and Gems
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=849591
And
http://www.it-jobbank.dk/
http://jobindex.dk/
Is this the case, where they're forced to send out C&Ds, or risk having their trademark lost? (such as happened with Google: http://209.85.135.132/search?q=cache:UCKy7KCtdhQJ:xooglers.b... )
0.1 standard deviation isn't significant. So for the most part it doesn't work. Personally I think it is fairly obvious why. No one does a bad job on purpose so if you aren't doing well then you are just not capable. This can be caused by being incompetent or you don't have the power/tools/money necessary to get the job done. Offering a small bonus doesn't really change either one.

Sure there may be some motivational issues, but they would have to be systemic for this sort of ploy to work.
I don't get all the fuss. Internally, most relational databases could be classified as "NoSQL" databases at the storage-engine level. SQL is just an expressive language to talk to the document store and the associated indexes.

You're throwing away 90% of the advancements of the last 30 years and going back to PICK.

As for scalability: replication, sharding and backup are already problems that have been SOLVED over and over again.

It makes my head hurt.
I'm very interested in this "unschooling" technique. I've heard a little bit about it before and it's really peaked my curiosity. Would you be willing to chat further about this?
Sometimes 140 characters is all you need. Why force people to add fluff?
Maybe this will finally dispel the myth about older cars being safer in these sorts of collisions because they were built like "tanks".
German speaking freeway enthusiasts' website?
http://autoba.hn
> "It is that I wonder how many other things I am missing out on. "

he could equally wonder all the things he has going for him, or rather that his brother missed out on. i understand the impulse to believe criticism over compliments, especially from oneself, but a little more thought should dispell silly impulses. i expect more from thoughtful blog posts.

(i have a non-identical twin. i feel lucky and thankful--twins are the best!!)
Structure and randomness in the prime numbers
Announcing RuDy: write Ruby native extensions in the D programming language
You are not going to want to buy a .hn domain right now, because as is possible with all ccTLDs, the government can change and then change the rules.

After the coup two months ago, the new Honduran regime has directed nic.hn to cease all new registrations and hand over all registration database information to the new government.

You can read the official LACTLD position on this recent development here:

http://www.lactld.org/News_Item.2009-09-28.9048048483
so.. any chance for an invite? :p
Seems to me the Right Thing would be to have someone pass x.yu URIs to x.me. No broken links, no effort for those who’ve forgotten/lost control/died/&c.
Maybe they just tend to be more likely to tell people to f off. A reply isn't always a good reply. I would think you would need to look at conversation rates.
Richard Hamming - You and your research
Ask YC: How can I hack jetlag?
After two years of hard saving and paying of debt, I'm about to head off for a four month journey around the world. From the UK, my first port of call is going to be Beijing, a full 10 hours ahead of my normal time zone. We leave at 4:30pm UK time and land at 9:30am China time.

Any hints or tips for avoiding the beast so I can make the most of my time in China?

Thanks!
This doesn't change the fact that I still want a 1969 Chevelle SS. :-)

Also, I love the window title "Default Viral Title Player"
It would be interesting to see a video of two 1959 cars crashing compared to a video of two 2009 cars crashing. It's nice to have a tank, but if everyone has tanks, maybe I'm not better off.
Yep, for more info:

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/26/pics-aplenty-iihs-reveals...

The after pictures clearly show why the 1959 car kills you, while the 2009 let's you live.

PS: "The dummy's head struck the steering wheel rim and hub and then the roof and unpadded metal instrument panel to the left of the steering wheel.... The windshield was completely dislodged from the car and the driver door opened during the crash, both presenting a risk of ejection. In addition, the front bench seat was torn away from the floor on the driver side."

Ouch.... an instant death according to the IIHS. And the '09 Malibu? "A high acceleration was recorded on the left foot, indicating that foot injuries would be possible.

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/17/video-iihs-celebrates-50t...
This is actually a very interesting analysis. He examines a whole bunch of cofactors that I wouldn't have even thought of. Comment length, word length, common adverbs, common pronouns, punctuation, all caps, swearing (since when is "douchebag" a swear word).

I wonder what would be revealed by this kind of analysis on the entire hacker news respository. Now, that's a large data set. (No, I'm not volunteering :-)