skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I've worked for tech companies and a law firm that was in the top 4 in global immigration. The worker shortage is a myth. It doesn't exist. When a company claims they can't find a US worker they are lying and going through 'recruitment efforts' for Green Card and I-140 applications.
HR uses a list of skills from the H1B they wanted to hire and then tailor a job posting to that exact list of skills in order to disqualify local applicants. By claiming they can't find a US worker they can bring in their wage slave who will be an indentured servant. They will use that person's visa and green card as a carrot to wave in front of their face to make them go along with violating labor laws. "Someday you'll be a US citizen if you just put up with this for a little bit more!" They string this out into a decade long process often. Oracle and Yahoo were the worst offenders. Anyone who is 'pro-immigration' is just an unknowing tool for multi-billion dollar conglomerates. Immigration has been turned into a public subsidy for the richest corporations.

Then you have outsourcing companies like Cognizant regularly scooping up 50% of the H-1b lottery: http://www.computerworld.com/article/2489146/technology-law-...

It's pretty disingenuous to claim there isn't a US worker, the companies have no intent to hire an American. Their entire business model is built around outsourcing the work.
Now if you want to talk to me about legalizing farm workers I have no problem with that. I think it's pretty disgusting we have this shadow economy built on third class workers that we all benefit from and know exists. Unfortunately they don't have the tech industry lobbying for them like the H-1B holders do. There's a reason Silicon Valley lobbies for more H-1bs but not Greencards: http://online.wsj.com/articles/michael-s-malone-the-self-inf...

The problem with freedom of labor and open borders is that it's usually just one way. How many Americans are going to work abroad in India? How many Canadians are going to work in China? It's feel-good rhetoric but ultimately it's just an excuse to flood richer nations with workers from poorer nations. I'd be all for this system if there was some kind of tit-for-tat program where India gets as many visas given to them as they give to us proportionally--but it will never happen. If STEM and engineers are so in demand why have their wages stagnated? Why has the average income actually dropped in Silicon Valley? There's a disconnect in what they claim is happening and what is really happening.
You need to take a view regarding the type of expenses your company will have too. I run a small, one man, UK Limited company and was for a time VAT registered. This is because when I first started the company I spent a few thousand Pounds on equipment. All the VAT I paid on this equipment was able to be offset against any VAT I collected through invoicing. For a while I was ahead and it helped my cash flow, even factoring in the accountancy bills each quarter (which weren't really all that much). I made this move on advice from my accountant, and at the appropriate time, when I was no longer "ahead" on VAT, I was advised to de-register for VAT. My revenues still aren't £81k.
I believe you're looking for this thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8681043
Show HN: Build web apps from your spreadsheets
Hmm... that would come off as pretty suspicious; it would make it very easy to get away with DNA testing other people against their will.
In Soviet US, SWAT breaks door anyway.
A rather obvious premise is that there is some limit of immigration that is in the best interest of current US citizens.

Average human brains are not a scarce resource as seen by all practical evidence - globally, they're being manufactured at near-record numbers, they're a sustainable resource that we can make more in the future, they're not fully used (9 million of them unemployed) and we're okay with deliberately throwing away many of them (e.g. incarcerating 2 million).

In addition, there is significant unequality between the regions of the world. Simply equalizing the global wealth per capita would be a very unwanted change for most of the first world, simply being pushed down to the average would be a catastrophic decrease. Equal opportunities for everyone worldwide would also hurt current first world citizens, who right now do have significantly above average opportunities. You can charge an order of magnitude more for the same job or service simply because you are here and "they" are not. It is rather obvious that there are some practical reasons why they would vote to preserve the status quo.
Developing a Mobile App Roadmap
What about the (cost to hire a local) + (costs of employing that local person annually) = (cost to hire a H1B) + (costs of employing that H1B person).

The cost to hire that h1B person is going to be much higher and hence the lower wage.
Hi I'm Chris co-founder of numeratr. We've just launched with a few early clients and would love to get your feedback
There are two possible scenarios where I'll get my hopes up that humans are going to Mars:

1. It is so close that it is obvious. A heavy lift human-rated rocket is in service. It is demonstrated that humans can live long duration without the radiation shielding of the Earth. The capsule is human rated (planned to happen in 2021). A robotic landing of the vehicle on Mars is done (a lot of Mars probes have failed on this step). That humans are selected / training. This goal is set for the 2030s, so it fails this criteria.

2. They announce a huge amount of funding to be spent within a few years. The pages I've read thus far don't suggest what funding levels are.

I'll happily listen to what they say, but I'm still skeptical.

EDIT: Expanded the conditions for point 1.
Closer than you might think. Howard Odum in 1971 suggests that humans are something of a decomposer, working on a backlog of accumulated energy and mineral deposits:

Sometimes in half-seriousness we say that man may have been evolved by the system as a mechanism to get the fossil fuels and other minerals back into circulation. We hope he is pre-adapted for other roles after that.

From Environment, Power, and Society.

An analog I use is to opportunistic benthic whale fall communities. The emerge and develop rapidly. They do not sustain.
Your remarks about "divisive ethic-neuveau-ghettos" with "communities insulating themselves rather than assimilating" just makes it worst.

Part of the "social contract" when you immigrate to the US is to at least make an effort to join your new country. We aren't the Borg, but we would like to see you learn at least a little English, accept your new country, and generally participate.

You are already most of the way there- you speak English. Your parent is reacting to communities of people who immigrate to the US, learn not one word of English, turn inwards and attempt to create Little Elbonia, including attempting to completely reshape government in Elbonia's image.
Skillshare (iOS)
Many companies are unable to obtain programmers in sufficient amounts precisely because they cannot afford to pay market rates.

If we had a bread shortage, some would be unable to afford the high market price of bread, while it would still be available to those who could afford it.
Arguably the incarcerated, and more tenuously then unemployed, are not "average human brains". I'm not sure I'd actually argue that but it seems worth addressing.
I just added both a more detailed description of the product (based on this question, actually) and a couple of screens we have. Hopefully that helps to give a better idea of what we're doing!
That is why academia for hard sciences is still very much a cathedral / ivory tower system. It is nearly a polar opposite to tech, where things are judged solely on merit.

I doubt you could argue that a first authorship Nature paper would be a negative with respect to your career prospects as an up and coming PI, either as for securing a position and/or for improving your funding.

Things are changing all the time, and pioneers like PLOS and JOVE are knocking it out of the park especially with their newer media offerings, and completely free access.

You can be as negative as you like, but to see this change from the stodgiest of journals is pretty great.
What Artists Should Know About the Next Big Sound
No, Mobiu5 is countering MrZongle2's point that a non-NASA entities are likely to beat NASA to Mars.

I happen to disagree with his analysis, however, because he's not taking non-government entities like SpaceX into account.
There is no question that this is an ad. It is also devoid on any informational or actionable content. This is pure click bait.
The flip side of this (at least at an American research university that I have witnessed first hand) is that professors bringing in large amounts of money with R01 grants can get away with nearly anything they want. This intersects with the other front page discussions about H1B visas and the system of exploitation I've seen with foreign post-docs and grad students. I've seen a foreign research scientist (and dear friend) literally work himself to death securing the grants that kept the money flowing into the lab.

There's so much to say about the current state of "research" (which I dare not call science, because seeking to falsify a hypothesis is a terrible way to win a grant) but all explanations are clear if you just follow the money.
Interesting! They kept that up for a long time afterwards in Ireland, at least to the late 1980s (which was when I stopped going to church). I've occasionally been to a Catholic church in the US (weddings, funerals although I'm an atheist now) and it was quite disorienting to be offered the wine at Communion.
Web Design Company or Individual Freelancer? Contractors Overview for Customers
You can opt-out of the long-term storage.
> * The government can give out N visas in an auction. Firms bid via legally-binding salary offers. The N highest salaries bid get the visas, and the government takes a small additional payroll tax as the only fee.

This would be doomed to fail. Professional services firms can outbid basically everyone because they can turn around and bill that person out at 5x their salary.

The visas will never adhere to the workers for one simple reason: the visa process exists to benefit the companies, not the workers. The workers are not US citizens and have no leverage with the US government. The visa programs only exist because the US-based companies want them - and those companies DO have leverage with the US government.
Few more options for "IFTTT for DevOps":
http://docs.factor.io/
http://stackstorm.com/
http://www.airstack.io/
https://www.cloudmunch.com/
I don't understand what everyone is up in arms about.

H1B visas increases the supply of programmers. You don't exactly need a CS degree to be a programmer, so there are a lot of programmers.

If people are complaining that H1B visas depress wages, then the correct solution is unionization/collective bargaining.

I'm sorry, but programmers are a dime a dozen nowadays. Talent ALWAYS commands a higher pay - H1B or not. Everything seems completely fair to me.
Wobbly Earth
The problem with Glassdoor's gender pay gap conclusions
See Apple's Support Pages for Lost/Stolen devices:
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT2526

Do you have renter's insurance in Boston? If so, check your policy, it may cover theft.
No, after spending 3 weeks and 6 hours on the phone to add the correct TV to my account I gave up spending time with Comcast.

If you happen to know a competent contact that I can provide info to, I'd be happy. But I am not going to waste my time trying to get through to them via normal channels.
I don't see why the opponents of open immigration would believe, for an instant, that those people that are let in without benefits would stay in that situation. You paint exactly the arguments ("permanent underclass!") that, after bargaining to get them here without benefits, would be used to get them benefits.
Looks like the briefing already happened. Does anyone know if a recorded version is available anywhere yet?
I am in the UK and had previously purchased from the US. This morning I got an e-mail offering me health reports (based on my previous test results). Very nice.
I think you're confusing a venture capitalist with a journalist.

Venture capitalists are in the business of growing the value of their companies.

In this case, Fred did a great job of re-introducing me to one of his companies. I didn't understand why Brewster was important, but via his thoughtful post in which he shares personal experience, he's highlighted a pain point that I also share. I'll probably try the service now, and it may even make my life easier.

Most importantly, if Fred Wilson (or Mark Suster, or any other VC) only blogged about how great his companies are, nobody would read his blog. Instead, he built a loyal readership by writing on provocative topics, having an opinion, and starting conversations. His writing-to-promotion ratio is skewed very heavily in favor of writing.
Doesn't remote working make this less of an issue now? Unless you're dealing with hardware, there is very little empirical evidence to detract from the effectiveness of a remote workforce.
I missed the live briefing ... is there a replay somewhere that I can watch?
Over the last decade, UC has grown the number of executives earning over $400,000 per year by 500%. Thy've also tripled in-state tuition in that time. And since 2008, managers and executives have been the fastest growing segment of the UC workforce. In other words, they're each doing less with more.

So yes, bad. And it gets even worse when you consider the socio-economic status of the people who are being expected to pay for the mushrooming admin layer. "Looting" is the expression that comes to mind. Only here, the people on top are stealing people's future earnings, as opposed to money they've already made. Moreover, they're forcing their victims to underwrite this unjust enrichment by making career choices that prioritize payment on egregiously inflated short-term notes over the kinds of decisions that may be in the long-term interests of students and society alike (e.g., a risky start-up with a long pre-growth lead).

And yes, "forcing" is a fair choice of words. The gun being pointed at their victims' heads is the very real threat of chronic instability (at best) if not outright poverty, which is a depressingly likely outcome for those who forego a college degree. And given the cratering value of degrees from cheaper but lower tier schools is no panacea.

Worth remembering: UC is not (on paper) a profit-making venture. It is an institution devoted (in theory) to public service.

p.s. UC admins can retire and start collecting pensions at at 55 or at 50, if they were hired before 2013. Added bonus: UC carved out an exception to the state's $110/yr cap on pensions. Depending on your salary, you may be eligible for $250k/year for life. Conceivably, this can go on for 40 years, which would mean "earning" $10 million for...breathing.

Presently, UC is spending $1.3 billion per year on pensions, and have been since 2010, when the state of CA stopped covering the full cost of employer contributions to UC's outrageous pension plans.

These fun facts are via Anthony York, formerly of the LA Times. He went on a whisky fueled twitter jag last night, and has more choice detail about the unrestrained banditry posted on his stream.

https://twitter.com/anthonyyork49
I've been paranoid living in SF with a car the last year and sucks to hear this happened to you. Just some advice for the future and to others that park around SF: I didn't realize until recently that my car has a "valet" button and what it actually does. Basically, its a button in the glove compartment and when you turn it on, the trunk can't be opened. So what you do is turn it on, and then lock your glove compartment with your key. Also make sure if you have back seats that open that they are locked as well. This way even if someone breaks into your car, they won't be able to access your trunk.
Can anyone explain the downvotes? or does the Upton Sinclair quote hold "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!"
Developers Can Now Use Google’s Cloud Platform to Handle Credit Card Information
It's quite avoidable. The viral load in various ecosystems can be tremendous, and many are generally benign. Even the non-benign generally don't kill their hosts.

An interesting tidbit from xkcd's "What If" series: individual cell mortality from viruses in the oceans is about 20% per day.

http://what-if.xkcd.com/80/

http://www.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/1vyanj/viral_so...

Jared Diamond has offered related observations on pathogens and parasites in tropical vs. temperate climates. It strikes me that an ecosystem in which there are periodic resets (e.g., killing winter frosts, or long summer droughts) offer a more amenable set of living conditions to those species not affected by those resets, whether by adaptation or technology.
Kaminario Scores $53M to Take on Flash Storage Market
Auto posted and liked for me. Flagging as well.
[Story of failed entrepreneur] I am Rusty
It's not free if you are taxed for it. We can debate whether a society is better off with it or not, but please don't claim that it is free.
Such as a 20x heightened risk of developing Alzheimer's relative to baseline (as determined by your ApoE variant).
"In theory, if we were to let HIV run its course then we would see a human population emerge that was more resistant to the virus than we collectively are today - HIV infection would eventually become almost harmless."

Because millions (or billions) of people would die, leaving only those with resistance.
Well how old are you now?

It's an interesting statement because technological advancements are virtually assured to keep increasing the average lifespan (especially in industrialized and wealthy countries, excuse the recent dip due to obesity) and they're also virtually assured to keep making space travel a more viable reality.

Combine that with increased global cooperation (possibly deteriorating right now) and increased private competition and I think it's feasible.

I'm 24. I have a feeling I'll more than certainly see humans on Mars barring any unfortunate calamity to myself. I've also been saying I'd live until I was three or four hundred years old since I was a ten years old. So call me an optimist in a variety of ways.

Everything I've said is totally from a layman's perspective and I truly have not given the question much thought besides an initial excitement at the prospect upon reading this headline and checking out the news.
Amazon.com has no profits, according to their balance sheet.
I think it's more likely that the bar for "scandal" will be significantly raised. Consider what has happened in just 20 years where we went from Clinton who "didn't inhale" (marijuana) to George Bush, whose former use of cocaine was reported but never admitted, to Barack Obama, who admitted to marijuana and drug use in his own autobiography. I imagine that politician boringness and attitudes towards what is scandalous will meet somewhere in the middle, so you'll have slightly more boring people in office, but no so boring that people would care if they found out about some trips to a sex club or something.
I get it. They make immigration way to hard considering how much immigration has done for America in the last 200 years. I wish it was an instant jackpot though. I've tried for 6 years. It's 5 minute application in October - wait until May for the result - try again in October. And if you do win in May you likely won't get to America for another 18 months or so.
Bandwidth challenged? Amazing Google Developer content is now available offline
Heavily subsidize? Last year, the charter school my kids attend got $1300 less per student than the non-charters in the district. The school has roughly 1200 students. That means we probably saved someone (district? state? not exactly sure the break down of funding sources) roughly $1,560,000 that year over having all those students in the non-charter schools. At the very least, the other non-charter schools got more (per student) than they would have (assuming there isn't a magical $1.56M sitting around, the schools would have received somewhere in between the two numbers for ALL students).

Transfers of facilities space? The school recently took out a loan and bought an empty business complex to renovate as our new campus because the campus we were using was an old run down school that the district had already closed several years prior to us moving in. They closed it (and two others in the district) due to budget cuts. Closing these schools caused teachers to lose their jobs & class sizes at the remaining schools to increase.
Living in Finland, I haven't always been thrilled about our extensive social welfare and the consequent high tax rates. This story reminds me that even though I don't benefit directly from social welfare, there are latent benefits on the societal level. Namely the ubiquitous sense of security, because the poor rarely have to resort to theft as the government gives them money to get by.

I don't really have to watch out for thieves. Of course they exist and you can never be too careful with these things. But occasionally having left valuables in view inside my car, or a bag at a cafe table while I visit the restroom, I've never had anything stolen. I'm not afraid to walk in the city at night.

A friend of mine was robbed at gunpoint in broad daylight in SF, which came to me as a big surprise. I couldn't imagine that could even happen. Obviously I need to travel more to broaden my worldview...
The US does take about 1.2 million immigrants into the country every year.

We mainly do this on family reunification, with a few other limited paths. I do agree that it is a terrible system. I'd love to see a points system like Australia.

That said, I don't think the evidence supports the notion of a shortage of programmers, so I don't think the goal of an immigration system should be to provide silicon valley with more programmers than they are currently getting at market rate.
I meant is it a done deal for Uber and Lyft?
That's not the price for Firefox users. Firefox Hello is free. What you are quoting is the price to develop apps that use OpenTok. Disclaimer: I work for Tokbox
I missed those the first time around, because my gaze was focused on the form and it's container. You're right, that should be addressed. I would imagine addressing the scroll bar issue would resolve the cut off text as well. It looks like something that wasn't a priority for roll-out, because it doesn't really affect UX so much, but I do think it's something that needs to be fixed in the next release.
Detroit power grid down: Police stations, jails without electricity
Fortunately the go community has long experience with ignoring naming conflicts.
Don't block non-UK EU buyers who have a VAT number though! The new laws only apply to B2C sales, not B2B, and I suspect the majority of SAAS customers are businesses anyway.
Designing systems that figures out the solution
I think it's supposed to be a representation of a few lines of text.
> It very much seems like charity is one of bitcoin's biggest usecases at the moment. Not saying it's the best thing ever, but we shouldn't discount it as there being no interest and no charitable bitcoin users.

But that's not really the question; the question is if there are enough to justify the development effort and, especially, to justify prioritizing that over other options like PayPal.
Infographic: The Modern IT and Dev Ops Toolkit
Oh man, i forgot about the torrent client.
> This would be doomed to fail. Professional services firms can outbid basically everyone because they can turn around and bill that person out at 5x their salary.

So what? Shouldn't the companies that can create the most value from the employee be the ones that get to hire them?