skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Whatever your method is have you successfully shared it with anyone. Are the doctors concerned that you had a specifc form (atypical!) and that those with some other form will be tempted to avoid medication to their own detriment. How ahve you been sharing your info. Is there some way you could persuade a medical professional to do a study on you to see how your CF has progressed and whether the initial diagnosis was sound so as to determine if a new treatment based on your modus can be achieved?
I think this submission gets it entirely backwards. Netscape the company did quite okay for itself -- its life ended with a pretty substantial acquisition by AOL (which promptly proceeded to kill it...)

The browser, on the other hand, was killed largely by its own ineptitude. People in today's "zomg Internet Explorer is awful" world seem to forget that Netscape 4.5 was so bad people were proactively switching to IE, and that Netscape 6 came out late, bloated and to a very, very harsh reception.

Sure, the grave of Netscape eventually spawned what is now Firefox, but not before several years of soul searching and wrong paths.
If you work someplace where LISP and PHP are both contenders for the same numerically-intensive task, I agree you should use LISP.
You don't have to be right in the market 50% of the time. In fact you aren't guaranteed to be profitable if you are right 99% of the time.

Your winners just need to be bigger than your losers.

Average winner profit * winning percent > average losing loss * loss percent.

in any case, check out http://stocktwits.com
I think they even have access to the real time feed.
You don't have to do that, just assess them at a lower level at the start of the course!
How many of those hundreds of thousands of lines of boilerplate code have concepts in them that the average CS student isn't taught in their "fun" algorithm code?

Remember, his article was about time management. The whole basis of his argument is that college kids assume "boring" code can be done quickly and thus can be delayed to last possible second.

The truth is "boring" code usually means API code, user interface code, and input processing code. They may involve concepts that CS students have already learned, but it certainly isn't a breeze. It's not whether or not a student can do it - it's how fast they can ship a working product.

As for the rest of what you wrote, you seem to have some grudge against Joel. Maybe it's just manufactured to produce traffic. But that's just my cynicism leaking through.
Um, my wife and I run a pottery studio - a natural follow up to chemistry and theor.phys+maths degrees! How about you? Plans for when you leave?
Online advertising uses all kinds of machine learning.

When companies are running billions of impressions across multiple ad networks and using different creative variants, it takes serious algorithms to cut through the noise and find the inventory that's performing well. It's a tricky problem because typically you'll get tiny click-through rates, meaning you're looking to group a few points of data among millions of impressions.

Contextual analysis (figuring out the context of the page where the ad appears) is a big deal now also. That's a lot of natural language processing on some of the most diverse (read: difficult) content available.

I happen to work for a company that does both of these. :)
While I don't always agree with Joel, it is a bit of headline grabbing to call him a snake-oil salesman. He is building a product that is shipping and the company is profitable. Not easy to do.

But I think if universities taught CS the way that they should, and not many do, in my opinion, the result might not be what he expects.

I think that many companies misuse programmer talent--one example is to employ thousands (not exaggerating) in enterprise departments that are reduced to moving one field to the other. If there were lots of well-trained CS grads with a better orientation, they might be questioning how things are done. Both in large enterprise situations and perhaps in Joel's company.

His strongest point is that students are not exposed to longer projects. I was once in a position to hire compiler people. Few graduates of programs that taught compilers were well-equipped. One large state university in Michigan taught a compiler course in a semester. The graduates that I talked to came away with the notion that compilers were very scary. Graduates from another midwestern school across the lake did very well. Their compiler course was a full year as part of their masters program.

I think that industry does not really know what to ask for. CICS as part of a CS program? (True). Really?
"But my memory is that Netscape the company was not a winner — Microsoft, IBM and others ended up crushing it, not because of the browser wars, but because Netscape tried to move beyond browsers into enterprise servers and didn’t have either the resources to fight giant software companies or enough employees who understood the corporate market."

Netscape was founded in April, 1994 went public in August, 1995, sold to AOL for $4B in November 1998, and was worth $10B to shareholders on it's final day of trading in Mid 1999. Not a bad 5 year run.

Netscape was also the victim of a monopolist (Microsoft) that was found to be illegally using its monopoly to place it's browsers (Netscape's primary product) on windows systems. I'm not really sure there is an equivalent party who can do likewise to Facebook (I don't think Microsoft would try again, even if it could)
The 30" monitor (2560 x 1600) from Dell alone is almost $1700! Sure the Apple's monitor is slightly smaller but you get an entire computer with it!
The clojure wiki has examples.
A lot of Twitter traffic is machines now. Actually, this is making it a little hard for humans, since there are so many spammers/pornbots.

And there're are a bunch of examples of protocols that were initially controlled by single companies. AIM gave us Oscar and TOC. Microsoft gave us SMB. Kazaa gave us FastTrack.
sizeof(array) works in a block, but as a function parameter, it'll return sizeof(void*).

i.e. void f(int a[4]) { printf("%d", sizeof(a)); } int main() { int b[4]; f(b); } ... yields "4" (on my 32-bit machine)
When is twitter going to integrate with telematics
I have a great idea for an application for Twitter feeds to integrate with automotive telematic systems and link up with emergency vehicles - anyone interested in developing?? email me at John@ADstruc.com
What's more, you can even go broke with overall positive expectancy, if your position sizing strategy can't handle losing streaks.
I have a website where I share info as best I can: http://www.healthgazelle.com And I participate in discussions in online forums. EDIT: And I joined HackerNews because I concluded that I need to learn a programming language and write a simulation to overcome the information gap between my mental model and current mental models.

"Atypical" is not a specific form per se. It is a term used to describe diagnoses that fall outside of "classical" symptoms/experiences. In recent years, more mutations are being identified and generally milder expressions are being recognized as still causing the same general profile of problems, but to a usually less severe degree. My mutations and my sons mutations have not been identified, in part because my doctor's request for a more comprehensive test was denied by my insurance company. (This is one of the points used to attack me and say I don't "really" have CF -- never mind that I spent about a year at death's door and came back from that.)

I have had a few people try some of my suggestions and report good results. Two of the most dramatic: Someone with an antibiotic resistant infection went from testing as sensitive to 7 drugs to testing sensitive to 15 drugs in just 3 months. He also generally feels better, sleeps better, etc. In another case, a mom with a young teen whose lungs were in such bad shape they were talking about listing her for transplant began using some of my suggestions. About a week later, her child was so dramatically improved they apparently weren't discussing listing her anymore. (I have had updates from the first person but not the second one, so that may no longer be true.) Her doctor did express interest into looking into one of the supplements I had suggested.

Most research that I know for treating CF is drug research. I have gotten off all drugs. Most research is funded by drug companies. At the moment, I really don't see doing any studies or talking anyone in the establishment into being interested in what I am doing. I believe the top-down approach to treatment which is the current norm is part of the problem. So I believe that the solution requires a grass-roots movement, not more edicts from on high.
and expensive
How to build a mega-million dollar businesses from scratch
Our colo was built back when computing per watt took up a lot more space... meaning we had two racks of machines in a giant empty room and we'd already blown our power budget.

Power is often the constraining factor.
It's a trade in Germany. I left school after 10th grade and started my apprenticeship in programming. The net effect is that at 29 i've now been a professional programmer for 12 years.

More importantly, I also developed all my programming habits during my formative years and therefore developed pretty good habits that are now hard wired and second nature. It gives me a huge edge over other programmers of my age who have been joining the work force over the last few years.
I'm the guy responsible; feedback about the format, content, and frequency would be great, as would pointers to interesting articles.

I find it sometimes difficult to link back to Hacker News because unlike reddit, there's no easy API I can use to map links to discussions.
Wasn't the PPC notorious for running hot? My Intel Mac runs completely silent unless I'm building something from source.

(I have no experience with PPC Macs. Comment solely based on anecdotal evidence. Correct me if I'm wrong.)
The Barack Obama Donations Site was Hacked - err, no it wasn’t.
My undergrad program has been doing this for about 10 years, and I'd say it was an extremely valuable way to bring together the prior 4 years and give you a taste of professional programming. My school certainly isn't Ivy League, but it is a "Tier 1" liberal arts college, according to US News.

Every CS major has to take a software engineering class his or her final year, which consists of learning real-world methods for software development and completing a semester-long group project. It sounds almost exactly like what Joel describes. My group produced a few thousand usable lines of Java code, on a schedule, with documentation, requirements, and the whole nine yards:

http://egroup.definingterms.com/

An overview of the course is available online:

http://cs.calvin.edu/curriculum/cs/262/kvlinden/
I totally get what you're saying, but I'm not actually convinced that it does.

There's a certain purity in studying the math and science behind computers instead of studying how to bring your C# program in under deadline.
Hi, My name is Steve Baker and I'm a Software Engineer in our search quality team here at Google. We take these types of complaints seriously and use them to debug the problem/brainstorm solutions.

For those of you who have been forced to use + or quotes to get google to return what you want, we would love if you would post the specific example queries on this thread. (Some people did, but a few of the complaints were vague.) Also, in general you can click the 'Dissatisfied? Help us improve' link in the footer of google search results pages to report problems. We check those out, but if you wanted to include the word "hackernews" in the info you submit, that would let us see all your reports easily.
I thought it would make more sense to copy the leg design from other bi-peds such as chickens, which are similar to a dogs back legs with the ankle acting more like our knee.

I'd been led to believe that our legs worked the way the do due to evolving to climb trees, then evolving back to walk on the ground leaving them less than optimal.
Dynamic Programming Languages on the Rise in Open Source
All the "genuine people" I know in my life don't use Twitter and have no intention of doing so. Not one of them needs to tell people they don't know how much they love apples.

http://twitter.com/#search?q=i+love+apples

All people will simply STOP using twitter.

I used to be on Twitter often, and so were many people in my small city. Now, if I go back, about 2 or three people I followed post to twitter every couple of weeks (if at all) where there used to be about 30. They all just stopped.

It's like ANY new toy. You play with it for a few weeks right after Christmas, but then, it just ends up in the toy box and is never played with again.
Well nice reply dear, exactly what I was thinking this morning (a sleep indeed helps to clear up your thoughts). To tell you the truth, I never dreamed of joining the IITs, didn't even give the JEE. But that was because I knew without a two year preparation (which I just didn't have) I couldn't compete to get my desired subjects, and I am just too stubborn to study subjects like ocean engineering or mechanical engineering even at the IITs because I don't like these subjects. But on the other hand I wanted to go in the research field and knew of the importance of a degree from a very good college. When I went on a flunked my AIEEE, and had to settle for a state level college I was crushed. That was the seed for my obsession with the brand name. Trying to get over it but I find myself attracted towards every ad in the paper or TV from IITs or IISc or other foreign elites and just can't stop thinking about them. While on the other hand I would not want to waste an year (that too after I have secured admission in a very prestigious college of my state).

I know I am messed up, but should get over it in time.
If the cost to upgrade windows is $1930 then won't an unfamiliar OS for users like mac os or linux cost more? I bet windows xp stays a pretty major OS for a couple more years unless something new and useful is needed for win7
The train was unfamiliar to me when I stopped driving to work, but it was pretty easy to figure out and I no longer fear killing people when I fall asleep.
Up voted for introducing me to Brainfuck. Hi. Larious.
They forgot to mention that his mother is the director of this organization :)
The author of that post is wrong with respect to the quote he pulled out from p. 104 of PbR. If he had read the rest of the book, he'd see that Kohn makes all the same points that he makes in the rest of that paragraph.

And with respect to the Education Week article, why the hell is he taking issue with a magazine article about the book instead of the book itself?

While I agree that some of Alfie Kohn's arguments are questionable, this article is pretty bad; although it's largely irrelevant since the research behind PbR is pretty solid regardless.
Be forewarned, if you're a heavy user, stay clear of the all-in-one iMac's.
The US Army has been using autonomous robotic soldiers for years now, they just aren't humanoid.
Ask HN: How to learn the art of web design?
Learning html, css, and programming languages are straight forward. I am asking how to get started on learning how to draw beautiful layouts, shapes, and user interfaces. Thanks in advance.
They are careful to point out that it walks heel-to-toe like a human. Why did they design the robot to do this? Humans only walk heel-to-toe when they wear shoes. Does a heel-to-toe walking pattern give the robot any particular advantages? Did they just design it in to make the robot appear to have a more human gait? I find this very interesting.

Also, I noticed that the robot is wearing rock climbing shoes - the 5.10 coyote to be exact. I am guessing that this is for better traction on the tread mill. Rock climbing shoes have very thin soles with no cushioning whatsoever. No human would be able to walk with a heel-to-toe gait wearing those shoes on a hard surface without considerable heel pain after a few strides.
Google's going after facebook? Guess it's also them trying to outflank Bing with their announcement of immediate implementation of returning Twitter searches... interesting move
From my superficial experience with OSX Server, it's like Windows Server in the sense that it is OSX Plus. All the normal stuff is there, then server specific stuff is there. That includes both nice GUIs on top of open source stuff (Samba, etc), and nice GUIs on top of totally custom stuff (Calendar sharing, Wikis, etc).

If you have normal web-serving, open source using needs, regular OSX will be just fine. Be sure you really need server before buying, regular OSX can do any server type things that linux can.
The Barack Obama Donations Site was Hacked…err, no it wasn’t.
That said, in a world where there are degrees in video game design and journalism, theoretical purity is probably not the defining characteristic of subjects that are taught at university.
They are rock climbing shoes. I think they must have been having problems with traction on the treadmill. The rubber in rock climbing shoes is very sticky and gives the shoe great grip on most surfaces.
I was saying that I wonder if the reason VC funded companies don't launch is also because of possible "problems". Back when I worked at a "funded" company, we didn't launch because the programming team was never finished with anything.

As for just getting my f work done?? Are you serious? As a bootstrapped company, I already work all day on my company that MAKES money, then I have the side-project. The reason the side-project doesn't launch is because of the upcoming problems it creates.

Get the work done? Again. Seriously?

These are problems that come back daily or weekly, problems that don't just "get fixed", problems that recur endlessly and you have to stay on top of them. If you are working full time at your one business, developing constantly for the side-project you launched, THEN have to add the customer support problems, systems problems, live code bugs, etc..... THAT is why I don't launch.

The reason I don't launch is because the "problems" create a whole new "job" for me that I just don't have time to handle.
Ask HN: What books helped you learn Rails?
I am going through Chris Pine's Learning to Program Ruby book, and am loving it.

Are there any good books out there, written in a similar - easy to understand - tone as Chris Pine's Ruby book is? Please list all recommendations that have helped you and you like.

Thanks.
Many startups eg justin.tv use programming problems to screen applications. Do you think this is a good idea?
Why does Xobni not use something like that to prevent the avalanche of resumes that greets every job posting?
That is unbelievable! I never would have thought to try 2[foo] even though I knew that it was essentially just *(a+b).
One key thing is that students get advanced from grade to grade /no matter what/, unless they drop out. Students have little immediate incentive to work to succeed, and social pressure seems set up to disincentivize students towards learning.

One possibility I've thought of is that there should be early separation of students into high and low performers to 'scare' parents into pushing their kids towards the 'high' performance. If you can't succeed, you can't, but if you don't try, you'll never get anywhere. Nothing wrong (and a lot right) with vocational education, but so many kids waste money on a college education that they're not able to take advantage of.
Nick Bradbury and FeedDemon – The Interview
I believe "high gun ownership correlates with high homicides" to be false. Maybe for a specific demographic or area, but in the middle of the country it just isn't so. I used to work the social work circuit in data collections and research; and the prejudices of the people doing the study show in their interpretation of the raw data and the conclusions they reach.

As we were reminded of today in tragic fashion, suicide bombers seem to get a pretty high body count without using a gun.
(depending on your compiler and the directions you gave it)

I don't think I was trust this piece of code in a commercial application. There is too much variation which would make it unreliable across platforms and compilers.
For interesting contrast, see http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD08xx/EW... recently posted here.
I don't think it's reasonable to claim Python isn't an industry standard. It's used heavily in industry by large and fairly conservative companies and is even more popular with startups.
Perhaps "volume of code"?
Thanks tokenadult, great article.
They Should Rename BusinessWeek to GovernmentWeek
Studies of social promotion also appear to indicate that holding kids back a grade has worse outcomes than simply moving them forward. Now, it may be that the outcome for those kids is better, but the outcome for their class is worse. Either way, it shows to go you that the simple observations ("they just let the kids finish the grade, even though they don't know the material!") don't carry much insight.
I had a similar experience in my undergraduate program (and I graduated over 8 years ago). In second year, everyone has to take a software engineering course that consists of completing a full waterfall model group project. It was complete with interviews with the clients, every scrap of planning documentation, and of course the code itself. Each deliverable was due every 2 weeks and everyone had to work their ass off.

Future courses covered agile methods, version control, bug tracking, database design, and so on.

I actually feel a bit sorry for people who end up going through a program like Joel describes -- but certainly good schools are out there and they're teaching things programmers really need for the real world.
In a lot of ways, I think it is a very good example. They have access and advanced training (assault rifles are actually very hard to use). The fact that the citizens obey the law and don't use their weapons for greater crime is telling.
There are quite a few choices. You won't go wrong with any of these from amazon. (URLS provided by amazon, not a spam or affiliate link)

Beginning Ruby: From Novice to Professional (Beginning from Novice to Professional) (Paperback)
http://amzn.com/1590597664

Simply Rails 2 by Patrick Lenz
Permalink: http://amzn.com/0980455200

Head First Rails: A learner's companion to Ruby on Rails by David Griffiths
Permalink: http://amzn.com/0596515774

Beginning Rails: From Novice to Professional (Beginning from Novice to Professional) by Jeffrey Allan Hardy
Permalink: http://amzn.com/1590596862

I suggest you pick up a version control book as well: svn or git from pragmatic programmers, may as well get this part done early so it becomes transparent.

Good luck
It will be interesting to see how this turns out. It seems to me that it would just make search results even worse in quality.

Clearly if it assigns extra weight to stuff written by your friends and contacts then it will be harder to find stuff written by experts and legitimate trustworthy sources. Not that friends can't be experts of legitimate and trustworthy, but personally I'd rather see results from known professionals rather than seeing results from someone who I just happened to "friend".

Most social network friendships are completely meaningless exchanges so using those connections in search results is also going to meaningless.

But I may be wrong. Does anyone else have a differing opinion?