skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Considering that Uber eventually is going to replace them all with self driving cars I think it's only fair that the people who help making Uber so valuable gets part of the spoils of being in a company that grows this fast. I am assuming this also means healthcare.
Uber does exist in more than just California.
Whatsapp too IIRC
It's the British IT Tabloid. Its style is not to be taken entirely seriously.

See their units convertor:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/Design/page/reg-standards-conve...

A! Yahoo! Related! Story! Is! Probably! Headlined! With! Exclamation! Marks!

It uses terms like bonk-to-pay (contactless payment), mobes (mobile/cellular phones), Chocolate Factory (Google), Blighty (Britain) etc.
I get documents from designers with names like "FINAL homepage v23 latest updated FINAL_2 (3).psd" all the time...
This, at least, will only affect the California workers, right?
The construction of the Statue of Liberty
Create beautiful JavaScript documentations
That makes no sense. Idle cars don't make money and therefore have no incentive to stay in the business for long. The biggest problem with Ubers and taxis right now is that demand for drivers is way, way higher than supply. More Ubers/taxis on the road means less waiting time, more carpooling, less car ownership and less idling, not to mention lower prices.
So is genetically modifying your body pretty safe?
> detailing how the company owns anything I come up with.

I've always been under the impression that anything you do in your spare time is your own property - I would find it hard to believe that you can sign away that (in the US) unless it's like a super secret organization/government.

IANAL - if I was in your position I would take a pen or sharpie and scratch out the terms I didn't like, sign it, and hand it back to them. There is nothing saying you can't alter a contract before you sign - but they also have to agree to the changes obviously [1].

[1] - http://contracts.lawyers.com/contracts-basics/contract-modif...
Downloading and running it once would set up the exploit but not complete it, IIRC. You need to go back to the target app and re-enter credentials then run the exploit app a second time. So a broken app that a user would run once and then delete is no good.

A standard Trojan game/utility would work fine even if only a small number of people run it.
BitShares 2.0 Plans to Adapt New SmartChains Cryptotechnology
I've had a quick read, the argument seems to be that because the driver is needed to fulfil Uber's rides that they become indistinct from Uber as a business itself; so they're employees.

They make some references to Case law for a Yellow taxi case back in 1991. (at least that was my reading!)
This was posted 5 days ago...
You're standing on the corner trying to hail a cab and a black car (or random sedan) will pull up, wind down the window and ask if you need a taxi. It's usually off-meter so the rate is negotiated/paid in cash. If you sound foreign (as I do), the rate is usually pretty high unless you argue it down. It's risky, tiring and makes you thankful for industry regulations that make licensed taxis a fair and predictable commodity service.
Not sure about in NY, but in SF, Uber cars tend to have a small (maybe 3"x3"?) but visible sign in a corner of the front windshield. Similarly, Lyft cars tend to be have a little glowing mustache and/or a similarly sized sign in the front.
Isn't Uber concept similar to AirBnB ? DOes this mean AirBnB users are also at risk of being classified as employees of Airbnb ? Uber, you drive your own car. Airbnb, you rent your own apartment.
This makes all the R&D into driverless cars worth it. Driverless cars can't be employees.
I honestly don't know enough to judge the financial sustainability of the company. To me it's more about incentives.

Right now it seems they're still growing really fast. What if tomorrow it's not the case anymore? What if their userbase reaches a plateau? Will they really still be morally strong enough to commit to user privacy or will they slowly start to give in more and more in order to increase their revenue? Does "do no evil" ring a bell?

On the other hand if they get money from the users themselves then the incentives are different, they might try to get more money by offering new services and they probably won't risk doing that that'll piss off their paying users.

Maybe I'm too cynical but in my mind even if ddg's intentions are pure now eventually they'll get bought or something and someone, some day will want to cash in. And for a free service cashing in means selling the userbase to the highest bidder.

But maybe I'm a bit naive, I guess that would still be possible even with paying users but I think the risk would be greater for them.
Great illustration, but it's sorta blogspam so here's a reliable alternative (it compresses the y-axis to achieve equal area). Or you know, use a globe or google earth.

Lambert equal area projection:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Lambert-...

obligatory xkcd: https://xkcd.com/977/
Lol, nice. I was going to say "Learn Haskell", but I figured I'd be downvoted into oblivion. In all seriousness I am actually using that strategy and so far it seems to be working well.
American businesses exploit Americans. Do you really think they would have qualms about exploiting Africans?
That doesn't really rise to the level of specifying how a work product must be produced

Apparently a Labor Commissioner disagrees with this assessment.
One other tip is to be sure to wear very good headphones or ear buds during the call. Frankly, I have a hard time understanding even native speakers on many calls without headphones. The noise canceling variety are best to reduce ambient local noise.
> I'm curious to read this argument. For all the hand wringing over Uber drivers as 1099 workers, they seem to be the very definition of contractors. They provide their own equipment, keep their own hours, NEVER have to work if they don't want to and 0 consequences for working or not working specific hours, etc. What is it about them that makes the employee like? Anyone know?

The ruling is embedded on the page.

The case law they cite:
"In addition, even though there is an absence of control over the details, an employer-employee relationship will be found if the [Defendants] retain control over the operation as a whole, the worker's duties are an integral part of the operation, and the nature of the work makes detailed control unnecessary."
Ask HN: Angular, Backbone, React. Help Me Choose
As I get more serious in building web applications, I can't seem to decide between Angular, backbone, and React. What's your experience?

edit: specifically for someone who's hasn't done a whole lot of MVC dev work.
>I think it's only fair that the people who help making Uber so valuable gets part of the spoils of being in a company that grows this fast

They get compensated via driving. Which is why they drive in the first place.

Why forcibly stop people consensually partaking in an activity? It's amazing how far away bureaucrats can tell others what's best for them.
beware the paywall
Variable to me means 'can change', Constant to me means 'can't change'. It's the mathematical way to use variables in a way that confuses me, though I can see how if you only use 'constant' to refer to an entity like Pi can make sense.

Programming and Mathematics have a lot in common but it would be a mistake to take all your knowledge about terminology from one domain and apply it un-thinkingly to another.
The Great Mimeograph Revolution (2011)
Science, Now Under Scrutiny Itself
Sorry, I tried to make sense of what you said, but couldn't.
What is fundamentally different between your suggestion and an approach where passwords are kept in a file that's encrypted with a password that's kept only in the user's mind?

In both cases you have a bunch of data that mostly represents the passwords, but you need one final component to actually unlock it, which is the master password. What's the advantage of your proposal?
I think the interesting thing here is that they're using the existing ad auction systems, but you're bidding against the ad companies. So it doesn't require the sites to opt-into a separate system like Contributor does.
I'm not sure the uber contractors would think that's a benefit.
Huh, author even uses exceptions as a part of normal workflow, instead of checking if "previousVersions" list is empty before calling Min on it he instead catches InvalidOperationException. I don't want it to look like an ad hominem argument, but...
Anyway, C# authors had Java in sight when designing the language and after some contemplation they didn't include checked exceptions in the language. And their main argument is that in the vast majority of cases ignoring the exception and allowing it to propagate further up the stack is exactly what you want to do, simply because there is nothing you can do about it but to log it and tear down the entire object graph or write an error message to the user.
As most states are At-Will, both the employer and employee can do this whenever they please.
I agree. I almost didn't sign but I also couldn't afford to go without a job. Two years later I'm trying to figure out exactly what I signed because I believe it was very limiting.
Check out LawGo Inc.(https://lawgo.co/services/employment-law-employee/). They have fixed prices and looks like employment contract review starts at $89.
Nothing besides the obvious you get from the curriculum being 100% Python and Java (yep, MIT is now a "Java school"), and there being no common CS and EE curriculum besides those first two lab intense robots and communications classes (previously there was a core of SICP, two EE classes and a low level computer micro- and macro-architecture course, 6.001-4).

MIT EECS degrees, while still representing what MIT thinks its EECS graduates should know, now mean something very different, and that has, e.g. resulted in much greater differentiation between it and CMU, which has embraced functional programming in its core curriculum.
Uber drivers are employees, not independent contractors
I presume so, hopefully other cities do not follow.
Well promises help. And then they stop :). Stop helping. They just break under the weight. If you have promise chain that gets too long, you will feel the pain.

The whole thing is, when some IO returns 1 or 2. And your next step is to do a or b depending on the reply. How is your neat promise chain looking now? Then repeat 100 times :(

Not even mentioning error handling... and stack traces.

So i do agree that it depends what you do a lot. Maybe there are domains where it is not important... but i still need to see that one.

And i will take blocking IO with try/catch 10 times out of 10. Even when it is not critical. It is just nicer and easier to reason about.
Please show me where US

1.) artifically keeps dead and poisonous factories alive to produce massive pollutions that harms other countries
2.) has a great firewall that inhibits free speech, and use it to attack other countries
3.) is a authoritarian government
Why We Decided to Offer Enterprise-Class Drives to Our Customers
To give you more choices, I have been really enjoying Meteor.
Fancy linking up http://javascriptweekly.com/ where it's mentioned? :-) Not everyone knows where it is. Thanks!
That is funny (though sadly common) because it's a good idea early on: focus on what really sets you apart when you start; then gradually expand your core competency so you can better control your fate.

Unfortunately building big companies is not really in fashion these days.
Thanks it wasn't at first, gonna read it now.
I think the GP was looking for a little color on the 21 page legal document. Without legal expertise, quite difficult to understand I would imagine. Which is what the GP inquired after.
First, taxis are not a "cartel." Cartels are characterized by an agreement among participants not to compete with each other. In contrast, taxis are a government-granted monopoly, like your power company or water company. Those monopolies were granted for much the same reason as they were granted to your power or water company: taxis serve as a quasi-public extension of a city's transit infrastructure and cities use the monopoly grant as a carrot to extract concessions from private cab companies (i.e. no surge pricing, commercial insurance, servicing all parts of a city, etc).

Second, the economic arguments in favor of taxi regulation are stronger when you're talking about street hails.[1] The market is inefficient because customers do not really have any way of choosing cabs that offer good service. In turn, cabs have little incentive to offer good service. Furthermore, there are safety concerns. It is not uncommon in certain countries for cab drivers to cooperate with muggers and robbers.

On the whole, I think the customer service and safety concerns are a lot less compelling in 2015 New York than in 1915 New York, and that you should be able to hail an Uber off the street. But there is a logic to the existing regulations, and Uber's arguments against regulation are weakest when applied to street hails, where its reputation system does not come into play.

[1] This paper surveys the economic issues in play: https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/ec....
Who decides about UX? The calling the shots dilemma
That it was expensive in the mid 90's is no reason for it to be expensive today. Plenty of entities would host that data for free.
A naturalist account of the reasonable effectiveness of mathematics in physics [pdf]
If the damages incurred are high enough, it effects uber as a whole. And so effects all their workers.
And sellers on eBay too...
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
— Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

I have a hard time thinking of "web programmer" as "polymath" and worrying that it's not specialized enough.
You can simply ask HR for a copy of your employment contract.
Exactly. This is the equivalent of Netflix mailing DVD's and transitioning to streaming. If Uber can pull it off they'll survive the regulatory assault.
Ask HN: Rely on developers to figure solve core features?
I'm working on a product that is very technical.

There are a few core features that are particularly tough problems that I have not solved yet. As a developer I know that often it's best to tell the developer what you want and let the developer figure out the best way to do it. As I am contracting a team to build the product, is it appropriate to let the developers figure out the best way to solve these core features?
> Assuming I were to sign and return without enumerating any specifics they would own the IP to anything I've done previous to this?

I always try to enumerate anything and everything that I can of existing projects and inventions. Enumerate every repository on Github. Enumerate a title (can be very ambiguous) of every idea or concept that you are working on. Enumerate any consulting work you've done in the past and a "consulting" item.

At the very least, the advantage of this is that it drastically increases the legal cost in researching to see that what you wrote was not enumerated or covered in any way by the enumeration.
So, one more step than normal if you want to use npm dependencies in the browser, which is what you described.

If you're just playing with code, here's a simpler workflow:

* npm install babel

* write file.js

* run `babel-node file.js`

Similar to your example, the only extra step here is installing babel. If it's excruciating, install it globally and save yourself forever.
"I'm sharing news about it because this experience has taught me the H-1B Visa program needs to change to protect others in the future."

Anyone who still supports FWD.us and believes that the US doesn't produce enough professionals to satisfy the needs of our businesses is straight up, while they are reading this, actually holding a crack pipe to their mouth.
I'm surprised this happened, though I feel like it'll be appealed heavily.
5 Mistakes I Made Launching a Startup – GetSocial.io Blog
Flocker 1.0: Container Data Management for Docker
You can probably make an argument that "you have to get good ratings" encompasses all sorts of informal but well-understood job requirements. IIRC, Uber has recommended all sorts of "tips" for getting good ratings - give a bottle of water etc. They also set things like minimum acceptance rates for incoming requests.

edit: http://www.businessinsider.com/leaked-charts-show-how-ubers-...

"The most useful part of the Uber guide for its drivers will probably be the advice on how to maintain a high score. Here's what Uber recommends:"

Offer passengers bottled water, chewing gum, snacks, mints and phone chargers.
Keep your vehicle clean and well-maintained.
Dress appropriately.
Open the door.
Offer to carry bags.
Take the best route.
Be nice.
Pick up the right rider.
Don't ask for a five-star rating.
Maybe it's person-dependent, but I've learn most JS from MDN (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript) _and_ collaborating with others (plus a lot of blog posts, code snippents, and in general: reading code by good developers (side note: it's why I hate minification - I habitually read code on webpages)).

For books the main problem is that they are getting obsolete quickly (JS is a rapidly-changing technology) and, except for very basics, somewhat opinionated and task-dependent.
I think that codegeek's response pretty much sums it up. I wake up and help in the morning. I work during the day. I spend time with the kids when I get home. I spend time with my wife after the kids are asleep. I also have the grandparents babysitting on some weekends to give us some alone time.
Sounds like your title is a distraction.
I actually worked on teaching my 71 year old father Python using this book. One point of difficulty that struck me during that exercise was that I as a programmer had completely internalized the idea that an open paren and a close paren right after a function is a natural way to invoke a function with zero arguments (e.g.: exit() exits Python's prompt. exit doesn't.). The whiplash I felt from finding the questioning of the convention silly to finding the convention silly was amusing to feel. Like it makes sense to a parser but not to a flesh-and-blood contextual-clues-using human. We don't vocalize "open paren close paren" whenever we say an intransitive verb. We just "know" that it's intransitive. Anyway, great article.
well it depends, some taxis in California are union, TPAC pretty much hates Uber, so what better way to kill the competition. So do hotel staff unions feel threatened by AirBnB? doubtful, the numbers are just to small. The threat to AirBnB is politicians who want tax money
Uber customers are paying the driver for a service, AirBnB customers are renting an asset - they break down differently from my understanding of the law but IANAL
New Search, Content and Social Marketing Sweet Spot
I fear the graphene will fall by the wayside due to legal and social pressure. News sources have already pointed out that it is significantly more dangerous, if inhaled, than asbestos; another material this is insanely useful for a number of applications but is effectively blackballed as a engineer-able material.

Another example is nuclear energy. Clean, abundant, and extremely safe. The fear of radiation exposer has turned it into a pariah in the world community; totally ignoring the fact the radioactive elements in coal emissions have kill more people in the last 30 years than 100 Three Mile Island incidences would.
Graphene is a single layer of graphite. Graphite is used in pencils. Pencils can make marks, which are erasable, and hence re-markable.

;)
Discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9731963
How to Use DhtmlxScheduler, JavaScript Event Calendar, in MeteorJS Based Apps
I use DDG, and it works very well most of the time, but for some obscure and very targeted searches Google still beats it by a big margin (especially since Google has time filtering and etc.). So in such cases I just add a !g :)
Just wondering, are exotic dancers then also considered employees under California law?
I'd say no. If AirBnB hosts provided housekeeping during the stay it'd probably be comparable. AirBnB's business model is closer to a rental car than a driver service.
Belgium gets cross with Facebook
Bitcoin Network Capacity Analysis – Part 5: Stress Test Analysis
Dynamic message of the day (~/.motd)  generator for  Mac and  Linux
This is good. I've had problems that were somewhat related to what the author talks about.

When I was learning C# and was already quite fluent in C/C++. I had a big problem with the C# type system/management. I'd been reading guides that were in the first category the author mentions, eg. "not really a beginner, but new to this language".

I was trying to retrieve the bytes that a certain string represented. I was looking for ages and everywhere everyone mentioned that "this shouldn't be done", "just use the string", etc. A stack overflow answer mentions a way to use an 'encoding' to get the bytes and this seemed to be the only way.

How strange I thought, I just want access to a pointer to that value, why do I have to jump through all these hoops. None of the guides I was reading provided an answer, until I found a _real_ beginners book. This book, helpfully starting at the real beginning of every language: the type system, finally gave me the answer I was looking for:

.net stores/handles all strings by encoding them with a default encoding. It turned out that the whole notion of 'strings are only bytes' that I carried over from C++ does not work in C#. All those other helpful guides gleefully glossed over this, and started right in at lambdas and integration with various core libraries. Instead of focusing at the basics first.
5 Social Media Sins Committed by Employers
1. It sounds like they do not want outside contributors.

2. They might not use one internally or using something old that does not expose to the internet well.
So all uber drivers would have to do is paint their cars yellow and stick flashing lights on the roof and it would be ok?

Really, I find it hard to believe this is about safety and not about economics.
> I am suggesting that the programmer could choose to store a backtrace in the error objects they choose to store in an `Err`.

That's already possible, though it requires nightly as it's an unstable "feature": http://doc.rust-lang.org/stable/std/rt/backtrace/index.html

This will collect a stacktrace in the provided buffer, the result can then be stored in whatever object the developer wants (likely after decoding it to a String): http://is.gd/tOD8Ho
The document is embedded in the article and answers all questions. I can't copy&paste, but the main argument seems to be an existing legal theory that says s/o is an employee if they perform an "integral part of the business" of their employer. There's a taxi corp precedent and pizza delivery is also mentioned.
Perhaps an option to make this public would be useful, but how helpful is the metric without context?
I still remember when I was about 8 or 9 years old, learning Basic, and not understanding why I couldn't do something like this:

10 LET X + 2*Y = 5
20 LET X - Y = 10
30 PRINT X

(Yes, now I know about Prolog).

The only person around me who knew anything about programming was my grandfather, but when I asked him how to get user's input, he began explaining something about interrupts (he only programmed mainframes and got out of the field in early 80s), which left me even more confused and believing that this is just too advanced for me.
Nice. How do you sync the DB?