News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

alpine

Re:Ask HN: Disrupt Housing? on Sunday August 26, 2012 @06:45PM (#4436540)
This is also the case in the UK. Property price here is a trivial expression of the supply/demand function. Yet no one from any of the political parties will suggest the obvious: build. Those with £1MM+ houses (which includes all our politicians) seem to be against this (for some reason).
Re:Ask HN: What software does your business need? on Sunday August 26, 2012 @06:18PM (#4436448)
I guess your friend isn't an entrepreneur, otherwise he would conclude there is clearly an opportunity for this service, with money to be made.
Re:Ask HN: What software does your business need? on Sunday August 26, 2012 @06:03PM (#4436398)
I would pay serious money for this. Maybe $100 for a single 'call out' on the assumption that it would be an infrequent happening. Ferriss' 4HWW logically demands this, I guess.

--Supplemental--

Before anyone accuses me of being cheap, I'd be happy to pay $100 per hour, assuming the 'call out' would most likely be short in duration since it would be part of the deal that I supply a detailed wiki of the software under support.

Re:LIFE on the Moon (1969) on Saturday August 25, 2012 @06:51PM (#4433614)
"It's ugly but it gets you there."

Who says a German's PR company doesn't have a sense of humour?

Re:Ask PG: Black bar for Neil Armstrong on Saturday August 25, 2012 @06:11PM (#4433516)
Why? This token gesture will achieve what exactly? If someone obscure, but non-the-less important in sci/tech had died, this might be an interesting way to draw attention to a life you might want to brush up on. However, Armstrong, despite his desire for privacy, has never been obscure. Come breakfast tomorrow morning everyone on planet Earth will know he has died.
Re:Customize Twitter Bootstrap To Not Look Bootstrap-y on Friday August 24, 2012 @11:39AM (#4428078)
Anyone with experience starting with a Bootstrap theme then handing it over to a designer to see what they come up with?
Re:Steps to become a good hacker? on Friday August 24, 2012 @10:50AM (#4427815)
Hackers can be found in all walks of life, it is not a label to be restricted to those working in technology or writing code. Hackers are people that can effect leveraged change on a system (eg human, technological, natural), taking delight in the outcome. Above all, I would say a sense of mischief and fun is the common trait found in hackers. Read a couple of Richard Feynman's books. He's quite explicit - his work was often done simply 'for the fun of it'.
Re:Ask HN: Asking what you did wrong in an interview? on Friday August 17, 2012 @07:17PM (#4399345)
It's important to get over the idea that you have done anything wrong. Think of it as a percentages game... if you have been invited to interview then your potential employer is definitely interested. So if the interviews keep coming, be assured it is just a matter of time until someone makes you an offer.
Re:Sun is the most perfect sphere ever observed in nature on Friday August 17, 2012 @07:08PM (#4399303)
As a spinning ball of gas, astronomers had always expected our nearest star to bulge slightly at its equator, making it very slightly flying-saucer shaped

I stopped reading at this point.

Re:A Proposal To Improve Hacker News on Friday August 17, 2012 @07:00PM (#4399270)
Some things have a natural life then die.
Re:Ask HN: Asking what you did wrong in an interview? on Friday August 17, 2012 @04:05PM (#4398495)
I once interviewed a potential hire in person and at the end of the process he asked 'How did I do?' then pulled out of list of questions in the expectation of forensic debrief as to where he could improve his interview technique!

Frankly, interviewing is a game with many unwritten rules - one is if you don't get the gig, you are expected to politely accept the decision and move on. Another is the interviewer will often decide in the first 60 seconds if you're getting hired, so asking for feedback on where you 'went wrong' is a waste of everyone's time.

Remember, when you interview, your potential employer has every intention of hiring you assuming you tick a few boxes. This is also part of the game. Can you figure out what those boxes are? Put yourself in their shoes. What would you like to see in you? As long as you continue to land interviews, don't become disheartened - keep going and you will get hired.

Re:Why I now, unfortunately, hate Hacker News.. on Friday August 17, 2012 @02:11PM (#4397839)
Why don't you charge eg 10 cents per comment?
Re:Ecuador grants Julian Assange asylum on Thursday August 16, 2012 @10:49AM (#4391488)
Pinochet was a useful asset to the UK during the Falklands war, keeping regular Argentine troops committed to the mainland and helping UK Special Forces carry out clandestine missions there. In actuality, 'morality' and the 'rule of law', when quoted by politicians, are platitudes. The reality is rewards are expected and granted for political favours, and I think it is likely Pinochet's ill health was simply a convenient excuse to release him.
Re:Ecuador grants Julian Assange asylum on Thursday August 16, 2012 @10:30AM (#4391396)
As for 'LibDems and Labour'?! You appear to be suggesting that it should be self-evident to everyone reading your post that the LibDems and Labour have a claim to moral superiority over Tories? The LibDems pay lip-service to Civil Liberties (they never expected power, they never expected to be called to deliver) and Labour are the most authoritarian party to ever hold power in the UK. It's just as well Labour are not in power, else Assange would have been shipped to Gitmo months ago.
Can it run iPad apps at the same time as being in telepresence mode? Imagine two of these meeting and exchanging photos or agreeing to a game of chess autonomously.
Re:Whats the most inspirational quote you ever heard? on Monday August 13, 2012 @07:50AM (#4375399)
'I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.'

Henry David Thoreau

Re:ToS;DR — TL;DR for Terms of Service and Privacy Policy on Wednesday August 08, 2012 @05:38AM (#4354700)
My preferred ToS:

Be nice.

Re:Quants and the crash on Saturday August 04, 2012 @07:35PM (#4340057)
I suppose what is new is the speed of execution.
Re:Quants and the crash on Saturday August 04, 2012 @07:28PM (#4340037)
I think the market makers (who are often just skimmers) and Investment Banks have cooked their goose. How many 'muppets' have now left the market never to return because of all the outrageous revelations, scams and bad news?
Re:Twitter must tackle trolls say police on Saturday August 04, 2012 @07:11PM (#4339991)
There are a few choice quotes to pick from. My favourite is:

"If people come to us and say 'I am really upset, I've been offended, my life has been made a misery and I want somebody to do something about it', then yes the police should, whenever possible, try to help."

So, I'm wondering: how much of this is an example of the new intolerance to freedom of speech in the UK and how much is due to newly created 'e-crime' positions trying to justify their existance?

Yes, that the impression I have as well, corruption being pretty much woven into the fabric of life.
The Party is still in charge. What is there not to get with this argument? It is also debatable that China has had its darkest years. One could argue that with the Party now having access to technology only dreamt of by totalitarian regimes 30 years ago, the darkest years are now.
So if the local Party official came to your house and said 'we're taking your child to athletic school, aren't you happy!' what would you call it?

I suppose you could whisper in the child's ear 'remember to under perform when you want to come back'.

Now that is ridiculous.

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