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Re:Mac App Store apps must implement sandboxing as of March 2012 on Thursday November 03, 2011 @07:05AM (#3191172)
Now if only they can implement something like this for Safari so that individual browser pages are sandboxed from each other, as is the case in Chrome.
Re:DuckDuckGo is growing on Friday October 14, 2011 @11:55PM (#3113952)
Congratulations, Gabriel! I am very happy for you. DDG is my default search engine, and I suggest that friends and family use it. Just wondering why you don't use https as a default setting. Also, sometimes I find the continuous scrolling of search results makes it a bit more difficult to keep track of where I have been than with Google's default 10 results per page. Consequently, sometimes I find it easier to quickly scan Google search results. I wonder if there is something further that you could tweak in this regard? Keep up the great work!
Re:Why you should not go to medical school on Saturday September 24, 2011 @12:46PM (#3033636)
Wouldn't radiological and physician services, in general, be less "rare" if medical schools started to train more physicians (admit more students)? I have read studies that suggest that in certain markets and certain practice specialties we are and will face shortages of physicians in part because medical schools are training too few physicians. When I ask academic physicians they seem to think admitting more students would erode the quality of students. In other words, scarcity is a public good in this case as it helps to ensure that the "most talented" will ultimately become practitioners. I don't know how this view squares with the large number of foreign-trained residents in some residency programs.
Re:Why Silicon Valley Is Running Scared From Health Care on Friday September 23, 2011 @03:33PM (#3031257)
Are the factors that the author describes serving to concentrate innovation in large pharma and large device manufacturers?
Re:HP Names Meg Whitman President and Chief Executive Officer on Thursday September 22, 2011 @05:13PM (#3027822)
This will certainly help her replenish her coffers after her $100+ million depletion on last year's failed gubernatorial bid.
Re:Betty Weissman (mother of edw519) 1930-2011 on Wednesday September 21, 2011 @01:30PM (#3022908)
My deepest condolences to you and your family. Thanks for sharing such a heart-felt and moving tribute. She seemed like a model parent and a wonderful person to spend time with. Many lessons for us all to learn from. I know from my own experience that much benefit can be derived from writing about our deceased loved ones. I plan to save your blog post among other files in my "inspirational" folder.
Re:Venture Capitalists With Powerful Blogs May Run Afoul of the SEC on Wednesday September 14, 2011 @03:47PM (#2997596)
So Fred Wilson and co. are fine as long as they do not "deceive"? I suppose that still exposes them to the possibility that they might have to defend themselves to prove that they have not "deceived"? Ah, the perils of the internet age. I wonder if general liability insurance policies cover those types of claims?
Re:Share of Income Gains by Quintile - Great Depression til Now on Friday September 09, 2011 @06:36PM (#2980123)
Just conjecture: senior management in established corporations have stacked the payscales in their favor. I know senior managers in established corporations who have received ridiculously large bonuses and stock option grants for doing nothing other than what should ordinarily be expected of them for the benefit of the corporation, and their level of risk is so small relative to their reward. In some cases, the benefit to the corporation is of questionable value, yet excessively lavish compensation is granted. I suspect that some of these senior managers are greedier and more short-term oriented (I'll milk this baby as much as I can for my personal gain here and now) than their pre-yuppie predecessors. Maybe there was a greater sense of self-restraint and balance in depression and WWII-reared generations (or maybe just lower expectations and objectives)?
Re:Bill Dietrich gives CMU $250,000,000 on Thursday September 08, 2011 @02:49AM (#2972896)
This is great for CMU but it has a long way to go to catch up to the endowments of its peer institutions -- both on a gross and on a per capita basis.
Re:An alternative to employee options/equity grants on Monday August 15, 2011 @11:08PM (#2889661)
Very interesting employee "benefit." I wonder if it would be considered as an employee benefit subject to reporting requirements / oversight by the U.S. Department of Labor or other federal agency?
Re:EJ: How I Feel today on Tuesday August 02, 2011 @03:00PM (#2838298)
It was inevitable that something of this nature was bound to occur eventually. The folks at AirBNB should have had better policies and procedures in place to help to avert and react to such situations.
Kudos to sanetax, but my earnest hope is that tax reform will abolish the use case for such a service.
Re:Subject: Airbnb on Friday March 18, 2011 @05:21AM (#2339847)
Airbnb has definitely tapped into a latent market, but I wonder how such "rentals" may square with terms in lease agreements or condo association provisions. States and / or municipalities may quickly try to capture taxes, as Zipcar has discovered, or they may try to prevent or regulate such "rentals" on the basis of licensing, public health and safety, or other laws or ordinances. I wonder if the typical renter is properly reporting the income to the appropriate tax authorities.
Re:Y Combinator’s Paul Graham On The $150K Per Start-Up Offer on Wednesday February 02, 2011 @04:45AM (#2169679)
I for one would not want to associate myself with Russian wealth regardless of how squeaky clean Yuri or his firm might potentially be. On that latter point, I would try to conduct extensive due diligence on them and their investors. It strikes me, however, that there are too many potential skeletons in the closet when it comes to Russian wealth that even the best of due diligence may not reveal. I would just want to stay away from any possible connections with ill-gotten wealth of the sort that is widely known to have occurred in post-Soviet Russia. I am not willing to sacrifice my principles or reputation for the sake of business -- nor would I want to directly or indirectly benefit shady characters or associate myself with potential ill-gotten wealth that could be very difficult to detect when entering into such a relationship.
Re:Apple Says Jobs Is Taking a New Medical Leave on Monday January 17, 2011 @12:17PM (#2112728)
You are presuming that becoming a billionaire is the end game.
Re:Move to SF and hate it? on Monday September 13, 2010 @06:03PM (#1688511)
There are tons of such activities in the DC area. I have lived in DC for a few years, and I suspect that the OP was not keyed into such activities in the DC area. There is a very large population of highly educated individuals in the DC area across a wide range of professions, industries, etc. There is a thriving private sector in the DC area, and it is not just government-oriented. Hilton and Marriott, for instance, are based in the DC area. The DC area has one of the highest, if not the highest, proportions of knowledge workers in the country, including a very large IT community and a healthy startup community. Also, the OP must have been too far out in the 'burbs. The DC Metro system is one of the best in the country, and it extends out into the suburbs. In many areas of DC and closer-in suburbs, you could easily get by without having a car if you live near a Metro station. Zipcar also has a very large presence in DC. Overall, the DC area offers a very high quality of life professionally, culturally, and educationally and in terms of opportunities for a range of outdoor activities and professional athletics.
Re:Ask HN: Who's looking for a co-founder? on Saturday September 04, 2010 @07:03PM (#1663609)
Thanks, Mark. I am very impressed with what you have accomplished to date. Keep up the great work!
Re:Ask HN: Who's looking for a co-founder? on Saturday September 04, 2010 @06:52PM (#1663588)
I noticed you are still in high school. Are you planning to do this on the side while you are in high school or college?
Re:Google's privacy policy changes happening in October on Saturday September 04, 2010 @12:33AM (#1662032)
Just because everyone says it does not mean that "we care about privacy" is a meaningless statement. It is a statement of conviction and demonstrates respect and care for its users. We can only imagine why this statement was deleted. On the one hand, Google's privacy policy says "we care about privacy" yet, on the other hand, certain aspects of Google's present business practices and future business plans as well as certain statements of Google's CEO could be construed to suggest the opposite. Probably Google's lawyers recommended removing this statement to avoid having users hold Google to account for possible contradictions between its privacy policy and its business practices.
Re:Ask HN: Is USA that bad when it comes to health insurance, etc? on Thursday September 02, 2010 @01:59PM (#1657017)
Note to fellow HN readers in the U.S.: Please ensure that you have at least some basic health insurance even if you are self-employed or unemployed or you do not have access to health insurance through your employer. You should be able to find a relatively cheap policy if you are single and elect a high deductible. While the likelihood of a major medical illness is relatively low for healthy, young individuals, you never know when medical catastrophe can strike. I know couple of young individuals who were tragically diagnosed with cancer and did not have health insurance. You do not want to find yourself in such a position. Thank goodness Congress enacted health reform earlier this year. While the bill is not perfect, I personally am pleased that it includes a health insurance mandate.
Re:Ask HN: Is USA that bad when it comes to health insurance, etc? on Thursday September 02, 2010 @01:46PM (#1656958)
Many private health insurance policies feature annual out-of-pocket maximums (for deductibles, co-payments, etc.) so that you do not have a potential limitless liability for out-of-pocket cost-sharing during a given plan year - unless, of course, you happen to hit a lifetime limit on benefit coverage under the policy (another common feature - one that I believe the health insurance reform will phase out). Under the terms of such out-of-pocket maximums, once you hit the annual limit, you may have no further liability for deductibles, co-payments, etc.) during the balance of the plan year. Double check the terms of your policy.
Re:Ask HN: Is USA that bad when it comes to health insurance, etc? on Thursday September 02, 2010 @11:55AM (#1656567)
Agree with other posters. If you do not work for a sizable private or public employer, health insurance can be costly. I have a fairly good deal with the health savings account I have - about 150 / mo and 1200 per annum deductible - for a PPO plan with very good preventive, major medical, and prescription drug coverage.

On the other comment, yes there are some parts in the U.S. that are very poor off, especially in parts of the older cities and in rural areas. My parents just returned from a visit to a very high per capita income European country and were somewhat surprised with how clean and orderly and relatively well off all of the cities / towns they visited were.

Re:What is Hacker News? on Tuesday August 31, 2010 @04:47AM (#1648817)
I dislike the term "hacker." It can and does have nefarious connotations that demean the term. I prefer "programmer," "developer," or "coder." Why run the risk of having someone misperceive your use of the term
Congratulations on the site! On campaign contributions, though I can certainly applaud and appreciate the need for transparency, I personally have no intention to contribute $250 or more to any candidate, as I do not want that information to enter and forever remain in the public domain. I wonder what kind of dampening effect the disclosure requirements have on political contributions.
Nice job, Gabriel. I plan to start using DDG. I also am enjoying your work in progress on gaining traction. Many thanks for undertaking it.
This service appeals to me. Nice website and promotional information. Thoughfully presented and seemingly nice support outlets. The pricing seems a bit high relative to what I would ideally wish to pay. Depending upon the nature of the BrainTrust, I might be concerned about security of sensitive content. Can the user data be encrypted? What if a user wishs to end a BrainTrust, can the user data be exported? Nice job! I wish you every success!
I think what you are seeking is technology start-ups founded by non-technical founders -- not just start-ups in general.
Re:It’s Time For Microsoft To Turn Itself Upside-Down on Sunday March 07, 2010 @02:05AM (#1173014)
Interesting to recall that MSFT spends billions annually on R&D -- more than any other large tech firm (according to a recent article).

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