hawkharris

...Wow. I appreciate HN, but I'm really put off the negativity sometimes.

From a technological standpoint, there are many reasons why I feel excited and lucky to be alive during this time in history. But smarter safer transportation, spearheaded by companies like Google and Uber, tops the list.

This is very pretentious.

I'm sure that you normally have intelligent things to add to the conversation and your comment above is just a one-off.

You're regurgitating a common narrative about online witch hunts. While I agree that they're unethical, that's clearly not what's happening here. The comments that have superseded yours in this thread echo that sentiment. The other commenters and I agree that if an organization creates a public policy, people should be able to criticize the group on the basis of that policy. It's as simple as that.

How can someone review something they've never experienced?

I'm calling for people to comment on the facts of a public policy posted by the hotel. No more, no less. If you interpreted this as a call to post dishonest or mean comments, you were reading into it the wrong the way.

I'm not sure where you got "fake reviews." I specifically suggested that people comment on a public policy posted by the hotel. No more, no less.

Please take a look at my response to danielweber. I'm not advocating that people post fake reviews. I'm saying that we should point out only what we know: some of the other reviews may be disingenuous because of the $500 fine. This is a public policy posted on their website. It's a simple matter of fact, not opinions.

You misinterpreted my comment. Yes, it would be unacceptable to lie and say that we've all visited the hotel, but that's not what I'm advocating. I specifically said "based on the revelation that none of the other reviews are trustworthy." This isn't simply based on an article I've read. It's a public policy posted by the hotel.

I'm suggesting that people comment on a public policy. No more, no less.

After reading this article, I'm surprised to see that the guest house still has a high rating on Yelp and Google+. Our immediate response should be to post negative reviews based on the revelation that none of the other reviews are trustworthy.

EDIT: Yelp rating is no longer high, but there's still TripAdvisor and Google+.

This is very cool. I just compiled the source and it seems to be exactly what I'm looking for. I get an "undefined is not a function" error, though, when I try to import a key or send a message. I'll hang in there and wait for fixes or maybe try to contribute myself. Seems like the best option available at the moment.

I don't mind those targeted ads. What annoys me is the spam about enlarging my FkYmY0NDk4MzY0MTQ1ODZhNzM.

Interesting post. As someone who thought GPG (more or less) encrypted messages with public keys and decrypted them with private ones, I enjoyed learning how the software actually works at a high level.

As an aside, I recently set up encrypted email for my Mac's desktop Mail client using the GPG Suite. I want to set up my friends with secure email, too, but none of us really use Mail; we prefer web mail. I haven't been able to find good browser plugins for GPG. (WebPG for Chrome looks promising except for a major bug that prevents messages from being sent; I reported this issue.)

Can anyone recommend good solutions for bringing GPG to Gmail in the browser? I want something that's easy enough my non-technical friends will be willing to use it for everyday conversations.

Interesting fact to consider about free will as it relates to philosophy and religion: A god can have free will and predict the future, but he (or she or it) can't do both. If you can predict exactly what will happen at any point in time, you don't have the ability to change it. And absolute free will prevents you from predicting the future.

It's actually well understood which landscape features contribute to or prevent crime. Things like sidewalks and bright street lamps have a positive effect (no surprise there). Bushes, certain fences and other objects that obstruct the view from the road can have a negative effect. As a reporter I once did a ride-along with a police sergeant who took it upon himself to cut a set of hedges (with the property owner's permission, of course) that helped facilitate drug deals and prostitution.

The point is, I wonder if the machine learning approach used here is overly complex. After all, the set of environmental factors affecting crime is so well understood and thoroughly researched that you could focus on detecting tried-and-true things such as sidewalks. This would entail applying a clear set of rules instead of using the relatively unsupervised approach with training data. To be fair, ML is a complicated subject and I'm not an expert; maybe their approach draws heavily on these things.

EDIT: I understand that perception, rather than the actual crime rate, is the focus of this research. Still, there seems to be a tight correlation between the features that are known to be dangerous and those that appear sketchy. The major ones - an absence of lights, few walkways, etc. - are obvious to most pedestrians.

Thanks for reading and offering feedback. I agree that web searches alone are variable, but some health care companies consider the data in aggregate, along with other factors, to develop profiles of patients. Here's one example of an insurance company using online browsing data to set insurance rates and policies: http://www.cnbc.com/id/101586404

Using callbacks appropriately is the biggest point, I think.

On a related side note, I've started using the Chrome Web Inspector as my only text editor for front end development. It's great because you can map it to your project folder, make edits directly and harness the power of breakpoints, along with the network, console and performance tabs, without constantly switching windows. Breakpoints, in particular, make it much easier to work with callbacks in JS. (I do miss the nice syntax highlighting of Sublime, but Chrome's dev tools provides more powerful features for JS development IMO.)

With all due respect, that's a hipster-like perspective. Those of us who are attending Hope shouldn't see ourselves as part of an in-crowd and shut others out. People in the security / tech communities are spreading word of this talk because it's important and relevant to them. As the other commenter pointed out, it's great for Hope to sell more tickets and receive broader support.

Hate speech can be a good thing. When someone verbalizes hatred, he or she gives us a chance to push back and question underlying prejudices. This is always better than a heckler's veto of racist or sexist ideas. Drowning out the hurtful speech doesn't address the root causes of ignorance, fear and anger.

Personal health recording systems like this one are most useful for reporting symptoms to health care providers. In the event of a flu or a running injury, I like being able to tell my doctor exactly when, where and how the problem started.

It's also smart to record the data yourself instead of sharing it with a health tracking app. With due respect to those projects, I draw a line at sharing specific and private health information. I've arrived at this personal stance after weighing the benefits of information sharing against the risks of my data being leaked, mishandled or mined.

Speaking of antimicrobial underwear — it's not every day I get to use that segue — The New Yorker just had a fascinating piece about the world of extreme cave divers. Apparently, specially engineered underwear is one of the secrets to making it through the world's deepest cave: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/04/21/140421fa_fact_...

Realizing that the United States' military capabilities are good enough, DARPA employees have turned their attention to replicating scenes from video game boss battles.

This reminds me of the hover boots from the Zelda: Ocarina of Time game for Nintendo 64. Fun memories! I see a lot of comments concerning the product's ugliness. But, hey, not every product has to be subtle and elegant. Some consumers may embrace the over-the-top, video game-like appearance.

I appreciate the developers' honesty, but if the goal is to justify the price to customers, they shouldn't blame external costs and delivery challenges (e.g. Apple's take from App Store sales).

Think of it this way: while asking your boss for a raise, you wouldn't mention the cost of rent or your other bills — even if those are prime motivators. You would instead focus on how you bring value to the company.

Several of the article's points focus on the value that this app brings to customers. The post would be stronger if all of the points had that tone.

A very small tip for people learning Haskell (coming from a fellow newcomer to the language): as you read the code, mentally replace "::" with "has type of."

I respect you for creating something very useful and well designed. I hope you'll set aside some of the immature remarks and focus on all the upvotes!

I don't see why the author included details about the defendant writing "muslim pig" in a text message and saying that another executive looked like a penis. These details have nothing to do with the case. The only purpose they serve is to defame the defendant.

It's unethical to write such an opinionated piece covering a case like this, in which the facts are just starting to emerge. Let's keep it objective until the evidence is clear. Otherwise we risk perpetuating a witch hunt (of both the defendant and the plaintiff).

I love that quote! It captures what I was trying to say in a more succinct way.

A solider once told me that boredom is one of the most mentally challenging aspects of war. Because you can go long stretches without running into anyone, let alone your enemies, the moments when you do clash are especially intense. It's like someone switching the radio dial from a low static sound to hardcore metal.

The games that try to juxtapose conflict with stretches of non-action are usually the most successful at conveying the experience of combat. The new Tomb Raider comes to mind. You can travel awhile without fighting because there's a lot to see and do in the environment. When you do encounter adversaries, they're usually in small numbers. They'll speak to each other and respond to your attacks with unique dialogue.

On the other hand, games like Call of Duty, which overwhelm the player with hundreds of enemies at all times, fail to convey the experience of war. The key is to provide contrast between action and non-action, and to provoke suspense by limiting the scope of the conflicts so they can be felt and comprehended more easily.

I love this concept and give the author credit for articulating it so well. My only suggestion would be to add a social component to the program.

Meeting people is the most important part of college. The vast majority of graduates find jobs through their personal networks. If finding a job isn't your top priority, students who expand their circles grow intellectually as they exchange ideas with people who have different perspectives.

Having said that, I've thought about putting together a do-it-yourself comp-sci degree that involves attending local Meetup events. One of the great things about this field is that, in most cities, there are active communities surrounding what it is you want to learn. So it's possible to capture the personal networking experience of college without the tuition.