bing.com
THE PIRATES PIEROGIEShttp://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=6a89b23a867f451dbc9453d908ffe045&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mlb.com%2Fpirates%2Ffans%2Fmascots%2Fpirates-pierogies&c=6091074201497429815&mkt=en-usThe Pirates Pierogies are an important part of in-game entertainment for all Pirates games at PNC Park. Following the end of the 5th inning, the Pierogies take the field to run the 280-yard Great ...Jun 4, 2012 2:44 AM
news.ycombinator.com
Ask HN: How should I go public with a security hole?https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4050901We're evaluating an expensive software system for a certain industry. We've found public facing exploitable holes in the login system (default passwords, improper firewalls, SQL injection), which is directly translatable into profitable fraud.That is, if we used this system and someone exploited it, they could cause direct financial harm. These systems are almost always exposed to the public internet.I spoke to the company, and they seemed rather apathetic about the situation, although they said they'd fix the SQLi. Despite the codebase being in C, they report they've had no RCE security issues, "just crashes". I find that highly unlikely, more no one bothered investigating.How should I handle this? I'm worried for my own company which is at risk, and I'd also like to publish this info, as this market tends to sweep things under the carpet. In the past, with another vendor in the same market, I've privately reported, and found the vendor lied about fixing things and did not explain theMay 31, 2012 11:04 PM
news.ycombinator.com
Tell HN: Please help Japanese Sculptor After His Guerrilla-Art Sparks Bomb Panichttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4007245Many of you might have read the New York Times article already about artist and designer Takeshi Miyakawa, who was arrested and charged this weekend for installing a piece of spontaneous public art in Williamsburg. Although it involved wires and electricity, it was completely harmless, he was charged for class D felony of reckless endangerment, the placing of false bombs, and criminal nuisance. He is being held at Riker's Island for 30 days and psych evaluation.If you haven't read it, here is the article:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/nyregion/police-arrest-artist-takeshi-miyakawa-thinking-tribute-was-fake-bomb.htmlHere is a slightly more sympathetic article on Art Infohttp://artinfo.com/news/story/805277/friends-rally-behind-japanese-sculptor-after-his-guerrilla-art-love-letter-to-nyc-sparks-bomb-panicThe lighting fixtures he was installing was designed to coincide with his commission for Designboom's booth at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York. You can read May 22, 2012 11:04 AM
news.ycombinator.com
Startup Competitions- Miss Congeniality Theoryhttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3881057On the circuit of startup competitions, a familiar formula plays itself out. A smattering of entrepreneur teams puts out 2- to 15-minute powerpoint pitches to a small all-star cast of VC's and a large cast of people-paid-to-be-there.At the end of the affair, a winner-takes-all prize is awarded to the best presenter, usually selected by popular vote.What's interesting about this system is that on top of the systemic shortcomings beauty pageants have (Nobody pays close attention, everyone is distracted, the time is too short to get an in-depth understanding of the project or the presenter, there's just way too many to choose between) many of the reviewers have little in the way of technical background to suss out snake oil versus the golden goose, or business background to sense who has a chance of making their whizbang predictions into reality and who couldn't sell booze to a drunk.It's never as simple as "invest in the winner" to a deep-pocketed attendee at one of these events, but it Apr 23, 2012 9:26 PM
news.ycombinator.com
My mission to solve the problem with Facebook, Google+ etc.https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3838747Now I know everyone has their own issues with the current state of social networks. Some have issues with privacy, some have issues with too many friends, some have issues with spam. My issue is with all the above, but more importantly I am sick of the fact that I look like everyone else and I don't own the content. I am being controlled and it needs to stop.I am tired of feeling like I live in an apartment complex where I have no control over how things function or look. It's not even like a complex anymore. It's more like a prison.Best quote in a long time..."If you aren't paying for a product, you are the product."Your data is being sold to advertisers so they can find sneaky was to throw their ads in front of your faces. And who is going to take the time out to actually go through on FB and customize your ad experience so they are relevant to you? Not me.For the past year and a half I have been working on a solution to solve these problems and many others. It's been a very difficulApr 13, 2012 8:39 PM
news.ycombinator.com
PSN automatically "roots" your Facebook, no permission granted.https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3691286I have been meaning to link up my modern warfare 3 account with facebook (new feature) so I could see which of my facebook friends play. Today I finally did it and paid very close attention to the permission I was granting to the game. Call of duty asks for permission to access all your basic info, view your photos, and post to your wall. A bit hefty, but I wanted to see who else was playing modern warfare 3 so I agreed. I was logged in, and when I went to my friends list i was informed it found no results so was pretty much pointless. Immediately I checked my account settings on facebook thinking I would just remove access and forget about the whole thing. I was not so shocked to find that call of duty had allowed itself more access than it asked for. I WAS however shocked that there was another app allowed in the last 24 hours called 'Playstation Network' and it had a pagelong list of access permissions all of which were completely open and I had never been asked to allow that. (I'm Mar 11, 2012 9:07 PM
news.ycombinator.com
Node PR, you can do betterhttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3441427Today I've read this article http://venturebeat.com/2012/01/07/building-consumer-apps-with-node/ and i find it a little disturbing. Node.js is a totally cool piece of technology and I'm loving it, but in this article node is embraced for the wrong reasons - let me be the advocatus diaboli:It’s JavaScript!Yes it's JavaScript, and as he said every developer knows a little JavaScript. But JavaScript has some bad parts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQVTIJBZook and as a newbie JavaScript developer you can easily shoot yourself in the foot http://wtfjs.com/Code re-use at every level: browser, back end & databaseWe at 9elements dream of all tier code re-usages for several years https://github.com/janv/kupo but in the wild I actually don't see it. Also, do you really want your super secret business logic shared with the client? Code re-use ain't easy, but someone has to do it. There are some great concepts like http://nowjs.com/ but I guess the status quo of JavaScript is not there yet. We neJan 9, 2012 4:12 AM
news.ycombinator.com
How I (Accidentally) Brought "Weapons" Aboard Two Aircraft In A Rowhttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3244841I am writing in response to this article: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3242864It is just a testament to how some simple social engineering can allow anyone to bring anything onto an aircraft. (Minus explosives perhaps which would probably set off some deafening alert sound or so I would assume.)This is how it went down...I purchased a full manicure kit in Shanghai, China. Lots of sharp, pointed, stainless steel objects in an easily accessible case. A huge no-no on any flight I have ever been on since 911, and I knew it.I would never normally pack that in my carry on, but my loving girlfriend decided to do the honors for me and by accident she must have placed the manicure kit in the carry on.We get to Shanghai airport and immediately upon going through the metal detector, I am asked if there is anything sharp in my bag.I innocently say no, because as far as I knew I didn't. After 5-10 minutes of looking through my carry on. There it was, the manicure set, shit.I don't know why bNov 16, 2011 8:07 PM
news.ycombinator.com
Improving accessibility for Google Reader, inspired by readabilityhttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2897188I spend way too long in google reader everyday. After about the 100th article my eyes start to hurt from all black text on a white background.So I decided to fix it with a chrome extension.Readerbility (inspired by readability) darkens the background, increases the font size, and uses a more readable font.It's just some small css changes, but if you have the same pains that I do, you can grab it from here and upload it to chrome from the extensions page.Best, Chrishttps://github.com/cmaury/readerbilityAug 17, 2011 10:16 PM
news.ycombinator.com
Online Computer Science BS Degree?https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2599618Does anyone know of a good online undergraduate Computer Science program? My girlfriend is almost done her Masters of Science in Nursing online at Vanderbilt. All her courses are online, she does clinicals at local hospitals and private practices, and flies to Nashville for a long weekend every couple of months. I've been looking for something similar for Computer Science, but can only seem to find programs at scam schools. If it's possible to get the credentials which will give you the ability to suture and prescribe narcotics online, shouldn't computer science be handled similarly?Yes, I am aware of the social implications (e.g. college is a great place to meet people, develop as a person, etc...). I did attend a traditional college, and have about 85 credits. The difficulty is, my business started making money, so I'm too busy to attend scheduled courses. The university wouldn't work with me, at all, so I stopped going. I see value in having a degree, and would like to finish, but iMay 30, 2011 3:28 PM
news.ycombinator.com
Offer HN: Advice from PhD on NLP, machine learning, and data monetizationhttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1839611Do you have questions about machine learning, natural language processing, or data monetization in general?In particular, I'll field questions on:* recommender systems* profit optimization in ecommerce sites* autotagging* creative ways that NLP + ML can add value to your product and give you a competitive advantage* whatever else you like.If you have a specific technical question about ML or NLP, please post it on the MetaOptimize Q+A site (http://metaoptimize.com/qa/) and post a link here as a comment. I'll give you the detailed answer over there, since the Q+A there is designed to be archival and is more searchable. Other sorts of questions (like "How do I turn this data into money?") can go in this thread directly. If it seems like a longer discussion, email me at joseph at metaoptimize dot com and we can talk about setting up a Skype chat.p.s. I'm also hiring people for remote project work, if you are kick-ass at ML or NLP, or you simply can ship correct code really fast. Email me Oct 27, 2010 5:37 PM
news.ycombinator.com
Ask HN: What is Gravity?https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1629794While watching a documentary that mentioned gravity (forgive me the particulars escape me at the moment) my 8yo son reached across my lap and tapped the space-bar pausing the video. He then turned toward me and asked, ‘what is gravity?’Now, in our house we require explanations for actions because we are becoming, sadly too late in life, convinced that being on purpose is paramount. Because it is our opinion that if you do not understand, even at the most base level (epistemological questions aside), why you are doing something then you will never have any power over what you do. When any of us does something that results in negative consequences we try to be in the habit of either tracing down the root of our reasoning or admitting that we had none.To this end we have made much of the distinction between description and explanation. Briefly; all explanations include description but not the reverse. When we ask one another for an explanation and instead receive only description it has bAug 24, 2010 2:04 PM
borntechie.com
Recoupe your Windows PC after a major virus attackhttp://www.borntechie.com/entry/recoupe-your-windows-pc-after-a-major-virus-attack/A computer virus attack on your system can render it crippled in many functional areas, leaving you helpless with glitches galore. It can change your registry entries, change security settings, delete/modify Windows files/Start-up items or run processes in the background. This can affect the performance of your Windows PC, which makes it vulnerable to even more virus attacks and unsuspected problems.Feb 11, 2010 5:18 AM
bing.com
Ganpatipule: Idyllic beach havenhttp://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=6a8bf5dd9c874bee9e1b401457ae62b7&url=https%3A%2F%2Fbangaloremirror.indiatimes.com%2Fganpatipule-idyllic-beach-haven%2Farticleshow%2F22144200.cms&c=15023226423207133577&mkt=en-usA quaint little town along the Konkan Coast of Maharashtra, Ganpatipule is a popular beach haven. Legend has it that Lord Ganapati (a Hindu God), on being offended by a native lady, changed his ...May 14, 2009 7:04 AM
news.ycombinator.com
Ask HN: Testing Out of College?https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=573504Has anybody reading done it? What's the experience been like?I'm not referring to just doing a lot of tests so that you can put them towards credit, but to getting a university degree without ever attending a lecture, and proven one's knowledge by getting tested on it.I had been mulling this over after Eliezer linked to Excelsior College Exams but I let it slide because I didn't see any examinations that seemed to be at a high enough level that I actually believed a degree would be granted, even if you did technically have enough credits. I learned differently courtesy of www.testingoutofcollege.com (one of the ugliest, most poorly designed websites ever)I'm asking out of curiousity, and a desire to acquire the credentialling/signalling benefits in the minimum time. Or B.A. = Easier VisasApr 22, 2009 4:10 AM
news.ycombinator.com
On Buying Silicon Valleyhttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=500785Silicon Valley 2If one wishes to replicate the Valley's success and status as a startup hub one needs to mimic the ecosystem and support structures that have grown up around it, the angels, VC funds, (money) legal expertise, financial infrastructure (enabling infrastructure) and entrepreneurial culture (residual). The money and enabling infrastructure will accrete around the residual if it exists, quickly or slowly. Paul Graham has proposed that for US$30m-$100m this could probably be achieved in any US city fulfilling certain criteria, with greater or lesser likelihood of success dependent on the degree to which it fulfils them.The money can realistically come from three types of sources, governments of whatever level, private individuals, or corporate bodies, profit-oriented or not, or some combination of the three, acting in concert. Given the electoral dynamics they labour under it is unlikely that any politician or party in serious danger of being out of power 10 years after the fMar 2, 2009 11:29 PM
iht.com
From books, Obama found his voicehttp://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/19/arts/19read.php?page=1Obama has said that he wrote "very bad poetry" in college and his biographer David Mendell suggests that he once "harbored some thoughts of writing fiction as an avocation." For that matter, "Dreams From My Father" evinces an instinctive storytelling talent (which would later serve the author well on the campaign trail) and that odd combination of empathy and detachment gifted novelists possess. In that memoir, Obama seamlessly managed to convey points of view different from his own (a harbinger, perhaps, of his promises to bridge partisan divides and his ability to channel voters' hopes and dreams) while conjuring the many places he lived during his peripatetic childhood. He is at once the solitary outsider who learns to stop pressing his nose to the glass and the coolly omniscient observer providing us with a choral view of his past.Jan 20, 2009 9:04 AM
news.ycombinator.com
Trader Joe's Is Not Your Average Business (2002)https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=340188One day a few years ago, a guy at a Boston financial firm called up Trader Joe's headquarters and said he'd like to tour a store with a group of visiting Japanese investors. The brass at Trader Joe's was blunt: "You can't come." Not "We'd rather you didn't," or "Please don't." The visit was officially forbidden.This led to a predictable go-round about it being a free country and all, and Trader Joe's finally said okay, okay, you can come, but you don't get a tour. And as the investment company guy tells it, the tension in the air during the visit was thick enough to cut with a machete.Well, you probably can't blame the folk at Trader Joe's. They've got a phenomenal thing going, and don't want to give it all away. Some observers think that sales per square foot at Trader Joe's are hovering at about $1,000 -- twice the level of typical supermarkets. And with between about 70% to 85% of its products being private label (depending on who you ask), Trader Joe's has reached a benchmark otherOct 22, 2008 4:19 PM
news.ycombinator.com
Ask YC: How can I guide my brother towards success in school/life?https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=258688For certain reasons of family dysfunction I have a greater than usual parental role with my youngest brother. I want to ask YC for advice to help my brother become successful in school and life in general.Some background information is necessary. I am the eldest sibling and was the typical high achiever in school and university. He was also successful in school at an early age, and used to joke about beating my own achievements. I encouraged this friendly rivalry, but over the last few years he seems to have withdrawn. I think he is somewhat ashamed of this which makes him afraid to be honest with me. This makes it difficult for me to know if I am helping him or if he even wants my help.He was one of the top students at the local public school and just managed to get in the best public school in the state. Entrance to this school is based only upon academic merit, not money. He's been there two years and since has seemed to become disillusioned with academic achievement. This might be Jul 28, 2008 3:40 AM
torrentspy.com
Torrentspy shutdownhttp://www.torrentspy.com/Friends of TorrentSpy,We have decided on our own, not due to any court order or agreement, to bring the Torrentspy.com search engine to an end and thus we permanently closed down worldwide on March 24, 2008.The legal climate in the USA for copyright, privacy of search requests, and links to torrent files in search results is simply too hostile. We spent the last two years, and hundreds of thousands of dollars, defending the rights of our users and ourselves.Ultimately the Court demanded actions that in our view were inconsistent with our privacy policy, traditional court rules, and International law; therefore, we now feel compelled to provide the ultimate method of privacy protection for our users - permanent shutdown.It was a wild ride,The TorrentSpy Team"Big Brother in the form of an increasingly powerful government and in an increasingly powerful private sector will pile the records high with reasons why privacy should give way to national security, to law and order [...] and the lMar 29, 2008 11:35 PM
