Internal email: Microsoft forms new 5,000-person AI division; key exec Qi Lu leaving after bike injury
Microsoft says it has formed a new 5,000-person engineering and research team to focus on its artificial intelligence products — a major reshaping of the c
A day after veto override, Congress has second thoughts and may fix Sept. 11 bill
Less than a day after Congress overrode President Obama ’s veto of a bill that would let 9/11 victims’ families sue Saudi Arabia, top GOP leaders said they might need to fix the new law to protect U.S. national security interests.
Indie Hackers: Learn from Profitable Saas Businesses
www.indiehackers.com
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2016-09-29T05:29:22+0000
Video claiming drilling into iPhone 7 will reveal hidden headphone port goes viral
Prank video destroying new Apple smartphone receives 10m views, with some seemingly tricked into making 3.5mm hole in the bottom of their devices
Beer-making has remained essentially unchanged for hundreds of years. Now the hydrodynamic process of cavitation is set to change everything
The formation and collapse of tiny bubbles dramatically changes the chemistry, engineering, and cost of beer-making.
London’s Lonely Unicorn: Two Frugal Expats and Their Billion-Dollar Startup
How innovative does a startup have to be?
Hasnain says:
Basically a paid ad, but it was interesting to learn how Transferwise achieves their rates
Posted on 2016-09-26T17:54:02+0000
A.I. Doesn't Get Black Twitter
The language of the internet doesn't follow the rules of English.
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2016-09-26T04:59:46+0000
Ketchup sandwiches and other things stupid poor people eat
Please, Mrs. Conservative, don’t yell at our daddy for using food stamps. Also, can we have a cookie?
Hasnain says:
"Stupid fucking poor people. If only we’d been engineer majors in college. If only we’d gone to college. If only our parents hadn’t been poor. If only they spoke English. If only we worked harder. If only we were more like conservatives who believe everything they have today is a direct result from the sweat of their own brow."
Posted on 2016-09-26T04:12:56+0000
What the Data Really Says About Police and Racial Bias
Eighteen academic studies, legal rulings, and media investigations shed light on the issue roiling America.
Hasnain says:
"In San Francisco, “although Black people accounted for less than 15 percent of all stops in 2015, they accounted for over 42 percent of all non-consent searches following stops.” This proved unwarranted: “Of all people searched without consent, Black and Hispanic people had the lowest ‘hit rates’ (i.e., the lowest rate of contraband recovered).” In 2015, whites searched without consent were found to be carrying contraband at nearly two times the rate as blacks who were searched without consent."
Posted on 2016-09-26T03:57:44+0000
Self-driving trucks threaten one of America’s top blue-collar jobs
Self-driving, 80,000-lb trucks will probably be on the road faster than automated cars. Nearly 2 million trucking jobs are at risk.
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2016-09-25T20:34:31+0000
Locked in a Room with MacGyver: Can Lucas Till Live Up to the Hype?
A group of reporters have been locked in an escape room with the cast of MacGyver. Despite the squeals of surprise at the darkness — none of which came from stars Lucas Till, George Eads, or Justin Hires — there’s nothing for the writers to be afraid of.
As Our Jobs Are Automated, Some Say We'll Need A Guaranteed Basic Income
How will the economy provide economic opportunities if employers need fewer workers in the future? A growing number of people in Silicon Valley are saying the only realistic answer is a basic income.
Hasnain says:
"The debate about whether machines are taking our jobs is beside the point, says Chris Hughes, a co-founder of Facebook who is active in the basic income movement. He says that whether you like the idea or not, there won't be an alternative because decent-paying jobs are disappearing for millions of people."
Posted on 2016-09-25T17:37:16+0000
162 bodies retrieved after boat carrying hundreds of refugees sinks
The bodies of 162 people had been pulled from the waters off the Egyptian coast by Friday, two days after a boat carrying hundreds of refugees and migrants capsized in the Mediterranean while attempting to head to Europe.
How Chase Got Millennials Excited for a $450-a-Year Credit Card
The Sapphire Reserve card has the points-and-miles obsessed fired up.
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2016-09-23T17:25:10+0000
‘Five-Second Rule’ for Food on Floor Is Untrue, Study Finds
Researchers concluded that no matter how fast you pick up food that falls on the floor, you will pick up bacteria with it.
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2016-09-22T05:57:47+0000
Hedge-Fund Son Thought Hedge-Fund Dad's Trades Were Pretty Fishy
It's a sweeping saga of alleged insider trading that spans three generations.
Police Accidentally Record Themselves Conspiring to Fabricate Criminal Charges Against Protester
The ACLU of Connecticut is suing state police for fabricating retaliatory criminal charges against a protester after troopers were recorded discussing how to trump up charges against him. In what seems like an unlikely stroke of cosmic karma, the recording came about after a camera belonging to the…
Low-income families face eviction as building 'rebrands' for Facebook workers
A Silicon Valley apartment complex wants to attract high-income tenants who work at top tech firms – but critics ask, what is the human cost?
Hasnain says:
I thought Redwood City had some reasonable laws regarding eviction, but looks like I was wrong :(
Posted on 2016-09-21T21:03:18+0000
Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan announce $3 billion initiative to ‘cure all diseases’
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a company created by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan to "unlock human potential and promote equality," announced its latest, grandest project today: a $3 billion "Chan Zuckerberg Science" program created with the goal of curing, preventing, or managing "all disease...
Hasnain says:
This is pretty cool, in general people focus too much on the managing disease and not on prevention.
Posted on 2016-09-21T19:03:56+0000
375 top scientists warn of 'real, serious, immediate' climate threat | John Abraham
John Abraham: 375 National Academy of Sciences members sign an open letter expressing frustration at political inaction on climate change
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2016-09-21T17:34:30+0000
'Mr. Robot' may be fiction, but its hacking plots are all too real
Behind the scenes of the Emmy-winning series with its real-life information security consultant.
Western Digital Demonstrates Prototype of the World’s First 1Terabyte SDXC Card
PHOTOKINA, COLOGNE, GERMANY, Sept. 20, 2016 – Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC), a global storage technology and solutions leader, today unveiled its SanDisk® 1TB terabyte (TB) SDXC™ card prototype at the world's leading trade fair for photo and video professionals. With increasing demand fo...
Hasnain says:
Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon filled with SD cards
Posted on 2016-09-21T05:38:35+0000
Someone just lost 324k payment records, complete with CVVs
Edit: A day and a half after publishing this post, the source of the data was eventually identified and a statement issued. Do see the updates at the end of this post. I see a lot of data breaches. I see a lot of legit ones and I see a
Why Do So Many Rich People Work So Much?
And why have so many low-income men stopped looking for work entirely?
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2016-09-21T04:28:06+0000
Warren Says Wells Fargo's Stumpf Should Resign, Face Criminal Investigation
John Stumpf arrived at Tuesday’s Senate Banking Committee hearings with one hand in a bandage. He left even more battered and bruised.
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2016-09-21T04:17:36+0000
Warren Says Wells Fargo's Stumpf Should Resign, Face Criminal Investigation
John Stumpf arrived at Tuesday’s Senate Banking Committee hearings with one hand in a bandage. He left even more battered and bruised.
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2016-09-21T04:17:12+0000
Self-Driving Cars Must Meet 15 Benchmarks in U.S. Guidance
The Obama administration’s proposed guidelines for self-driving cars, to be formally unveiled Tuesday, include 15 benchmarks automakers will need to meet before their autonomous vehicles can hit the road.
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2016-09-21T04:14:12+0000
What It Costs to Run Let's Encrypt - Let's Encrypt - Free SSL/TLS Certificates
Let’s Encrypt is a free, automated, and open certificate authority brought to you by the non-profit Internet Security Research Group (ISRG).
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2016-09-21T03:58:59+0000
My experience rewriting Enjarify in Rust
Last year I decided to rewrite Enjarify (a command line Python application) in Go and take notes in order to get data comparing the…
Your Company Is Going to Be Huge
You quit your day job last week.
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2016-09-20T05:17:57+0000
The Netflix Backlash: Why Hollywood Fears a Content Monopoly
The streaming service is spending $6 billion a year on content, choking basic cable and brusquely rattling the relationship business of the town as fears of a Google- or Apple-sized dominance send a chill down the entertainment industry's spine.
What I Learned From Executing Two Men
The average citizen will never look a death row prisoner in the eye. But we all share the burden of capital punishment.
Hasnain says:
"Since I retired from corrections in 2010, my mission has been to persuade people that capital punishment is a failed policy. America should no longer accept the myth that capital punishment plays any constructive role in our criminal justice system. It will be hard to bring an end to the death penalty, but we will be a healthier society as a result."
Posted on 2016-09-19T14:53:39+0000
My experience rewriting Enjarify in Rust
Last year I decided to rewrite Enjarify (a command line Python application) in Go and take notes in order to get data comparing the…
It's 2016. Dad says that he and Ma will leave the country if Hillary is elected. They are big Republicans. What conservative country shou...
Tim Romero's answer: Pakistan. This may seem surprising at first, but Pakistan is the clear choice for the disgruntled American conservative when you look at it logically. * Pakistan has very low taxes. Fewer than 2% pay any income tax at all. * The national government is limited and most of ...
Hasnain says:
The Answer is kind of surprising, but makes sense after the edit
Posted on 2016-09-18T16:46:43+0000
WashPost Makes History: First Paper to Call for Prosecution of Its Own Source (After Accepting Pulitzer)
The Post received countless benefits off Snowden's back: now its Editorial Page wants him imprisoned.
Hasnain says:
This is pretty messed up. Source reveals N documents, you reveal M "What’s critical here is that Kaplan’s list of Bad Snowden Revelations (just like the Post‘s) invariably involves stories published not by Snowden (or even by The Intercept or The Guardian), but by The New York Times and The Washington Post. But like the Post editorial page editors, Kaplan is too much of a coward to accuse the nation’s top editors at those two papers of treason, helping terrorists, or endangering national security, so he pretends that it was Snowden, and Snowden alone, who made the choice to reveal these programs to the public. If Kaplan and the Post editors truly believe that all of these stories ought to have remained secret and have endangered people’s safety, why are they not attacking the editors and newspapers that made the ultimate decision to expose them? Snowden himself never publicly disclosed a single document, so any programs that were revealed were the ultimate doing of news organizations."
In India, A Rich Food Culture Vanishes From The Train Tracks
Once upon a time, most of the millions of people who travel on India's vast train network brought their own food or bought it from vendors at stations. Sharing meals could turn strangers into friends.
Hasnain says:
"Indeed, there have been several significant societal changes within a single generation. My own quick survey on social media revealed that my friends who take trains don't carry food – they simply don't have the time and patience for it. There are now foil packaged meals served out of train kitchens and phone apps that allow pre-ordering of food, delivered at the next station."
Posted on 2016-09-18T01:12:37+0000
Trying to Live on 500K in New York City
The president's Wall Street salary cap threatens life as some know it in Manhattan.
Hasnain says:
This piece from 2009 makes me want to laugh and cry (because a toned down version of this exists in the bay area).
Though seriously, expecting that you *need* those 2x/year fancy vacations (16k/yr) and have to attend those parties a few times a year with 10-15k dresses each time...
Posted on 2016-09-16T17:38:10+0000
City Councilman Williams sits during Pledge to protest injustice
City Councilman Jumaane Williams declined to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance at Tuesday's Council meeting.
Hasnain says:
"This type of non-violent protest is not disrespectful as some have suggested. He deserves support, not criticism for his actions," he said. "What does it say about our country when there is a national outrage over an athlete sitting out the national anthem, but the same outrage isn't expressed when a young Black man is killed for no reason?"
Posted on 2016-09-15T02:05:43+0000
I made 6 figures at my Facebook dream job — but couldn't afford life in the Bay Area
Why do tech companies insist on being in expensive cities?
Hasnain says:
So much truth. The bay area is crazy expensive, and everyone's constantly hustling just to pay the bills
Posted on 2016-09-15T01:38:50+0000
Why is it faster to process a sorted array than an unsorted array?
Here is a piece of C++ code that seems very peculiar. For some strange reason, sorting the data miraculously makes the code almost six times faster. #include <algorithm> #include <ctime&g...
Adblock Plus now sells ads
Adblock Plus is launching a new service that... uh, puts more ads on your screen. Rather than stripping all ads from the internet forever, Adblock Plus is hoping to replace the bad ads — anything...
Hasnain says:
After the extortion they were doing, I can't say I'm surprised.
Still don't know whether to laugh or cry though
Posted on 2016-09-13T16:34:07+0000
Netflix asks FCC to declare data caps “unreasonable”
FCC should use broadband deployment power to discourage data caps, Netflix says.
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2016-09-13T04:42:14+0000
How the Sugar Industry Shifted Blame to Fat
Newly discovered documents show that the sugar industry paid scientists in the 1960s to shape the debate around heart disease, sugar and fat.
Hasnain says:
This is despicable
"The documents show that a trade group called the Sugar Research Foundation, known today as the Sugar Association, paid three Harvard scientists the equivalent of about $50,000 in today’s dollars to publish a 1967 review of sugar, fat and heart research. The studies used in the review were handpicked by the sugar group, and the article, which was published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, minimized the link between sugar and heart health and cast aspersions on the role of saturated fat.
The Harvard scientists and the sugar executives with whom they collaborated are no longer alive. One of the scientists who was paid by the sugar industry was D. Mark Hegsted, who went on to become the head of nutrition at the United States Department of Agriculture, where in 1977 he helped draft the forerunner to the federal government’s dietary guidelines. Another scientist was Fredrick J. Stare, the chairman of Harvard’s nutrition department."
Posted on 2016-09-12T20:45:41+0000
Costa Rica has gone 76 straight days using 100% renewable electricity
If this little country can do it, why can’t others?
Millionaires' new challenge: they're not rich enough for private banking
JP Morgan Chase is increasing the minimum asset level for such services as big banks focus on their richest clients – and the rest of us are underserved
Hasnain says:
"It’s also why the banks want to focus on their richest clients. Investing time and money in working with those of us who may only have a few thousand dollars to put to work is a waste of their resources – in their eyes.
The problem is that as they keep conducting triage, and denying access to investment guidance to one group after another, more and more of us will end up without the ability to turn to the banks to help us manage our investments. Let’s face it, JP Morgan and other private banks can boost their investment minimums dramatically, but the incomes of most Americans are barely budging. We’re less and less likely to have the minimum level of assets that most investment counselors want to see before accepting us as a client."
Posted on 2016-09-11T22:24:10+0000
When Will New York City Sink?
A city in climate-change denial.
Hasnain says:
"The deluge will begin slowly, and irregularly, and so it will confound human perceptions of change. Areas that never had flash floods will start to experience them, in part because global warming will also increase precipitation. High tides will spill over old bulkheads when there is a full moon. People will start carrying galoshes to work. All the commercial skyscrapers, housing, cultural institutions that currently sit near the waterline will be forced to contend with routine inundation. And cataclysmic floods will become more common, because, to put it simply, if the baseline water level is higher, every storm surge will be that much stronger. Now, a surge of six feet has a one percent chance of happening each year — it’s what climatologists call a “100 year” storm. By 2050, if sea-level rise happens as rapidly as many scientists think it will, today’s hundred-year floods will become five times more likely, making mass destruction a once-a-generation occurrence. Like a stumbling boxer, the city will try to keep its guard up, but the sea will only gain strength."
Posted on 2016-09-11T22:14:23+0000
Why Do Tourists Visit Ancient Ruins Everywhere Except the United States?
In 1250, the southeastern United States was home to a city larger than London whose people built 200 huge, earthen pyramids. So why do so few people know about it?
Hasnain says:
Amazing read. Learnt so many new things.
"“Perhaps one human being in five was a native of the Americas,” James Wilson writes in The Earth Shall Weep, which uses the seven million estimate for the population of North America. “In 1492, the western hemisphere was larger, richer and more populous than Europe." "
Posted on 2016-09-11T22:07:14+0000
How the careless errors of credit reporting agencies are ruining people’s lives
Their files are full of obvious mistakes that the companies are in no rush to correct.
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2016-09-11T22:01:11+0000
Apple Plug: Our lightest product ever.
Upgrade to iPhone 7 with Apple Plug.
How One of the Deadliest Hajj Accidents Unfolded
A survivor’s story of how he was almost crushed to death at the 2015 hajj.
Hasnain says:
"The crush has been described as a stampede, but most victims in such crowd disasters are actually crushed, not trampled, by pressures that are strong enough to bend steel fences.
In a crush, the flow of the crowd slips beyond the control of the individuals in it. Waves of pressure ripple through, lifting people off the ground, sometimes carrying them more than 10 feet.
The main cause of death in a crowd crush is asphyxiation. People can be squeezed so tightly that they suffocate standing in place."
"Pakistan, a close ally of Saudi Arabia and large recipient of Saudi aid, has played down the Pakistani death toll and warned the local news media to avoid criticizing hajj management."
Posted on 2016-09-06T18:56:57+0000
When You Change the World and No One Notices
Do you know what’s happening in this picture? Literally one of the most important events in human history. But here’s the most amazing part of the story: Hardly anyone paid attention at the time. Wilbur and Orville Wright conquered flight on December 17th, 1903. Few inventions were as transformation...
Hasnain says:
The Library of Congress, where I found these papers, reveals two amazing details. One, the first passing mention of the Wrights in The New York Times came in 1906, three years after their first flight. Two, in 1904, the Times asked a hot-air-balloon tycoon whether humans may fly someday. He answered:
" ... in the very, very, very, very far future ... "
That was a year after the Wright’s first flight.
Posted on 2016-09-06T15:55:30+0000
You’re How Old? We’ll Be in Touch
Ageism in the workplace is toxic, and it hurts everyone.
Hasnain says:
I still don't understand ageism. Why get rid of your most experienced folks?
"Recruiters say people with more than three years of work experience need not apply. Ads call for “digital natives,” as if playing video games as a kid is proof of competence. Résumés go unread, as Christina Economos, a science educator with more than 40 years of experience developing curriculum, has learned. “I don’t even get a reply — or they just say, ‘We’ve found someone more suited,’ ” she said. “I feel that my experience, skill set, work ethic, are being dismissed just because of my age. It’s really a blow, since I still feel like a vital human being.”"
Posted on 2016-09-05T22:55:34+0000
Acer's insane gaming laptop is a magic box of stupid
The Acer Predator 21 X is easily the most ridiculous gaming laptop ever made.
Yes, There IS a Doctor on The Plane. What I Learned at 30,000 Feet. - FemInEM
I am sharing this account of a serious medical emergency on a transoceanic flight because I hope it helps other health care providers assist people in the future and learn from the difficulties I encountered. About 8 1/2 hours into...
Hasnain says:
"As the remainder of the fluids infused, I checked the medical kit for additional contents. There were no aspirin, no nitroglycerin, no masks, no body fluid cleanup supplies, no airways. There was a vial of epinephrine and D50. All of these items are required by the FAA for flights >35 people."
This is scary. That plus the attendant who was clearly just getting in the way and risking the patient's life
Posted on 2016-09-04T07:51:55+0000
How to Tell a Mother Her Child Is Dead
Do not ever say he was lucky that he did not feel pain.
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2016-09-04T07:40:47+0000
Billionaires are ruining my neighborhood of millionaires
Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet.
Samsung recalls Galaxy Note 7 worldwide due to exploding battery fears
Samsung has announced an unprecedented recall of the Galaxy Note 7 just weeks after launching the well-received smartphone. Sales have been halted globally, and over the coming weeks Samsung will...
Hasnain says:
Ouch. First time a phone has been recalled that I know of?
Posted on 2016-09-02T13:34:59+0000
Toss BBQ brushes before bristles get stuck in your throat, surgeon urges
Canadian surgeons are urging people to throw out wire-bristled barbecue brushes because none of them have figured out a surefire way of removing the wires when they get stuck in people's throats.
A major SpaceX explosion just destroyed Facebook's first satellite
Facebook's AMOS-6 satellite would have provided internet to sub-Saharan Africa. A Falcon 9 explosion on a SpaceX launchpad destroyed it.
Hasnain says:
Don't know if there's anything anyone can say except "well, ... crap"
Posted on 2016-09-01T15:44:57+0000
Apache Spark @Scale: A 60 TB+ production use case
Through a series of performance and reliability improvements, we were able to scale Spark to handle a TB-scale entity ranking system in production.