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bballanton Ask HN: I use and love Python. What's the best book to learn C ?

I will second the vote for Mastering Algorithms in C. This book will bring you right into the details you want: http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Algorithms-C-Kyle-Loudon/dp/...

Accelerated C++ was also mentioned and I just love this book. It brought me back to C++ after years of being away: http://www.acceleratedcpp.com/

bballanton How I made the Met Office admit its climate-change data was wrong

I'm glad you commented wrt the title. This issue is already over-politicized and the Times seems to be stoking that fire when it needs dampening to make room for real discussion.

bballanton Unemployment tax or $20000 reasons not to hire someone

You have valid points, but you also must consider how different France is from the U.S. When their unions strike over compensation, for example, they close down roads and burn things. Our unions strike by marching in circles with signs. Most of the immigrants you speak of live in the equivalent to housing projects. America has housing projects, but much, much fewer. It's something the French have embraced, to the detriment of their society, because it keeps their immigrant population from integrating. America prides itself on it's diversity and France prides itself on it's "Frenchness." I think you need to consider all of these things when talking about the reasons the young, unemployed French riot.

One more thing. I don't know about the ethnic or age breakdown, but right now French and American unemployment percentages are same. The difference is the French unemployed have healthcare and other social programs, so they're better off, in many instances, than Americans.

bballanton Lawrence Lessig: How to Get Our Democracy Back

Unemployment rates are counted differently in other countries. In the United States, you have to be looking for a job to be counted as unemployed, so our numbers tend to look lower than they actually are.

Also, an American friend of mine who lives in France tells me that, because of French social programs, unemployment is not as scary or devastating there as it is in the states.

On the other hand, I have a French friend who lives in the States and enjoys the American sense of innovation and competitive spirit which he feels is lacking in France.

You're right, standard of living is hard to be objective about. One common measure is the Human Development Index. The US does pretty well in this compared to the rest of the world, but not compared to our more socialist sisters in Europe like France. I think one of the reasons for America's HDI lagging behind European countries is our lack of universal health care, but that's another topic.

bballanton Lawrence Lessig: How to Get Our Democracy Back

I know you're trying to be incendiary, and I don't think corporations are evil, but I will give you an example of corporations acting like witches. Look up redlining (implicates the government as well).

bballanton Lawrence Lessig: How to Get Our Democracy Back

When you invest and buy local, you support your community and the people around you which often improves your community. It's easier to see or find out how the thing is made or how the money gets used. So, it's less likely you'll find lead in your toys or find a 14 year old picking your fruit. You are also closer to where whatever it is you bought is made and the people/company in which you are investing, which can mean fewer transactions, less taxes, less regulation, and overall less government and corporate involvement.

Locally produced food is the most obvious, practical thing to buy because it is fresher an tastes better which should be compelling enough on it's own.

I'm not saying don't trade, I just think we should think about what we're buying a bit more. As Fugazi said, "Never mind what they're selling, it's what you're buying!" Heh.

bballanton Lawrence Lessig: How to Get Our Democracy Back

Although I agree that amending the constitution takes things too far, I also think that corporations already have too much influence on American lives and I disagree with the recent SCOTUS decision because it validates that influence to a degree.

I think the real solution (to corporate and government overreach) is to consume less, buy local, invest local, use community banks, etc (and also, to think about who we vote for, for a change). I think Lessig's ideals would be better served if he focused on the small but growing movement around these things. But, alas, as Lawyer, he's part of the system in many ways and, as such, a bit of a top-down problem solver.

bballanton Corporation Says It Will Run for Congress

I love it when The Onion predicts real life and reminds us how absurd things can be:

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/supreme_court_al...

bballanton Is math a socialist plot?

"Intellectuals claiming to be in the service of high intellectual ideas will show up in at least two of those (Stalin's farm purges, Mao's political purges)"

This is, maybe, a non-sequitur, but for the sake of intellectual correctness, I believe the Cultural Revolution, at least, was anti-intellectual. Mao closed down schools, burned books, and put teachers and intellectuals into re-education camps until they were ready to join work groups where they toiled in factories and fields. Mao's greatest intellectual rival, Deng Xiaoping, was held under house arrest for years. Mao promoted hard work and nationalism, not intellectualism.

bballanton Obama’s 2011 Budget Proposal, Department by Department (Infographic)

Of course there is no purely free market anywhere in the world. Just as there is no pure socialism. My point is that free market reforms (i.e. deregulation and privatization) have lead to inefficiencies (and so have social programs).

If you're hoping for a completely free market, that's like wishing for the second coming of Christ. I think a pragmatic mix of free and social markets makes more sense.

I blame the recession on a more-free market, not a purely free market. The banking industry needs more regulation.

Finally, there are many reasons for our healthcare mess and government is but a small part. For example, A big reason healthcare in America is employer-based is, back in the 50's, auto, steel, and other huge companies were afraid of union power and government meddling, so they said "we'll take care of the health of our employees." They opted for a more-free market (not purely obviously) approach.

bballanton Obama’s 2011 Budget Proposal, Department by Department (Infographic)

This mention of efficiency reminds me of the time when the energy market in California was de-regulated and the result was sky-rocketing costs and rolling black-outs.

America's free-market healthcare system is extremely inefficient. We pay roughly twice that of the UK (as percentage of GDP) and all the indicators (life expectancy, infant mortality, etc), are roughly the same.

In the last two years, in the face of the stock market crash, Social Security has remained solvent and stable. If it had been privatized, as Bush wanted, it not only would have made wealthy bankers more wealthy (redistribution of wealth upwards, which tends to happen in free markets) by infusing the stock markets with billions, but it would have sent Social Security into the gutter with the rest of the pensions and 401Ks.

In fact, lack of regulation in the markets, aka more free, lead to the great recession and the 10% unemployment that we find ourselves in.

I could go on about the inefficiencies of the free market, and there are equally many cases where purely social programs also fail. In the end, the middle path -- a mix of free makets and socialism, a mix of laissez faire and regulation -- works best.

bballanton Hitchins: North Korea is even weirder and more despicable than you thought

I think one of Hitchens' points is that there may be no good to be done with a civil position toward North Korea. In discussing the book, The Cleanest Race, he says the conclusions of the book could "mean that peace and disarmament negotiations with [N. Korea] are a waste of time—and perhaps a dangerous waste at that."

bballanton Hitchins: North Korea is even weirder and more despicable than you thought

Slate is a politics and culture magazine, not a newspaper, that features essays and columns often expressing the opinions of mostly well-known regular writers. Hitchens is one of Slate's better-known writers and is most famous for his work in Vanity Fair magazine.

Usually when someone reads a Hitchens article, they know what to expect. He definitely has a bias. He is a hawk, a bit of a neo-con, and an infamous hater of the Clintons. He is also known for his zealous atheism (heh) and enormous ego. I don't often agree with Hitchens, but I generally enjoy his work and appreciate his surly intellectualism and penchant for turning over rocks to reveal the dirt. His pieces are usually opinionated but factual.

bballanton UK Government: Climate change scientists broke the law hiding data

First of all, the "margin of error" theory comes from you and not the articles you told me to search out myself. And the hunting definitely adds some perspective to the ">4x increase" so it's worth mentioning. I'm surprised you didn't mention it to begin with.

I'm not looking to do battle here. In fact, I thought I was being humorous and polite. Moreover, I'm happy to see that the polar bear situation is not as dire as I thought. I've adjusted the thermostat in my apartment accordingly.

bballanton UK Government: Climate change scientists broke the law hiding data

Thanks for sharing the article. In looking at the data, one notices a clear cyclic pattern but also a subtle general upward trend in temperature and downward trend in ice cover (i.e. the temperature lows are higher and the highs are higher) over time. But I'm no climate scientist.

With respect to the polar bears, I searched around and found many articles which state that the population in the 60's had been diminished because of hunting and that, currently, the plurality of polar bear populations are in decline because of climate change. The one article I found that supports your argument was from Fox News (no bias there ;-)).

bballanton UK Government: Climate change scientists broke the law hiding data

I guess one can't know for sure, but I imagine the climate-change deniers and conspiracy-theorists would have uncovered more than one case of data fudging if it was wide spread.

Money and prestige? Really? I wasn't aware climate science was the path to fame and wealth. Do you only trust the poor and obscure?

bballanton UK Government: Climate change scientists broke the law hiding data

Trust your instinct and don't lose site of the fact that these cases of bad science are few compared to the good.

My instinct tells me that we're destroying the planet. The effect of global warming is hard to see, but it's not hard to imagine given all of the other messes we've made.

bballanton UK Government: Climate change scientists broke the law hiding data

Ice is and polar bear populations are increasing? I have only read evidence to the contrary. Please provide a citation so I don't think you just made this up.

bballanton Google, Citing Attack, Threatens to Exit China

Ah, thanks. I was gonna say "only 6 comments!?"

bballanton Google, Citing Attack, Threatens to Exit China

This news has really made my day. Let us hope this sets a precedent for other media and internet companies doing business in China who should no longer be complicit in the Communist party's suppression of the Chinese people. The Tibetans, the ethnic Bai, the Uighur, the victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, the survivors of the Tiananmen square massacre, and masses of oppressed people in China should rejoice (and pray that this is the beginning of real change).

At the very least, more of the world is now aware of the importance of free speech and the lengths to which communist party of China will go to control it.

bballanton How to Manufacture a Climate Consensus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dio...

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nom...

bballanton How to Manufacture a Climate Consensus

It is true that a developing nation typically needs to exploit its natural resources and cheap labor to industrialize and grow, which means CO2 emissions, but this is not true in modern, primarily service-based, economies, like the US. Again, US's GDP is roughly the same (slightly higher) per capita as that of the EU, but our CO2 emissions are (pitifully) over double the EU's, per capita. If there was a clear link, the the US's GDP should be much higher in comparison.

Finally I reject the notion that there doesn't seem to be any other way. I have much more faith in human innovation than that. I firmly believe that there is a market for green technologies, that, when fully developed, will create jobs, boost economies, and improve our global environment.

bballanton How to Manufacture a Climate Consensus

France generates the majority of their power from nuclear power stations, but it is certainly not the "biggest reason" the EU's CO2 emissions are half of the US's.

bballanton How to Manufacture a Climate Consensus

But there is no clear link between GDP and carbon emissions. For example, US's GDP is slightly less than the EU's but our CO2 emissions are double the EU.

The idea that investing in alternative energy and the like will cost jobs or even lives is total bunk. If we can create a market around things we don't need (like gourmet potato chips) then we can create a market around things we do need, like clean air and water.

bballanton How to Manufacture a Climate Consensus

Fair enough, but the security and welfare of citizens is the primary interest of big government (o.k. secondary, but aligned with the primary interest of getting re-elected), whereas big oil has no interest other than making loot. With respect to climate change, big oil loot comes at the expense of our planet (and our security, and lives our troops in the middle east, and our health, and our economy).

bballanton Kalashnikov (maker of the iconic AK-47) faces bankruptcy

Alpha Blondy, who is a reggae artist from the historically war-ravaged West African country, Côte d'Ivoire, has a song called Kalashnikov Love -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgSkpRhP5nI -- which I think speaks to the sort-of mythical level of importance this gun has achieved in the developing world. It's a great song.

bballanton Ask HN: What language do you think in?

I think in messy pictures. Strangely, the pictures are as poorly drawn in my sloppy style as they are on the page. For example, a loop is an ugly circle with a downward facing arrow on the right side and it looks just like something I would have drawn. Object stuff tends to look UML-like and functional stuff tends to look flowchart-like. And they are messy whether in my head or on the paper. When I need words, they usually look like/start to follow the conventions of the language I'm planning to write the code in.

bballanton The Impermanence, Karma, and Bad Behavior of Why The Lucky Stiff

We could go back and forth on this forever. I think it's a valid, if not tiresome, debate -- if you publish something on-line, is it yours anymore? Was _why's stuff art? Does it matter if we consider it art?

Maybe pulling things down is "comparable" to stealing, but it's not the same. And the extent to which external resources were part of his work is not irrelevant. There's tons of gray area here that's being glossed over.

Zed (and other posters) seem to have a view of the issue that lacks nuance. "He abandon us, he must be a dick." I'm not sure know why "dick" is the only name Zed et al have for _why. Besides the fact that the word is grating and low, it is bad form and, frankly, a little immature to use insults like that, especially when you don't know the whole story. The HN community both eulogized and demonized _why too quickly. Maybe it makes sense that hackers only think in binary terms and pass such stark judgment.

Look, I'm disappointed that _why is gone. There have been good points made on this forum about people who depended on the mailing lists, etc. And we can speculate ad-nauseam the causes for his disappearance. Personally, I thought his work was touching. As I discussed earlier, I also view him as an artist, with motivations that I think are very different from those of a typical hacker or engineer. But because we don't know the whole story, any judgment is based on speculation. And so I must give _why the benefit of the doubt here (and, clearly, defend him a little).

It's wrong to judge _why as Zed and others have, 'nuff said.

bballanton The Impermanence, Karma, and Bad Behavior of Why The Lucky Stiff

I completely disagree that _why was simply an on-line persona, "a farce". The Fake Steve Jobs was satirical, first of all. _why was often funny, but it wasn't satire. I think his work alone, often times personal, was a testament to his authenticity as an artist. You may have only known him as an on-line persona, but that doesn't mean that's all he was. There's at least one video on the interweb of _why giving a talk, in the flesh and blood, and he calls himself _why... Perhaps his friends all call him _why too.

I also think Zed saying he hopes Jonathan is ok is a bit of a platitude. I'm sure Zed DOES hope _why is fine, but it rings hollow in the context of the whole essay. Plus, who doesn't hope _why is ok. His biggest detractors aren't monsters wishing him ill.

I have to say that you confuse being an artist with being 'artsy', which is a mistake. I'm artsy, but I'm no artist. Not a single artist I know would describe themselves as simply artsy. Much of my opinion on what it is to be an artist, however, comes from the Henry Miller essay I referenced earlier. I suggest reading it. It's in a volume called "Matters of the Heart".

I believe an artist has the right to destroy his own work unless he's sold it or given it away. I'm not of the opinion that publishing work on-line is the same as giving it away, and I'm certainly not of the opinion that _why taking his stuff down is the same as breaking into a place to steal and destroy things. There's a very big difference between what _why did and your Caravaggio example. _why did nothing illegal, for instance.

In a way, _why reminds me of the French New Wave film-makers. They believed in the "film-maker as auteur" and wanted complete control over their work. From reading these forums, it sounds like most of _why's code was recovered, which is fortunate, and I'm not aware of anything missing that others collaborated on. I don't think he collaborated much with others if at all, but I don't really know. I do acknowledge that, even with works created solely by _why, there's a certain collaboration osmosis that occurs just by having it on the internet with so many users/readers/extenders/whathaveyous, but in my eyes that falls short of giving it away.

To me, _why considered his programs and their source code art equal to (more important than?) his drawings, music, poems, and stories. It was all his art. I'm extremely sad at the loss of so much of his amazing work.

bballanton The Impermanence, Karma, and Bad Behavior of Why The Lucky Stiff

Zed will never understand _why and his simplistic depiction (not understanding) of Buddhism is a testament to this. Moreover he doesn't recognize _why as an artist. He does this in numerous ways but the most obvious and most gauche is the refusal to call _why by his name, which is _why, not Jonathan. In doing so, Zed pulls why out of his world and into his own, which is not an artist's world, and then judges _why. This is unfair to _why in the extreme.

It reminds me of an essay by Henry Miller called "Creative Death" which may help explain _why to those of us who can't understand the state of mind and the motivation of an artist like _why. Here are some excerpts, which run to the end of this post:

For the artist in man is the undying symbol of the union between his warring selves. Live has to be given meaning because of the obvious fact that it has no meaning. Something has to be created, as a healing and goading intervention, between life and death…

The process is a long and devious one. It is all a conquest of fear…

His war with reality is a reflection of the war within himself…

The ideas which germinate in the artist are unique and must be lived out. He is the sign of Fate itself, the very symbol of destiny. For when, by living out his dream logic, he fulfills himself through the destruction of his own ego, he is incarnating for humanity the drama of individual life which, to be tasted and experienced, must embrace dissolution…

It is what Nietzche described as the fusion in one being of two divergent streams–the Apollonian dreamer type and the ecstatic Dionysian…