Datasets:

Linkseed

/

hacker_news_with_comments

like 4

awwaiid

Do Pragmatic Tools For Learning to Speak a New Language Exist Already?

staunch

rosetta stone

I'm studying Japanese and have started hacking up various tools to assist. I'm seriously considering turning my stuff into a more polished project and releasing it, but not if someone has done something great already. I am concentrating on very pragmatic conversational speaking and not anything remotely academic. I really like image-association and vocabulary-building tools. Anyone know of some super smart (web-based?) tools for this that support Japanese?

2007-07-11 12:21:10 UTC

dpapathanasiou

You've Built a Great Technology, Now What? (A Dilemma)

dpapathanasiou

I can empathize with this quote: "I'm not Ycombinator material"

2007-07-11 12:34:04 UTC

gibsonf1

How To Rid Debt By Becoming a Cash Money Superstar

eastsidegringo

I lived in Japan for about a year and a half, and virtually the entire country is cash only. They also have a huge saving s rate. I think I never handled money better than when it was all in cash during my stay in Japan - so the article here makes a very good point. When you physically see the money you can really appreciate what you've got and the value of it.

Because of my entrepreneurial obsession I had accrued a lot of debt and was still not earning enough to stop the credit card cycle. I decided to take drastic measures. I made the transformation from a typical American Consumer into a Cash Money Superstar. I actually switched everything I did to a cash transaction and to really get myself psyched about using cash only, I closed my checking account!

2007-07-11 13:56:21 UTC

gibsonf1

Honestly, how the hell does Andreessen raise $40M while writing consistently superb blog posts?

8en

Maybe he uses GTD? :)

2007-07-11 14:25:18 UTC

gibsonf1

You've Built a Great Technology, Now What? (A Dilemma)

dpapathanasiou

I think he meant to say Quandry as he has multiple options instead of dilemma

2007-07-11 14:30:43 UTC

conceptedge

Advice on web-app credit card processing and invoicing?

tacoma_wa_dev

Pay $20 a month and get Paypal Payment Pro. It will let you integrate the payment collection directly into your site. Paypal will process the authorization in the background (your backend sends something to Paypal and process the response). This way, through out the entire process, the user stays on your site. Paypal acquired Verisign's PayLink and Pay Flow credit processing, and those are available as options too (albeit more expensive)

I am developing a niche business web-application targeted at machine shops with fewer than 10 employees. I am charging a flat-rate of $5/day for the web application with an unlimited number of users. Customers pay up front for however many days they want. They can purchase additional days whenever they want. There is no automatic recurring billing -- the web app is simply 'paused' when it runs out of days.What is the best way to go about handling credit/debit card processing and invoicing for this?I'm playing around with using Paypal Website Payments Standard with encrypted 'buy it now' buttons and Instant Payment Notification (IPN). However, the user-experience for credit-card payments with PayPal is lacking. Specifically, Paypal does not auto-redirect users back to my website if they use a credit card (auto-redirect works only with PayPal payments). What other payment processing solutions should I be looking at? Unforunately, Google Checkout seems to be behind PayPal in terms of multiple-currency support.Thanks in advance!

2007-07-11 14:34:49 UTC

migpwr

Honestly, how the hell does Andreessen raise $40M while writing consistently superb blog posts?

8en

It's probably because he's a good writer and the concepts for the posts themselves were developed long before he started the blog that became the new black.

2007-07-11 14:36:16 UTC

nickb

Ballmer hints at Microsoft's future in the 'cloud'

gibsonf1

"We are in the process today of building out a services platform in the cloud," Ballmer said.This is a ridiculous statement. No wonder MS is messed up so bad.

2007-07-11 14:41:45 UTC

nickb

Honestly, how the hell does Andreessen raise $40M while writing consistently superb blog posts?

8en

He doesn't actually run Ning. That's the secret ;).

2007-07-11 14:51:21 UTC

harvard_bum

Kijiji and the Curse of Craigslist

far33d

There's way too much spamming and phishing and scamming on Craigslist. Craig Newmark's business sense got him to a certain level of trust among consumers which helped grow the site, but now he has a responsibility to them now to honor that trust and invest in _protecting_ them.Otherwise, the Craigslist empire's days are surely numbered.

2007-07-11 15:53:12 UTC

epi0Bauqu

Credit card processing Many-to-One relationship

falsestprophet

Can you give a particular scenario? And is your goal here to make money while at the same time making it simple, or just to make it simple?

Is there a good way of moving money from many people to one person (who isn't the host of course)?If the amounts were small and numerous enough, it may make sense to simply direct most of the payments between the parties and siphon off your cut with several payments. But this is an ugly solution.If the amounts were few and large, this solution is not practical. As far as I can tell, the only alternatives to the small e-businessman are using paypal and being charged twice (once for accepting from one party and another time for pushing to the other), or (somehow) negotiating with a bank to get a merchant account (at great expense I imagine) that charges a little bit less for the same solution.My goal is to minimize the amount paid to credit card processors while taking a small cut.Do any of you know anything about this?Thanks.

2007-07-11 16:50:54 UTC

aston

Rails is slow? Who cares!

michele

"The costs of using Rails are much smaller than its benefits."Can we get that stated in a more...numerically convincing way?

2007-07-11 17:00:30 UTC

adamdoupe

Dating vs. Startups

jmtame

I thought the two were mutually exclusive...

2007-07-11 17:03:00 UTC

mm

Credit card processing Many-to-One relationship

falsestprophet

are you doing something similar to fundable.org? What not try the simple method? Let all the payers transfer the money directly to that one person. Then, you send an invoice to that one person for your commission and trust him to actually honor the invoice.This is what Ebay does and it seems to be working well enough.

Is there a good way of moving money from many people to one person (who isn't the host of course)?If the amounts were small and numerous enough, it may make sense to simply direct most of the payments between the parties and siphon off your cut with several payments. But this is an ugly solution.If the amounts were few and large, this solution is not practical. As far as I can tell, the only alternatives to the small e-businessman are using paypal and being charged twice (once for accepting from one party and another time for pushing to the other), or (somehow) negotiating with a bank to get a merchant account (at great expense I imagine) that charges a little bit less for the same solution.My goal is to minimize the amount paid to credit card processors while taking a small cut.Do any of you know anything about this?Thanks.

2007-07-11 17:45:15 UTC

far33d

Moka5's intriguing virtual computer -- PC on a thumbstick

Readmore

I'm surprised that vmware hasn't taken over this market yet.

2007-07-11 18:00:20 UTC

mynameishere

How To Rid Debt By Becoming a Cash Money Superstar

eastsidegringo

Whenever I have cash I have a slightly panicky feeling that it is gradually falling in value (which, of course, it is) and that buying something is the only way of preventing this process. So, I don't keep cash.

Because of my entrepreneurial obsession I had accrued a lot of debt and was still not earning enough to stop the credit card cycle. I decided to take drastic measures. I made the transformation from a typical American Consumer into a Cash Money Superstar. I actually switched everything I did to a cash transaction and to really get myself psyched about using cash only, I closed my checking account!

2007-07-11 18:32:38 UTC

e1ven

Honestly, how the hell does Andreessen raise $40M while writing consistently superb blog posts?

8en

Part of how he raised $40M is by writing good blog posts ;) While Ning is a great platform, and a lot of his success is attributable to earlier success (Netscape/etc), an important part of the whole process is having people know your stuff, know you're thinking intelligently, and be impressed with you.VC's are human too. If they're reading your blog posts and finding genuine insight, hearing about your material on the radio, and like you, that'll play a factor in valuation. [1] -Colin [1] I don't have a source for this handy, but I've read several VCs talking about this process. Basically, it comes down to being Noteworthy. See: Seth Godin.

2007-07-11 18:49:35 UTC

henryw

Four Pownce Invites

mattculbreth

uprz23@gmail.comThanks.

First come first served, etc. etc.(honestly not really sure if this thing is worth playing with, but I've got 'em if you want 'em)

2007-07-11 18:53:37 UTC

eli

Stickam Owned By Porn Co Owner

farmer

no it's not. It's owned by a group run by a man who also happens to run porn companies.

2007-07-11 19:05:33 UTC

keith_erskine

Moka5's intriguing virtual computer -- PC on a thumbstick

Readmore

um..what's the difference between this and Damn Small Linux or Puppy Linux??OTOH - nice vision :)

2007-07-11 19:13:59 UTC

Tichy

Stickam Owned By Porn Co Owner

farmer

I fail to see the problem.

2007-07-11 19:32:09 UTC

mynameishere

Stickam Owned By Porn Co Owner

farmer

I guess most people would be quick to say, "That's no problem at all", and maybe even add an "of course" statement like Of course, there is nothing wrong with owning a pornography business, even though there are plainly a few things wrong with it.Funny how the received wisdom of the day changes, and how most morality is so knee-jerk. In the past, any association with pornography would have been deeply shameful. Now, if the MSM published a "story" on how phillip morris owns Nabisco, you can bet there would be a lot of people expressing outrage over that association (cigarettes, unlike porn, being quite evil). Oh well.

2007-07-11 19:56:22 UTC

danw

Facebook delivers appalling ad clickthroughs: 0.04% clickthrough

danw

I mentioned this to a friend of mine the other day and she simply said "What ads on facebook?". She not a techie, doesn't use an ad blocker and logs into facebook daily. We're all used to these ads and don't even see them anymore, in much the same way we all channel surf or go to make a cup of tea during TV ad breaks.Perhaps we need a new way of delivering ads in communication apps that differs from information & entertainment apps. Twitter, facebook, blyk and many other face this same problem with monetisation. Whats the solution? Is it ok to analyse what people are saying to each other and deliver text link ads inline with the conversation. If I say "Want to go for a drink later?" to a friend on facebook should there be a link underneath saying "Get half price drinks a Bob's Bar"?Any ideas?

2007-07-11 20:15:54 UTC

nickb

Facebook delivers appalling ad clickthroughs: 0.04% clickthrough

danw

I've been questioning the honesty and the intelligence of the people (some second-tier VCs) who are touting and actively promoting F8 as a "great" way for startups to acquire users.Fact is, Facebook is only making so much money because Microsoft entered into an agreement with them guaranteeing them profits per year. You as an independent developer will get even crappier CTRs. One 'organically' acquired user on your own site is worth at least 1000 Facebook app users. Don't be fooled by the numbers!

2007-07-11 21:26:06 UTC

naivehs

Applying to Y Combinator as an undergrad

myoung8

I don't think it will hurt to submit an application even if you don't get an interview. Writing up the application gives you a different understanding of your project, and you are probably going to get some great feedback as a bonus.

I'm seriously considering applying for Winter '08 as a rising junior. Has anyone else applied as an undergrad (other than the guys at Loopt)? How did they (you) fare? Thanks in advance.

2007-07-11 21:39:16 UTC

jsjenkins168

Summer YC startup launches: Versionate's Wiki End Run Around Google Docs

immad

The title of this and the Techcrunch article are misleading.. Does this service wrap Google Docs via the pubic API? (is there even one?)

2007-07-11 22:01:43 UTC

ivankirigin

Facebook delivers appalling ad clickthroughs: 0.04% clickthrough

danw

Do folks know about good sources of CTRs for various sites? It seems like much of that information is gated.If 0.04% is bad, is 0.4% bad? Surely 4% is good. And how are these rates going to change with metrics better than unique page views?

2007-07-11 22:09:35 UTC

luxiou

Summer YC startup launches: Versionate's Wiki End Run Around Google Docs

immad

sweet, congrats guys! -- who's on pager duty? ;)

2007-07-11 22:21:26 UTC

ivankirigin

Summer YC startup launches: Versionate's Wiki End Run Around Google Docs

immad

I've started to use Google Docs a lot. Trying Versionate, for text there is little advantage of either. GDocs seem a bit more peppy.I was reading a Paul Graham interview from a while ago: http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/09/02/an-interview-with-vc-pa...Here is an interesting quote: " I wouldn't advise competing with Google in things they're good at. So what is Google good at? As a first approximation, making things their own developers use at work. So they'll do a better job on an online calendar than a video sharing site, for example, because their employees are probably not supposed to be sitting watching videos at work. "He goes on to mention Google's size, which is probably another factor here.It would be interesting to hear more about what folks at Y-Combinator think about this direct assault on a growing Google service.

2007-07-11 22:25:58 UTC

Alex3917

Summer YC startup launches: Versionate's Wiki End Run Around Google Docs

immad

There seems to be this new crop of ridiculously overdesigned websites recently. Versionate, Docstoc, iscrybe, etc. I'm not sure how I feel about it.I was reading Viktor Frankel's holocaust memoir recently. He makes the claim that people find meaning in their lives through meeting people, going places, doing work, and through unavoidable suffering.I think he's right. And sometimes I think that web designers would do well to add a little unavoidable suffering.Some of these new websites seem user centric to the point of being obsequious. It's kind of like when a guy is following around a girl and constantly doing nice things for her. You'd think it would be cool, but it gets kind of creepy after a while.The concept is solid and the technology is brilliant. It just makes me a little uncomfortable for some reason./least useful criticism ever :-)

2007-07-11 23:16:33 UTC

drusenko

Summer YC startup launches: Versionate's Wiki End Run Around Google Docs

immad

very cool... much much improved since the last time I played with it!

2007-07-11 23:18:35 UTC

gyro_robo

Facebook delivers appalling ad clickthroughs: 0.04% clickthrough

danw

A more technically literate user base will use Adblock.And it's about time -- it's bizarre that start-ups are trying to get acquired with money that ultimately comes from advertising Tide. Don't offend the corporate sponsors.

2007-07-11 23:29:50 UTC

cmars232

Facebook delivers appalling ad clickthroughs: 0.04% clickthrough

danw

There's ads on Facebook?

2007-07-11 23:30:36 UTC

aaroneous

Introducing iUI (UI library for iPhone)

wmorein

Really clever idea, but it seems a little buggy right now =/

2007-07-11 23:33:36 UTC

jrbedard

Is Jeopardy! a viable source of startup funding?

zach

Good Luck! Just make sure not to spell the host's name backward ;)

Well, I'm on tonight's show, so I guess we'll see (I'm co-founder of LALife.com, a local real estate site). Tune in and find out.

2007-07-12 00:10:34 UTC

tx

iPhone--In depth Ars Technica review

mattculbreth

Crippled bluetooth and low ringtones volume. How familiar... Every time I try to buy a smartphone I end up hitting these two walls.

2007-07-12 00:14:42 UTC

dbosson

Summer YC startup launches: Versionate's Wiki End Run Around Google Docs

immad

After watching the screencast I got some good insight into what Versionate can do [the features], but I still don't know how it will improve my life [the benefits]. I think you should really stress the benefits and tell people why it is so important to have their files online.Peace of Mind. You never have to worry about losing important files when your computer crashes.Instant access to your files from anywhere. If you forget your computer or flash drive at home [no need to worry] your files are online and you can get them when you arrive at work.I think some simple comments like this could really help.

2007-07-12 00:42:00 UTC

hello_moto

Summer YC startup launches: Versionate's Wiki End Run Around Google Docs

immad

I used JotSpot before and nobody in my previous office like the editor because it's very clunky. The auto-save and all that were really an annoyance than a lifesaver.When I read (via their blog) that Versionate is doing similar thing.. I don't know if I should give it a try...

2007-07-12 01:10:55 UTC

bootload

Summer YC startup launches: Versionate's Wiki End Run Around Google Docs

immad

"If you have an unhappy customer on the Internet, he doesn't tell his six friends, he tells his 6,000 friends"I like the data export (even with the free version). It's a nice touch. why? it's my observation that users don't care about the software they use as much as they do about their data. so reading this makes me think they are in the right mindset ~ http://blog.versionate.com/2007/04/07/export-your-data-at-an...

2007-07-12 01:58:30 UTC

ivankirigin

5 business lessons from Costco

dawie

> 1. Take care of your employees.That is certainly a given. Luckily, lots of hackers I know just want to be given hard problems. The cave offices with aerons and dual 30-inch screens are just good tools :) Lots of the tasks done by employees at Costco and other such stores will become automated. Say, within 10 to 20 years -- which is actually light speed. But no need to elaborate on that SciFi. > 2. Keep prices low.For the web, this seems to translate to: "make it free". That makes lots of sense, I think. Too bad ads are too often the business model for content creators. > 3. Pay attention to the customer, not the competition.Too true. And for the latter, it shouldn't change your behavior, right? Young companies with lots of competition need to work as hard as possible to make what people want. Young companies with no competition should work as hard as possible to make what people want and fill the void. > 4. Focus on a few core options.Feature creep in software can make users cry. I recall that interesting survey the other day, where given a grab-bag of capabilities, a survey group were allowed to configure a cell phone in any way they wanted. Then, given cell phones that matched their wish list- they complained that it had more than they needed.But on second thought that could have easily been caused. poor design. > 5. Use surprise to create excitement.This is just a way for Costco to make customers happy, which is the main point, right?It would be interesting though if a web company tried this. For example, it would be cheap for Reddit to give a $100 lottery for that days highest karma gains. That rubs me as dangerous though. On a side note, Costco is doing a bit of emotional leverage here. People hate WalMart. It is very much in Costco's best interest to start saying, "wow, people love us". Not that there is anything wrong with that...

2007-07-12 02:41:31 UTC

startupper

Facebook delivers appalling ad clickthroughs: 0.04% clickthrough

danw

So FB makes:15.8x10^9(pageviews/month)x0.01x0.04/100 + 0.25x15.8x10^6 = $4x10^6 per month on ads?So their annual revenue is just under $50x10^6 or $50 million.Note: this assumes one ad per page.

2007-07-12 03:11:53 UTC

gleb

Summer YC startup launches: Versionate's Wiki End Run Around Google Docs

immad

Very impressive. When did you guy start to work on this? Suggestion -- Quicktime plugin is not universally installed, and you target audience is not just Apple users (see your Google Analytics report). Use Flash.

2007-07-12 03:38:37 UTC

Harj

Facebook delivers appalling ad clickthroughs: 0.04% clickthrough

danw

Advertising in general is hard to do well. Just throwing up standard "click on our site" banner ads won't have good click through rates wherever you put them up. We had good success with our fb flyers by keeping them topical and interesting - it was written about here: http://www.trendcatching.com/2006/12/ycombinator_sta.html

2007-07-12 03:57:42 UTC

dcurtis

5 business lessons from Costco

dawie

Wow, that's really awesome. Although I think Costco can do a few things to bring their image up to speed (the logo is pretty hideous, the marketing materials are pretty ugly and cliche), this article really makes me respect the company and the CEO.Why can't all companies work like this?

2007-07-12 05:38:49 UTC

mxh

Summer YC startup launches: Versionate's Wiki End Run Around Google Docs

immad

This may be a silly question, but it's something that's bothered me ever since Scribd launched: How do you handle all the file format conversions?It seems to be that you couldn't be wrangling all those formats yourself, as many are undocumented, and/or hideously complex, and you've got to do a lot more work than simply reading the files, and not much time to do it. So, are there some off-the-shelf components to do this work (with reasonable license terms), or is the problem easier than it seems?I'm most interested in the MSFT formats, which seem the trickiest.

2007-07-12 05:52:15 UTC

Tichy

Summer YC startup launches: Versionate's Wiki End Run Around Google Docs

immad

Great Logo!!!The beginning of the screencast made me think, about the "folders as you would expect on your desktop": actually a lot of people don't really understand folders and files. They just press "save" in word, which then uses the first few words of the document as filename. If the document disappers from "recent documents" in words, these users have trouble recovering their documents... Just a thought - it definitely seems to be more targeted at cooperations, on the other hand, maybe a lot of users would benefit from an iTunes/GMail way of organising the documents (ie just keep them in a flat list and tag them)?Versioning documents is another thing that people have lots of trouble with, so versionate definitely offers something new and worthwhile in that respect.

2007-07-12 06:38:01 UTC

nickb

Facebook VCs: We're Investing in Facebook Apps Too

nickb

They're promoting and "investing" into Facebook apps because they're major investors in Facebook and will benefit from Facebook IPO. More apps, bigger the IPO!In any case, it has nothing to do with them wanting YOU to succeed.

They're promoting and "investing" into Facebook apps because they're major investors in Facebook and will benefit from Facebook IPO. More apps, bigger the IPO?!In any case, it has nothing to do with them wanting YOU to succeed.

2007-07-12 07:15:35 UTC

henryw

7 Lessons from the Zantaz Firesale (Sold for $375m, Founders Got Nothing)

tomh

In a linked article, it was reported that one of the founders got 650k, which is still nothing compared to the 375M. It really makes you look at the reputations of the VCs."The reportedly terminally ill founder, William Bankert, will end up with only $650,000 or so from the sale." http://venturebeat.com/2007/07/06/zantazs-375m-payday-and-th...

short version: company sells for $375M, founders got zilch. Check the details in the link.

2007-07-12 07:56:53 UTC

mynameishere

7 Lessons from the Zantaz Firesale (Sold for $375m, Founders Got Nothing)

tomh

375 million isn't a firesale; especially when you're dealing with "email archiving" which sure sounds like a wrapper around the "cp" command.

short version: company sells for $375M, founders got zilch. Check the details in the link.

2007-07-12 08:10:21 UTC

zach

7 Lessons from the Zantaz Firesale (Sold for $375m, Founders Got Nothing)

tomh

Well, it's better to get none of something big than a big part of nothing, right? Wait a second...

short version: company sells for $375M, founders got zilch. Check the details in the link.

2007-07-12 08:27:18 UTC

mm

Help with a JavaScript Drop-Down Menu

myoung8

onclick="Element.toggle('menu_id')"

Does anyone know if there's a tutorial somewhere on how to build the kind of drop-down menus seen on Facebook and Versionate?

2007-07-12 08:34:30 UTC

jgamman

Summer YC startup launches: Versionate's Wiki End Run Around Google Docs

immad

i for one am completely anal about version control. i work in engineering offices and version control of, for instance detailed design drawings, is extremely important - most things worth building with actual steel have quite a few zeros after them and you NEVER want to have a conversation half way through the build that starts with "i'm using v3.4.3.5 which one are you using?". most CAD software for instance has version control as the entry point, not at the end. when i did a stint in an office environment i was appalled at their version control (it's on the CFO's hard drive and he just re-saves it as a new version - not neccesarily date driven...) and was in a meeting with their multi-million budget review when two VP's discovered they were reporting actuals vs budget from two different versions (not sure if one or both were wrong...). what problem/value does versionate give to customers? IMHO an unbelievable amount - centralised storage (even on your own server), a weblink that only has the currently released best version, the ability to import/export - these are all Very Good Things. I really hope you guys do well. Oh and btw, i love the pricing scheme.

2007-07-12 10:26:39 UTC

jgamman

The Five Qualities of Successful Leaders

run4yourlives

...next week i delve into water is wet.

2007-07-12 11:08:08 UTC

koolmoe

The Web in 1994 (Video)

pg

I remember that.I also remember buying my first PC around that time - probably in 1992 or 1993. It included an OEM copy of MS Encarta, which seemed like a pretty useful app at the time...

2007-07-12 14:35:23 UTC

run4yourlives

Facebook delivers appalling ad clickthroughs: 0.04% clickthrough

danw

I think this bears repeating: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30836Facebook isn't the place to make money, the same way pets.com wasn't. Anyone that lived through the first dot-bomb should be able to see that.

2007-07-12 14:39:01 UTC

mm

Tailgate: Ad banners as interactive flash apps; purchase w/o clickthrough

brlewis

I'm skeptical that the casual shopper would buy directly from a remote banner without clicking through and checking if the online store is legit,

2007-07-12 14:44:57 UTC

epi0Bauqu

Internet Startup Teams: 14 Essential Qualities for Each Founder & Team Size

epi0Bauqu

Any other qualities you think are essential? I am trying to make this list as comprehensive as possible while keeping the qualities significantly independent from each other.

2007-07-12 14:51:25 UTC

palish

The Web in 1994 (Video)

pg

Did 99% of websites really have the same background color?

2007-07-12 15:25:37 UTC

jsjenkins168

The Web in 1994 (Video)

pg

What ever happened to Digital? I remember seeing them up until the late 90's but not really after that.

2007-07-12 15:46:24 UTC

nickb

7 Lessons from the Zantaz Firesale (Sold for $375m, Founders Got Nothing)

tomh

Stay away from comVentures and Roland! They screwed FilmLoop and Nishan Systems too! Here's some more info:http://venturebeat.com/2007/02/13/filmloops-demise-the-reput...http://www.byteandswitch.com/document.asp?doc_id=43685One commenter in this article on Zantaz offers a list of VCs to avoid:http://venturebeat.com/2007/07/06/zantazs-375m-payday-and-th..."ComVentures/Roland van der Meer, Crescendo/Spreng, Worldview/Orsak and Wei have similar operating approaches as reflected in the cases of Zantaz, Nishan, Force 10 and other Worldview deals."Fellow entrepreneurs, beware! Wolves are out there. In today's age, it's easy to vett these VCs.

short version: company sells for $375M, founders got zilch. Check the details in the link.

2007-07-12 15:47:56 UTC

astocko

Scheme/Lisp, one of Montreal's tech expertise

rami

I remember my first exposure to Lisp was in an introductory Artificial Intelligence class. The grad student taught the first lecture and was instructed to give us a basic overview of Lisp. The guy, who could barely speak English, gave us a tutorial that could've been entitled: "Lisp for Java Programmers".It was probably a combination of the broken English and java-to-lisp examples he gave us that created a deep hatred within me.It took me the better part of the semester to get my head around functional programming. I had to learn to think differently and look at problems differently. I'm now a happy Lisp hacker and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

2007-07-12 16:45:52 UTC

tracksuitceo

How To Rid Debt By Becoming a Cash Money Superstar

eastsidegringo

Thanks for the lively discussion! I get better comments on ycombinator than I do on my own blog! You're all Cash Money Superstars.

Because of my entrepreneurial obsession I had accrued a lot of debt and was still not earning enough to stop the credit card cycle. I decided to take drastic measures. I made the transformation from a typical American Consumer into a Cash Money Superstar. I actually switched everything I did to a cash transaction and to really get myself psyched about using cash only, I closed my checking account!

2007-07-12 16:55:47 UTC

startupper

Small before big

dawie

Extrapolating these little nuggets of wisdom to every situation is meaningless. For instance it simply does not apply to a startup that is looking to build something complex. And in that case you absolutely need to scale before someone else does and pushes you out of the game. Small before big does not make sense, unless small is a meaningful and reasonable number.

2007-07-12 17:09:39 UTC

budu3

Summer YC startup launches: Versionate's Wiki End Run Around Google Docs

immad

It looks like YC has a soft spot for services that bring desktop apps to the web. Snipshot,zenter, kiko, jamglue, buxfer.

2007-07-12 17:10:07 UTC

danielha

Tailgate: Ad banners as interactive flash apps; purchase w/o clickthrough

brlewis

I might see this working if they push time sensitive deals that forces the ad viewer to purchase through the banner or lose out on a price break.It would also have to be on products relatively ordinary and inexpensive. Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense to purchase on the spot.

2007-07-12 17:17:28 UTC

migpwr

Tailgate: Ad banners as interactive flash apps; purchase w/o clickthrough

brlewis

I read through the techcrunch comments and there were some valid points made... one that stuck out to me was one where a guy said he'd sign up for something but wouldnt buy anything.I share that same feeling... I'd sign up for something but I wouldn't buy anything through it.

2007-07-12 17:38:19 UTC

snorkel

5 business lessons from Costco

dawie

Cosco's real secret is selling common household items less per unit but packaged in bulk thereby forcing the customer to actually buy more. A similar pricing structure in the online world is web hosting for only $7/month "WOW!! That's cheap!!!" ( your signup choices are $7/month for 36 months + $120 setup charge, $15/month for 24 months + no setup fee, or $20/month for 12 months + $40 setup fee) It's a strategy of getting the typical customer to spend more per sale.

2007-07-12 17:55:03 UTC

brlewis

The Web in 1994 (Video)

pg

If you know RCS, you can look at the evolution of WWW software development from the end of 1994 until May, 1997:wget http://web.mit.edu/wwwdev/www/RCS/brlewis.html,v

2007-07-12 18:29:16 UTC

vlad

The Web in 1994 (Video)

pg

It would be funny if there was a video about facebook. "This is Facebook. You can connect with your friends and see what they've been up to. Imagine the possibilities." - 2006.Ten years later, the young people who would then be in their mid-20s would laugh at the people who did not realize its potential when they were 15. Duh!To most of us, the web is obvious, and even Google seems obvious because many web portals and web directories existed with search ability--Google was just making it better--but to think of Facebook being huge is just not obvious to us. But, to the 14 year olds growing up, Facebook and MySpace are important for many things where Google is just good for researching stuff and images for school, and Wikipedia is good for getting basic information for school projects. In other words, I don't think most young people care about Google's apps other than search. (Sure, they might use Maps, but via embedded javascript in Facebook and MySpace in the future, and the Treos and iPhone come standard with a native GMaps application already.)

2007-07-12 19:14:12 UTC

brett

PG: What's your current take on reddit's comment system?

brett

While reddit's comment system is obviously an improvement over Slashdot's, I'm increasingly convinced that community makeup is far more important than the tool it uses.

While reddit's comment system is obviously an improvement over Slashdot's, I'm increasingly convinced that the community is more important than the tool.

2007-07-12 19:36:59 UTC

brett

PG: What's your current take on reddit's comment system?

brett

Incidentally I came across this while trying to find information about how reddit stores threaded comments. I've read they use postgres and while I've also read about many workable techniques to force hierarchical (and frequently reordered) comments into a relational db these solutions all sort of make me cringe. I'd welcome anyone's ideas here as well.

While reddit's comment system is obviously an improvement over Slashdot's, I'm increasingly convinced that the community is more important than the tool.

2007-07-12 19:39:41 UTC

transburgh

PG: What's your current take on reddit's comment system?

brett

The one issue I have with the comments are they are not in chronological order and reorganize as new posts are added. It is annoying to figure which messages you have already read and which you have not since they are all mixed together. A simply chronological thread would be nice.

While reddit's comment system is obviously an improvement over Slashdot's, I'm increasingly convinced that the community is more important than the tool.

2007-07-12 20:12:10 UTC

henryw

Help with a JavaScript Drop-Down Menu

myoung8

The new Dreamweaver CS3 comes with a Spry menu widget, which is probably the easiest to use. You could download a demo here: http://www.download.com/3000-2048_4-10701454.htmljQuery has some really cool plugins, which include menu related. http://docs.jquery.com/PluginsOr use some not so new codes from dynamicdrive.com: http://dynamicdrive.com/dynamicindex1/index.html

Does anyone know if there's a tutorial somewhere on how to build the kind of drop-down menus seen on Facebook and Versionate?

2007-07-12 20:22:14 UTC

henryw

Web Application Form Design

nickb

here's a link to a portfolio of nice application interfaces from the author of this article: http://www.lukew.com/portfolio/web_applications.asp

2007-07-12 21:56:50 UTC

Alex3917

PG: What's your current take on reddit's comment system?

brett

On the topic of community makeup, here are some interesting findings that come from Yahoo's social scientists (using Yahoo lists as the dataset):1) Small groups have higher numbers of core users2) Private and semi-public groups have higher numbers of core users than public groups3) People in private groups remain in the core for longer4) A user who is in the core of one group is more likely to become a member of the core when joining another group5) New members who eventually become part of the core are more likely to receive messages from other users who have been long-time core users6) New members who eventually become light users are more likely to receive messages from other light users, if they receive replies at all.This suggests some strategies for building a strong group of core users to transmit social norms. For example, having an idea of who the core users are in other similar communities and making a special effort to reach out to them if they visit your site.Unhappily I lost the original paper and all I have are my notes, so I don't know exactly how they defined the core users offhand.

While reddit's comment system is obviously an improvement over Slashdot's, I'm increasingly convinced that the community is more important than the tool.

2007-07-12 22:21:23 UTC

gibsonf1

Feedback on startup name "Mindrosia" & logo suggestions

amichail

My first reaction is that the word is elegant but with 4 syllables is a lot to ask. It seems like the most successful names are simple with fewer syllables making it easy to remember.For the logo, there is a visual conflict between the abstracted lines of text and the "study stickies". Maybe if you choose either just the lines or the letters that would help, or you could differentiate the two more with thinner abstract text and thicker font lettering. For the small version, you could just use the open book look with an abbreviation of your name. We did a similar thing at http://www.streamfocus.com (see the little logo in the address bar)

I was wondering whether this would be a good name to use for my Study Stickies service. It sounds cooler to me although I'm not sure as to the sorts of connotations people would associate with this name.I'm also trying to come up with a logo for this service. Any suggestions? The logo at http://studystickies.com doesn't look good when small (e.g., for an icon).

2007-07-12 22:29:06 UTC

naivehs

PG: What's your current take on reddit's comment system?

brett

I would like if there is a function to hide and expand the comments. For example one click on a comment will hide itself and all its sub-comments. It is a good way to organize the discussions, and I always believe a website is at its best when scrolling is minimized.

While reddit's comment system is obviously an improvement over Slashdot's, I'm increasingly convinced that the community is more important than the tool.

2007-07-12 23:04:29 UTC

acgourley

PG: What's your current take on reddit's comment system?

brett

I have the same problem with reddit and digg: I like to read exceptionally downmodded comments. When comments get modded down so much that they are not displayed, and also they generate a lot of responses, it's the kind of thing I can help but look at. Like a train wreck I suppose. It actually sucks me into the troll MORE when they get such special highlighting. I should say I do like how top level troll posts get put at the bottom for reddit.

While reddit's comment system is obviously an improvement over Slashdot's, I'm increasingly convinced that the community is more important than the tool.

2007-07-12 23:18:56 UTC

acgourley

PG: What's your current take on reddit's comment system?

brett

If anyone is interested in a blog post about the problems with comment and forum systems in general, here is something I wrote on the subject: http://www.digitalkarate.net/?p=20

While reddit's comment system is obviously an improvement over Slashdot's, I'm increasingly convinced that the community is more important than the tool.

2007-07-12 23:20:44 UTC

epi0Bauqu

Feedback on startup name "Mindrosia" & logo suggestions

amichail

I like Study Stickies much better. There is always some benefit of telling you what it is right in the name. Also, Mindrosia in my opinion is one of those names that people just aren't going to be able to pronounce or spell right. My first startup was called learnection (learning + connection) and we constantly had this problem. Of course, if people aren't saying or spelling it that is one thing, but I wouldn't want to close off that route.As for the icon, it doesn't have to be the same as the logo. Why not just make the icon a post-it note. (I say this not really understanding the service yet, so feel free to ignore.)

I was wondering whether this would be a good name to use for my Study Stickies service. It sounds cooler to me although I'm not sure as to the sorts of connotations people would associate with this name.I'm also trying to come up with a logo for this service. Any suggestions? The logo at http://studystickies.com doesn't look good when small (e.g., for an icon).

2007-07-13 00:10:48 UTC

collision

Auctomatic featured in The Irish Times

collision

It's behind a subscription wall so we linked to a screenshot. Are we bad people?

2007-07-13 01:10:01 UTC

adrianoh

Advice on web-app credit card processing and invoicing?

tacoma_wa_dev

Try WorldPay! www.worldpay.com

I am developing a niche business web-application targeted at machine shops with fewer than 10 employees. I am charging a flat-rate of $5/day for the web application with an unlimited number of users. Customers pay up front for however many days they want. They can purchase additional days whenever they want. There is no automatic recurring billing -- the web app is simply 'paused' when it runs out of days.What is the best way to go about handling credit/debit card processing and invoicing for this?I'm playing around with using Paypal Website Payments Standard with encrypted 'buy it now' buttons and Instant Payment Notification (IPN). However, the user-experience for credit-card payments with PayPal is lacking. Specifically, Paypal does not auto-redirect users back to my website if they use a credit card (auto-redirect works only with PayPal payments). What other payment processing solutions should I be looking at? Unforunately, Google Checkout seems to be behind PayPal in terms of multiple-currency support.Thanks in advance!

2007-07-13 01:30:51 UTC

agentsully

New all-in-one blog widget combines brag badge, analytics tool and social bookmarking buttons

deramisan

check this out for sure!

2007-07-13 01:46:56 UTC

far33d

Something simple to focus on to increase B2B sales

jslogan

I thought the acronym B2B went out of style in 2000?

2007-07-13 02:49:24 UTC

staunch

Small before big

dawie

Just like focusing on a tiny idea is immensely difficult (and powerful), so is trying to focus on a few users. The temptation in both cases is to hedge your bets by concentrating on more.This applies perfectly to my soon-to-launch project. My partner and I have made a conscious decision to shut ourselves up about taking over the world and just concentrate on getting a few core users that are in love with our product. Stage 1.

2007-07-13 02:51:36 UTC

snoopdogg123

New all-in-one blog widget combines brag badge, analytics tool and social bookmarking buttons

deramisan

Can't wait for the initial release!

2007-07-13 03:29:12 UTC

mikesabat

Internet Startup Teams: 14 Essential Qualities for Each Founder & Team Size

epi0Bauqu

I just wrote a comment on my site. I think that someone needs to spread the word about the product - more than just emails. The list focuses on development and cooperation, but there needs to be passion and a voice - a right brain. Thanks for the post.Here are some thoughts. mikesabat.wordpress.com

2007-07-13 04:19:22 UTC

deramisan

New all-in-one blog widget combines brag badge, analytics tool and social bookmarking buttons

deramisan

Be sure to check out the Romlet on the sidebar of the site that is linked to - though that's just one version (the other can be seen in preview format on Romlet.com)

2007-07-13 04:37:13 UTC

drusenko

Auctomatic featured in The Irish Times

collision

nice writeup!

2007-07-13 04:48:18 UTC

SwellJoe

Something simple to focus on to increase B2B sales

jslogan

There's nothing there. It's a single paragraph, surrounded by ads, that says absolutely nothing of value. It's grammatically correct. English is fine. But it says nothing.

2007-07-13 05:55:48 UTC

Tichy

Andrew Chen: What's your viral loop? Understanding the engine of adoption

andrew_null

Does anybody else feel slightly uneasy about the modern practice of requesting user account information to gather all social links of a user (email is worse than MySpace, I guess, but still). I wouldn't want my friends to submit my email-address anywhere, it is hard enough to keep spam in check as it is.Also I think just having such a pesky "recommend me" form is not all there is to viral marketing. Some products can also be inherently viral, if they require several people to use. An example would be a multiplayer computer game. Slideshows and Photos are not that viral in comparison, because you can just watch photos passively.

2007-07-13 11:21:55 UTC

farmer

Get ready lots of stories about Myspace

farmer

right on schedule:http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33960

2007-07-13 13:09:12 UTC

brlewis

How do you register domains for your users?

henryw

Check out opensrs if you want to register domains for them. If the price is too high for you, you'll just have to give them instructions how to point their nameservers.

I want to be able to register domains for my customers and just have their nameservers point to mine nameserver. Does anyone know how to do this? Thanks in advanced.

2007-07-13 13:23:24 UTC

steve

Andrew Chen: What's your viral loop? Understanding the engine of adoption

andrew_null

Article would have been useful with many more examples.

2007-07-13 14:06:21 UTC

marketer

Social Networks for Developers

thinkingserious

Most of these are online communities, but not exactly social networks, at least in the facebook sense. Advogato is close, but it focuses on open source.

Here are ten social networks every developer should check out.

2007-07-13 14:14:08 UTC

dpapathanasiou

Mythbusting: Why Facebook isn't the reincarnation of Google

nickb

Another way of putting it:Banner ads on Facebook is a dumb way to monetize. Same on MySpace. People don't pay attention to banner ads on social networks because they are too busy paying attention to EACH OTHER. It's no surprise that people are complaining about low click through rates on Facebook display ads. But that doesn't mean that Facebook won't figure out how to monetize its growing userbase.it's clear that Facebook and other social networks are in need of the aha moment that happened at Google when someone realized -- hey, if we rank the ads based on RELEVANCE as well as price bid, then people would be more likely to actually CLICK on the ad, and we'd make more money.(from: http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2007/07/13/facebook-monetizatio...)

2007-07-13 15:48:09 UTC

dpapathanasiou

Google the Pimp Strikes Again with More Porn!

dpapathanasiou

For those who think Google's core service cannot be improved, or that Google is invulnerable...

For those who think Google's core service can't be improved, or that it's not vulnerable...

2007-07-13 15:51:32 UTC

cmars232

Up with Downfly

bootload

Unfortunate name!

2007-07-13 16:13:02 UTC

acgourley

Your bank has a REST API now

dawie

Interesting... Seems like wesabe has a lot of interesting information at their disposal but I keep having trouble thinking of a concrete and useful task for it. There must be some good ideas there though.

2007-07-13 16:40:53 UTC

mdolon

3 days and InviteShare already up for sale?

mdolon

This seems like a candid business effort in itself - develop a small web business/app over the course of a month and sell it early for a quick, cheap exit.It's not really a bad idea if trying to raise some money for a very strong idea, if you don't mistakenly sell it like everything else that is.

2007-07-13 16:43:51 UTC