skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I learned how to write code using VB and MS Excel, simply because that's what I had at the time. If I had not started with those, I would have never found out that I like programming, and I would never have written code under open-source systems.

Yeah, it's BS. It's the old "only people who do X can be in club Y" thing. But your comment would have been taken more seriously if you had backed it up with strong evidence.
How about used to play?

In order of proficiency: Violin (12 years), Piano (16), Cello (3), Viola (3), Mandolin (2).
I think money has a lot to do with it. Founders work only for equity until the company has traction. Employees expect to be paid.
Markdown Simplifies Writing for the Web
Axod is mentioned in the article and his site, mibbit.com has over 100k uniques on compete. Are you saying he is in-experienced?
"I think it's supposed to be anonymous to GoogleBot + 4chan, not to Facebook."

I would hope it's supposed to be anonymous to Facebook - after all, there were some fairly frank discussions on topics that aren't exactly public knowledge (e.g., Facebook tracking clicks and other little bits of things that really should be revealed by PR, not an employee in an unsanctioned conversation).

"Who's to say 'she' isn't a composite or fabricated anyway?"

Well, in that case the author never visited Facebook's offices - that's the detail that gives away the employee's identity. Given the level of detail gone into by the author, I doubt this is fabricated.

It would probably be better for everyone if it were, though, because he just made a real big boo-boo that will probably cost someone their job.
Out of curiosity, not being a wind player myself, how do you "pitch bend" on an Irish whistle? I've always wondered, and find the effect rather delicious to hear.
How Internet can make agric markets in developing world more efficient
I am a single founder because I don't think I would find a founder that would work equally harder, and have equally deep experience on the subject or simply be equally relentlessly resourceful.

I found that the only thing that makes me significantly upset in the startup is people I deal with. Working with another founder I bet would create a lot of conflicts.
The earlier examples (1-3) would all fail the strict pragma (variables are all global!).
Excellent piece from a highly informed source but I think the negative economic effects of the bridge note are highly exaggerated by the use of artificial examples (how many Series A rounds have you heard of that go for $50M at $100M valuations?).

In practice, bridge investors who put up $500K will typically get their 10% or so of the company when the $4M-$5M Series A round is done and they will then tend to benefit as indicated in the second example given in this piece when the larger B round comes.

I don't disagree that the economics of bridge notes clearly favor the company. I just don't think it is as extreme as here indicated and, for this reason, such notes tend to be widely used in the startup world (they do have their clear advantages as well - some of which are discussed here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=761767).
Looks great, I just can't figure out how to actually add any data.
Looks like there is no specific license yet ...
I am a senior in college majoring in computer science and minoring in clarinet performance. I have been playing since 5th grade and I also play saxophone.

cool to see how many musicians are out there on HN
Ah, so it's a BB app which I guess I photograph the receipts with? Also, not digging the password via email thing.
You're probably thinking of Buffett Partnership, an investment fund which he ran largely by himself, using friends' and family money as initial capital.

Berkshire Hathaway is a textile mill that Buffett turned into an investment company, but by then he had been a successful investor for over 10 years.
All data is added via Blackberry right now. Email soon.
He and Munger were friends and colleagues earlier than that. I think they were in contact in the 50's.
We like the PW via email to shorten the registration process.

Also, it lets us make the 'Share' button much more powerful. This way, we can have someone share an account with a friend and deliver them a fully functional account with no signup.
I saw an advert on Lovefilm, basically McDonald's waffling on about promoting Avatar. McDonald's are the essence of evil capitalism, wrecking the environment and people's health, yet Cameron let them promote his film.
How can HN users get in touch with you?
Not sure how it shortens my signup, but interesting point re: the "share" feature. At first glance made me think "oh I hope they're not storing passwords in plaintext".
Nice homepage. Some screenshots would be very helpful in evaluating the product.

Not sure if you've considered different business models, but mint.com's strategy of offering cost saving alternatives could work well here. Something like "you've spent 500 on office supplies this month.. did you know you could save $300/year with an OfficeMax mastercard? [affiliate link here]"
No! You could also be too greedy to share or too mistrustful to believe others won't screw up your idea.

Seriously, why so negative? It's not like five are necessarily better than two.
The site is really clean and well designed. How do you guys differ from http://www.shoeboxed.com?
My Dad used to work for IDRC (www.idrc.ca) and he told me a story about one of his earliest (and happiest) development projects. It's very simple: broadcast actual market price information over radio to farmers in remote rural African areas. In this way, the farmers had enough information to tell the middle man to stuff it when they were offered extremely low (< 1%) of market value for their food. Their wages increased ~10x over the next season.

tl;dr: information symmetry is good for the end of the chains (initial producers, end consumers)
Compete makes it look bad! http://www.quantcast.com/mibbit.com FTW :)

I haven't employed anyone, but I'd say if the only thing you need is to 'speed up' as OP says, employing someone is probably the way to go. If you're still feeling your way around finding traction then maybe a cofounder. But this is just my 2c.
If not the interviewees. I was reading this and thinking "holy crap this is a meaty interview" while simultaneously thinking "there's no way Mark won't find this girl and gut her."

Maybe not because the information she gave was all that important (although the HPHP thing certainly is an interesting piece of information), but to make an example to other employees about babbling on about the internal workings of their enterprise.

Chief Privacy Officer Chris Kelly might be paying her a visit shortly.
Sure, but that's trivially fixable with a few my's scattered around. It doesn't change the character of the solution, which is why I thought the complaints were mostly straw men. Sure, you can do dumb stuff in perl, and people might have written like that. But that by itself isn't an argument for "new style perl" (which specifically seems to mean Moose here). You can also write clean and clear perl in "90's style".
Yes I like that, and may steal it for the future. :)
We've certainly been talking about the idea. I think that this is positioned a little differently from Mint. People are far more willing to pay for business software (especially the kind that cuts down on manual labour) than they are on personal efficiency software.

I think that leaves us some room to charge a reasonable monthly fee for some premium features. That is an easier, and more direct, business model.

The Mint-style stuff might come later if we have a big enough audience.
What are you doing right now? A job? if so, work and save until you make that $24K and then buy your own time.
How advantageous something would be when "fully evolved" shouldn't affect the chances of evolution, I think. The advantages of the incremental steps are the important.
Cool service! Too bad my power company hung up on lucyphone instead of doing whatever is needed for me to get a callback.

How is monetization planned? Targeted ads based on who is being called? Selling lucyphone service to companies to manage wait queues? All of the above?

On a related vein, why doesn't any company sell an asterisk add on that says "your menu choices have been noted.You will now be put on hold A csr will be w/ you in approximately X minutes. Alternatively our csr will call you back at $calling-number as in that same time frame -- press foo"

edit: if they do, how come no big companies buy such a thing? doesn't the cost of callback get absorbed by the reduction in idling "wait queue" lines?
I'm working full-time right now. Unfortunately I don't think I'm going to be able to bear to stay in my current job much longer, which is the main reason I'm trying to work out alternatives for a quick way out...
No, I also thought that the first example was the most clear, assuming you know how a hash table is typically used in Perl. One of the reasons I like Perl is you can frequently solve problems with the built in data structures, you don't have to get your head around someone's attempt to model out every bit with an object.
I'm thinking of going back to college, can I get some advice?
I dont think there's a better place on the internet to ask this question!

I'm interested in computer programming but I have little experience in it. My previous degree was in quantity surveying, sort of construction related applied accounting, but here in ireland the construction industry has been wiped out so Im considering a career change. I'm 23.

Im thinking about going back to college, and getting a degree, possibly in computer science, but apart from knowing how to make basic websites in html and messing around with Ruby a little bit I have very little knowledge in programming.

I think what I might be interested in is making my own programs and web applications, although this is just a thought.

So my question to you is, what areas in computer programming are going to be in demand in the coming years, what areas are you interested in personally that you think are good niches to focus a career in, and would you recommend a college degree as the first step in pursuing this career?

And advice is greatly appreciated, and I apologize if any of my questions sound strange. Thanks.
Yeah, I'm definitely looking at that. Decreasing my spending has been a big goal over the last year and I think I'm going to make it even more of a priority this year.
Fake (Malicious) Mobile Banking App Discovered in Android Marketplace
Personally I much prefer to be a single founder. If you have the technical skills, the rest can be learned. Not saying the business side of a startup is less important, just that it is easier and quicker to learn.
That is basically what I'm doing at the moment. The main reason that I feel that it's not working out for me is because I feel like I'm losing momentum.

On the other hand my day-job has been the source of inspiration for a few of my side-projects... It's always achieving the balance that is difficult...
I own the Kindle and I've played with the Nook.

Nook felt odd, the touch screen wasn't very responsive and I had to press twice a few times. It felt a bit heavier too.

In regards to the features you want: Kindle boot-up is instant with a flickr (~2 seconds max) if coming from standby, which it goes into when you just leave it there after reading (or manually place it). Battery life is ok, but not the 3 weeks it's advertised as. Dictionary is a snap, just point the cursor to the word you need to know about and a little blurb shows up on the bottom of the screen; Simply beautiful and you can expand it to view more of the definition. Variety of book types are ok. PDF support is available, but I haven't used it yet because Kindle for Mac isn't out yet.

My girlfriend has been using the Kindle a lot as well for reading novels, myself mostly the paper and we both are in love with it. There's a lot of small, neat things that it does a good job at, while being awesome at being a reading device that you can forget about and focus on your material.
How annoying.

If at the time of purchase you ask the sales clerk how to verify the balance and how soon it can be verified, they would be unlikely to sell you a worthless card.
I would say:
- release the API
- make an iphone app
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth
Classical guitar, electric guitar, 12-string guitar, folk guitar (in standard and some alternate tunings), 5-string banjo (clawhammer style), 5-string bass and learning the erhu and drums now. Yeah!
I do have some savings, but they're fairly measly at the moment due to complications earlier in the year.

What I'm looking at doing is selling of all of the stuff that I don't really need (that giant TV, part of my vintage guitar collection, etc...). I think of it as trading possessions for freedom.

I'm also looking to see if I can retrieve my past superannuation payments from Australia, which would help quite a lot...
"I don’t think there’s any question that Stanford is the number one CS department in the world."

Whomever it is certainly is a Stanford graduate :-)
And why not? If you made a propaganda piece to point out the flaws in a certain sector of society, wouldn't it be deliciously ironic if you could get that sector to promote and pay for it?
Not only is monomyth the first thing you learn when you learn about script writing formulas, there are actually applications out there that can assist you in developing dramatic arcs. Sort of like a sketchbook for writing.
Guitar, trumpet, and flute
I was a single founder when I started in 1994. Since then, I have had several businesses - none of them have been $10m businesses, but they have brought in great income. I grew two of them and then installed managers to take them forward - I still own them. Some thoughts from me:

1) I tried co-founders, but found that they didn't work as hard as me. Most people like to be lazy, so finding someone with the same work-ethic is difficult

2) I want to make decisions quickly and having a co-founder could slow that down for me

3) Employ people quickly who can help you. You don't need to give up part of your business to get good people. What motivates people is not just money - its often pride in a good job, good working conditions etc. I always run a very flexible in terms of time that people work. They work when they want and always get the job done

4) Don't be afraid to fire people. There are "givers" and "takers". I always fire takers as soon as I recognize them.
I am really let down by the answer to this poster.
If you follow a tutorial on becoming a hacker than you are most likely not (and won't be) a hacker. Being a hacker is a state of mind.
That is an interesting question, but I don't think it is the right one. California can innovate and do better. Where there is waste it may be worth eliminating, even if it is a below average amount of waste.

If you are talking about federal taxes, then the answer is certainly yes. Californian's pay a lot more in federal taxes than they receive in services from the federal government relative to other states. This may be related to the fact that they have less federal senate votes per resident than most states.

Does incarcerating someone count as a service? California has a large prison population. I would argue that significantly as a result of federal drug policies.

The article was pretty light on the detail of where the money goes.
The guy on the picture is using a PC!
Avoid being honest? And what does that have to do with his price point comment? You can be honest and still charge someone more than something costs... I'd say it's almost dishonest not to. It's called charging for your time/work,etc?
Huge amen. This is a fascinating article that wasted a bunch of my time, because I haven't even written Javascript for quite a while :)

Thanks, Ryan!
I read this 6 years ago, and got me into Python, all I have to say is: thank you Eric S Raymond
You pretty much gave away the answer with the title of the posting, for what it's worth.
Doomsday Clock to Change This Week
Poll: Are you a sole founder, co-founder or neither?
Based on the original thread, I'd like to see how the stats break down.
Sole Founder
Co-Founder
My Mom would only resort to formal salutations when she noticed that some household device was now behaving somewhat, um, different.
Yeah, I play strings and I hated that scene. You can even deduce from this scene that Depardieu hasn't learned to play any type of instrument, which can be said for a lot of Hollywood actors faking it on camera.

Although, there is the rare breed of actor that plays an instrument.
The Moose example separates the business & display logic. So its easy to slot in another display class when needed:

extends qw(AnimalsGame HTMLGame);

NB. Personally I would probably have used roles rather than multiple inheritance though.
Yeah I need to get on quantcast.com too, the Nov/Dec numbers are way off for me.
One option is moving to another country for those six months. Costa Rica, Chile, Argentina if you want stay in the Americas. Thailand, Philipines, India, China if you want to go to Asia. If you don't own a house, this is a good option. Sell your car & you'll have the money.
and if you were part of that sector, wouldn't it be deliciously ironic to promote, pay for, and profit from the piece?
I agree, my wife, who is not from North America originally, saw the Na'vi as "Africans".
Ugh. Plurality voting. I built an election web service to fix this kind of thing: http://github.com/bradbeattie/Election-Web-Service.
My BlackBerry Storm 9530 v4.7.0.148 is giving me the error "Uncaught exception: java.lang.NullPointerException" when I try to send in a receipt with the app. Also, when I try to submit from the "Add more details" screen, my BB menu is activated and no submission occurs.

EDIT: I do really like the app overall though. You've definitely got me on the hook with your design and copy.
No, I had people asking to join me. I was not interested.
Musical saw, melodica, accordion, and guitar. Ordered in personal skill level, best to worst.
Thanks for this. As a father of a 15 month old daughter I thank everyone that voted for any of these fine career choices.
Move somewhere cheap, like detroit and get a dumpy apartment.
The point I was trying (and I think succeeded) to make is that by employing TDD you automatically have more test coverage and therefore make refactoring and keeping your code clean that much easier.
Stock photos strike again...
Compiled code? Persisting Data: TBD? I think I'll stick to Rails for now. This does sound like an interesting piece of software, though.
I was a single founder for a while. I farmed out a few projects and just happened to find a good coder and good person to start a company with..

Maybe it's something that should just happen organically? Has anyone met a cofounder at a mixer or cofounder matching site that worked out well?
I would love for people to write their web apps using this framework, then pay me to pentest them.
Do Technics 1200's count ?
Agreed. That's why if you check out the concept of virtual company, it's a great way to start working with someone else with limited committment.

To me, first and foremost, the fact that you don't have any out of pocket expenses is a good thing, it eliminates one barrier to entry. Virtual companies achieve that. In comparison, joining a "real" incorporated startup as co-founder, the first thing you do is split the legal costs and buy your shares. So right there, a few thousand dollars before you even know if you should work together. And there is no "undo" button, unlike virtual companies.

That's also why in the co-founders meetup I ask the presenters to not only present their business, but reveal a bit of their own personality. I believe that compatibility as co-founders comes equally from being passionate about the same things but also being compatible personality-wise (read this http://blog.fairsoftware.net/2009/11/19/first-co-founders-me... for more on the topic).
What do people consider a fair ski conditions report site?
Me. I'm working on my first, looking for help, but that good match is hard to find.

So, are we going to do something about this (like a support group or something) this or will this just die out after this thread?
super idea. needs more direction right after you register, remember nobody wants to think about things - thats exactly what you are tapping here.
Zero problems with the phone so far, I'm in NYC. Spent the weekend in VT and worked fine there as well.
I have a fairly solid startup idea that I would like to pursue. Is it better to take the leap (i.e. should I give my 2 weeks notice from my current job), create a rough prototype of the product and then try to find co-founders based on the prototype? Or is better for me to try to find a co-founder that I can convince to help me with the idea and then take the leap (i.e. quit day job) to develop the prototype. What's hard for me is that without a 80% working prototype to share with potential co-founders, it's much harder to convince them that the concept is valid via power point slide decks, etc. From reviewing some history on Mint, it seems like Aaron Patzer went solo first, and then convinced people to join him based on his prototype. Are there other success stories like his?
You still need water for photosynthesis.
People didn't build IC fabs in their garages either. But we knew the ins and outs of the hardware. Some things are beyond human ability, but there seems to be much less interest in homebrewing our primary computing devices than I think that should account for.
Similar Hacker News Users
People asked for a similar users tool back in the early days of HN:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=701

And recently, too:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1036247

How does this particular tool work? It's based on the threads a given person comments on, who else comments on those threads, and how the topics and terminology of threads and comments relate to each other. Karma on the relevant threads is used as a subtle authority metric. Incorporating voting relationship histories would almost certainly make the tool better. Particularly at finding interesting (and not merely similar) stuff.

That said, it'll be interesting to hear what folks think.
The Make:Electronics book is probably not what you will want, it is more of an intro to electronics text. If your primary interest is the arduino and you are relatively comfortable with a soldering iron and circuit diagram then the book you are probably looking for is "Making Things Talk" (also from ORA.)
grab here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1032699

you could have a syntax so that once someone leaves a project, you'll go back and scan their HN profile for changes. Or else just a way for someone to leave their username and the site will go out and scan the profile page, either once or periodically as per user setting (which can even be on the HN profile page)
Misko Hevery - Design for Testability
I use XpenseTracker, an iphone app simply because it allows me to shoot a picture of the receipt and build an expense report as I travel. You can compare and tell me.
Personally it freaks me out that someone can create am account on my behalf. I don't like that. But i'm sure your user experience researh has shown you that I am in the minority, soi guess I just have to deal with it.
Sorry, totally not what I meant, although I can see how it could be understood the way you did.

I just wanted to see further discussion of co-founder vs. employee (#1). I tried to ask it in an enthusiastic way.

This is why I'm single, I guess. :)
My start up went through several stages of site monitoring. First I'd set up a script that curled a couple URLs and emailed me if it didn't work. I wanted slightly more sophisticated monitoring and I wanted text messages. So I tried to install Nagios. It was a pain and I never got it set up.

Then SiteCanary posted their launch here. I signed up that day and never thought about monitoring again. It's worth every penny (and it's really cheap). I'm sure I'd otherwise be spending at least an hour a month on monitoring.
CES2010 Wrap-up In Pictures