skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Couple of thoughts: one, just because they've raised 11 million, doesn't mean that they've actually used all of it. Granted, having 40+ employees (according to their About Us page), is a significant drain on their cashflow, but I haven't seen what their earnings are. It's possible that they haven't used up their funding completely (or at all).

Two, I'm totally with you on the value to founders between taking lots of funding and getting a massive exit vs. taking a little bit of funding and having a lower exit. It may not translate into two radically different paydays. If anyone has any more insight into this, I'd be interested to know.
shut up and do the research before ranting. There's RubyCocoa and PyObjc, both of which will most likely 10x their popularity in a yr after yesterday's announcement. And no one is stopping anyone from making other obj-c bridges. And remember, this is only the beginning, Apple may allow other platforms in years to come after they do more analysis of pros and cons of allowing them and after the iphone catches up to the PC computing power w/o the heat/battery issues.
Applied Metamodelling: A Foundation for Language Driven Development
Check out the MacBreak Weekly Picks. MBW is probably the best Mac podcast out there. The hosts recommend a product each week.

http://mbwpicks.com/
Personally, I got a macbook for the amazing hardware design. It is one of the few laptops I have seen which is sleek, beautiful, and very very effective. The laptop is very well designed. OS X is also well designed but for a different demographic. Thats why I use Linux for the software. Still, the hardware design is amazing.
I tried to switch over to a mac a year ago. It didn't work, so I switched back after three months. I found that a lot of little things were annoying, and made me spend more time than I needed on doing trivial things sucha as resizing of windows. On mac it can only be done from one corner, on windows from all four. There are lots of these little things that mean you have to spend three clicks instead of two. I see why they make sense if you're a beginner - it's almost impossible to do anything wrong. Other things that annoy me the fact that it is impossible to find a lot of the little shareware programs I use under windows, and that their equivalent of Outlook really sucks. And I simply don't understand why there is only one mousebutton. That alone was enough to switch back.

Overall my opinion of macs is that they are excellent for beginners, and for looking cool in the cafes but for me it simply didn't make the cut for serious work.

I don't code, but work in outlook, excel, word and a browser. This might make make a difference.
How To Launch a Startup: Ideas, Acceleration, Raising Capital and More
Chris Jermaine has done some interesting work in giving DBMSs support for approximate query answers.

http://www.cise.ufl.edu/~cjermain/OLA
When Linux can get it's GUI in shape, I will gladly move to it. I will miss TextMate dearly, but I will use Linux when the GUI (Gnome and KDE) people can get this one thing correct:

Separation between line editing commands, and GUI commands.

It is very simple. What happens on Linux when you are in Thunderbird and you do "^a"? It selects all! What happens when you do that on the command line? It takes you to the beginning of the line! Why a different experience for the exact same universal command?

On a Mac, "^a" always brings you to the beginning of the line, whether you are in Terminal, a Safari text edit box, a Mail email message, etc. "command a" always selects all, whether you are in Terminal, a Safari text edit box, a Mail email message, etc. The same goes for "^k", "^y", "^e", etc.

Cocoa uses basic Emacs bindings, and the user experience because of it is hands down better. I drove myself nuts on Windows for 3 months, then Linux for 8 until I told my employer that I either get a Mac or I leave. They gave me a Mac. My hands, brain, productivity, and my employer are all better off as a result.
You wouldn't even get the write up from me for $300, but I live in Vancouver, Canada.

People living in Bangladesh could probably stretch that $300 a lot further, (maybe even a month?) so any understanding of ethics should be based on exactly how much that $300 is worth to the individual on the other end. If the man needs to work 9 days and earns barely enough for lunches for the period, then it's unethical.

If he can pay rent on 9 days work @ $300, I'm not sure how it can be seen as being so.
That was a great article (especially in conjunction with what I wrote) and I think you might have inspired another essay from me!
Structure your data (both on your data base and in your programs) AS IF you already had billions of records. Do this from the start. It takes no more time than throwing something together now. It will definitely save you lots of time later.

Also, MINIMIZE the amount of data that travels between client and server, either way, ever. If you don't now, you won't notice the hit in your test environment, but you will notice it later. The problem then may be a lot of restructuring and rewriting.
I can also do this in IntelliJ (using my Arc plugin).
I just love the title of this article so much.
I'd also wager STI's make more money for manufacturers.
http://www.mibbit.com of course ;) why install a desktop IRC client :/
It strikes me as odd that you've been noodling for 6 years an idea that needs programmers to implement, but you haven't become a programmer yourself in all that time.

Do you have any idea how many "Learn X in 21 Days" books you can read in 6 years? :-)
why install an IRC client when you can just http://www.mibbit.com :)
Hey, I remember upgrading from my thoroughly cool //e to my first Mac -- they were VERY cool at the start. Macs were more like a cool band that has a huge first album, kind of loses their way for a couple of records and then gets the mojo back with a monster record that leaves everybody nodding, "I love these guys!"
you don't mind not having page-up/page-down keys?
DHTML Decision-making grid
wrong. If you know your loops is going to go thru max a hundred of times, then just don't optimizing, as it would be a n overkill.

if you know your loop might iterate up to thousands, then it is time to seek some better algorithms.
Good for you. I started out on a T20 (I'm old). Still have it. Still love it. One of these days I'll move up to a T60 or whatever. For now, T42 still kicks a$$.
Enterprise IT departments, regardless of what they use (especially if they use neither!). By asking people on Blackberry-specific forums, he's targeting people who have already made an investment in some Blackberries.
i visited once and kind of liked it.
I don't think it's as good a desktop experience as OSX, but for a hacker, Ubuntu isn't half bad, and continues to improve by leaps and bounds. Less and less 'sysadmin crap' is necessary these days.

And you can get an Ubuntu machine from Dell that is very well supported.

I wouldn't recommend it to my parents, just yet (they're happy with OSX), but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Dell+Ubuntu to people here. It might not be as sexy, but it's a setup that works pretty well. I had a tibook a number of years ago, and while it was certainly a beautiful machine that got lots of looks, in the end, I'm just as happy with my ugly clunky (but cheap and well supported) Dell.
In Silicon Valley, a Flight to Safety
Have you tried the latest Ubuntu?
> 'budding hackers' nowadays coding on a Macbook

Why hack on a laptop? Why not use a desktop that's much cheaper, much more powerful, much more reliable, and easy to fix in one day? You can get two for the price of a new laptop.

If you're on the road with sufficient frequency that you actually need a laptop to work then you're probably a salesman or manager, not a hacker.

I can get to all my data from any machine: everything is on the web or accessible by ssh. I don't need to lug one with me. Paper works fine for the occasional six hour period away from a machine.

I do have an old laptop I sync to my desktop with unison to use on the road when need be, but that's just not very often.
Scary analogy.

I remember a friend who was an early CB radio adopter. It was so cool riding around, talking to the few other early adopters or truckers. We'd look at all the other drivers who didn't have a clue what we were talking about, thinking that they were so lame. A year later, EVERYONE was doing it, so it just wasn't cool anymore.

Social networking going the way of the CB radio? That could be a big 10-4.
The pseudo multi-touch trackpad on the macbook is awesome. It takes away the pain of the one mouse button and makes scrolling a joy. After experiencing that trackpad, no other trackpad even comes close (though I bet the one on the macbook air is even more of a joy to use)
This is horrible. One of the nightmares of J2ME, is updating the app. When you only need just a class file or little functionality updated, you need to re download the whole app, which is disruptive.
That's why a lot of companies use some kind of scripting in top of j2me for their UI. They can update this scripting on the fly (i.e. If a new dialog box is required, or something else that was not included when shipping). This is by no means any risk to security. As the app has permissions on what it can or cannot do.

What apple is doing basically shutting off a good way to keep an up updated, and forcing everything to go thru their machine.

Very anti progress, and adds more loops for companies to go thru, just as bad as the myriad of carrier restrictions. No wonder "successful mobile statup" is an oxymoronic phrase.

And yes, I hope android eats their lunch. Apple might have the eye candy, but their closed minded thinking will keep their platform at bay.
It seems like a repeat of the pc wars area, and if we learned those lessons, the closed platform lost.
To work with other people wherever they end up. We're not working in some cubicle day in and day out, we need to go to our co-workers and sit there next to them hacking on problems. I prefer hacking on my desktop too, but I could not operate without the ability to take my work with me.
This is known as Conway's Law. Communication problems in a development organization manifest in the designs it produces (an N programmer compiler team needs an N+1 pass compiler). There is also a great passage from "Soul of the Machine" where the Data General guys open up the Vax and see the computer hardware design replicates DEC's organizational structure.

http://www.amazon.com/Soul-New-Machine-Tracy-Kidder/dp/03807...

from "How Do Committees Invent?" by Melvin E. Conway
at http://www.melconway.com/research/committees.html

The basic thesis of this article is that organizations which design systems (in the broad sense used here) are constrained to produce designs which are copies of the communication structures of these organizations. We have seen that this fact has important implications for the management of system design. Primarily, we have found a criterion for the structuring of design organizations: a design effort should be organized according to the need for communication.
Facebook != the end-all-be-all of social networks

Facebook might get old, but connecting to other human beings over the internet will NEVER get old. If social networks go out of fashion, then it will be replaced by something that brings more intimate connection between one or more human beings via the internet.

Social networks fulfill a need to connect with others that is unparalleled to any other web based piece of software. The same way social networks built upon the portal as a more concrete way of connecting with others, the 'next big thing' will bring that level of connection even closer - if such a thing is ever created...

I find it interesting that social networks are all proclaimed to be doomed to extinction (and this is a meme that has been popping up in the media because of Facebook) yet one of it's ancestors, the message board, still persists to be an important way for people to connect with one another - and I don't hear anybody spelling doom for message boards any time soon!
People used to make this same silly comparison about the Internet itself (when the web was really taking off in 95).
I find a macbook with 2 virtual machines (linux/windows) gives me the power I need, the operating system I love, and the flexibility to develop in any and all environments.

Plus, the size of the macbook is perfect when it's not your primary computer. It's the best piece of hardware I've ever owned.
I would have agreed once upon a time, but now I either use my mighty mouse, or else the two finger tap.
what if my app will never reach a billion records? This seems an overkill.

I think when your program, you should program thinking in a this way: What's the max usage groth I can realisticly predict of happening on the next year?

If in a year you have the good problem as too many people are siging up for your service, there is many ways to keep that groth and performance happening.

Concetrating on having millions of users, when you haven't written a line of code yet, is just an dellusion delaying your progress to even get any users.
GOOG-411 expands outside of United States
> sit there next to them hacking on problems

This is high level design, no? It works fine on paper/white-board. You sit alone to refine it and do any implementation. You pair program on one machine if someone is clueless and being ramped up.
Uh, he's asking for advice now before he spends $2000 or so on a MBP. Of course, if he buys it and hates it, he'll go back to what he is using now.
How odd.

I was meeting my dad in NYC, waiting for him in a Starbucks, gave him the corner it was on. He went to the Starbucks 1 block over. After waiting for me a while, he asked an employee if there were any other Starbuckses nearby, and got a whole list. See also the Simpsons [http://www.snpp.com/episodes/3G04].
Where are you located, if I may ask?
Not everything I do with a computer is programming. For everything else I do, a Mac is perfect. And it's a pretty good dev machine.
gmailer
It can be made a little neater, show off a little more of Python and be more versatile by replacing range(10) with count() from the iterator module [http://docs.python.org/lib/itertools-functions.html]

from itertools import count
words = "zero one two three four five six seven eight nine".split()
word_to_number = dict(zip(words, count()))

[http://codepad.org/naCDzno7]
Fourth Amendment for reference:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

According to the text of this amendment, it looks like it does not apply to what you're describing. The 4th amendment protects citizens from having their governments unreasonably search their property or take it from them.

The thing to notice here is the word, unreasonably. Information volunteered is not considered to be an unreasonable search (Example: You're pulled over and the officer, without cause, attempts to search your car. Unless they have a probable cause they must ask permission. If something is in plain site it is fair game though.)

I don't understand what you mean that everything will be public information. If you're referring to information we voluntarily distribute to companies such as Google and Myspace, it falls under whatever agreement you consented to when you joined their service. That information is still considered private and protected, which is why the authorities must obtain a court order (via: probable cause) to get the information from the service provider.
17 Ways For a Startup To Save Money
Funny how when you are about to buy something expensive as a Macbook Pro you do a lot of research and then you see other people asking a question like this for you.

I'm about to buy a Macbook Pro last-gen and I just thought that was weird!
Synergy of ...

- An apple interface (streamlined and beautiful).

- Awesome performance/security/organization of unix.
HOWTO: Jailbreak 1.1.4 iPhone
Integrated graphics stage a comeback
I used a PowerBook Ti 3.5 1Ghz for 4 years and I loved it. But since most of my programming is in java (whatever), I _had_ to switch. The last year I simply run ubuntu-ppc.

IMO:

The best of apple laptops: (1) long battery life, (2) bright screens, (3) very comfortable keyboards -if you remap the apple keys to control.

The worst of apple laptops: (1) they get burning hot -even new macbook pros; (2) the spinning beachball (of death) can get to your nerves -too much swapping; (3) their sharp edge will hurt your wrists -as opposed to a smoothened, curvy Thinkpad T60 (my current).
I code. I had the exact same experience.

This is two years ago and things might have improved.
But the ports system did not have that much software, I didn't like the feel of the keyboard, it's a huge heat sink (and then in cold NY mornings it would be cold to the touch when I started it), I didn't like the anti-alising, I didn't like the default terminal program (and couldn't be bothered to get a new one ... that was the point of getting a powerbook in the first place - all the supposedly annoying sysadmin things I wouldn't have to do). java support was horrible too (that might be better - and besides this is not a java crowd)

I didn't like all the proprietary formats for iphoto, and itunes either.

oh and yeah. I have a lot of mail. The import into Mail.app took days. It was ok after that. But once again, the mail files use a proprietary tagging system to know when mail is read and what not. It wasn't fun porting that back to maildir.

try ubuntu. you might like.
A Swiss Espresso machine? Banks... ok, chocolate... check. Espresso comes from Italy though:-)
i almost bought a macbook pro for the screen. mac makes it easy for you to get a non glossy high def display. you can now even get LED backlit which should give brighter whites, better contrast, and longer backlight life.

the rest of the manufactures are behind mac in display tech.

i ended up going with a dell precision because of dells support for ubuntu, and i could get better hardware than the mac for $1000 less, with a 3 accident warranty. So basically for $2500 i have a machine that is faster, and will be replaced for free in the 3 years of its useful life, for $1k less than a mac book pro. in the end i could not justify spending $1k for an operating system. $250 maybe.
I still have a T22 with Libranet (Debian) Linux on it. The keyboard light was great! (Much cheaper than a backlit-keyboard, and accomplished the same thing. But I do everything nowadays on my old G4 Powerbook.
There are times with a sufficiently high level dynamic language, where you can usefully and quickly pair program your high level design. The ideal platform for this is a desktop on a table (not a concave cublicle desk, just a flat table) with a wireless keyboard.
This post needs some more detail.

All you said, I have an idea, want to do something, and have some kind of demo?

What kind of demo, what kind of idea (not to be specific, but generic enough so people know if it is something it might interest to them, or it is just some outlandish waste of time).

You could replace your sentence with: It would be cool to commute faster to work, I'd like to build a flying car, I have a paper drawn prototype of it.
I've hired UMUC online grads before (not from the CIS program, but other subjects), and I would agree its a strong school. I was actually going to recommend it, as well, but the OP seemed to want a CS program. I think there are several other state schools that have CS/CIS/MIS programs, too (MA, CT, etc.?)
VCs regain interest in open source
incidentally, if anyone is interested i found this script to turn all my files from elmx into mbox (and eventually maildir). well written. works like a charm.

http://www.jwz.org/hacks/emlx.pl
I like to code in the bus. I have a 1 year $4.75 bus pass with which I can go anywhere around here (Seattle). I can sit by the window and code.
I'll disagree here. I've been through several successful fund raising rounds, exclusively from corporate sources. Granted, this was not inner-circle silicon valley VC. But not a single deal would have happened had we not had a 20+ page business plan with detailed financial projections.
I really want to second the FreeMind suggestion. I don't use it every day, but its a great way to brainstorm or take notes, etc.
X-Chat Aqua is styled like any other Mac OS application. Colloquy's UI just wastes a ton of screen space.
Of course your mileage may vary. The guy that just walked out of my office checking his blackberry for a $9 million wire transfer only had a single presentation deck and a business model.
Yeah, if I was optimizing on price I would just get a Dell laptop and throw Ubuntu on it. (Although I would make sure that all the hardware is well-supported first. I have spent far too many hours patching kernels and adjusting parameters when using Linux with brand new hardware.)
It's interesting to hear a coder having some of the same experiences. And btw I had the exact same problem with porting mails, except it took me around three days to get working.

I'm actually dual booting w. windows and Ubuntu to try it out. And I like it.
emacs22
I think that is actually the point of the article. Not that the concept of connecting with people online will fail but that stand alone, don't do anything for you BUT connect you to people social networks will.
/upvote b/c at 0
These are actually pretty good for a post-living room company.
I don't know about "a ton", at least not with tabs and a nice user interface. But MacTelnet looks nice, thanks for the tip :)
I really like Coda for text-editing, especially if you want an integrated FTP editor, text editor and preview in one app. Textmate + Cyberduck + Safari is great, but it's a lot of extra clicking around.
Yes, I miss practicing science a lot. It was a blast to do (I did theoretical work, which included a lot of computer modeling). But really, being a scientist is a frame of mind. Being a practicing scientist is a different story.

I don't consider mine a 2.0, incidentally.
macs do have page up and page down keys
You can buy Dells with Ubuntu on them:

http://www.dell.com/ubuntu

It was pretty cool to get it, open it up, and see it boot Ubuntu. I admit I did have to tweak it just a bit (about 15 minutes of googling and config files), but I think it was one of the first ones, hopefully they've gotten even better. I chatted with some of the guys working on it at OSCON last year, and they wrote down a few of the bugs I had found.
>Fire people who are not workaholics.... come on folks, this is startup life, it's not a game. go work at the post office or stabucks if you want balance in your life. For realz

Spoken like a true single guy. A horrible way to build a company though.
Bloxes Brings Cardboard Tech To The Office
for the GUI, macs are the best, it's not close

for the unixy stuff, macs do a good job, but they don't blow linux away

macs make lots of stuff more convenient. customizing is no problem for anything especially important. you can also download stuff to change, say, the builtin Dock, if you want.

i strongly recommend a mac. but consider a macbook (not pro) if you're worried about price. pro only has a certain limited set of advantages you might not need.