skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I think it applies pretty well to programming. It involves switching between files, and between the IDE, console, web, debug and application views. Emacs makes a lot of this easy but it helps to have more available as simply moving your eyes from one place to the other on the screen is faster than even a few keystrokes.

I'm curious though what the time savings would have been if the test subjects were using Emacs.
All users are held to the same standards, whether they're on the leaderboard or not.

Eventually the other users will get tired of you filling up the comment threads with your private beefs, and you'll stop.
I run a turn-based games site, so I like quite a few board games. Right now my favorites are probably Connect6, Breakthrough, and Phutball. I've recently (re-)discovered Dots and Boxes which is quite a bit more interesting than I remember it being when I was a kid.

If you want to try any of these, my site is Vying Games (vying.org).
shouldn't this list be on or linked on the submit page?
There are a few factors at play that keep me optimistic.

First, the web continues to attract double-digit increases in advertising dollars. While this growth might slow, it seems unlikely to reverse. This means the web industry will continue to expand even if the economy as a whole does not.

Second, when the economy slows people tend to save and invest instead of spending. Given that many startups are driven by angel investment or venture funds, that's a good thing.

Third, web based and open source technologies are making huge gains in big business. They'll be increasingly attractive as companies tighten their belts. Given that the YC crowd is focused on this sort of development, that puts us in an enviable position.

I would start to worry if Google, Yahoo, Microsoft's web division, IAC, etc start making big layoffs. They could flood the market with competent programmers, driving down market rates and increasing competition for investment dollars. (Although I'm sure there are some companies fighting for talent that would love for that to happen.)

I think there's a greater risk of VCs moving to greener pastures - solar, biotech, etc - as web applications become commoditized.
It's not a matter of different standards, it's a matter of: if you can't lead active yc users, why would you be able to lead an influx of new reddit (or techcrunch or whatever) users?

rms for example is apologetic and offered to do what you wanted. a new user from reddit probably wouldn't do that. but despite this, you still lead in a way that alienates rms.

in my case, i haven't apologized or offered to change my behavior because you never notified me of doing something wrong or asked me to change any behavior. that's bad leadership too. if you want me to follow some rules you have to tell me.
Arc can heal.
I've heard good things about that one, but ended up with a Blue Snowball which also works well. Love using with with skype and speakers for a truly hands and headset free talking experience.
On one hand, I'm glad that arrington validated something I've believed for a long time: news.yc is the best social news/network/app for people who are into startups.

On the other hand, I do not want to see this place get overrun by ron paul supporters and facebook fanboys. Where will all the cool people post news to then? Maybe swen.yc?
I think your web server might be broken.
I would agree. I just wanted to tongue in cheekly get this post over with.
I use a $40 Logitech headset, Screenography for OSX, and iMovie.
Who is "he?" Arrington runs TC. PG doesn't put anything on the frontpage of TC.
I propose "venture catapult" as a generic term for what YC does.
Mind Blowing South African Trip
Weekend parties and trips to the parlor or the bars begin to sound “blah”, and then it is time to do something mind-blowing and exhilarating. Try heading to South Africa, it’s not just the home of the wildlife but it is also a place to experience new adventures.
Haha dang it! I thought I was being clever, oh well better luck next time.
Ask YC: What have you learned that rocked your world?
My question is meant to be open-ended and not limited to programming. My examples:

Meta-programming, in ruby (the power of code that creates code, being released from the tyranny of typing)

Social psychology (Social proof, hacks for relating to people, hacks for appealing to the opposite sex, hacks for reading people)

Economics (Why the minimum wage is damaging, why free trade is good)
Not necessarily. If your startup is based on selling the software itself, then the GPL might be detrimental to your business plan. (Then again, it might not.)

But not every successful business plan involves selling the software itself. There are countless web services that could GPL their software and keep right on making money. Some have, in fact. The code that runs Slashdot is released under the GPL, but it takes more than code to make a successful online community.

The software that runs on FreeHand digital music notebooks (http://www.freehandsystems.com) is released under the GPL, but the major selling point isn't just the software; it's the specialized hardware.
Long hours + low pay = less incentive to work long hours.

Delivering a product is the result of maximizing resources and getting the best ROI (monetary or through effort related output) from the functionality of said product. If you can compensate for the low wages to develop at high capacities, it may be something worth effectively discussing.

But alas, this is a capitalist society and it wont work, though I'm in favor of improving the idea of maximizing the value of human production.
Differential calculus. Lisp. The circle of fifths.
Add Page Numbers to Google Docs
Big reason not to:

Extreme portability is awesome.
3 suggestions to help with the increasing popularity of HN
Since there will be more people around no matter what we do, I would like to share 3 ideas that may help :

1/ Articles are more and more commented, we need a better distinction between older and newer comments. A simple way to achieve this could be setting up a color on the "x hour ago" part.

example : 15 points by pg [green font]20 minutes ago[/green font] (the newest comments would be green and slowly turn to a dark red as they get old).

It would be easier to spot new comments in a inobstrusive and simple way. An example of this system can be found on this page where we can see the last time a player logged in by watching the "active" column color : http://games.ravenblack.net/players

2/ The possibility to pick our favorites users. Their name could be bolded if they are in our favorites so that we can easily spot their submissions and comments.

ex : "15 points by [b]pg[/b] 20 minutes ago"

3/ To limit the "post to say nothing" syndrom (or the "comment every article that made the front page" syndrom), we could imagine a system where it costs some karma to post a comment. Let's say that everyone gets one free comment every 24h wich doesn't cost anything (non stackable), then each additional comment costs more and more karma :

24h period :

- 1st comment : free

- 2nd comment : 1 karma ?

- 3rd comment : 2 karma ?

- 4th comment : 4 karma ?

- etc.

I know this suggestion will be controversial, but I feel the current karma system emphasises too much the quantity. It was good when HN started, but it's becoming inadequate as more and more people joins the party. I also noticed that often the interesting users (at least to me) do not post that often, because they only do when they have something to say (and not only for the sake of commenting).

/end of suggestions

If you want to throw up yours, use this thread to do so. I know there is already an existing features request thread, but I felt it was worth creating a new one regarding the circumstances.
Looking for co-founder - r u a hacker?
If u r a hacker and want to dedicate your time for some good chunk of equity then respond here ...
YC's application form is integrated with HN. I assume that's the main thing they removed.
He was talking about things like the YC summer/winter application forms, not the moderation system.
I have to agree. Monopoly is a blast with a group of friends playing straight by-the-book rules. It takes a while, of course, and sometimes one or more players will be out pretty quick and then things seem to drag on forever between two equally funded and propertied players. But, mostly it's nicely balanced and provides a challenging but relaxing evening of entertainment. Good humor required, wine or beer optional.
I would add relatively a new website called http://highscalability.com It has information about how highly scalable websites have been built.
Mathematical things: A clever geometric proof of the AM-GM inequality, the Monty Hall problem, functional programming.
Would you friend your parents on Facebook?
Enough, please. This is the third time in two days that you've posted this request. Also, "u r" is not inspiring confidence in anyone.
Nothing. You hire the best person for the job, regardless of sex. If you worry about this, you're doomed to fail because you're wasting time on things that don't matter to the business.
It really depends on what the questioner means by “startup”. If you’ve raised an angel or VC round, you might have the luxury of worrying about such things,
2nd Gen Asus Eee - New LCD Screen LED Backlit?
I am simply looking for evidence as to whether the new 8.9in. LCD version of the Asus Eee will be LED back-lit like the first generation screens that are 7in Eees?

Please reply with any helpful links. :)

Best Links About the 2nd Gen Asus Eee I've Found So Far: (but still didn't answered my question...)

- http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=1048
- http://blog.laptopmag.com/eee-pc-to-get-intels-diamondville-hard-drives-and-fashion-forward-style
- http://www.itwire.com/content/view/16970/1103/
Risk doesn't have that much dependence on chance, except inasmuch as particular diplomatic relationships adjust to circumstance. Games among equally strong players are quite balanced, and the strongest player will generally win.
"... Do you know if Game On has a website or anything that lists where they're going to be next? ..."

No. They have a list of where they have toured [0] but not where they are going. It might be passing through MoMA in NY soon. I noticed that the Pixar exhibition we had last year was starting there. Maybe GAME ON is following the same round? Best to contact the Barbican in the UK directly ~ http://www.barbican.org.uk/about-barbican/contact-us

[0] http://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=49...
maybe it was just the server?
How Google keeps your information secure
Another huge problem with Reddit. There was so much coverage on the US elections non-US citizens would get upset and everyone else would use the mentality "Well it got upmodded, this is what we want to see and you're just going to have to deal with it." Gladly we dont have that mentality here, it reflects too much of the .NET developers being tourists and look at everything with the "us" and "everything else" pattern.

Very destructive.
The links are all running together. :(

There are three links here, separated by a dash "-".
Agreed. The Monty hall problem is definitely a mind-bender in a good way. I started with Erlang, but haven't found a project that begged for it yet, though...
Somebody at last year's Startup School said he had a very successful quiz site (widgets for myspace.) Is that the same person?
How to make time for personal goals
Yawn yawn yawn yawn yawn.
For myself, I have been intrigued by liberal arts curricula for a while now, especially the 'Great Books' approach. I've actually been toying with the idea of getting a liberal arts master's degree after I'm finished with my current CS bachelor's degree.

No, the liberal arts are not 'practical', but I'm not a believer in the idea that universities are for preparing students for the job market. In fact, I recently presented an argument to my department's faculty that they should re-focus on CS theory and mathematics rather than practical skills (it was well-received).
Ask YC: startup valuation
We are a small startup that has recently been approached by a large media company that has expressed a strong desire to invest in our company or potentially acquire us outright. We don't have much experiencing valuing companies beyond raising an angel round of financing and this investment is much more strategic for this media company (so our value is significantly increased in their ecosystem). Does anyone have any specific advice on how best to go about figuring out such a valuation? Or anyone to contact that would be able to help achieve the best valuation possible?
Dude. The place for this discussion is not here. If you have a beef with PG, use email. Nothing personal, but it doesn't make for great reading.
If you're looking for exercise, I recommend swimming. For recreation, paintball.
I really think Jason and DHH know what they are talking about, and put a lot of thought into what they do and say. As Jason said to Walt Mossberg at BIF-3, "Software needs an editor." And like Apple, the people who work at 37signals are the editors.

Bravo to them for having a point of view, and for expressing it. I thin PG would agree:

http://www.paulgraham.com/taste.html
Nicco says: Google = Evil
Heh, in the grand scheme of things, that will probably only add to the confusion.
I wouldn't say big screens have no impact when it comes to programming, but that it has certainly lower impact. In my experience, the smaller the screen the more organized you have to be.

After years of using small monitors I found myself much more organized than friends who always used big screens. Their screens are really messy, while I keep mine real neat (with help of my window manager, my editor, etc). On a bigger screens I feel more confortable, no doubt, but I don't think it changes my productivity that much.

One downsides of big screens to productivity is that with bigger screens people are able to keep chat screens on the same window they do their work. I supose that makes it easier for the guy to get distracted on chat.
That the hack is the architecture.

Architectures are designed to solve the known set of problems at the time of inception. When that problem set changes people try to adapt the architecture to solve the new problem set. Usually this is done through the path of least resistance. The easiest to implement with the least known side effects.

My favorite example: Web browsers were never ever meant to host applications when they were first designed. They can only passably do so today through elaborate hacks. This is why writing a good web application is so difficult and time consuming. These hacks are now well known established parts of what is the accepted architecture of web browsers but they were once hacks and are still hacks.

Similar examples exist all over the place. Design for the future and build for today...
It's also a (not that successful) virtual currency on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2374474963&#...
There's no objective answer to that. Every transaction is unique, so there's no concept of a market price. It's just pure negotiation, so read up on negotiation.
Yes - I suggest showing if it makes sense - how it affects a user when using it. This will garner you a larger audience, then step 1, step 2, etc

Like Speeddate's (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJnXORCW1Vg)vid.

This is something we did for our startup and it has worked well!
I don't think YC's goal is to get startups closer to VC, or even to expedite their journey anywhere.

The point is, YC is really smart money in real small amounts. If you need more money or don't need so much smarts behind it, you go elsewhere on the funding spectrum.
"... What you may not know is that we also spend a lot of time thinking about the security that goes into those products, and more specifically the ways we can protect you and your private information. ... As you can imagine, our engineers are smart and curious and are on the lookout for security anomalies and best practices in the industry ..."

Nice comparison between what "google says" and what "google does" ~ http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=133633
"... What you may not know is that we also spend a lot of time thinking about the security that goes into those products, and more specifically the ways we can protect you and your private information. ... As you can imagine, our engineers are smart and curious and are on the lookout for security anomalies and best practices in the industry ..."

Nice comparison between what "google says" and what "google does" ~ http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=133645
Another: Joel's law of Leaky Abstractions was forehead-slappingly good at expressing what I had never put into words.

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/LeakyAbstractions.htm...
Seconded the circle of fifths, it's a music thing if anyone is wondering.
Even with economic downturns, there are still some fundamental truths that will prevail, and industries that grow during recessions. Use these trends to your advantage. For instance, businesses always want convenient ways to make more revenue/profit and cut costs. And curiously, Hollywood also tends to grow during recessions: http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/80-03102008-1501254.h...

Most startups break down no matter what the climate. An economic downturn may be a contributing factor, but not the main culprit.
How many times must this question be posted here before people learn?
Gary Gygax D&D Obit
I concur. I'm a top-10 reddit poster and Hacker News is my first site of the day now. Keep up the good work and don't be afraid to ban the idiots. Now if only somebody would set up a "Political News" site using the same code base...
any good suggestions on negotiation reading?
I know that VMWare workstation has a "capture movie" setting. It's pretty handy to be able to have the functionality outside of the OS, so you can use any OS you want.
my idea is related to what i'm doing here from last 2 days - in a way i'm testing what clicks!
I love Magic, and I absolutely love playing blue. I used to have an amazing counterspell/bounce/venom deck that would piss my friends off to no end. :-)
Google Mashup Editor
I don't think he'd enjoy that email, so I haven't sent it. He chose not to contact me about this, presumably for a reason.

This, on the other hand, is a public thread where it's relevant to the topic in the parent comments. I haven't asked pg to read this thread, so it's not my problem if he chooses to.
War on Terror the Boardgame. It appeals to my sense of political irony and it's actually a pretty fun game.
lets put some really boring stuff for the next few days so we can push digg-like users away.
Hopefully we'll get to see the traffic spike chart from all this Techcrunch traffic (PG? :D)
and news.yc jumps the shark....
Very early stage startups are insanely risky.

I hear this almost as much as the "90% of startups fail" piece of wisdom, and I was a little surprised to see it in a PG essay. I'm not saying it's necessarily wrong, just that I don't totally understand it.

Risk is "the possibility of suffering harm or loss; danger." So what's risky about a startup? If you are paying for it yourself, maxing out credit cards, etc, then the startup is indeed likely to be harmful to you.

But, if you get YC funding, and are the under 30 crowd that PG refers to with low living expenses, then it's pretty unlikely that you're taking that approach. Instead, you're simply not saving any money for awhile. So there is opportunity cost lost, since surely most of the YC founders could make a nice chunk of change working for the man. But is this really the harm that's implied by the reference to risk? Especially when you factor in the experience you gain from a failed startup, it seems pretty questionable to say that serious harm will likely befall you. It's more like, less savings and a great experience will likely befall you.

So I wonder if the sentiment is just referring to the harm that may happen to the startup itself. As in, it's quite likely -- 90% likely! ;) -- that the startup you create will die. But isn't that kind of like saying it's risky to scratch off a lotto ticket that someone gives you? It's "risky" for the lotto ticket I suppose, but not really for you.
Unfortunately, when the US economy has a downturn, the world economy follows. See the Nikkei's dip following a larger dip in the US last week. Obviously, the EU is providing a much needed foil to the phenomenon, but it's still a fact of life. As the US economy goes, so goes the world.

Of course, optimism will spike when the new president takes office, and we'll see at least a short bubble early in 2009. Whether it will end up having a permanent impact on the economy is another matter...

Anyway, smart startups are better equipped to deal with downturns than larger companies, despite the common "retreat to quality" wisdom that a couple of articles have talked about recently. Fewer employees, the expectation to run unprofitably for a year or two built right in, and a much tighter fist holding the cash. Dumb startups would fail, regardless, and those businesses in between small startup and mid-sized business--the no mans land where many "successful" early stage startups fail--is probably even more dangerous during a downturn. So, be thankful you're a smart early stage startup! (And, if you're in no man's land with a million or ten in revenues and no clue how to scale to the next level and steadily increasing expenses, best of luck to you. You'll want to hang on tightly, keep your hands and feet in the car at all times, and hope the rails carry you out the other side safely.)
By "bias", I only meant that all things being equal, you would guess a founder would make a better CEO.
Great advice.

Although everybody is automatically assuming only bad-mannered ilk will come from TC, has anyone thought 'hey maybe there will be MORE insightful discussions.'

Other than that, why not just led the editors do what they do best and not worry about it?
1) Delayed inserts do not work with InnoDB tables.

2) This is a great idea for time based data. You age out the tables and create a merge table which is a logical view of all the tables together. You can get tricky and use compressed myisam tables for the older, static data since it will never change.
Hacker news was a welcome relief from Reddit and Digg, Reddit is so political now that there are few articles anymore about "the craft". Aside from the the prerequisite preachings from the "GREAT!" Paul Graham (amen brothers), there was some very germaine content at times. I will be curious to see how they weather the coming storm, of course they do have have an ARC. Lol, I know ver ver bad pun.
Geographic arbitrage (i.e., use my open airplane ticket to Europe). Web 2.0 companies have an advantage no business has had in the past - instant mobility.