skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
This hasn't been my experience at all. I moved to Seattle from Alabama (almost 10 years ago now), and openly tell people I'm from Alabama, and I've yet to feel discriminated against because of it. In fact, some people are a bit envious of property prices there. I think mostly they are just glad I'm not from California ;).
FPGAs are for pretending you have the money to fab every hardware design iteration. Small CPUs are...not?

Honestly the FPGA in data center stuff is probably mostly hype for most people, but toying with an FPGA is super fun.
The Wire, which of course is an absolutely excellent longform meditation on class, has a couple really great scenes illustrating this exact thing:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xhhJVYK4nvQ
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WmGemNT7urY
There are giant apartments and condos being built right next to all the stations on the Silver Line. In 5-10 years it seems like that area is going to look like most of the Arlington stops on the Orange Line: a walkable 1/2 mile radius around the metro, with single family homes beyond that.
Much cheaper, and much less useful.

For "BRT" to rival trains, you have to set up a degree of dedicated infrastructure that costs nearly as much as trains.

BRT sucks, and study after study after study shows that people do not want to ride a bus (even BRT).
To elaborate on Thomas' answer:

I got a head start on working with players to get them jobs. (All of the SF founders do this, in principal.)

I rate my execution on that process at about 3/10 right now. (I'm very good at writing introductions in a way that gets hiring managers excited about candidates; I'm terrrrrrible at follow-through with candidates at present and have been juggling too many balls for the last several months.)

I'm hoping to get better at it, rapidly, and then replace myself with a short shell script, dedicated hiring engineers, or both.

Things are exactly as fluid as Thomas said.

At present, the modal conversation with me goes something like "Hey I noticed you did $PICK_A_THING. That impressed me and I read your solution. Do you want to have a chat about the game and about potential job options?" If so, proceed to 30 minute phone call about what you liked/didn't like about the game, about your background and interest, and about what you want in terms of a job. If I have a good option for you, I tell you about it. If you agree it is a good option, I write a three paragraph email to someone who has agreed that they trust my judgment on engineers saying why I think they should interview you.

Again: execution ability on this, not fantastic at present. The biggest issues are followup, followup, and followup, for example if e.g. the company I intro you to doesn't immediately jump on the intro. Aspirationally I should bang down their door; in practice, that ball is a ball I often drop. If you have an interview(s) but the interview(s) doesn't result in an offer, I should aspirationally get in touch with "OK, let's debug that, and let me introduce you to some other options." That ball also one I'm not great at, particularly as I've been traveling for the last week and a half.

We're very very new at this, and we're at least as bad at recruiting as I was at writing stock exchanges before I actually wrote a stock exchange. Hoping to get this nailed down over the course of the next few weeks/months and then scale it out.
In the 90s, some unsubsidized loans where north of 9%.

I was the oldest of the brood, and my parents didn't have any money, so I chose to go to SUNY whatever for something like $8k/year.

Graduated with $1,200 in debt, for my apartment deposit and repairs to my ancient car.

MANY of my friends who went to prestigious private schools got bait and switched on aid in their sophomore year and got stuck with loans that they are paying to this day.
I doubt that "qualified" is a helpful lens to view this through. The only thing that really qualifies you to pick startups, I suppose, is a track record of being good at it. By that standard the HN community certainly isn't qualified, but there still might be a chance of something interesting.

There's a lot of knowledge about technology and startups among HN members, and when good discussions happen here they can be very good. That seemed like enough reason to give it a try. If it turns out to have been a silly idea, we're fine with that; the best way to have more good ideas is to have more bad ones.
It's very popular in particular niches. No serious Ingress player isn't active on G+, for instance.
You don't deserve the downvotes.

I grew up in Seattle and still live there. If you voice any opinions that are not in a narrow band of the far left wing, they (including recent transplants) will attribute you holding that opinion to your place of origin, rather than listening to any justification you have for holding that opinion.
Feel free to sign up. We can add you to the list of interested users. We're hoping to onboard more and more each week.
Sorry for the delay. Was unable to post using my account. Unsure why.

I will try to share my thoughts below:

1. IPL uses light pulsated at a very high wavelength and high spectral ranges, which destroy the hair. We are looking at a lower wavelength of light (IPL-lite), which would target only the chromophore in the hair. This will also de-risk the case of skin burns etc.

2. Heating is one way of doing it, but I'm not yet sure how effective this would be, in terms of quality, pre-heating (time and energy) etc. We want to build a solution that only uses one source of energy (potentially), in this case light.

3. Ideally, the v0.01 we are working on will have a fabric attached to the inside of the helmet which will measure your head coordinates. The mechanical components will then adjust the height of the diodes (which are evenly spaced on the inside of the helmet) and then start the IPL-lite process.

4. We are consulting a prof specializing in light emission and also have an "advisor" in a dermatologist/scientist specializing in cosmetic laser.

We wanted to be in stealth mode (and will probably still be, hypothetically), but have to thank YC for this opportunity, to get feedback from smarter folks than a handful of us.

Yes. This project has the potential to be patented, and possible use-cases are a bundle.

Please keep your feedback flowing and how this might fail. That is the only way we will learn and not die.

Thanks so much!
Pretty much any multi-threaded application always seems to belie its true complexity
Metropolitan Seattle has 3.5m people.

This project will cost ~$15k per resident, roughly equivalent to the per-person national debt.
I think they've been connecting candidates with companies in serial.

Literally changing on a day-to-day basis as I try things out.

Congratulations on the new adventure! (And pip pip for Triplebyte.)
If demand is given, then restricting supply a bit will drive up prices---encouraging innovations to increase supply.
Whoops, sorry, I meant https://blendle.com/ =)
To see the board running your program, there's a rare beautiful moment where YOU, one hobbiest, designed the whole stack :).
Maybe 10.0 will be 'production ready'
Getting Canadian visa would become tricky if someone is turned down for a B1 / B2 visa, but it's worth a shot. He can also re-apply for a US visa.
I just don't understand all the JavaScript hate. I've used languages like java and python, basic and pascal, c, c++, assembly, and for the past 15 years JavaScript... I can say without hesitation, that it is my favorite language... I have a hard time explaining exactly why that is... sort of like trying to explain why chocolate is my favorite desert, I mean I like all kinds of ice cream, but chocolate is my favorite.
Wait until Evernote and Pocket flame out and pick up the leavings? (It worked with Delicious...)
America has the most `criminals' in jail. America likes to lock people up.

(You'd have to find a different metric to figure out what effect the 4th amendment or similar equivalent in other countries has.)
No. New York City generates revenue for the state because its an enormously important center for advertising, publishing, art, fashion, entertainment, tourism, real estate and retail. The amount of money that changes in hands in the course of day in those sectors is insane. Finance is but one other component. This city survived just fine during the banking melt down in 2008.
The New Europeans
I'll ask the same questions / give the same advice I give friends who propose ideas like this:

* Social networks are tough, tough, tough. There are so many subtle UX issues (why did Facebook work but Friendster fail? Why did MySpace work for a while but ultimately fail?) and there's the ultimate chicken-and-egg problem. Do you really, truly understand why your idea will win?

* Do you think that you really need the YC Fellowship? Will that actually help you? What will you use the $ for?

As @patio11 tweeted the other night:

https://twitter.com/patio11/status/717474850927808512

"It has never in the history of mankind been cheaper to make software. You don't need funding you need a day job at McDonalds."

* I think your best bet - if you really believe in this idea - is to build a prototype on your own, show the world why you've built a better LinkedIn, and show us / investors / YC why your professional social network is better than LinkedIn, and back it up with hard growth numbers.

If this 'Apply HN' instead said something like:

"So we have an idea - it's LinkedIn without the spam. We built a prototype, and we've gotten 50,000 people in the < whatever > business community to use it. They love it. We're growing within this niche at 20% per week. But it's only two of us, and we need to grow. So here we are -- we'd love the YC Fellowship so we can put some real effort into X, then Y, and finally Z."

Do that, and you've got a winner.

My $0.02. Discount as you will, and best of luck to your team!
Be prepared for the family thing to cost a whole lot more than you think. I was living on about 10K/year back in the day. I assumed at worst my future (at the time) family of 4 would live on 40K/year, with "economy of scale" reducing it to the mid 30's. Ha! Sure I was fine living in cramped quarters, spaghetti every night, one new $5 shirt / year. Doesn't really work that way with kids. Essentially expect after about three years to wonder where all your previous three years' income has gone. (I'm only 3 years in, so I'm not sure what comes next--I assume it's "make a budget", which I did diligently in my 20's, but it's much more difficult to find time to make a (now, negotiated!) budget with munchkins fighting for attention 24/7).

As a corollary, be prepared to worry about money way more than you had anticipated back when you were 30 and diligently following Mr. Moustache to an early retirement.

As far as career advice, it's tough to say. I've had a good career but feel I'm in a difficult spot now. The last five years I've been independent but 95% of my work has been as the lone dev for one startup, whose best days suddenly seem to be in the rear-view. It's been great work and the job has been wonderfly flexible, but now I'm left to wonder, if they die who wants to hire a 40 year old developer (a really good one IMO but who's to say) with just kind of a miscellany of experience and hasn't worked with a team in five years (especially in small-town Michigan). Who knows, maybe lots of people. But I think the moral of the story is "don't paint yourself into a corner". Do good work, work with lots of people (my mistake), make them respect you, and you should be alright in the end.
DRM via annoyance.....

A quick google search turned up a PDF of the draft version.
I take it you haven't driven 405 through downtown Bellevue in a while? (or for that matter 405 northbound for the reverse trip...) It's gotten really nasty from my experience.

520 eastbound has mostly not been bad since ramp metering started, and even better since tolling started. Westbound is a bit of a different thing, though my impression is that it clears up much earlier now than it used to.
Thanks, and I hope trying new things goes well!
And once you get that financial info from the schools you really don't have a lot of time to make a decision -- only a few weeks in many cases. Very little time to make a $160K+ commitment. (It took us a year to buy our first house and it wasn't much more then that...)
Somebody should step in and create a PDF with some pandoc magic.
"Bus Rapid Transit" isn't just regular bus service. It is a specialized system that aims to provide a "Tram" like service that just uses wheels rather than a track. Unlike current bus services, BRT systems use special elevated busses, have a dedicate "track" - special roadways, and dedicated stations. Done right, you really shouldn't realize you that you aren't on light rail or a tram. The biggest advantage really is the cost. It is order of magnitudes cheaper to build BRT systems but only 2-4x more expensive than traditional bus systems.
Revised resume link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/njpetrash
Those things are all related to quality of life vs. life itself.
Facebook is where these techs go to die. Facebook has a lot of interest in these projects, and a lot of cool, smart, motivated people working there. But they have no cohesion, no direction, and no way to build on top of one another - Everyone at Facebook is constantly re-inventing the wheel.
Most requirements of employees such as education, certification, location, and also passion have no direct relevance. What organizations need is leaders, marketers, coders, writers, sellers, and other basics. The focus should be on the tasks at hand, not any details that lack direct relevance.
>> "...good for expanding transit where you aren't sure about."

Is Ballard going to move anytime soon?
> ... the prosecutors indicated a willingness to reduce or drop the child pornography charges if he would tell them about the C-17, ...

Doesn't the justice system have some sort of obligation to prosecute people who they feel have committed serious crimes? How can a prosecutor just ignore their clear duty in an attempt to extort cooperation from someone?

How is this sort of thing any more acceptable than just straight up torturing the guy?
But you are investing into the future. As I said, tram cars last 50 years in a nice new state. Here in Prague, we sell 50 year old trams east (to Russia and China) and those trams are selling for a lot more than the price of scrap. Buying busses, is throwing away money, because you have to get new ones every 15-20 years, and you really can't re-sell a 20 year old bus.
Autonomous vehicles are great for increased speed, improved (i.e. no) parkability issues and lower car accidents. However, like any latency improvement, they will not (can not) improve throughput. Trains on the other hand are optimized for throughput and cost.

Point: They are complementary technologise, solving fundamentally orthogonal problems, and can and should co-exist to create the best possible infra. (P.S. I already train from CapHill to UDistrict then get an Uber within the UDistrict)

That said, you're welcome to argue that Seattle does not and will never need the throughput optimization provided by trains. That cars alone are enough. But I don't believe it's in your best interest, to compare the throughput of cars to trains. Actually it may even be an active disservice to the autonomous car movement to try and compare them to trains (regarding throughput).

Meanwhile, anecdotally, living and working on Denny (20 min hilly-walk, 7min bus no traffic): It is consistently bumper to bumper (at all times that matter) and only getting worse. We seem to have a throughput problem! With similar issues on Mercer. If your data is different, I'd love to hear more about that.
Genuine question: have you ever tried to learn a foreign language? At least for me long sentences, with easier, more common, words are easier to understand.
"Those people" are stuck with hopelessly gerrymandered districts and voter suppression.
Suppose that for whatever reasons, automating mechanical design doesn't stick with your customers. What would you do then?
By analogy with how HN treats reposts, I think it's ok as long as you don't do it a lot. i.e. two is ok, three maybe, four is probably bad. Obviously that assumes they're for distinct ideas and that each of them is a serious proposal.
Thanks for the props Anton!

- Yes, there are many actors in the market of smart building, we are currently talking with another one, cannot disclosure though.

- We want to have AI in the DNA of our platform, the first stage is collection of data, we can already do that with our platform, now we will focus in developing the first approach of pattern recognition for the data we receive from sensors, so we can identify clusters, then ask the users to tag data to train our classifier, and build from there our machine learning component.

- At the moment, we are focused on the platform. We are staying wide and open to developers and enthusiasts (horizontal approach), we want to be flexible, use open source technologies (currently supporting Arduino and ESP8266, and common sensors and actuators), we will explore some verticals on the way, we hope this approach will help us make the platform bigger.
Heh .. my wife also had a mountain of student loan debt. We saved like hell and deferred major purchases (specifically, no house). We're about to payoff the last of her loans and really happy about it. The challenging things are: (a) we were talking about getting a new car. Even though a car loan is nothing like a student loan (interest rate is much lower) and we do need to change our car, we're super queasy about getting back in the red , and (b) we're in our late 30s and property is unaffordable where we live. We're not keen to take a 600K mortgage (for a starter home) so will wait it out. We're both well-paid professionals but even then one person's loan made a big dent in our financial security. Also, the fact that we didn't own property before the real-estate boom/bubble, means we'll likely be financially stunted for life. Cest La Vie.
riotux – Simple Event Controller, inspired in Flux Pattern
That's the reason for the animal/meat duality, right?

Such as pig/pork, beef/cow. The working classes spoke English and dealt with the live animals, the elites just ate them.
I've just found their online simulator (caller ANGEL). It boots linux and busybox:

http://riscv.org/angel-simulator/
It isn't cheeper in the long run. You have to replace busses every decade or two. Not every 50 years.
We'll do that when we put up the /apply link.
> To say that "normal clients don't really matter" simply because WebTorrent can enable new use cases for BitTorrent (that haven't shown any significant traction) really seems like you're missing the proverbial forest for the trees.

I already said "the forest" doesn't matter.

Seriously, if I were building something with WebTorrent. Let's say Netflix (Note: https://torrentfreak.com/webtorrent-brings-bittorrent-to-the...).
And most of the existing BitTorrent seeds are pirated content.

Why would I care?

"there's no guarantee that any of them will ever reach critical mass in terms of adoption"

When you give away tool with a widespread guaranteed userbase like this, someone is bound to build something that people will use.
Not to say WebTorrent will be this big, but that's how the internet came to be.

And this is a completely decentralized upload and download library for the web, someone's going to build something popular with it I'm sure and it's not even at version 1.0 yet.
My loans average 7%. Federal.
This sounds awful. We need clear grammar, not limited vocabulary.

There's evidence of limited vocabulary and lazy expression in too many venues.
You know those pipelines that carry the oil and gas? They got built using eminent domain to get a lot of their rights of way. That and the depletion allowance add up to fairly substantial subsidies for the fossil fuel industries.
I don't think it's necessarily doublespeak, it's that people actually use the terms differently.

Racism for example means BOTH the individual belief in superiority/inferiority of a particular race AND the societal/systematic belief.

This is why there are debates about whether Racism still exists in America, or whether discrimination against White people is racist. It depends on the context.
> When I was a kid, that group of adults had the benefit of cheap degrees. Today, now that group of adults is us and we did not go to school cheap (personally I don't fall in to that category out of personal choice, but most of my friends do.)

To some extent people make their own bad choices. I graduated with 30k-ish in debt (canadian). A reasonable sum considering the job options immediately available that wouldn't have been a possibility without a degree.

On the other hand I have a friend who went to the same school, but stayed to do a masters. He owes over 70. Still possible to pay down. While he's worried about that I'm 4 years out of school, 1/3 of the way through paying my loan off. We wound up with comparable jobs in terms of pay as well.

He's was in his mid-late 20s when he started as well. Not 17.
> Is it possible that your friends are actually right?

In being oblivious to a well-documented phenomenon? That's not very likely. Obliviousness to class is a class marker for middle class. Major values of the middle class are equal opportunity and meritocracy, but existing class structures prevent that, so the middle class stick their heads in the ground and pretend that the upper classes have earned their position at the top, and that the lower classes haven't yet earned a higher position. Members of both the upper and lower classes are well aware that this is a complete farce.

> How did you gain this ability they lack, to detect precisely who is upper-middle class?

By being friends with people from different classes, by being interested and observant, and by having made a small class journey myself. I suggest you read the entire article, it might open your eyes as well.
Ask HN: Bay Area Hack Nights?
Hey all,
I've been spending my evenings working on a project but lately I've found it difficult to concentrate!

It would be great to get together with others working on their projects so we can motivate each other and even have someone to bounce ideas off of.

I looked on Meetup.com but was unable to find any upcoming Hack Nights! Do you know of any?
Please clarify how this will differ from Patreon.

Thanks.
The use case for these boards is to learn how to use FPGAs.

Why would you use an FPGA? Mainly when you have specialized requirements that can't be met by processors. FPGAs mainly excel in parallelization. A designer can instantiate many copies of a circuit element like a processor or some dedicated hardware function and achieve higher throughput than with a normal processor. If your application doesn't require that, you might like them for the massive number of flexible I/O pins they offer.

Lastly, using FPGAs as a hobby is rewarding just like any other hobby. Contrary to popular belief, you don't "program" with a programming language like with a processor. You describe the circuit functionality in a hardware description language and a synthesizer figures out how to map it to digital logic components. You get a better insight into how digital hardware works and how digital chips are designed. When you use them as a hobby, you get the feeling that you are designing a custom chip for whatever project you are working on. Indeed, FPGAs are routinely used to prototype digital chips.
Similarly, in the U.S. there is the Plain Writing Act of 2010 (http://www.plainlanguage.gov/plLaw/).
> Thirty years ago, a bachelor's degree might have been a ticket to a decent professional job, but those days are long past.

My CS degree definitely helped me out.
Which eastside city is the most sane? Bellevue? Issaquah? Redmond?
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