skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I started to go through this a few years ago and I'm slowly recovering from it (I'm 28 now).

The experience cost me my marriage (although that may have been a good thing, looking back on it) but it also cost me a lot in terms of opportunity cost.

You could write a book on this subject but my advice in a nutshell is to find a therapist. If you are like me (and most HN'ers) - highly logic brained - then it can be hard to grasp by yourself the mixed emotions you are feeling in sidw. If, like me, you are really only surrounded by loads of other geek logic brained folk, then there can be few people to really talk this stuff through with - which is why I found informal therapy (counseling, not heavy going psychotherapy) useful rather than chatting with friends, etc.

I worked with my therapist on getting beyond my logic-orientated rationalization thinking and getting a much better understanding of who I am and what I want.

If the original poster wants to drop me an email to chat more, I'd be delighted to talk more.
I hope this article can help you.

http://artofmanliness.com/2010/04/06/modern-maturity-create-...
This is why I think it's dangerous to describe open access as a competition-based solution. In open access there's competition only for the part of the network that doesn't matter and thus such competition doesn't solve very much. The real benefit of open access comes when the last mile has to be neutral, in which case the benefit comes from neutrality regulation, not open access.
THIS is the future of "NoSQL." It's all about custom, distributed datastores. This is going to make generalized database software look like shrink-wrapped software sitting next to custom, purpose-built. When done right, there's just no comparison.
Typically, when I edge down this path, I de-clutter my life. Stuff weighs you down more than anything else, and it's a constant drain on your energy and money. Stop doing things that are unnecessary, get rid of some stuff you don't / won't use, and generally purge your life of everything that really doesn't matter. It'll free up a lot of free time, and likely money-pressure too.

Once you've got that, take your new-found free time, and do some experimenting / soul-searching. Odds are you "know" what you want, you just don't "know" it. And if you don't, maybe you'll discover it. Take each day as it comes, and don't re-clutter until you've figured things out.

I've also found that music typically helps me a lot, so I make sure to get some frequently. And no, everyone is not handling it "just fine". Everyone struggles at some point, you may just be hitting it earlier / later than those around you. Or they're just hiding it, which is likely more harmful than seeking help, so congratulations. You're already part-way down the correct road.

edit: mimicing what edkennedy says, I've also found that decent exercise and good food are very important. Food's extremely responsible for well-being, but it's easy to devalue.
>Why big M&A rarely works

Big M&A always works, all the people involved in this got large bonuses and promotions, then they left for new jobs with experience of managing $Bn M&A deals - which gets them up the promotion ladder.

What happened to all the people at AOL who said it was a bad deal, where are they now?
The pagination is perfect when your browser viewport is tall enough to accommodate it without a scrollbar, and exists largely to service the footnote style.

As for your edit, on p88 he discloses in a footnote that "it was his harrowing, doldrums-inducing spat as a freelancer [with (Demand Studios, Suite101.com, Examiner.com)] that inspired this essay." -- he's criticizing the writing style he was paid to use!
^^^ This is mostly exactly what I'm getting at, but said in a much more eloquent way. Thank you.
Using native libraries using CTypes should probably be the way forward from now on. This allows one to use pure Python to wrap C libraries, in a manner not specific to the Python implementation.

In the Ruby world, the FFI library has accomplished the same thing. Extensions written using FFI work in Ruby 1.8, 1.9, JRuby, and Rubinius. They also avoid the annoying compilation phase.

There is generally a performance hit compared to native extensions, though.
Thanks, this is a good suggestion and something I've been thinking about lately as the number of sites listed has increased.

Do you think a description of each tool is necessary or just the "Best of" list?
The premise of net neutrality is that the internet is a limited resource. The physical space required for building infrastructure is limited, effectively making the internet a limited resource as well. Most cities have already leased out the space for building networks, or let companies own the poles and conduits outright.

This is why i took issue with his car showroom example. Its a big difference when there are plenty of places to build a showroom. There's only one easement behind my house. The poles are owned by comcast, the ground has sewers.
College Review
Student reviews of colleges and universities through student generated videos, photos and reviews - StuVu.com provides real student reviews of colleges so you can see what it's like to be a student at that college/university. It's FREE, check it out.
It could definitely benefit from the advice in that article earlier today which advised writers to put their most important points at the beginning. Also, who designed this page layout? It seems that it's designed so that the page is _just_ too high to be read without scrolling on my 1440x900 screen, which is presumably one of the most popular resolutions available.

Anyway, it's almost worth skimming through just for the list of rather niche ehow.com articles:

How to Buy Different Kinds of Faux Leather, How to Design Your Own Dog Bandanas, How to Make a Tree with Little Debbie Swiss Rolls, How to Make a Keytar, How to Declare a Missing Person Dead, How to Use Multiple Condoms, How to Know If Your Contraceptive Fails, How to Grow Taller at 40, How to Use a Hitachi Bread Maker, Helpful Hints for Proper Use of a Meter Stick, Making Broom Puppets, Words You Can Make Using the Periodic Table, Pee Wee Tennis Rules, DIY Build a Dog Casket, Heely Trick Tips, How to Start a Reflective Essay, How to Change Body PH, How to Make Eel Traps, How to Make Lamps From Deer Antlers, How to Make a Homemade Flame Thrower, How to Make Your Own Parrot Toys, How to Use the Words of the Serenity Prayer, How to Answer IQ Tests, How to Prepare for a Colostomy Reversal Operation, How to Use Sugar Sweetener, How to Prevent Alcoholism, How to Have Dinner with Diabetes, How to Treat Lice on Goats, How to Kiss After a Dental Extraction, How to Eradicate Tiredness, Apple Cider Vinegar Cure for Shingles, About Tui Na Massage for Dogs.
I've been dealing with what you describe for most of my life, and I've been actively attacking it for the past fifteen years.

If I had one thing I could get across to anyone, it's that happiness is a state of mind and a habit, not the result of outside factors. You choose to be happy or unhappy. It's all in your head, although it's a good idea to adjust your environment to ensure happiness. Exercise, happy entertainment, and happy friends all help.

I refuse to accept that adulthood is about acknowledging limits and settling into a static and subtlety unsatisfying existence. I believe I only have one life to live, and I refuse to waste it. I want to add value to the world, and I am frothing at the mouth to do so. That's what I believe being an adult is -- accepting responsibility for my own life, acknowledging the values of other's lives, and then doing my best to add as much value to the world as possible.

As for your fear of making real decisions about where to live, your uncertainty about what will make you happy... Risk is an essential element of being alive. Very few choices are reversible; you don't have kids. Make some bold choices, make some stupid choices, but be alive. Move somewhere and take a weird job. Try a start up. Take a chance at something, anything. That's what being alive is.

Realize that everything ends up working out in the end, give yourself a kick in the ass, and go have a life that fucking matters.

Good luck.
Or is it? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imaginary_time
Thanks for the recommendation. I've added them to the list.
Is improving government as easy as giving politicians a pay raise?
They aren't useless, they're just unclear. They map pretty well to actual issues, and after a while you'll get used to translating them.
I agree with you on #2: going to the gym and traveling to work on my hobby (travel for rock climbing) has helped me feel a lot better in the moment, but ultimately feels like I'm putting off what's actually bothering me.

My diet is good already, but I feel like I should relax it a little bit (more social drinking, maybe a little more junkfood) as it will help me be less pre-planned and more free-flowing and social. I consider myself introverted (as many guessed and seemed clear), but am not stereotypically introverted: I have many close friends and don't have ridiculous anxiety attacks when meeting people. (Sometimes I do though).
So what you're afraid of is, using an analogy, if the government doesn't regulate the lemonade industry, there will be no high quality lemonade available to you at any reasonable price. By regulate, I mean ensure that everyone gets the same quality lemonade.

Of course, if everyone gets the same quality lemonade and the government keeps pouring money into the big lemonade stands, you're actually creating a system where lemonade will never improve.

The only chance we have of having optimal lemonade is to deregulate the lemonade stands.
How can you possibly isolate something to a percentage point that involves things as nebulous as "various government regulations" operating on vast industries spanning multiple countries? My skepticism meter is off the charts here.
The most useful part of this link was finding prezi, which is awesome, and I hadn't heard of it before.
Pagination is never perfect--it's a crime against web usability. And since this site doesn't even have ads, there's not even a motive. It's like how the Joker in The Dark Knight robs a bank, kills all his conspirators, takes all the money to a warehouse, and just sets it on fire.

Footnotes, incidentally, are easily usable when presented as bilateral anchor links to the bottom of the page. Then you have endnotes you can use on a printout, as well as on-demand footnotes you can use when reading online.
My 2 year old loves my ipod touch. The best thing I have for it is a drawing program called doodle buddy. She loves to scribble with it or do stamps. On the PC there is a great opensource paint program called tux paint - but she can't work the mouse so its a more of a ask Daddy what stamps she wants type thing.
> Typically, when I edge down this path, I de-clutter my life. Stuff weighs you down more than anything else, and it's a constant drain on your energy and money. Stop doing things that are unnecessary, get rid of some stuff you don't / won't use, and generally purge your life of everything that really doesn't matter. It'll free up a lot of free time, and likely money-pressure too.

Thank you for confirming what I was already going to do. I am planning to donate or sell everything I don't absolutely need.
Well, if you're feeling depressed, I can only tell you about something that helped me: Dr. Martin Seligman's book "Learned Optimism." I wrote a little about my perspective on it about a year ago:

http://github.com/raganwald/homoiconic/blob/master/2009-05-0...

I'm sorry that isn't a grand, unified answer to everything, but if it helps you even a little I would be delighted.
> It could definitely benefit from the advice in that article earlier today which advised writers to put their most important points at the beginning.

I suppose it depends on preferences/audience. That advice makes sense for engineering papers to me, but this is an article in a literary journal, where the usual style is to write long pieces with an assumption that the reader is reading start-to-finish rather than interested in skimming. The usual style for those is more like the style of writing you'd use for a short fiction story.
Why I'm paying for an iPhone app (Instapaper) when the free version works great.
I'm buying Instapaper. And I really don't need to. The free version works so well its almost ridiculous to me that anyone pays for the paid app.

I actually was sort of bewildered by the draw of Instapaper for a long time. It kept getting absurd media coverage and I had tried it and couldn't into it. However I gave it another go recently and it's quickly become one of my favorite apps.

Now I'm a low-need user. The fact that I can push articles to my cell phone easily and read them on the pot is pretty awesome. Also I have a general rule with myself that I don't pay for software (there are a few exceptions... but very very few). I typically feel that someone will figure out a way to monetize a just as good, or almost as good version soon enough. That or the open source world will work for me (that is seldom the case, but does happen).

So why am I paying for Instapaper? Because the software is just too darn good. I want to support the developer. And while I know marco has made a small fortune already on the app I feel it's my way of saying thank you.

All of this is to argue that free versions of great software are a good thing. At least demo versions. I like the app store's requirement that the lite version be fully usable even if limited. So I don't get 30 day trials that I have to then throw away. This leads me to try out lots and lots of good software.

And eventually even I - the guy who NEVER pays for software - buy software.

Because you build something spectacular. And I cant help but use the product and want to thank the creator.
This is a huge issue in its own right. She knows exactly what kind of life she wants to live, I think I know (and is inline with hers) but can't feel sure about anything.
You have to be careful with something like this because you might be clinically depressed.

I developed anxiety and depression when I was in college. Part of that was a feeling I wasn't achieving anything of note, or learning anything worthwhile. I had thought undergraduate education would be a splendid ivory tower, but it turned out most of my peers did not prioritize a sense of adventurous learning or a delight in knowledge. I learned a mismatch between reality and expectations can drive you, but also cripple you if it is to great.

I think your decision to see a psychologist is a good one. I saw a psychiatrist and it helped me recover and develop a functioning and enjoyable life. Also, make sure it's a psychologist you work well with. Don't settle for one that you don't work well with.

Also, it is difficult to know if a decision will make us happy in advance. We can develop a feeling of knowing in advance, but it's not always there to guide us.

A lot of people will say, exercise, go to therapy, take a vacation. The thing to remember is that you are unique and your solutions will be unique. And that you are not alone. We all get lost.
The word for that is "imitation", not "intuition".
A Life Without Flash
eh... not to crazy about the article. It makes some statements about how things were deliberately left out of apps without backing up that statement with a quote or anything by those controlling the app. Isn't it possible that these features were left out because the app developers simply didnt have enough time to add those features for the first release??
I agree this layout doesn't really work, but I really dislike the endnote style, and strongly disagree they're just as good as footnotes, even with hyperlinks (which require me to click my mouse, and require me to reorient myself on the page before/after the jumps).
Yeah that was pretty snazzy, and yet somehow seems so obvious!
This is not the first article I've seen that compared Apple fandom (and employment) to cults. All throughout the 90's I remember seeing similar discussions.
Agreed. There is an "ignore accidental trackpad input" option in my MacBook's system preferences that I turned off for the first time a couple months ago, thinking "I'm a pro with this thing, I'm sure I don't accidentally touch it."

Boy was I wrong, and I was really surprised at how sensitive the thing was. After a couple minutes of the pointer jumping all over the place, I turned it back on, impressed with the algorithm that had been ignoring those accidental touches all along.
Asked for a camera, "I want the one the takes a picture." Too bad, kid.
"And Then There Was Salsa" - Out of the box (literally) ad on Vimeo
I went through this a couple of years ago. I got out of grad school, and started my postdoc. For the previous 8 years (undergrad + grad school), I had a well defined track: grad school -> PhD -> postdoc -> research professor -> tenure. During my postdoc, I realized I didn't like a great deal of the day to day work of academia: teaching, writing papers, applying for grants, hyping your work. The job I succeeded in getting was not the job I thought it was. I went through the exact stage of uncertainty you are describing.

Then I decided to forget about a long term plan and focus on day to day living. I took up Eskrima (Filipino martial arts), something I wanted to do for a long time. I broke up with my long term girlfriend and decided to leave the academic track. I still don't know where I want to live or what I want to be doing (in the long term), but I don't need to know that.

Yesterday I went for a run (my first this year). I found a new job (trader at a hedge fund) which I enjoy day to day. Most tuesday nights I fight with sticks. I drink more beer, am in better physical shape and am simply happier. I don't have the answers to your big questions (where to live, what to do), but I don't need answers.

So, my suggestion: don't worry about the future, focus on things right now.
It's funny, then, that this piece is so heavy in irrelevant, inane fluff (long discussions of television commercials, passive-aggressive apologies to Justin Long, repeated analyses of the word "unfathomable") that I ended up skimming it after all just to see what he was on about.

Likewise, for a short story, I would probably want to write something worthwhile somewhere before page 9. Preferably on page 1.
Great question and the fact that you are coming here to seek help is a great sign, I'd say.

I'm in a different situation: 22, dropped out of school to start a company, etc. But, I have committed myself to developing a satisfying general lifestyle (getting there) so, maybe there are some overlaps.

Here are some thoughts:

1. In the moments when I feel most stuck and unmotivated it is usually because there is something looming over me that I "have to do."

It's taken time, but developing the mindset that I truly do not _have to_ do anything has allowed me actually drop the anxiety and become truly excited about my work.

What are your expectations about what you _should be_ doing? Maybe if you ease up on them, you'll find a new wave of motivation along a new path.

2. It sounds to me like you, more than anything, need some exploration in your life. But, you are afraid of the risks.

My suggestion here is to take time to define clearly what you are afraid of, what the worst case scenarios are and how to sidestep them.

Additionally, lighten physical and mental load. Can you and your girlfriend sell the bulk of your stuff, tie down any loose ends and explore the World without making any living commitments for a few months?

3. Set small challenges daily (2-3), write them down every morning along with the very specific next action that you need to do to get the ball rolling.

When you complete all your challenges, put a big red x on the calendar. With each challenge, you will feel better and better and as the red X's grow, it will be clear how much you've accomplished.

(Someone else suggested exercise, that is a great daily challenge.)

4. I write ~1600 words daily in MacJournal, just a total brain dump. I don't worry about spelling, grammar or paragraphs I just type. I very rarely go back and read old ones.

Somehow, just the act of typing through my thoughts, getting them out and throwing them around has had an incredible impact on my mood, motivation, etc. I feel like my own therapist.

5. I think Steve Pavlina's book, Personal Development for Smart People, is one of the most complete and impactful books on improving your lifestyle. In particular, there are some great thoughts on finding your purpose on life. Highly recommended.

Again, props to you for grappling with these emotions and talking about them publicly. Keep exploring them with others.

Feel free to get in touch with me to discuss more, I'd love to hear how things pan out!
It's not perfect, needs some testing on smaller screens, and isn't my favorite color, so I'll write another single-sentence paragraph to tear it down and ditto the travesty that is experimentation and originality, and, we shall see for hopefully the author will drop by and get to see that I thought he sux and will fix all the things I don't like about his writing and page turning mechanics and all such productive endeavors, and then the world will truly be a better place, for I have made the other into me.

(Sarcastically said, even while I cringe as I think of all such hit jobs that I have done in my lifetime)
Emacs, slime, nxml-mode, nhtml-mode, firebug, YSlow, git, putty, PaintDotNet, SOAPUI, NaviCat, Clozure Common Lisp.
the first thing i did after hte diggbar was stop using digg.
Redmine with basecamp theme here at work :-)
Because high school curriculums are much easier to plan when they are linear. At my high school the curriculums for English and Social Studies were also linear. Only in science did we get to choose which order we took Chemistry, Biology and Physics in.
Many countries gradually cannibalize themselves in the name of the "public good" as well.

USA has been the only experiment in capitalism so far (and a raving success until the income tax was instituted)... why re-model on failed socialist principles?
It was used for my programming class, however the professor recommends K.R for experienced students who are new to C.
Yeah, for web usability alone you're best off with AJAXy auto-expanding "footnotes" that show up inline or collapse into the tag as you click it. Or with "sidenotes".
I struggled with a something very similar (complete inability to work, not knowing what makes me happy), a few things I learned seem relevant:
1) Don't assume what other people are thinking or feeling (about anything, but in this case, many other people do go through similar things)
2) Happiness and fulfillment has a lot to do with expectations (intrinsic as well as external). Understand what those are and where they come from.
3) Talk to people, read, and if that's not enough, get help (seems like you're doing that). You'll probably learn something about yourself.

I can recommend "The Feeling Good Handbook" by David Burns (Stanford), which is about cognitive therapy [also described in other places]. It may not be exactly accurate for your situation, and those types of books may sound silly (I thought so before reading it), but I've found some of the techniques useful.
I'm sure you get the spirit of that statement, but if not, it's not really about the actual idea of some sort of natural progression but rather that because you have to seek out an illegal source for it, you're more likely to come into contact with sources of other illegal drugs, and therefore more likely to try them as well.
$r2d2 and $c3po

...seriously