skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I think he points to the fact that reverse domains look a lot more like tree structures which humans are inherently very capable of understanding. With the current system the human url decoding process goes something like this:

* "Find the third forward slash in this string ..."
* "Read backwards & split on dot, there ya go: the tree path of the organization giving me this information ..."
* "Now, skip forward to that slash again ..."
* "From here on, split on the slash & that will be the tree path leading to the data this organization wants to give me"

We're probably all conditioned to it now, but it's not exactly beautiful ...
"HTML is a leveler for a lot of people, and it helps designers and developers actually work together, instead of being limited . . . "

Precisely. It used to annoy me when people would ask me what language I "program in". I've since learned to just explain that I write code that can be rendered, downloaded, executed, or otherwise modified (locally and remotely) through a browser or IDE and without (necessarily) having to be connected to the Internet.

But anyway. I think if I had the chance to rebuild the Internet, I'd build in an all-inclusive productivity-meter. This productivity meter would gauge, record and reward people as both content producers and consumers/participants of media. This question reminds me. . . there's actually an interesting piece in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fUHtc37MC8

about that concept of ripping down the barriers between producers and consumers of media.
Ten questions about entrepreneurs
I'm not completely sure I understand the problem-space, so excuse me if this if way off-base:

It appears to me that what you are looking for is not really an algorithm per se, but a formula. If you have a series of parameters, and you want to weight them to create an overall ranking, the challenge is really one of choosing the appropriate weights.

So, to use your example:

RANK = (X * CreatorRanking) + (Y * NumberOfVideosEtc) + (Z * QuantityOfContent)

where X, Y, and Z are chosen to emphasize whatever factors you think are most important to determining the "best" rivalry.

Is that what you had in mind, or am I missing something?
The one thing that has come out of this is that we all know who Pystar is now!
Maybe it's my adblocker, but I don't see the amazon link, nor can I figure out why it would be linkbait.

I like these kinds of blogs, because I hope to be a fellow traveller, and I want to learn from their experiences.

One nitpick: "the VC said he was very impressed and that he wouldn’t change a thing." Erm, so, did the VC also say he wanted more info? Interested in investing? I'm not sure I'd take his kudos very seriously unless the one-pager got him to act.
if & when we figure out the semantics in the first place, but I agree: some mechanism for adding metadata at a low level would be great. (Ya, I know, microformats)
if you think something is wrong with the Internet, then build a startup around the problem.
CUDA, Supercomputing for the Masses
Does anyone think that the name "eBuddy" versus "Meebo" might have something to do with increase in popularity? I had never heard of eBuddy before, but instantly recognized that it had something to do with communicating with friends. Meebo on the other hand, provides no clues in it's name.
Video presentation - "Stuck: Why It’s So Hard to Do New Things in Old Organizations"
The numbers in the article suggest the stirling engine needs 1kW of energy input. There is no need to use expensive photovoltaic panels. 1kW is about 1 square meter of mirrors in a solar concentrator on a sunny day at many latitudes. Solar concentrators and stirling engines pair nicely, though there may be issues at that small scale. Nothing more mirrors won't fix though.
New Book Celebrates Singular Scientists and Their Beautiful Experiments
yes we are conditioned to it now... but imagine I want to find a retailer in spain, I would look up es.* or es.com. it just makes life easier...

But its too late for that one...
This is only a measure of influence amongst Time magazine readers. This is the same magazine that made Hitler man of the year:

http://www.scrapbookpages.com/DachauMemorial/TimeCover.html

I wouldn't take it seriously.
Such a productivity meter (mind if I rephrase it as 'contribution-meter'?) assumes strong identity, the lack of which I think has greatly contributed to the rise of the internet.

At the same time strong identity is at the core of the whole OpenID / OpenSocial /Social Graph debate. Are we trying to build something that should have been included in the first place?
That's why Bono and Bruce Springsteen are #11 and #12 respectively?
Twitter needs to figure out how to make money before it becomes an endangered species.
The author doesn't seem to realize that the Internet's name changed in about 1988. I suspect the WP has earlier references to it under its previous name, Arpanet.
"Lightweight" XP for ASUS eee?
I would remove extensions from domains, e.g., "news.ycombinator.com" would just be "news.ycombinator", and "google.com" would just be "google".
I'm hoping too but currently no ISP I know has IPv6 support for customers (they may have on their backbone).
Amazon Blows Away Objections
One Of PostgreSQL’s Biggest Weaknesses
Why The UK Is a Great Place to Build a Startup
A Work-Life Blend Is Not Always What You Think
Yes you are right, I am talking about Formula only. Sorry for using the wrong word here. Can we have some formula which gives most interesting rivalries everytime on homepage ?
Can we change our RSVP at http://news.ycombinator.com/susrsvp

Yes

Or if you want to send someone in your place, just tell them to use your name.
Time's Man of the Year was not originally an endorsement. It was simply the person who'd affected the news most that year. Since a significant number of readers continued to misinterpret it as an endorsement, Time eventually gave in and made it one. But that was much later.
I'm meeting Jeff Bezos tonight-- what should I ask him?
Going to an event at NYU/Stern tonight, where Jeff Bezos will be speaking, as well as the private reception afterwards.

Anything that fellow HNers would like me to ask him?
This is a good set of questions and answers. I think that the often-made comparison between entrepreneurship and ADD is funny. There are also too many people with ADD who think they are entrepreneurs.. heh.

Remember, that a magnetic personality is really key - if you're passionate about your ideas, it's also important that you can recruit others to share your passion.
From PG's latest: Why Aren't There More Googles
"So what's the real reason there aren't more Googles? Curiously enough, it's the same reason Google and Facebook have remained independent: money guys undervalue the most innovative startups."
How many Kindles has Amazon sold :)
A form of design that comes from life's most questionable objects
Alan Turing: The Play
It would be interesting to hear you enumerate all signals you're considering, as one part of the problem will be to consider what other signals should be used.

Also, do you need the formula to be resistant to spam?

-- Dave
Why is six afraid of seven? :)
Here's a link to the company's web page:
http://www.red.com/nab/scarlet
This is one of the reasons I have my ear to the rail on Hacker News. People wander in from a lot of interesting circles.
Injustice - A Story About Compulsory Education
This reminds me of Paul Graham's "You Weren't Mean To Have A Boss" in some ways.
"Are you interested in getting orders-of-magnitude performance increases over standard multi-core processors, while programming with a high-level language such as C?"

Ha! That's funny :)
It's not affiliate link.
Somehow, I think the title of the article is a little overblown. I grew up in Central America, and having had Amoebic Dysentery twice as a child, I know something about bad water. :)

Part of the problem is getting the water clean, but another big part of the problem is getting it to the people that are using it. Growing up, I lived in a city of 1.5 million people that had a water treatment program. The problem was water delivery. We lived in a heavy seismic zone, and the water pipes were plastic and the sewage pipes were clay. So, there were a number of cracks in both, and seepage went from the sewage systems to the delivery systems. So, water treatment was needed at the kitchen faucet not at the village center.

Another issue is that people need to realize that the water makes them sick. In many rural villages, you don't really think about water making people sick. They just think that getting really bad cases of diarrhea is part of life, and they think that people just die young. They don't correlate bad water with dying. They really need education systems for that.

Also, systems are needed that are a lot cheaper than $1000-2000. In many countries people make about $1 a day. It's going to take a lot of people that realize that the water is making them sick before they buy something that expensive.
Fake Craigslist ads a big headache
I liked his description of google, seemed more real world and he lined up the advantages and disadvantages of being at google well. He's leaving because his goals are alligned with that of google's, not because google is a particularly sucky place to work or anything.
I also need to get myself a couple of 24 inch monitors :-).
You know, I'm inclined to lean towards what inovica was saying. We do all know Psystar now. I wouldn't be surprised if this is all just a well executed marketing plan by psystar.

The upside: Hundreds of thousands of curious people visit their site to see the company that's standing up to Apple. They may even buy the system to get OS X before it's taken off of the market. The company may even do some damage to Apple's PR by bringing the high prices and 1-1 comparisons to the attention of a lot of people.

The downside: Apple tells them that they can't offer this computer any more. There are some other negligible downsides like the cost of removing the product or if Apple sues then they might have to do some "reverse advertising" because of a court order.

I doubt that this company is going to go through an expensive and lengthy battle with Apple over this.

So in the end, I think that Psystar either has a brilliant marketing plan, or just got lucky by all of the coverage.
Are you planning a free version of AWS to compete with Google App Engine?
Who had the fantastic idea to hire Werner Vogels as the CTO of Amazon?
Smorty - Exchange Post
He's probably comparing a crap PC against a Mac Pro workstation, conveniently ignoring that they use different components.

But as long as Apple refuses to make the xMac, this stuff won't go away.
Instead of asking what motivates, which makes the interview awkward, why not just assume the candidate wants all three and just show them how he/she can obtain them?

Does anyone else hate questions about motivation, or is it just me? It feels too personal for a first time conversation with someone.
100-Plus Tips and Resources to Become an Authority Site in Your Niche
The problems are as much in the beginning as the endgame. I agree that Umair has it wrong. And I like spreading the net wider. But, all deals are not cheaper. Google spent a fortune on early R&D, and the world has moved away from that model, hence reducing the likelihood of building something hard with real barriers to entry.

More on my blog:

http://smoothspan.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/how-to-fix-ventur...
ATI was promoting assembly language GPU programming for a while, so I guess CUDA could be considered high-level in comparison. But it's still funny.
Persistent connections to the server from Javascript.
Don’t Underestimate Your Addressable Market
Anyone who writes about sending documents to VCs is not someone who should be giving advice on the subject.
"Carleen Hawn" must be an error. That dude in the picture is no Carleen Hawn. (Actually, it's Chris Lyman, who's written some good posts before. Scroll to bottom.)

Thanks for the comment. I wouldn't have read the article based on the title alone, and I'm glad I did.
This is so true. We are a startup and have had to increase the amount we're asking for to get any interest. Really, a few hundred thousand would take us miles, but we have to ask for 2M to get in any doors. And even then, we get lots of "get back to us when you have more traction," just as the article states. Bad news, VCs: we won't need you when we get more "traction," because we built monetization into our business model, as a lot of start-ups are now doing.
Well if the formula you need is as given in this thread then the only thing you need to define is the parameters X,Y, and Z...

The method you use to find these parameters would then be the problem
Probably not very interesting for most people, but I'd be curious if they're planning on opening an Italy office.

I'm curious because I worked for an Italian online bookseller for a few years.
Live Validation: (Rails Plugin for) Client-side Javascript Validation
The whole idea of spending 4 hours a week to run your startup business is just silly. Yes, I've read the book and know what kind of techniques he mentions but it doesn't fit for many businesses.

As an example. I could outsource my customer service to someone else, but then I lose that connection between the customer and I. I like having that connection, it allows me to see what my customers are looking for, what irks them, and allows me to further advance my business

Basically, I can't stand this book. :)
This surely does not apply to early stage startups. Outsourcing to Romania? How many starups outsource in Valley?
And don't get me started about cost of living in the UK.
In general, what does App Engine mean for AWS?
But since they went public, they do have a responsibility to justify on the basis of profit-and-loss. Granted, they make so much $$$ that they have room to consider right and wrong, but I'm sure "Do No Evil" has cost them and Google shareholders some opportunities.

But that's just me playing Devil's Advocate. I wish they would continue to Do No Evil, and I'm glad for what they've done so far.
A surprisingly cogent essay... i hope VCs read it.
Ok yeah, com.google.mail/inbox preserves the tree hierarchy
Sounds more like to me that he's "comparing notes" and advocating his approach. I like when people do that, as it gives us all new ideas to consider.
And does he have as much faith in Kindle as he did in "Ginger"?
Wikipedia takes business approach
Update: Fring’s Jailbroken iPhone App Now Live
Come on. With any complex product, there's always going to be a rhetorical construct where you can claim somebody has a "monopoly". Do you really think you can distribute X86 "routers" running patched IOS, or roll your own car ECU with Bosch's firmware code?

Microsoft's anticompetitive behavior wasn't simply forcing strict terms on who could use Windows; it was using Windows as a cudgel to prevent competing software from being installed on hardware it didn't sell.
They Plight Their Troth -- and Mean it.
How to “AIDA” your investment pitch
Consumers aren't generally interested in making money - they're not profit-maximizing firms. Consumers want to fulfill whatever goals they have - caring for their family, being entertained, feeling adrenaline, getting laid, etc. Buying a home is ($#@%%^#!#($#@!!) expensive, but it makes my family warm, comfortable and secure. Buying an iPod lets me easily carry around different kinds of feelings (music) and knowledge (podcasts) that I can have whenever I want. Media entertains me, which makes me laugh, think, feel, etc. They don't make me money, but they do make me richer.

It's easy for B2C to make consumers richer (all of the Facebooks, etc do that), the tough question is which of these riches will they pay for? The consumer market (especially in the US) is so huge and wealthy (yes, even in a down market) that it's worth gambling on.
If something is entirely obvious, then it probably wouldn't interest me much.

If something is potentially useful/enjoyable but not obviously so, then it probably won't attract many users.

I guess I like experimental ideas more, but users are probably less willing to invest their time in experiments.
And the other thing we can count on is that we're all going to forget who they are tomorrow.
Man, a lot of people here are violently opposed to allowing invalid markup. I think that the lenience web browsers afford site creators is a boon. It is one of the key factors in the democratization of the web. Low barriers to entry have been a critical factor in the success and organic growth of the web. Requiring perfect syntax and markup as a method of keeping out the plebes is the kind of self-righteous cult-of-the-machine which drives out the very people who provide content and value to the web.

Now, if you do have correct markup and the browser developers still screw it up... off with their heads! Shame on you, you should know better.
I really wish that a lot of the non computer-science people I have to work with knew at least a smattering of what it means that something is O(n^2) versus O(n log(n)). In fact, I sometimes wish that programmers who I've had to work with understood!
Are they planning to provide a good portal/software management for all their offerings (S3/EC2 etc.). Why do most of the hard part, but just not care about the last touch; the way a user interacts with them?

Their offerings are awesome, but they need to improve the interface with them, and make them more user friendly.
Honestly, I'm starting to get to the point where I'd like to have an Eee or something like this as a "Glovebox" computer - I don't always like carrying a laptop, but sometimes it'd be handy to have something bigger than my phone to compose emails or SSH out somewhere to take care of something.
The book is mainly about building a business that sits in the background making a dependable but not necessarily huge income. It's not really surprising that it's popular with internet marketers because they generally are not concerned about the quality of products they are producing, more about if they sell and make money. Tim's example was selling supplements online, do you think he was really passionate about this business? I doubt it but that's kind of the point of the book, focusing on enjoying a lifestyle rather than your work.

For people wanting to create an internet site/service of value and are really passionate about technology and the internet and enjoy focusing a lot of time on that then this probably isn't a good book to read.
This comment scared me. I don't believe these are affiliate links and I don't want to have anything that can let people track me down yet. I just copied the links from Amazon to the books I've read and found exceedingly helpful.
Get the technical level right and the rest will come.

Mechanism, not policy.
JQuery and Prototype Benchmarks
Are they interested in adding features like global availability zone regions, private availability zones, various security compliance (PCI, CISP, etc...)?
Why would Apple care? We're going to forget who Pystar is when this is over, but we're going to remember Apple, and the fact that market demand for their secret sauce is so high that companies will literally put themselves out of business to get a piece of it.
Does anyone find it humorous that the first thing in this article is the copyright by the author? Writing about open-source... On the internet?
In lua at least, continuations have a 1k stack overhead in memory per continuation. I believe they are serializable as well... I'll have to double-check that. At 1k+ a pop they're not cheap, but are manageable.

Having my tabs open last for a couple of days instead of 30 minutes would make the site more pleasant for me.
Bezos had gone on record many times as saying that Amazon tries out a lot of things on their site(s), and then gauges reaction to them based on usage. He talks about how inexpensive it is to test something new because you can just put it out there.

Over the years, I've found Amazon becoming more and more cluttered. I find myself becoming blind to useful new features because they are hidden in amongst blogs, plogs, video testimonials, recommendation, lions and tigers and bears.

In aerospace, there's the notion of new displays "buying their way into the cockpit", which is not about money, but about being worthwhile enough to share the valuable real estate with other displays. There is an acknowledgement that the existing displays will either get smaller or viewed less or both.

I'd be interested in hearing how he thinks about the fracturing of attention that occurs when there is so stuff on Amazon's pages. There's a real cost associated with that, and it feels like Amazon is not paying attention to it at all.
Can I get a free Kindle?
Yeah it made me chuckle. This article is really interesting though. I'm really excited about the mentioned Python article.
We'll bring some extras just in case :)
PyStream - Python on Nvidia GPUs (CUDA)
"Ms Gardner says they are also looking at cashing in on the Wikipedia brand and are open to suggestions some of which have included TV programmes and a board game."

Wikipedia branded board games? Is this a joke?

The biz dev at Wikipedia should think of ideas that complement things they are already doing well, in much the same way Amazon came out with S3/EC2, fulfillment services, mTurk, etc. The majority of searches conducted are information retrieval, which would make advertising potentially useful and very lucrative. They could use the active community of editors to provide services for book publishers, translation, etc.
On the other hand, is it necessarily bad to follow the techniques in the book to create a steady revenue stream (even if it's just enough to cover some basic debt) while putting your energy into a proper startup?

The general point of the book is to find a way to separate income from labor and thus free up your time to do things you really want to do. That probably includes founding a startup just as much as it would traveling around the world or cage fighting or whatever else.
These error messages are a consequence of any scheme that stores session state on the server: the session data must expire, or the server will fill up. The problem would remain even if some other method of serialization was used instead of continuations.

That said, I expect that continuations store more data than a hand-tuned serialization and thus need to be expired earlier. I'd be curious to know how much more space is used storing continuations versus the bare minimum.
Solving the water problem will enrich the lives of more people than we can fathom. If Kamen's device does what he says it will do, he deserves to go down in history with Eli Whitney, Thomas Edison, and John Browning.
As Niels Bohr (to Wolfgang Pauli(or vice versa)) once said,

"We are all agreed that your theory is crazy. The question which divides us is whether it is crazy enough to have a chance of being correct. My own feeling is that it is not crazy enough."
OpenPhotoVR - photo albums with 3D transitions (like MS Photosynth)
I base this claim on a stat I heard from an AF general. A) A very large portion of the Chinese population will be single, middle age males in the near future. B) China is becoming resource starved. C) Russia's population is rapidly decreasing compared to China's population. D) Russia has a lot of resources.

So, just throwing that out there. Sounded intriguing.
Who came up with the brilliant idea for EC2/S3?
I think apple has a vary strong case. EX: Faulty ram is frequently causes systems to crash so Psystar's cheep hardware would damage the perception of OS X's quality. Which harms apples brand.
Not only that, you get electricity out of the engine as well. The waste heat from the electric generator is used to power the water purifier.
Toast: Gawker Media Dumps Three Blogs