skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
evan williams made a bag of cash from blogger, then he started Obvious, which owns odeo and twitter.. also on the blogger to obvious train is jason goldman (the real guy you should be asking about strategy).. biz stone was a part of xanga before joining up with the blogger/obvious crew.

then, look at the investor group.. andreessen and conway are both investors in digg and twitter (conway is also an investor in pownce,) and as you peek around the list you'll see more familiar names in the space.

investment, as far as i can tell, seems to be more like a flock activity than a solo activity. (disclaimer: i've never pursued nor been offered investment)

all companies make it up as they go, or suffer their ignorance of changing market conditions. the old adage is that "the best laid plans don't survive contact with the enemy."

that all being said, can even this group of big names get outside money without a solid plan to make money? i have no clue!
bravo for sharing a thought provoking link and not a 5 second sound-bite.
I think that the person who makes a claim has to prove it. Especially when it is prima facie nonsense. Presumably no one is disagreeing with my 2nd "wrong", but who knows.
Spam Is Migrating to the Cellphone
Likewise, I used it as a deadline to get the RESTful API done. When I AJAXified my app a few weeks later it was dead simple since I had a solid API to write to.

The money would have been nice since I'm bootstrapped, but it would have allowed me to put off launching even longer. So maybe it was a blessing in disguise?
So what differentiates a 'rockstar' coder to you?
I think "it's a giant intrusion into my life" was getting emotional. :)
Interesting that the question "What do you find that you like about Twitter?" is being answered here as "it's intrusive, you shouldn't use it." This isn't about "personal preferences". It's "Why __should__ I care about Twitter."
The core of his argument is that humans can know truths that cannot be discovered computationally. If that is true then it implies two things 1. Conventional AI will never reach human levels of intelligence. 2. To understand how human intelligence works we need to discover new physics - most likely in the area of quantum mechanics.

It all hangs, not on quantum mechanics, but on his initial assertion. I've read his explanation in Shadows of the Mind, but the lightbulb didn't go on for me. For McArthy to dismiss the question offhand was a little disappointing. I'd expect him to have a deeper insight.
The reason limit is easier is just that there is less variables to account for much like it's easier to write a bot to play poker with fewer cards.

While I will agree sit and gos are all strategy that strategy is dependent on putting your opponent on reasonable ranges which a bot like this won't do.

Bots and winning bots are possible(stick most casual people up against the UofA bots for example), but I find it hard to believe this one is one of them.
So we did not offer equity stakes when we had interns working for us. We offered them a chance to be a significant part of a small team, trying to pull off the impossible.

As a student--especially from the top schools--I think you are more interested in a good summer experience where you learn alot. Not lots of pay or potential for options.

If you can convince them that they will learn alot more in a life-or-death struggle w/ you guys and create software used by thousands of ppl the next day rather than sitting bored in a windowless cubicle writing some code no one will ever use....you are all set.

If they need cash, they should do other stuff. If they want to test their limits, they should throw their lot in with you. :)

Be careful tho. Unless you get stellar interns, they are usually more work than they are worth. By the time they ramp up, they are about to quit and go back to school. Just think about what you did during your summer internship and you'll see what I mean. Most ppl do jack, so don't expect them to increase velocity too quickly. (unless you've carefully chosen some superstars)
My No TV
Drupal, it's not really a CMS so much as it's a framework
99% of Data Recovered off a Spaceshuttle Columbia Harddrive
Based on the comments here, it looks like we committed a faux pas by using the word rockstar. Sorry about that. We didn't anticipate getting a negative reaction to the word. I had always conceptualized rockstar as a compliment to someone's skills, and I hadn't seen enough job ads to know that it was becoming uncool.

s/rockstar/talented
From the article: "Libraries are key. Think about it: most programming tasks involve organizing and gluing together library code; most programming tasks do not involve the creation of novel algorithms that compel the use of sophisticated programming language constructs (emphasis on most --- I do admit that the benefits of a more powerful or applicable language are greater when one is trying to solve harder problems)."

The author seems to completely miss the fact that you can have semantically dense high-level languages act as the glue between libraries implemented in whatever language they happen to be written in.

"Those who don't understand UNIX are doomed to reinvent it."

The notion of using the best tool for the job is correct, and the notion of chosing the best libraries is correct, but the assumption that you must use Foo to consume libraries written in Foo to construct a program is wrong.

One of the metrics we don't see enough (IMHO) chatter about is how well languages play well with others.

There are SEVERAL ways to accomplish integration.

At the moment, I enjoy using JRuby because ruby has minimal pain and java has a cornucopia (glut?) of libraries. Things like the translation of MIPS machine code to JVM bytecode are interesting, but I need to check them out more before I recommend them.
To me, rockstar meant "talented far beyond the norm".

There are lots of articles about what differentiates extremely talented coders from the rest, and taking the intersection of their conclusions paints a relatively fair picture of who we're hoping to have join us. No miracle workers or ego trippers, just somebody who's skilled, hardworking, and nice.
We started by using graphviz to generate svg, but then couldn't find any decent in-line svg viewers. Do you know of any non-java applet inline svg viewers?
I had this disposition as well. A friend of mine challenged me on it though. He said that there's an alternative explanation -- that someone learning something difficult for the first time needs to achieve some small successes to successfully keep going. Those who are slightly more talented are slightly more likely to make it past the first static hurdle, but more importantly, being a little better than your peers, or impressing others is a big enough victory to keep you going a while longer. He suggested that talented people can attain the successes more easily and so can maintain the motivation for much longer.

I wonder about this. In most of the big things I've done, courage seems the limiting factor. I find working on something of my own fairly interesting regardless of the subject matter. Could it be that it's my own conception of myself as capable that's been pulling me through?
Ask YC: Activation on User Registration, important or a hurdle ?
Guys,

Do you think it is important to have an activation email send on User Registration to activate and account. If you were look at a mass user base site which way would you go?

thanks
Can he play drums? I'm ok at guitar and my partner can sing, but we're really looking to balance out the team.
huh... never heard that about Drupal. makes me even more interested in checking it out.
Good luck buying anything from Ebay while in Nigeria :)
I think you're confounding "nobody is doing what we're doing" with "nobody is competing with us". You're right to say that no competitors sometimes means no market. On the other hand, it's only wise to enter markets where you have some important differentiating factor between your product and the competition.

Look at it this way:
Google had lots of competitors, but nobody was doing what they were doing.
Yes, I looked up a few poker bots yesterday and those sites said that the bots are generally more profitable on no-limit with experienced (predictable) players. I can dig up the links again if anyone wants.
Majorly second that opinion. Best keyboard I've ever used.
I total forgot / missed that new feature, thanks :)
The good old Keytronic KT800
http://www.le.ac.uk/cc/dsss/docs/kb_kt1.jpg

Tough if you're looking for something more new the Logitech Ultra-Flat keyboards is good to.
in corresponding with the author, he noted that the article is 2 years old and may not reflect his current opinion. reader beware.
He's legit. He created a new account because people could have figured out the startup from the old one, and they're saving the news of YC funding for the announcement of some new features.
wordpress might work. We don't need much since it'll mostly be a point for talking about the company... I doubt we do much with it.
Yeah, definitely get one of the newly built Unicomp Model M's, the originals go for more money on eBay. I had one that I loved until I spilled water on it. Don't spill water on these keyboards.
Sounds like there's a vast gulf of people with little (but not zero) contribution, then. Can you plot # of contributions versus membership time?
Programming in Space!
So that rsync command wouldn't delete stuff if stuff got deleted on my hard disc? Disk failures are not the only way to lose data. I'm guessing the archive flag of rsync takes care of that?
Project 3 is Ticking
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/01/26/28-not-...
links in comments are always nofollow
reading that, i thought of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitespace_(programming_language)
In firefox, you can turn off page styles in "view". Same for opera. Not sure about safari.
I have the same problem. Knowing there is something I have to do in X hours makes it harder fore to even start doing work. The solution for me is to have flexibility. This means I sometimes forget to eat or forget to sleep.
What is market value of interns in your area? I always have wondered this because this seems to vary widely. Where I've lived it's been between $9 - $15.
The point of bots is that they don't have to be efficient, just marginally effective and able to run with limited or no supervision. The solution to inefficient bots is easy: create more instances.
Maybe we can find some common ground in the word "tedious" rather than "boring". Boring does have the connotation of waiting for class to end or waiting for 5PM to go home.
Yes, I bought one to use at work and it's now the only keyboard I use.

It took a little getting used to, but now the only time I miss a keyboard with letters on the keys is typing passwords one-handed while I'm on the phone. Seriously, I don't even notice that the keys are blank any more.
I use Robocopy, included in Vista/Server 2008. Cygwin needs extra care with symbolic links (at least when I used it):
http://www.cygwin.com/faq/faq-nochunks.html#faq.api.symlinks
In my personal experience, it's the mouse that does the most damage. If you use Emacs but switch Caps Lock and Ctrl, you'll be much better off than using a normal IDE and the mouse.

If you must use the mouse, try using your non-dominant hand. To start with, it feels strange, but only for a few days.
A weekend on Google App Engine; I need an idea
I'm going to make an application on Google App Engine this weekend. Do you have a good idea?
It's true that NoTVs seem particularly popular with white people, and that they like to brag about owning them, but I don't think the main reason for the former is the latter. Few people have enough discipline to miss something they love just so they can brag about missing it.
"I doubt we do much with it."

If that's the case, why are you looking for a CMS?!

Since obviously no one else has told you this, I will:

Some people, when confronted with a problem, think "I know, I'll use a CMS." Now they have two problems.
New Yorker: Malcolm Gladwell on collaborative innovation
Gladwell discuses the notion of multiplicity - people coming up with the same ideas at the same time, e.g. Bell's and Gray's telephones - and a group's attempt to simulate the inventive process:

Intellectual Ventures (IV; http://www.intellectualventures.com/) collects great minds in the same place to come up with solutions to big problems.

Have a look.
Don't do it unless it's an extreme case where you really have to.
rsync needs --delete or another --delete-* option to delete, I don't think any other flag can trigger deletion (other than the --del alias).
Ask YC: What precautions/steps does a site take before getting TechCrunched?
Upgrading servers/memory? Just being on standby and monitoring usage? I've heard so much about the so-called TC effect, just wondering how to mitigate risks. Purely hypothetical of course ;-)
We left it out. We wanted the user experience to be as frictionless as possible. Get people on your site as quickly and painlessly as possible would be my suggestion.
The fact that this is so often gotten wrong by very smart people (in my experience) that I think we should consider it a design defect.
Ask YC:  Alpha Testers Needed
Use RSS to read news? Looking for a few alpha testers for a web service experiment.

alpha-test {at } 80concepts {dot} com
he probably watches 12 hours a day of torrents

PS this is not hacker news
I hate to be "that guy" but can you maybe phrase that in less extraneous rhetoric?
Macbook, or the new Apple wireless keyboard is really nice.
There was this guy, I think his first name was Donald..
The link doesn't seem to work. :|
To be clear: Unicode v.s. specific encoding terminology is my gripe. The 'UTF-8 is ascii at the bottom' is quite cool.
Search google for techcrunch effect, and google blogs. It turns out it actually isn't that much of an effect for most startups. So I wouldn't worry about it unless you really can't handle any kind of spike.
*Understand math

Thank you for also realizing this. It is just mind boggling to me how many IT people are so utterly inept when it comes to basic mathematics.

I truely believe that the fact that so many IT employees don't know math is leading to this superficial computer-geek culture.
Thinking in Language, But Not Clearly (Erlang vs JVM)
One of the problems we had with the deliberate practice talk was that it was framed for measurement, not necessarily for practical use. Expertise was a destination that you reach only after 10 years of practice. And every practice was empirically measurable because otherwise it wouldn't qualify for an academic article.

But practically, I think it's much easier to think of it as a state of mind. As you practice your discipline (hacking in this case), give thought to how you can do it better, then put that thought into practice, then judge it, and if you like it keep putting it into practice until you find another way.

The thing though, is that when you judge it you'd do just as well employing a qualitative measure (so long as you weren't trying to write it up for scientific publication).
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=148672

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36594
YMMV, but it was absolutely fasinating for me, especially because I spent a significant portion of my teenage life swimming in a team, going to meets, etc. The antidotes in the article - even the subjective ones - resonate so well with my memory of who and how they got faster, and who didn't (in most cases, me), that I'm blown away with the revelations. I can go back and read that article a couple more times and get more and more out of it.

But, YMMV.
Bots don't require computer vision or any kind of sensory input; they can extract the native data they need straight out of the application's memory space. Effectively gaming bots have "perfect information". So the bots actually have more timely and accurate information than humans do, they can react quicker than humans do, and they can react as intelligently as your programming skill allows.

Check out http://www.easyuo.com. That application allows you to easily automate Ultima Online. Whilst deciphering WoW's application memory would probably be harder, an equivalent program is certainly possible (it probably already partially exists in various forms), and intelligent bots are a simple step after that.

Unfortunately, once the memory accessing has been abstracted away, programming a competent WoW bot is not a difficult task. The WoW bot doesn't have to be as awesome as the best human players, nor need it be ultra-efficient. What it lacks in ability it makes up in working without fatigue indefinitely.
Tobu - A freeform information organizer.
I find the contrast more of a problem on laptop screens.
My coach gave me a printed version of this article in 1997. I'm still thinking about it and give it the occasional re-read. This discussion thread really highlights how awful it is that so much research is locked up behind pay walls. I'm pretty sure the article was originally published in a sports psychology journal but here we are, a bunch of hackers, who are trying our best to enjoy it through Google book search (described above as like "being strapped to a library and tortured").
The "Uno" -- an electric, self-balancing, one-wheel motorcycle
I'm unmasked, I'm utterly clueless about WoW.

And if randomness is a dead giveaway of a bot, then don't implement it?... I was suggesting to add it but if it actually ampers your goals then make a fully deterministic bot...
Probably not. You should give it try, though.
Along these lines, I think there's a trap that folks who follow YC like myself can fall into. Since YC sets up founders and angels in the best atmosphere possible, the founders can be completely product-focused.

So you, Bootstrapper Bill, think you should be too. But of course, that's one main reason why YC does what it does, to create that focused environment where it otherwise wouldn't necessarily exist.

If Demo Day is not coming up, you've got to start hustlin' on day one, not obsessing over user experience. Starting up a company is all about sales -- either selling products or equity -- before it can be about users or technology. That distinguishes it from the side project you do when you get around to it.

I bootstrapped* my project, which I thought meant I didn't have to start working on funding right away. So wrong, especially outside of the Bay Area.

Strive early and constantly for access to the best investors.

They're like oxygen tanks when you're climbing Everest. Most people know they need them. But even if you won't need them, you don't know that ahead of time. When you need them, you really need them. And if you can't get to one when you need one, you're in real bad shape.

And as mentioned in the article, even if you want VC funding, you want angels to be the filter (for them and you). If PG says that investor quality may be the number-one advantage of being in "a" startup hub, you do get the feeling that access to quality investors is kinda critical, even if you're starting off bootstrapping.

* - By bootstrapping I mean no outside funding at all. I suspect the term may be a little more liberal than I expected when I recently heard about a company that "bootstrapped from $300,000 of angel investment." Hmm, those are some pretty big straps.
Elephant sounds interesting. More info here:
http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/elephant/elephant.html
I've been using a Das Keyboard (original and II) for the last several years. Surrounded by 4 of them right now actually.

The model II is supposed to be closer to the IBM Model M. Don't know how close it is, but I love the feel.

Originally I got one for the geek cred (lamer), but once you go blank you never go back... err...
Stop and Smell the Rosemary, Junior League of Houston Cook Book. As a cook, it is one of the few that I leave in my kitchen and regularly consult. Full of accurate great recipes that make you look fabulous.

PS - And the ex-wife (mother) asked for her own copy this year for Mother's day.
Sorry, I didn't mean to suggest you were uncool :)

I certainly wouldn't know if it was cool or not anyway. For all I know, it is the coolest term out there. I just don't like the phraseology. I never have. I don't like guru, ninja, or the other ones either.
I've been a fan of Microsoft's ergonomic models for many years now. I don't see that changing any time soon, unless something revolutionary comes along.
Darwin and deduction
It seems like black would be a bad exterior color choice for heat purposes. Also, if I were to buy one of these, I would want it in a plain white container so as to not advertise that I have hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of computers inside of a highly mobile unit.
What kind of experiment?
Read ‘Em and Reap: Decoding the VC Poker Face
Everyone seems to be making Twitter clients that adds something Twitter does not have. How about one of those.
Also, regardless of what you finally decide to do, can you publish your code so the rest of us can save some time in learning App Engine and also see what can be done in a weekend :) Thanks.
Leave it out. It annoys most people now.
http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=Eliezer

?
> s/rockstar/talented

Substitution replacement not terminated at line 1.
If users can clearly see or already find value in a site, they will reg with real details that don't need to be verified/activated by email.
On the signup form point out benefits they will recieve e.g. value-added newsletters (not spammy but of something they will want) and they will take more care to ensure they reg with correct details.
"Spontaneous", huh? Does that mean it was truly random (e.g. that you're just as likely to think up a coherent sentence in Farsi as in English) or that you are not consciously aware of the process that leads to it? Either way, a computer can handle it: it can operate on outputs for which the inputs or processes are not known, or it can take some random inputs.
Wow - the ratings are 5 starts across the board at amazon.
http://www.rsnapshot.org works so much better.
That is a fair point. But I think Hawkins can probably tell us more interesting things about black holes than about, say, 101 tricks for quickly simplifying a differential equation. If there's a question that nobody but McCarthy could answer satisfactorily, McCarthy is the one to ask.
Try and make something yourself. She will appreciate the time & energy you put in it and will value it more.
Even if it is something as basic as a homemade card, photoalbum, or a series of home made pictures/paintings (ideally framed too), I am sure she will love it. Works for me.
here, I made this for you... Happy Mother's day... back to lurking. http://www.scribd.com/doc/2926754/The-Mundanity-of-Excellenc...
Has Agile Peaked?
That's wrong too. If you think there are fewer variables in limit hold'em to figure when making your decision, you don't understand the game.

If you went to a no-limit tournament and just pushed all of your chips into the middle at every single opportunity, it's been shown that you're only a slight loser. At the WSOP main event, you'd be a better player than at least 1/3 of the field.

This is not true if you were to play in a limit tournament and raise every time. You'd probably be the worst player in the field.

The fact that it's less complicated is why no-limit is the tournament game of choice, but high stakes live poker is generally limit.
Is Functional Programming the new Python?
Yeah, I went through a sanctimonious "Oh, I wouldn't know. You see, I don't have a television!" phase too.

I suspect I was about as annoying as those ex-smokers who can't shut up about how awesome life is without cigarettes.
from my point of view, your front page (and even your 'how we do it' page) is not really any different from the n number of auction/trading sites that I've seen.

I wouldn't have even known that you guys have system/mechanism of guaranteed payment (and even delivery?), had you not posted it here
a collaborative filtering RSS aggregation experiment.

if you use RSS and find it too cluttered to cover many news feeds, this may be something you're looking for.
Python IDE update